Speedway – en sport vi älskar

@MagicMikeFishing

Mikael Andersson has lived and dreamt speedway his whole life. His idol has always been his dad, Åke. Swedish championships, international caps, European finals. But his dad was most successful in Central Europe, especially in Italy. In 1996, Mikeal wraps up his own speedway carrier. He never got the opportunity to race in Italy.

26 years go by. 56 years of age, Mikael receives an offer he can’t refuse… I have a Champagne! I have just received an e-mail from the Italian team captain, Pier Scagnetti. And I am completely… I have been invited to ride in Italy this summer.

Exactly 50 years ago, dad was there and inaugurated the track in Terenzano. Now they want the son – me – to come down there for a race. And not just any race, but the Italian championships. I haven’t raced since ’96. Eskilstuna ’96, September.

26 years ago. Okay, I’ve been sliding a bit, but not racing. Nothing. Now it has sunk in. I have just talked to mum and dad about us going to Italy. Mum thinks it’s a bit mad. Dad thinks it’s “very good, very good Micke, of course we should go”.

We are going. Absolutely we are going. There are two meetings. Midsummer weekend: Saturday, Sunday. But there’s a lot that needs to be prepared before then. I’ve written a to-do list. We need an international FIM license. I haven’t had that in many, many years. I need to apply for a start permission from Svemo.

I need to take a riding competency test. If you haven’t competed in 5 years, you need to be assessed. I have talked to Micke Teurnberg in Målilla. He’s accredited to assess my competence and see if I know how to ride, so I can receive a license again.

We’ll try to arrange that in April. I need to exercise. I’ve been a bit lazy this winter. I need to start running, get in shape, hit the gym. I need to loose at least a few kilos. So I’m at least a bit competitive down there.

And, most importantly, compete. To pick up the pace. I have just talked to the motor club here – Vetlanda, Njudungarna – that I’d like to ride for Division 1 this spring. To pick up the pace. Because there’s a hell of a big difference to train and to compete.

I don’t want to be lapped in Terenzano. I need 6-7 meetings under my belt. Hopefully… The team cup takes place here in April. It would’ve been a great test, to ride in the team cup for Vetlanda. And I expect that by then, I will be fit and ready to start racing.

Saturday, June 25. That’s when it’s on in Terenzano. 25th and 26th. Then we will be prepared, properly. Let’s go. So dad. Here are some memories. Your last meeting in Terenzano. 1981. 45 years old, dad. Here we have Åke Andersson. Giuseppe Marzotto – “Charlie Brown”. Armando dal Chiele. And here, Ferraccioli.

There are a lot of Hungarians and Yugoslavs. But that’s where you had engine trouble, right? The steel shoe fell too. Those were the days. Dad, that’s you. Yes, it is… That’s from Terenzano. That’s from Stadio Moretti. There you’re in the lead. Is it you on the inside?

So much people. Look at the crowd… It was in the 1960s that dad started riding in Italy. Udine, Castelmassa, Bergantino, Civitanova. The first meeting was held at Stadio Moretti, the big football stadium in central Udine. The same year I was born.

Dad didn’t own a car so he caught a ride with a countryman. Already outside of Hanover, the car broke down. But they made their way down to Italy, and dad was triumphant. Year after year he returned to Italy and won races in front of packed crowds.

The first time I was there, I wasn’t yet 3. Dad had been invited to coach the Italian national team, including the Pizzo brothers, Giuseppe and Gianni, the Italian champions. For over a week, dad showed and explained how to best powerslide the bends.

On the last day of training, the riders pooled money for four boxes of grapes, aubergine and pear. In the back seat home through Europe, a young Micke ate fruit until diarrhea. A few years later, Moto Club Olimpia moved from Udine, 10km south, to the newly built track in Terenzano.

All through the 70s, international meetings were every year held in Italy, often in Terenzano. And often with dad on the podium. The competitors were the top tier from Southern and Eastern Europe. Hungarians like Barnabás Gyepes. Czechoslovaks like Miroslav Spinka.

Germans like Josef Angermüller. Italians like Giuseppe Marzotto, who would later develop the GM engines. And Austrians like Günther Walla, Josef Haider, Alfred Sitzwohl. Mum, Else-Britt, was always by dad’s and mine side. She always did the cooking and planned all accommodation.

She wrote all the letter and talked on the phone, both in German and English. Being 5, 6, 7 years old, I don’t remember much from the heats. I was much too busy running around, playing in the stifling Mediterranean heat.

Having arrived many hours before the meetings started, me and the other children walked one lap after the other around the track, looking for nuts and bolts, gathering refundable cans and bottles and dug in sand piles.

Mum had sewn overalls for me and my little brother. On the back it said “Dackarna” and dad’s name: Åke Andersson. We were so proud. Finns? Okay. He was good, that one. Was he good? Right dad, and soon we’re going back to Terenzano to race.

Have you changed the gearing? Put on 57 in the rear? Yes, at least! That’s great… Well, Micke, what are you doing? Tomorrow is the first training of the year, so I’m busy loading the bus here. And how do you feel about that?

Both a bit nervous and exciting. But above all, this will be so much fun. Tomorrow, we’re leaving for Västervik. For an open practice. I haven’t raced in Västervik since 1994, so 28 years ago.

Always a bit tricky before the first training: where is the steel shoe? Where are the boots? Where are the gloves? But everything should be packed. All that’s left is the bike which we’ll mount tomorrow. Well, then it’s Monday. Change of plans. We aren’t going to Västervik, instead we’re going to Målilla.

There’s a friendly meeting between Målilla and Lejonen there. And I have been given permission by Micke Teurnberg to ride a few laps after it. So it won’t be Västervik – it will be Målilla. How do you feel about that?

It feels pretty good. Last time I raced in Målilla was in ’96, so it’s only 26 years ago, so it’ll probably be fine. A little nervous actually. The meeting is well under way out there and I’ll be assessed for license in a little while.

I know how to ride, but it’s always a bit nervous. You never know what they might say. It’s Micke Teurnberg who will assess my riding. The track still looks good. There are probably four heats to go before it’s my turn. Now we are fully dressed.

I’m about to put on my steel shoe. Soon it’s time to be assessed for license. I actually don’t know if anyone can film me when I ride, but we’ll see. If nothing else, wish me luck. The training has finished. And yes, I received my license. Micke Teurnberg thought my riding was okay.

I’m satisfied, dad’s satisfied. The first meeting will be next weekend. Now I have my license at least. And here he is, starting from gate three, the hometown son, the talent, Mikael Andersson. Micke Andersson in this heat, then. Exciting with the comeback, Mikael Andersson, 56 years old.

Rides with a suit that can’t be missed. Quite unusual with an almost completely white race suit. Also known as Magic Mike, at least here in Vetlanda. Usually goes on adventures abroad and catches big fish. It’s him that we see in the picture here – Magic Mike.

You spoke to Mikael yesterday and he had his sights set on Italy, if I understood correctly? Exactly. During midsummer he’ll be riding in the Italian championships. Gets that opportunity much because of his dad who was there back in the day coaching the Italian national team. Apparently quite a big name down there.

They saw it as a bit of an honour to invite the son to ride in the Italian championships. Maybe he gets to go down and lock horns with Castagna and Covatti then? They should be the ones competing for the top positions. I don’t think we’ll find Mikael up there.

He was happy just to be riding again. Here we have Åke Andersson and Mikael Andersson. Three points today. A fall when in second position. But it is what it is. A sprained wrist. But tomorrow we ride in Målilla anyway.

I have just visited my good friend and old speedway mate Patrik Olsson in Västervik and picked up my newly renovated engine. I’ve also borrowed another engine, which Greg Hancock had a few years ago, as a spare engine.

Because there are two races. It’d be annoying to drive 2000 km one way and have the engine break, so I have a spare engine. Right now we are in the holy garage. In this garage we have spent 40 years.

There’s a lot of nostalgia on the walls and in the ceilings here. It still smells like Castrol oil. Even though there are many years since we stopped using the R40 oil. Now the engine is installed. We’ll warm it up tomorrow because the silicone need to cure a bit longer.

But there is a little bit more to do. Need to prepare what to bring to Italy. There’s a lot, and a lot of spare parts too. How many spare tyres to bring, spare steel shoe and… Anything can happen.

You also have to take into account that something could actually happen to me down there in Italy. And my Magic Van, my minibus, dad has never driven. Dad is 86 years old and not the best in traffic.

This Sunday, today’s Friday, this Sunday I’ll take him for a practice drive to make sure he can handle it. Because should I get injured, should something happen to me in Italy, he needs to drive almost 2000 km home. Mom doesn’t have a driver’s license. Lots to think about.

Planning some food too, what I should eat. There are two meetings and practice at 3pm. Then the races start at 6pm. I need a substantial meal around 1pm maybe. I was thinking pasta bolognese. And then we practice at 3pm. Then I need a lighter meal before the meeting starts at six.

It will be extremely hot. So it’s important to drink a lot of water to not get a heatstroke. A lot that needs to be planned. Dad and I are washing a vintage Njudungarna cover. We have borrowed it from Axel. It was dirty. Probably hasn’t been washed in the last 40 years.

Time to run 10k for the last time before the Italian adventure. I’m maintaining my ideal weight: 80,6 kg. Considering what I eat. Restricting the carbs. I’m actually going to buy half a kilo of candy and eat it on the way home. I’m worth it.

On Monday morning the week after next, on our way home, I’ll have half a kilo of candy. Otherwise, everything is fine. Heading out to Bäckseda later to continue packing. It is now Tuesday morning.

The bike is mounted. We had to attach it in the rear. There is no possibility of having it inside, too many wheels and… 25 litres of methanol, among other things. It can sit here in the back. We have it properly covered. Jam-packed in here, the bike is in place.

Now I have to leave for work. I work until midnight and then we’ill leave tomorrow morning at 5.30 am. I should get three or four hours of sleep. Then we’ll drive 1100 km, that’s what we have planned. So halfway through Germany. Then we’ll jump to the back of the van and sleep.

So the idea is… Vetlanda. Helsingborg – Helsingør. Rødby – Puttgarden. If there’s time, maybe I can close my eyes here. Then we’ll drive south: Berlin, Leipzig, Gera. Somewhere south of Gera, we’ll stop to sleep. Then we’ll continue down towards Munich. Cut over to Villach.

We’ll sleep here. From there we don’t have far to Udine and Terenzano. So we arrive before lunch. It’s 5.25 am. Time to leave for Italy. Mum and dad have entered the van. And we’re about to cruise towards Germany. I actually did the maths.

It’s exactly 20 years ago, 2002, when we last drove towards Europe with a speedway bike in the back. That was when Peter was still alive. I believe it was a qualifying round for the Grasstrack European Championship. 2002. 20 years ago. Time again for Team Andersson to hit the roads in Europe.

Here we come. Now we’re in Sjöboda and peeing. We’re about to have fika, but we’ll have it while driving. It feels a bit stressed. And we only drive at 80 km/h, it uses significantly less diesel. But we’re keeping the pace. We left at 5.27 am.

We’re now on the ferry between Rødby and Puttgarden. Everything has gone well. The Magic Van runs exactly as it should. Somewhat tired, I only slept 2,5 hours last night since I worked until midnight yesterday

So I thought I’d be naughty and curl up and close my eyes for a bit. The ferry takes 40-45 minutes. I’ll close my eyes, even though you’re not allowed to do it. But after this – we still have 600 km left today. I need to try to regain some energy now.

Now we’re… What do we have? 250 km to Berlin. It’s going alright. You have to make some stops to see that the bike is still there. And it is. We finished on 1060 km today. The Magic Van has been running really, really well.

We’ve taken it easy. We have actually driven for 16 hours. Those of you who know us, the Andersson family, know that we lost our little brother Peter in a car accident 19 years ago. There’s no reason to stress. Peter and I were like twins, even though there was about three years between us.

Better to take it easy and stay away from stupid overtaking. Now we’re actually going to sleep in a hotel. I’m not going to sleep in the car. Not mum and dad either. If we’ve driven 1060 km, we’re worth a hotel stay.

We have to get up tomorrow at 6.30 am. At 8.00, at the latest, we need to be in the car, ready to continue. Day 2. Sunshine. No clouds. And there we have The Magic Van. I reversed it so the speedway bike is somewhat hid against the bushes.

We haven’t driven more than 100 km today and… the car stops. It is like that when you have cars that aren’t brand new, but you can’t afford anything else. It just died on the highway. It started again and we have been driving with the hazard lights on.

We drove to a repair shop but they didn’t have any mechanics on site. We drove slowly for another 10 km. To a large Renault repair shop, but of course they were closed today. It was just an old man in the office.

They were all at a motor show or something. So now I’ve been given an address 30 km from here. We have to drive very slowly along the highway with the hazard lights on. The check engine light is lit and that means you shouldn’t be driving at all.

I need someone to scan the engine with a computer to see what’s wrong. But as I said… We just have to keep going and hope that we can solve this. 350 km to a repair shop. They were kind and let mum and dad borrow the toilet here, they needed to go.

There he goes into a Renault repair shop. Fingers crossed now that the problem’s not too complicated. Now they’re connecting a computer here to see if they can find what’s wrong with my Magic Van. Now we are at the absolute best repair shop.

They’ve looked at the van and it’s one of the cylinders that’s running slow, meaning the spark plug fails when we speed up. If we drive in a normal speed, we can keep going. The check engine light is turned off. How much is it? €37 to check this. Very nice, very friendly.

We haven’t taken any detours. We’re maybe two hours behind schedule. But that’s no issue. We’re ready to go again. All good here with Team Andersson! Mum and dad have now buckled up. We’re underway! Positive vibes. But for a while there it was damn nervous.

If you knew how fantastic it feels to be back on road again towards Terenzano. We’re now in Ingolstadt, and here we’ve refilled our water. About 15 litres, so we can make it through the weekend. It’s forecast to be really hot. Here it’s probably 28-30°C in the shade.

So now we’ll keeping going. Towards Villach. There we’ll sleep in the van tonight. Yihaa! The blackbird is singing. Comfortable, warm in the mountains down here. It might rain, it’s partly cloudy, but really warm. Curl up in the van now and sleep well. Tomorrow we actually only have 180 km to Udine.

So we can have a little sleep in tomorrow. Eat breakfast in the van. Then move on. We’re not allowed to check in until… We’ve booked a hotel for a couple of nights. We can’t check in until the afternoon. But it’s nice to be there well before time and just take it easy.

An eventful day. My friends, we have arrived at the motor stadium, at the Olimpia stadium here in Terenzano. Nice, it’s gone great. Today was only 150-200 km.. Really hot. It’s forecast to be thunder. There were dark clouds in the mountains, but here… Time stands still, I was about to say.

We’re not allowed to check in at the hotel until 4 pm so we drove to the motor stadium. Relaxing, dad has curled up in the van to rest. I guess we’ll cook some food here on the portable gas stove in a little while.

Like I said, we check in at the hotel at 4. Then we’ll take it easy tonight. Plan to find a restaurant tonight, some chicken and salad. My parents always want to eat Italian pizza, and dad really wants pizza with anchovies. It’s incredibly important.

Now we are here and it feels good. A bit fidgety. It should be. In 24 hours… It’ll be even more nervous. But it should be, when it’s speedway. Of course we eat on this trip too. Mother and father, we’ve cooked some sausages here.

So now we’ll have an appetiser here. We’re going out for a nice meal tonight, hopefully. Day of the race. Slept decently. Slept in a hotel. Out here in the countryside, 10 km from the speedway track. We’ll now sleep here for a couple of nights.

Race today, race tomorrow, and then we go home on Sunday. It’s still a few hours until we leave for the motor stadium, so I thought I’d dismount the bike.

Attach the front wheel, the wheel cover. We removed it to make it easier to see the tail light, in case the police would whine about it. Work on this and then leave for the track at 11 am. What we can do and prepare with the bike is now done.

Now we’ll relax for another hour before leaving. There’s no point in going there earlier because no one is yet there. Now we’ve arrived, entered the box, the pit, and dad, the chief mechanic, is doing some lubrication and preparation here. Practice is still many, many hours away.

We want to be here in time. It’s always like that with Team Andersson. So now we have some stuff to work on here. The track looks nice. It is hot. Very hot. There’s always a big difference walking around a track versus being in the stands or on the sidelines.

Damn long straights here in Terenzano. That’s often the case when there’s a football pitch inside. That makes the curves tight. But they remade it a number of years ago, so it’s much wider now compared to when dad was here. 50 years ago it was much narrower.

Like I said, long straights. It’ll be fast. Two hours until practice, we’ll cook some pasta here. We need some carbs before the meeting. Half an hour left until the motorcycle inspection. I’m just sitting here enjoying myself. It feels good. Some Germans who will race today have arrived.

Now the bike has been inspected. Seems to have been most important to weigh it, to make sure it weighed enough, probably. There will be a second inspection later, before the meeting. Practice has been postponed until 3.30 pm. Don’t know why.

I can imagine that Paco Castagna hasn’t arrived yet, and that’s why they’re postponing it. Could be that. Have had pasta now. Mum is in the van and dad is still relaxing in the van. Fucking nervous. I drink and piss, drink and piss. Take dumps too. It’s supposed to be nervous. Odd, otherwise.

Walla hasn’t arrived yet. But many others are here, and everyone wants to talk and ask if I need help in the pit. We’re one big family, we all help each other. Practice is over. Hot like hell. It’s fast out there, really fast. For an old man like me, it’s damn fast.

It’s slippery, but still fast. Now it’s just over 1,5 hours until the meeting starts. Turns out the bike weighs too little, like 30-40 grammes. So I have to lead it. I had no idea. I told them that I’m fat. But that wasn’t enough.

I had to get balance weights and tape them under the seat. So now it should be approved. …and now the winner of the third round – Paco Castagna! Now we are back at the hotel. It’s been a fantastic day. Hot. Got sunburned.

Met so many excited friends. Some I’d never met before, we’re just friends on Facebook. Finished on 6 points. I’m very satisfied. Tough competition. Some talented Germans were there. I could be father to everyone in the lineup.

I beat a lot of juniors, that was fun. The bike runs like a bullet. Thanks to Patrik Olsson. However, I’m a bit timid and hold back. So much fun. The track was difficult. It’s fast. And if you hesitate just a little, it’s a little scary.

Now it’s time to sleep for a few hours. At 9 am we can enter the Olimpia stadium and be able to wash our gear. Wash the bike, sanding the clutch plates. Pier, the president of the motor club, has taken care of race suit, washing it overnight so it’s white and fresh tomorrow.

Günther Walla from Austria – Austria’s best rider of all time – came to visit. So many amazing friends. Dad got to go to the podium to receive a book about Terenzano celebrating 50 years. I’m just so damn happy. Partly to have mum and dad with me on this trip.

Another race tomorrow. It will be just as late. Then we only have 1900 km home. But that will be another adventure. Now… I’m not sponsored by Stensåkra, but their Wild garlic. I worked there for a few years. The wild garlic sausage. You don’t even have to cook it or grill it.

Can always have them in the fridge. Very nice. Lots of protein. Good morning! Day 2. It’s about 9 am. Didn’t sleep many hours last night. It’s always like that, you relive the race and want to correct everything and blah blah blah…

Oh well, I got to rest for five hours at least. And now the bike is ready to be washed. They have a pressure washer here at the track, so we could put all my dirty stuff here and now we’re going to wash, dad and I.

This will take a few hours to make it flawless before this afternoon, when it’s practice again at 3 pm. We’ll try to change the gearing a bit, see if it feels better or worse, otherwise we go back to what we had yesterday. The meetings starts at 6 pm. Let’s go!

Dad felt awful during the night, the heat and pain in his legs. The painkillers haven’t helped much. It’s tough for him. He was so great yesterday. I didn’t get any assistance from the other mechanics, only the push starts. There were too few officials so my friends had to step in as flag marshals.

Mum is still at the hotel and dad and I have come here to fix the clutch, we have washed the bike. Stefano will pick up up at 1 pm. Then we’ll have pasta and bolognese.

There was just one free point yesterday. The rest were real points. And I actually overtook several riders, it was great fun. However, I just found out that two of the worse riders are not competing today. One had a bit of a concussion yesterday when he crashed.

We’ll see if there will be additional riders. But I was unlucky. The heats were always full when I rode In some heats they were only three since there were only 14 of us. And I faced Castagna twice.

But it is what it is. The Andersson family has always had a bit of bad luck. Practice completed. I need to talk loudly… Changed the sprocket size to 58 instead of 57. It spins more but now we’ll put on a new tyre and hopefully it will be better.

I can’t hold back. Before I’ve released and slid into the curve just – duh, duh, duh, duh – and then full throttle. But it’s scary because it’s so slippery. Just like that the rear could let go.

I need to accelerate more, more speed. But it’s so damn easy… It’s hard to make it work from here – to there. Won’t practice more now. Change to a new tyre and wait for the first heat. Don’t have the draw yet so I don’t know when I ride.

A good Slovenian rider has arrived for today’s race. Competition’s tough. There are so many people who watch speedway that have never raced themselves who don’t get it. “Just twist the throttle!”

This is how it is. Here we come riding on this straight. Paco Castagna maybe in 95 km/h, and me in 85. Full speed. Sure, today there’s an air fence, that wasn’t the case back in my day. And then you need to turn. The more you speed up, the easier it is.

But to get that signal from the brain to the hand, that now you should be accelerating. You have to be a little crazy for this. If you’re a bit older, like me, it’s easy to slow down and then it becomes more difficult to take the curve.

So if you’ve never been on speedway bike should never say: “Come on, just twist the throttle”. There are even mechanics who have never raced who believe it’s just to go faster.

You have to experience this to understand it. At the same time, it’s such a rush to be able to take the turn at 80, 90, 100 km/h. The track is, like yesterday, rock hard for the most part. Two centimeters of shale that will move. It will be a rubber track.

It’s troublesome that we’re only allowed to do practice starts here. Not on the starting straight, only on this side. And here it is stiff. The front wheel lifts off the ground perfectly. Then at the meeting, we’ll be over there.

It will soon be in the shade. And the grip is much better there. So it’s a bit tricky with the clutch. But we do our best. Now it’s time for a Stensåkra sausage. The race starts in a couple of hours.

Just relax – we’ve changed to a new tyre – and prepare for the race. Here comes Mikael! The warrior! I have a Champagne! The meeting is over. Only 4 points today. Tougher competition. A rider from Ljubljana rode really well and came 2nd.

But I beat a young German twice, so he was a bit upset with me. So 4 points. 10 points in two days. I am… Yes, I must be satisfied with that. Lovely to ride an extra lap afterwards and receive a standing ovation from the stands. It was really fun.

Now we’re heading to the hotel. Tomorrow at 6 am we head to Austria, Germany. We will drive about 1100 km tomorrow. Then we’ll split the distance so… Well, it’ll almost be the whole way home after that. I start working on Wednesday.

Such is life as a non-professional speedway rider. You have to work too. The track was much tougher today. A rubber rut on the inside and loose dirt on the outside, and I had in big troubles. I changed gears several times.

It got better. But as I said, tough competition. But it was a great feeling to ride. Now it’s over, we’re back at the hotel. The track was more difficult today. But it is what it is. I hesitated a little too much, and you can’t do that when you ride speedway.

Now we have brought out the pickled herring. Mum forgot the herring on midsummer eve, so now we’ll have herring and eggs. We’ll have cold wild garlic sausages, Pepsi Max, some cheese, eggs, bread. We’ll have a little brunch here in the evening. We’ll try to leave tomorrow before 6 am.

Good morning. Yes, it’s good morning, because it’s actually a couple of minutes past 4. Tuesday morning. Yesterday we were supposed to drive 1100 km. But we got 860. Troubles with the van again. A lot. It stopped a couple of times on the highway.

We had to stop many times and let it cool down and not drive too fast. Maybe 80 km/h, no more than 90. Dad woke up last night with a high fever. 1.30 am, pouring with sweat. Don’t know if it’s something we ate.

But we’ve both been to the toilet. It feels a bit better, but I feel drowsy. But we’ll try to continue. We have about 1150 km to Vetlanda, via Denmark. The blackbird is singing. It rained during the night and we are in Gera.

Far from home. Now we’ll keep going while it’s cooler outside. It’s better for the engine. Now we’re on the ferry to Sweden. From Helsingør, we’re soon in Helsingborg.

We have been in this driver’s seat for over 16 hours. Still at least 3 hours to go, so it will be 19-20 hours before we’re home. It’s rough, but the van has been causing problems. I can’t drive faster than 85-90 km/h.

Mum is eating candy! Dad watches and we listen to the Swedish Speedway Championships from Linköping. Three hours to go. Then we’re home. Yihaa! It’s now 1 am, Wednesday night. We have been driving for 21 hours, driving 1180 km. I’m quite exhausted now, yes.

But tomorrow is a working day. We had to get home and sleep and work. It’s… What is it? Thursday. We got home last night. Yesterday we didn’t have the energy to do anything with the bike.

I worked yesterday. I’ll start to work in a couple of hours again. Now we have dismounted the bike and are about to wash it. That’s the downside of being a non-professional speedway rider. Now we’ve washed the bike, dad and I, and we’ve returned from an absolutely fantastic trip.

We have met so many friends, had so much fun. It’s been a complete adventure. You might think, but what did you get paid? We are doing this because of the adventure and our friends. The diesel alone cost more than 10 000 SEK. A couple of nights in hotels and international license.

Tyres, oil, methanol. We may have spent 30 – 35 000 SEK on this trip. And I was paid 2000 SEK in petrol money. 2000 SEK. You might understand that we don’t do this for the money. We do it because we love it.

And with that, the Andersson family thank you. And hope you enjoyed watching this documentary. Speedway – a sport we love. Yihaa! Did you look happy or stone-faced? Yes, I tried to move a little…