Ove Fundin 5 Times World Speedway Champion
"News"letter Nov 2011
Dear readers,
I don't think it is news to anyone that "the smiling yank" Greg Hancock won the 2011 speedway World Champioship. All through the GP season there was no talk about anyone for the "Crown" but Greg, he has gone right through the year as no 1, no matter what kind of racetrack and he is without doubt the best "gater" which , of course, helps. Congratulation Greg!
Nice to see Andreas Jonsson finishing off the series with a silver medal. I must admit I never thought he could manage a place among the top, not after the way he started the season. Well done Andreas !
Tomasz Gollob was not himself this year, I understand that Tomasz has had some personal problems, of course then it is not easy to concentrate on racing., but I do think he will be back. I do wonder what happened to Jason Crump.?..
Good to read that there will be a GP in Auckland, New Zealand in 2012. Hope it will be more successful then when Sydney, Australia was given a chance. I do wonder if N.Z. is going to get a wild card for one of their own riders. As I see it, New Zealand has none good enough to ride in a GP. It is a shame that a country that has produced so many World Champs and World class riders does not have any new talent.
But then, as I have written before, I do not consider the way the organizers can name riders not qualified for the GP. I do agree that the best 8 from the year rounds should be seeded, but the way some riders get a new chance, year after year....it is not a real World Championship.
Ioana and I attended this years WSRA dinner in Coventry, we enjoyed it, but I would like to see some of the younger riders at the tables. Sorry we missed the Norwich dinner, but we went to the Australian VSRA dinner, had a great time. Many thanks to Chum Taylor, he is the man that talked me in to come to Aussie
and he took great care of us in Perth and in Sydney. Nice to meet so many old friends and some new.
After Australia we flew over to Auckland N.Z., was met by Bob Andrews, he brought us to his very nice house. We spent a few happy days with Bob and his charming wife Lynda. Thanks to both of you.
Bob also arranged a dinner at a local hotel, many people turned up, most of them old and some not so old riders. Among them my old friend Johnny Missen, Johnny's wife gave birth to a son when I last rode in Auckland, they named him Ove after me. And now, after many years I got to meet Ove Missen....
Now we are soon off on another journey, we board a cruise ship in Italy Dec. First for a Transatlantic trip with lots of stops in Europe, Africa and Caribbean . We get off in Miami Dec. 21 and will stay in Florida over Christmas. Ioana loves cruising and I quite enjoy it too. It sure is different to the old ships we used to travel on to Australia or New Zealand in the 50's
For now then, I would like to finish by wishing you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR !
Would love to see some of you at a speedway during 2012, look forward to yet a great speedway year.
With our best wishes,
Ove and Ioana
