for Rockklassiker Scandinavian FIM Speedway Grand Prix

FRIENDS ARENA 'BUILT FOR SPEEDWAY'

FIM Speedway Grand Prix track-building guru Ole Olsen says Stockholm’s Friends Arena is “built for speedway” as he transforms Sweden’s national stadium into a World Championship race track.

The state-of-the-art venue stages the Rockklassiker Scandinavian FIM Speedway Grand Prix on Saturday and Olsen and his team began the job of constructing the 275-metre circuit on Monday morning.

Installing 3,500 tonnes or 175 truckloads of shale is no easy task, but Olsen is no stranger to the job, having built temporary tracks at venues like the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Copenhagen’s PARKEN stadium, Gothenburg’s Ullevi Stadium and Western Springs in Auckland.

He is confident the Friends Arena track will be ready by Wednesday lunchtime and admits the stunning new stadium, which only opened its doors in October 2012, is a perfect fit for speedway.

Olsen said: “We’re getting there. They were playing football here on Sunday, so we couldn’t start before Monday morning. It will be finished about Wednesday lunchtime or just after. The material is in very good condition and we are very pleased with that. It has the right moisture in it – it’s perfect.

“The track fits beautifully into the stadium. It’s built for speedway. They have lots of big events and concerts here, so they do have quite a bit of space. We have a nice neutral zone all the way around and we’re not squeezed on the corners.

“The track is exactly the same as Cardiff and Copenhagen. The boys have raced on those tracks many times and it’s the same material. They know how to race and what to do.”

The Friends Arena could make an instant entry into speedway folklore if World Championship leader Tai Woffinden establishes a 22-point lead over his nearest rival at the top of the standings by the end of the Rockklassiker Scandinavian SGP.

That would see him crowned Britain’s first world champion since Mark Loram in 2000. With so much at stake in Stockholm’s first SGP event since 2004, Olsen says this is a meeting not to miss.

He said: “It’s an event people should go and watch. It will be fantastic. The stadium is amazing and people will want to be a part of that.

“With what has unfortunately happened to Sayfutdinov, it looks as though we will be crowning the world champion here, and it will be a British champion as well. So that’s quite something.

“I’m very pleased we’ve got such a brilliant stadium in Scandinavia. It’s great for the sport and Sweden, which has such a great history of speedway. It’s an amazing stadium and a great city. Stockholm is one of the most happening cities in the world and it’s great to bring the SGP series back there.”