f-s-p 832 Posted October 17, 2009 (edited) Good debut for Kalle Katajisto last night, Kalle had 4 rides finishing with a win in Heat 14. Looks much improved from 2007 and even gated and didnt look out of place in some hard first bends with Joonas kylmakorpi helping him out. I think this was a good move in this point of the season. He's done all the possible training camps and meetings in Finland and what was availabe on the international calendar + Sweden as much as it was allowed in the end . Season here was over so to come over and do seven (i heard that said) meetings more in the UK is a good step. And he's good enough now to actually score some points and make money even, not just spend it. Not really sure about Kylmo's role in this, still hopefully Kalle manage's to get all the info available off from him. He was there for this one, I've heard nothing (not asked either) about the future... It was a great return for Kalle last night Fingers crossed he is one of the reserves next season. They might go numb... No need for that to happen! Edited October 17, 2009 by f-s-p Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Midnight_Lady 2 Posted October 17, 2009 Not really sure about Kylmo's role in this, ..... Joonas drove Kalle up and loaned him a frame for the meeting. He was a good guy to have in the pits as he knows his way around our track quite well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f-s-p 832 Posted October 17, 2009 Joonas drove Kalle up and loaned him a frame for the meeting. He was a good guy to have in the pits as he knows his way around our track quite well. Of course he is. I knew he would be there, but like I said, for this one. The behind the scenes story that I have is a bit different than yours, but who cares as long as Kalle does well! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Midnight_Lady 2 Posted October 17, 2009 (edited) The behind the scenes story that I have is a bit different than yours.... Ah well, just going on what Kalle said last night. Edited October 17, 2009 by Midnight_Lady Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dekker 239 Posted October 20, 2009 Wow, didnt see Kalle's score coming tonight at KL. Paid ten, i can hear fsp cheer now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f-s-p 832 Posted October 21, 2009 Wow, didnt see Kalle's score coming tonight at KL. Paid ten, i can hear fsp cheer now. ... and why wouldn't I! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f-s-p 832 Posted November 2, 2009 Kalle Katajisto's fine performances in the PL have really boosted the figures for my 2009 thread as they are up again from last year. The annual track racing parlament is held on november 14 at Pori. Also under discussion is the league structure for next year. 4TT should survive as the meeting format for another two years as is decided a year ago. Rider shortage will only become bigger next season as some of our youngsters are lured to riding abroad are older ones are retiring... Not really a good set of topics but we'll see what happens. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f-s-p 832 Posted November 14, 2009 Just back from the congress at Pori. Surprisingly very positive and constructive day behind me. Next year's Extraliiga will see (according to today's provisional approvals) the same teams as this year + Pori. The meeting format will remain 4tt but Meritähti as our track racing supremo has come up with a meeting format for 4tt that will see all the teams meeting each other 3 times during 18 heats with two teams/two each/1 heat. Havent met a proposition so well received in these gatherings in the five years I've attended! Kaupunki Cup will remain as last season. Finnish final: Kauhajoki, U21: Lahti, Pairs: Kuusankoski, Ice racing final: Kuusankoski 27th February, Ice racing Nordic final: Lahti (Pipo) 28th February. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bream 29 Posted November 14, 2009 Thx for the info! It would be great if Extraliiga would be driven in that new way. I think that only right way to race league matches is pairs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f-s-p 832 Posted November 27, 2009 (edited) KALLE KATAJISTO Was selected as the third "U21 Rider of the year" by Speedwaysanomat, the Finnish track racing magazine. Katajisto made Finnish speedway history by reaching the U19 European final, was fastest at the opening training camp in April and finished his season with a spectacular show for Edinburgh Monarchs in the Premier league. In between he also came third in the Finnish final and was the top scorer in the pairs final. His only slump was the U21 final where he was eliminated in the semifinal. The editor for Speedwaysanomat told f-s-p: "Kalle was the fastest this season, but the competition for this trophy was very hard this time. It wasn't a given as it has been for the first two years of it's history. An online poll was organised and more than 200 votes were given. The top3 received 78 % of the total votes with two riders in 30 %. Even the all knowing Finnish fans (with a couple of European votes in the mix) couldn't achieve an unanimous winner. It was very awarding to let Kalle know of his win as he sounded genuinely surprised, impressed and glad of winning this award. I hope he keeps on working hard and improving himself in the future." He continues: "I would also like to add, that my picture of world #1 Jason Crump in the back cover of Speedwaysanomat 10/2009 was so much better than Jarek Fabijan's 13 in a dozen back lean by the WC in the week 48 edition of the Spar, that I find it surprising that I have not yet received the call to become MP's #1 back up for next season." You can laugh now, the last one was not so serious. Though it was true... Edited November 27, 2009 by f-s-p Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SCOTLAND1314 121 Posted November 28, 2009 KALLE KATAJISTO Was selected as the third "U21 Rider of the year" by Speedwaysanomat, the Finnish track racing magazine. Katajisto made Finnish speedway history by reaching the U19 European final, was fastest at the opening training camp in April and finished his season with a spectacular show for Edinburgh Monarchs in the Premier league. In between he also came third in the Finnish final and was the top scorer in the pairs final. His only slump was the U21 final where he was eliminated in the semifinal. The editor for Speedwaysanomat told f-s-p: "Kalle was the fastest this season, but the competition for this trophy was very hard this time. It wasn't a given as it has been for the first two years of it's history. An online poll was organised and more than 200 votes were given. The top3 received 78 % of the total votes with two riders in 30 %. Even the all knowing Finnish fans (with a couple of European votes in the mix) couldn't achieve an unanimous winner. It was very awarding to let Kalle know of his win as he sounded genuinely surprised, impressed and glad of winning this award. I hope he keeps on working hard and improving himself in the future." He continues: "I would also like to add, that my picture of world #1 Jason Crump in the back cover of Speedwaysanomat 10/2009 was so much better than Jarek Fabijan's 13 in a dozen back lean by the WC in the week 48 edition of the Spar, that I find it surprising that I have not yet received the call to become MP's #1 back up for next season." You can laugh now, the last one was not so serious. Though it was true... Kalle's performance at Belle Vue in the play off was superb, and could have been even better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Midnight_Lady 2 Posted November 28, 2009 Well done Kalle Now get the ink on the paper and soon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f-s-p 832 Posted December 29, 2009 Thats it for 2008! This time Finnish News got over 35% more views compared to last year (I'm now logging off at 49 views per post), so perhaps this was worth doing again. We also had an alltime high of Finnish riders in the British leagues. Some of them were just tourists but still it tells us that there are riders willing to give it a go. Thats nice. Please remember to wear goggles while doing it and have an injury free New Years Eve, please. Over and out... Almost 52 vpp this season with a good last lap blast of increase after Katajisto came over! I'm happy with that. Not so many Finns this season in the UK but Kauko and Kalle did OK/great. Joonas was injured, again and alltough Tero was all but happy with his performance he managed to hang on to his averages. Saw his meeting against the Monarchs from Berwick where he scored freely, so hopefully he'll get a place after the season starts. Mäkinen came over in July(?) and according to the averages he was even poorer than the year before. Saw one of his meetings from Somerset (with his heat win) which give's me no reason to doubt his average. Hopefully Joonas gets a clean run next year! Finnish season was a success with some great racing. The federation has backed up the riders willing to take part in the training group and it has really paid off. Katajisto is set up for a year abroad next season and Timo Lahti has now signed a deal with Rospiggarna (Sweden) for three years. HE'S ONLY 17 NOW! Micke Teurnberg will guide him through the rough spots having known Timo personally since Timo was a kid. It looks really good. A downside to everything is the lack of riders that we'll see in a couple of years with not enough kids coming through. Microspeedway has now been started and will bring new riders, but that takes about 10 years. 80cc has struggled but some co-operation with Sweden is in the pipeline. Extraliiga deadline for teams to announce they will take part is 31st of December and the last of January they have to have the teams ready too. Four teams will take part again according to my knowledge. Some changes next year as speedwaysanomat.fi will be re-launched and include a news service which will most likely become my main internet "service". The same news will be shown at speedway.fi. speedwaysuomi.com will continue as my partner with meeting photos. A pretty good service that was started a few years ago and to which I jumped along last season. I guess I'll have to do the reports in english here, but we'll see how it all goes. Some uncertainties in the air... So this was it, the 6th year of Finnish results by f-s-p. Have a safe New Year! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
