Conkers

The Under 21 Team Cup Of Russia Final 2 at Izhvesk was cancelled due to a poor track and safety concerns at the Stadium. Apparently the track was too thin at the edges, the inside line made the bends impossible to negotiate, plus there was no proper run off area that seems to be a feature of the Russian Tracks. There were also complaints about the Stadium in that the changing rooms were too small and the pits couldn't fit in all the bikes safely . Nikita Tarasov has posted some pics of the track and Pits on Instagram. The last time they staged a meeting at Ishvesk was 2011. Stadium Improvements are supposed to have been carried out, but the general consensus is that Ice Speedway may never be staged there again.

Won't that clash with the European Final?

ICE SPEEDWAY GLADIATORS FINAL 4, TOGLIATTI, SUNDAY 8.2.2020 Result: (GP Points in Bold) Dinar Valeev (3, 3, 3, 2, 3)(14+2+3) 19 20 Daniil Ivanov (3, 3, 3, 1, 2)(12+3+2) 17 18 Igor Kononov (2, 3, 2, 3, 3)(13+3+1) 17 16 Johann Weber (R, 2, 1, 3, 2)(8+2+d) 10 14 Dmitri Koltakov (1, 3, 3, 2, 2)(11+F) 11 12 Martin Haarahiltunen (3, 1, 2, 1, 3)(10+1) 11 11 Dmitri Khomitsevich (2, 2, 3, 3, 3)(13+R) 13 10 Harald Simon (0, 2, 2, 3, 1)(8+0) 8 9 Franky Zorn (3, 1, 1, 2, 0) 7 8 Evgeni Saydullin (2, 2, 0, 2, 1) 7 7 Stefan Svensson (2, 0, 2, 1, 1) 6 6 Ove Ledström (1, 1, 1, 0, d) 3 5 Vladimir Fadeev (Russia)(res) (2) 2 4 Lukas Hutla (1, 0, 1, d, 0) 2 3 Charly Ebner (1, 0, 0, 0, d) 1 2 Bart Shaap (d, 0, 0, 1, 0) 1 1 Jasper Iwema (d, 1, R, N, N) 1 0 Saveli Vedyanov (Russia)(res) (d) 0 0 SF1: Ivanov, Valeev, Haarahiltunen, Simon SF2: Kononov, Weber, Koltakov F, Khomitsevich R FINAL: Valeev, Ivanov, Kononov, Weber OVERALL: (*=Wildcard) Ivanov 78 Khomitsevich 64 Valeev 59 Kononov 56 Koltakov 51 Simon 43 Haarahiltunen 38 Weber 33 S. Svensson 28 Zorn 28 Saydullin* 21 Ledstrom 18 Hutla 18 N. Svensson 17 Ebner 13 Schaap 2 Cheblakov* 1 EDIT NOTE: There was some dispute regarding 5-8th places which Gambo alerted me to. Having just seen the FIM Results, I've amended the scores and result. But the words P!55 up and Brewery spring to mind regarding the Referee and Jury! CUP OF RUSSIA FINAL 2, VYATSKIE POLYANY, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8 & SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9 Vasilli Nesytyh 26 (15+11) Nikita Bogdanov 22 (10+12) Igor Saydullin 21+3 (12+9) Nikita Tarasov 21+2 (9+12) Nikita Toloknov 21 (11+10) Sergei Makharov 19 (5+14) Evgenei Sharov 17 (9+8) Eduard Krysov 16 (8+8) Ivan Chichkov 13 (10+3) Konstantin Kolenkin 12 (4+8) Dmitri Borodin 12 (5+7) Vladimir Bobin 9 (3+6) Yuri Olejnik 9 (7+2) Elisha Vydrin 2 (2+DNR) Dmitri Solyannikov 0 (0+DNR) Final Table Toloknov 50+3 Nesytyh 50+2 Bogdanov 44 Tarasov 40 Krysov 34 Sharov 32 Saydullin 31 Kolenkin 31 Bobin 23 Makharov 19 Solyannikov 18 Borodin 17 Chichkov 17 Olejnik 14 Khazmurzin 12 Khuzhin 10 Urakov 7 Vydrin 2

ICE SPEEDWAY GLADIATORS FINAL3, TOGLIATTI, SATURDAY 8.2.2020 Result: (GP Points in Bold) Daniil Ivanov (RUS) (3, 3, d, 3, 3) (12+2+3) 17 20 Dmitri Khomitsevich (RUS) (3, 3, 3, 2, 3) (14+3+2) 19 18 Dinar Valeev (RUS) (3, 1, 2, 3, 2) (11+3+1) 15 16 Evgenei Saydullin (RUS) (2, 1, 2, 3, 3) (11+2+0) 13 14 Igor Kononov (RUS) (3, 3, 3, 3, 1) (13+1) 14 12 Dmitri Koltakov (RUS) (2, 2, 3, 2, 3) (12+1) 13 11 Martin Haarahiltunen (SWE) (2, 0, 3, d, 2) (7+0) 7 10 Johann Weber (SWE) (2, d, d, 2, 2) (6+0) 6 9 Franky Zorn (AUT) (0, 2, 2, 1, 1) 6 8 Harald Simon (AUT) (1, 2, d, 1, 2) 6 7 Charly Ebner (AUT) (1, 3, 1, 0, 0) 5 6 Stefan Svensson (SWE) (0, 1, 1, 2, 1) 5 5 Ove Ledström (SWE) (1, 2, 1, 1, R) 5 4 Lukas Hutla (CzR) (d, 0, 2, 1, d) 3 3 Jasper Iwema (NL) (1, 0, 0, 1, d) 1 2 Bart Schaap (NL) (d, 1, 0, 0, R) 1 1 SF1 Khomitsevich, Saydullin, Koltakov, Haarahiltunen SF2 Valeev, Ivanov, Kononov, Weber FINAL Ivanov, Khomitsevich, Valeev, Saydullin Standings: (*=Wildcard) Daniil Ivanov 60 Dmitri Khomitsevich 54 Igor Kononov 40 Dmitry Koltakov 39 Dinar Valeev 39 Harald Simon 34 Martin Haarahiltunen 27 Stefan Svensson 22 Franky Zorn 20 Hans Weber 19 Niklas Svensson 17 Lukas Hutla 15 *Evgenei Saydullin 14 Ove Ledstrom 13 Charly Ebner 11 Jasper Iwema 10 Bart Schaap 1 *Vladimir Cheblokov 1

I may be wrong, but as Berlin, Inzell & Heerenveen are prodominantly speed skating tracks, I was under the impression they were around 400 meters. Looking at the Russian Tracks on Google Maps, only Togliatti stages speedway,so I think it may be shorter, but Sterlitamak looks like an Athletics track so that may be 400meters too. Perhaps Jesper could confirm this?

Just had an update on 'Eis-Hans' Weber, he's out of hospital with painful bruised ribs, but nothing broken. He's a bit sore, but is resting up before Togliatti.

I've been called worse,

I understand Weber has no broken bones but he is having a scan to see if his spleen is ruptured. Jacqueline was speaking to his wife this afternoon who passed the information.

Just as an aside, I'm going to keep a spreadsheet of the points scored to see how the standings would differ from the new GP Points system. So after two rounds here is the first Points Table: Danil Ivanov 41 Dmitri Khomitsevich 38 Igor Kononov 29 Dmitri Koltakov 28 Dinar Valeev 21 Harald Simon 20 Martin Haarahiltunen 19 Niklas Svensson 15 Stefan Svensson 14 Johann Webe 10 Franz Zorn 10 Lukas Hutla 9 Ove Ledstrom 7 Jasper Iwema 6 Charly Ebner 3 Vladimir Cheblakov 1

FIM ICE SPEEDWAY GLADIATORS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL 1 & 2, ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1 & SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2 FINAL 1, SATURDAY (GP Points in Bold) Daniil Ivanov (3, 3, 3, 2, 3) (14+3+3) 20 20 Dmitry Khomitsevich (3, 3, 3, 3, 2) (14+3+2) 19 18 Dmitry Koltakov (3, 3, 3, 3, 1) (13+2+1) 16 16 Igor Kononov (2, 2, 3, 3, 3) (13+2+0) 15 14 Dinar Valeev (3, 2, 2, 0, 2) (9+1) 10 12 Harald Simon (2, 2, 2, 1, 1) (9+1) 10 11 Stefan Svensson (0, 3, 2, 2, 2) (9+0) 9 10 Niclas Svensson (2, 0, 1, 3, 3) (9+R) 9 9 Lukas Hutla (1, 0, 1, 1, 3) 6 8 Martin Haarahiltunen (d, 2, 2, 2, 0) 6 7 Franky Zorn (1, 1, 1, 1, 1) 5 6 Jasper Iwema (2, 1, 0, 0, d) 3 5 Ove Ledström (1, 1, 1, 0, d) 3 4 Charly Ebner (0, 0, 0, 2, d) 2 3 Sergey Serov (res) (0, 0, 2) 2 2 Johan Weber (1, 1, d, N, N) 2 1 Pavel Nekrassov (Res) (0, 1, 0 1) 1 - Vladimir Cheblokov (0, N, N, N, N) 0 - SF1: Ivanov, Kononov, Valeev, S. Svensson SF2: Khomitsevich, Koltakov, Simon, N. Svensson FINAL: Ivanov, Khomitsevich, Koltakov, Kononov Standings: (*=Wildcard) Ivanov 40 Khomitsevich 36 Koltakov 28 Kononov 28 Simon 27 Valeev 23 S.Svensson 17 N.Svensson 17 Haarahiltunen 17 Zorn 12 Hutla 12 Weber 10 Ledström 9 Iwema 8 Ebner 5 Serov 2 Cheblokov* 1 Results from the Ice Speedway Live App & The FIM RUSSIA UNDER 21 INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI FINAL, SHADRINSK, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29 Savelii Vedyanov 15, Vladimir Fadeev 14, Elisha Vydrin 12, Ivan Volkov 10, Nikita Panov 10, Daniil Shashkov 10, Kirill Zevakov 10, Artem Bourmistrov 9, Pawel Glotkin 7 --------------------- Mark Kurakin 5, Andrei Anisimov 5, Nicholas Makharov 5, Maxim Stolbov 2, Evgeni Sushchenya 2, Andrei Kotenyov 1 UNDER 21 INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL, UFA SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1 & SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2 Dmitri Solyannikov 27 (12+15) Evgeni Saydullin 26 (14+12) Nikita Bogdanov (14+11)+3 Nikita Tarasov 25 (14+11)2 German Khazmurzin 21 (10+11) Ivan Khuzhin 16 (10+6) Savelii Vedyanov 14 (10+4) Vladimir Fadeev 14 (7+7) Elisha Vydrin 12 (5+7) Andrei Stepanov 12 (6+6) Artem Bourmistrov 10 (7+3) Nikita Panov 10 (1+9) Daniil Shashkov 10 (3+7) Kirill Zevakov 7 (3+4) Pawel Glotkin 6 (0+6) Ivan Volkov 1 (1+0) Andrei Asimov (res) 1 Mark Kurakin (res) 0

Thanks Dave - was using the App to get the results

FIM ICE SPEEDWAY GLADIATORS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL 1 & 2, ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1 & SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2 FINAL 1, SATURDAY (GP Points in Bold) Daniil Ivanov (3, 3, 3, 3, 3) (15+3+3) 21 20 Dmitri Khomitsevich (2, 3, 3, 3, 3) (14+3+2) 19 18 Harald Simon (2, 2, 2, 1, 1) (8+2+1) 11 16 Igor Kononov (3, 2, 3, 1, 3) (12+2+0) 14 14 Dmitri Koltakov (2, 2, 2, 3, 2) (11+1) 12 12 Dinar Valeev (3, 3, 1, 0, 3) (10+1) 11 11 Martin Haarahiltunen (3, 3, 3, 2, 2) (13+0) 13 10 Johan Weber (2, R, 2, 2, 2, 2) (8+0) 8 9 Niclas Svensson (1, 2, 0, 3, 0) 6 8 Stefan Svensson (0, 0, 2, 2, 1) 5 7 Franky Zorn (1, 1, F, 2, 1) 5 8 6 Ove Ledström (T, 1, 1, 1, 1) 4 5 Lukas Hutla (0, 0, 0, 1, 2) 3 4 Jasper Iwema (1, 1, 1, 0, 0) 3 3 Charly Ebner (0, 1, F, 0, 0) 1 2 Vladimir Cheblokov (1, d, 0, 0, 0) 1 1 SF1: Ivanov, Kononov, Valeev, Weber SF2: Khomitsevich, Simon, Koltakov, Haarahiltunen FINAL: Ivanov, Khomitsevich, Simon, Kononov Harald Simon makes it to the Rostrum for the first time in the series. What a performance from the Austrian. Considering he had last season out with injury, what a comeback! Daniil making no mistakes, to go unbeaten, and despite a blip in the Semi, a good start for Martin H. Results from the Ice Speedway Live App

Ice Speedway Gladiators Final 1, Almaty, Kazakhstan February 1/2 Draw for the weekend. 1 114 Dinar Valeev Russia 2 33 Johan Weber Germany 3 800 Jasper Iwema The Netherlands 4 665 Charly Ebner Austria 5 97 Ove Ledström Sweden 6 106 Dmitri Koltakov Russia 7 911 Igor Kononov Russia 8 16 WC Vladimir Cheblokov Kazakhstan 9 58 Stefan Svensson Sweden 10 100 Franky Zorn Austria 11 919 Dmitri Khomitsevich Russia 12 333 Daniil Ivanov Russia 13 50 Harald Simon Austria 14 199 Martin Haarahiltunen Sweden 15 212 Lukas Hutla Czech Republic 16 192 Niclas Svensson Sweden 17 Res 17 Pavel Nerkrassov Kazakhstan 18 Res 18 Sergey Serov Kazakhstan

ANATOLY STEPANOV MEMORIAL TROPHY, TOGLIATTI SATURDAY, JANUARY 25 RESULT: TEAM C 17 +3 (Dmitri Koltakov 10, Martin Haarahiltunen (Sweden) 7+3) TEAM D 17 +2 (Igor Kononov 14, Niklas Svensson (Sweden) 3+2) TEAM E 17 +1 (Nikolai Krasnikov 12, Hans Weber (Germany) 5+1) TEAM B 15 (Dmitri Khomitsevich 14, Jasper Iwema (Netherlands) 1) TEAM A 12 (Nikita Toloknov 9, Harald Simon (Austria) 3) TEAM F 12 (Daniil Ivanov 12, Charly Ebner (Austria) 0)

Jake, the MD of G2F, did mention that

The new Ice Speedway Gladiators smartphone app is now available. you have to delete the old one as it won’t update itself. Funnily enough I was doing some work for a PR/Media company in Bury called G2F and they designed it for the FIM. Talk about a small world!

No Russian Ice Speedway this wekend, as the U-21 Championship Semi Final in Lukhovitsy has been cancelled due to lack of ice. The U-21 semi will now be in Shadrinsk on 29.1.2020, with the final on the 1/2.2.2020

RUSSIAN SUPER LEAGUE ROUND 4, UFA, SUNDAY 19.01.2020 UFA 40 Krasnikov 13, Valeev 10, Solyannikov 9, Bogdanov 8 KAMENSK URAL 33 Khomitsevich 14, Nesytyh 7, Haarahiltunen 6, I. Saydullin 4, Khuzhin 2 TOGLIATTI 30 Kononov 13, Ivanov 9, Toloknov 8, E, Saydullin 0 SHADRINSK 17 Koltakov 7, Kolenkin 7, Ledstrom 1, Olejnik 1, Borodin DNR LEAGUE TABLE (AFTER 4 ROUNDS) UFA 20, TOGLIATTI 11, KAMENSK URAL 7, SHADRINSK 6 With two rounds to go, Ufa can afford to finish third in Round 5 to win the title. The Final rounds are over the weekend of February 22-23

Russian SUPER LEAGUE R3 Ufa 18.1.2020 Ufa 35 Nikolai Krasnikov 10, Dinar Valeev 9, Dmitri Solyannikov 9, Nikita Bogdanov 7 Togliatti 32 Daniil Ivanov11, Nikita Toloknov 10, Igor Kononov9, Evgeni Saydullin 2 Kamensk Ural 29 Dmitri Khomitsevich 14, Martin Haarahiltunen 7, Vasilli Nesytyh 5, Igor Saydullin 2, Ivan Khuzhin 1 Shadrinsk 23 Dmitri Koltakov 11, Ove Ledstrom 5, Konstantin Kolenkin 5, Juri Olejnik, Dmitri Borodin 0 Table League: Ufa 15, Togliatti 9, Shadrinsk 5, Kamensk Ural 4

Cheblakov Wild Card for Almaty

I don't disagree, but he has 'matured' as a rider in recent years, as he has ridden more.

Martin Haarahiltunen has qualified in the ISG for last three years. Because of the restrictions on any nation having more than the set number of qualifying riders, Sweden tends not to get Permanent Wildcards. I'd seen Martin ride at the Roelof Thijs meetings, and a Swedish Friend of mine said he was the future of Swedish Ice Speedway. I think if he stays injury free he could be a real threat to the Russians. Weber has ridden for a number of years, but has risen to the top in the last 3-4 years, qualifying on for the last two. I am of the opinion that certain German riders had too much influence in the past, so riders like Eis-Hans and Markus Jell were ignored because of it. In the last couple of years they have proved themselves, by knocking the established order with Weber getting Silver in the German Championship three years running, and Jell winning the Championship last season, after a year out of the sport. Posa once told me that some riders are 'naturals' like Erik Stenlund, but other riders take years to improve as they gain experience. Martin is, in my opinion, a Natural, whilst Eis-Hans has improved with experience.

The problem is, outside Russia, opportunities are few and far between for the young riders, so I can see where their thinking is. Schaap has impressed me over the last couple of years, so I think he deserves a chance to impress. Ebner has been there or thereabouts for a few years, and the fact he has ridden in Russia this season, has made his profile that bit higher. Personally I think Jell should have been considered, and I hope the Germans will include him in the team at the SoN in Berlin. Obviously the FIM have had a tough choice in selecting the Permanent Wildcards, but they will have had their reasons for picking the two they did. Any bets on 'Smiler' Luca Bauer getting the Inzell WildCard?

Cup of Russia Final 1, Saturday January 11 & Sunday January 12 Day 2 Result Toloknov 15 Nesytyh 12 Saydullin 11 Solyannikov 10 Krysov 10 Tarasov 9 Khuzhin 8 Bogdanov 8 Kolenkin 7 Sharov 7 Bobin 6 Chichkov 5 Olejnik 5 Khazmurzin 3 Urakov 3 Borodin 2 Overall Toloknov 29 (14 + 15) Nesytyh 24 (12 + 12) Bogdanov 22 (14 + 8) Kolenkin 19 (12 + 7) Tarasov 19 (10 + 9) Saydullin 19 (8 + 11) Solyannikov 18 (8 + 10) Krysov 18 (8 + 10) Sharov 15 (8 + 7) Bobin 14 (8 + 6) Khuzhin 10 (2 + 8) Khazmurzin 7 (4 + 3) Urakov 7 (4 + 3) Olejnik 7 (3 + 4) Chichkov 7 (2 + 5) Borodin 5 (3 + 2)

Cup of Russia Final 1, Saturday January 11 & Sunday January 12 Day 1 Result Nikita Toloknov 14 Nikita Bogdanov 14 Konstantin Kolenkin 12 + 3 Vasili Nesytyh 12 + 2 Nikita Tarasov 10 Dmitri Solyannikov 8 Vladimir Bobin 8 Evgeni Sharov 8 Eduard Krysov 8 Igor Saydullin 8 German Khazmurzin 4 Evgeni Urakov 4 Juri Olejnik 3 Dmitri Borodin 3 Ivan Chichkov 2 Ivan Khuzhin 2 I'm assuming that Toloknov was awarded 1st as he beat Bogdanov in Heat 5, as the Russian Forum isn't very clear on why they had a run off for 3rd/4th and not 1st/2nd