Conkers

Keep an eye on the website http://www.ijsspeedway-assen.nl/en/ as the tickets can be bought there. Not available yet though. I ended up hiring a car last year to get to/from Heerenveen. When they staged meetings at Assen, it was easy to get the train to Schipol in time to check in for my flight, but the Sunday train from Heerenveen didn't get me to Schipol in time to catch my flight home. If you are staying until Monday however, the Train is the cheapest option. There was a thread on the Russian Forum last year, where there were some fans who wanted Franky to ride in Russia, in the Russian League. Whilet they want the Russians to win, there is a growing number who think encouraging western riders to race in domestic fixtures can only be good for the sport. On other matters, Doug, are we going to be able to have that pint next season? I'm at Berlin Inzell and Heerenveen.

My information is Berlin is set for 1-4.3.18, with Inzell scheduled for 17-18.3.18.

ASTANA EXPO FIM ICE SPEEDWAY GLADIATORS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL 5, HEERENVEEN, NETHERLANDS, SATURDAY & SUNDAY, APRIL 1-2 SUNDAY ROUND 10 Khomitsevich 16 (11+2+3), Valeev 15 (11+2+2), Ivanov 16 (12+3+1), Koltakov 18 (15+3+f), N. Svensson 9 (8+1), Zorn 9 (8+1), Kononov 13 (13+D), S. Svensson 10 (10+0), Simon 7, Bauer 5, Weber 4, Ledstrom 4, Klatovsky 4, Kankunen 3, Niedermaier 2, Reitsma 0, Iwema (res) 0 Semi Final 1: Koltakov, Khomitsevich, N. Svensson, S. Svensson Semi Final 2: Ivanov, Valeev, Zorn, Kononov (d) Final: Khomitsevich, Valeev, Ivanov, Koltakov (f) FINAL STANDINGS (*=Wildcard) Koltakov 185, Kononov 170, Khomitsevich 154, Valeev 135, Ivanov 106, Zorn 104, S. Svensson 78, G. Bauer 66, Simon 53, N. Svensson 49, Ledstrom 47, Niedermaier 43, Klatovsky 34, Weber 29, Krasnikov* 28, Olsen 20, Toloknov* 19, Kankunen 10, Cheblakov* 7, Reitsma* 1, L. Bauer* 1 Heerenveen will be staged next season on the 6-7-8th April. The rumour is that 2019 will be later again!

ASTANA EXPO FIM ICE SPEEDWAY GLADIATORS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL 5, HEERENVEEN, NETHERLANDS, SATURDAY & SUNDAY, APRIL 1-2 SATURDAY - ROUND 9 (Russia unless stated) Dmitri Koltakov 21 (15+3+3), Igor Kononov 19 (14+3+2), Dmitri Khomitsevich 16 (13+2+1), Dinar Valeev 11 (9+2+0), Danil Ivanov 11 (10+1), Franz Zorn (Austria) 10 (9+1), Harald Simon (Austria) 11 (10+fx), Stefan Svensson (Sweden) 9 (9+0), Niklas Svensson (Sweden) 7, Jan Klatovsky (Czech Rep.) 6, Gunther Bauer (Germany) 5, Ove Ledstrom (Sweden 5), Max Niedermaier (Germany) 3, Timo Kankunen (Finland) 2, Simon Reitsma (Netherlands) 1, Jasper Iwema (Netherlands - Res) 1, Hans Weber (Germany) 0, Bart Schaap (Netherlands - Res) 0 Semi Final 1: Koltakov, Valeev, Zorn, Simon (fx) Semi Final 2: Kononov, Khomitsevich, Ivanov, S. Svensson Final: Koltakov, Kononov, Khomitsevich, Valeev With Sunday's round to go, Koltakov has a 10 point lead in the standings over Kononov - 167 to 157. Dimon should clinch the title in his fourth ride on Sunday. He was unbeatable last night, so far ahead of the others. Only in the Final did Kononov trouble him for a lap and a half, before Dimon shot away from him.

Roelof Thijs Bokaal Result, Heerenveen, March 31 1. Eduard Krysov (Russia), 2. Martin Haarahiltunen (Sweden) 3. Charly Ebner (Austria) 4. Sebastian Gegenbauer (Germany) 5. Lukas Hutla (Czech Rep.) 6. Jonas Andersson (Sweden) 7. Franz Mayerbuchler (Germany) 8. Andreas Westlund (Sweden) 9/10. Tobias Busch (Germany, Tomi Tani (Finland) 11/12. Jasper Iwema (Netherlands), Bart Schaap (Netherlands) 13/14. Mikael Flodin (Sweden), Simon Reitsma (Netherlands), 15. Victor Svensson (Sweden) 16/17. Jo Saetre (Norway), Reinhard Greisel (Germany) 18/19. Radek Hutla (Czech Rep), Rob Irving (GB) 20/21. David Lizak (Czech Rep), Jimmy Tuinstra (Netherlands) 22. Erwin Schuster (Austria) Both Ronny Haring and Andrej Divis didn't take part, which is why the placings are a bit odd.

Draw for Roelof Thijs Bokaal 31.3.17 Its the 24 heat GP KO Formula 1 Jimmy Tuinstra NL 2 Luca Bauer D replaced by Radek Hutla CZR 3 Ronny Häring CH 4 Rob Irving GB 5 Jonas Andersson S 6 Jasper Iwema NL 7 Erwin Schuster A 8 Reinhard Greisel D 9 Andreas Westlund S 10 Lukáš Volejník CzR replaced by David Lizak CzR 11 Bart Schaap NL 12 Franz Mayerbüchler D 13 Mikael Flodin S 14 Sebastian Gegenbauer D 15 Jo Saetre N 16 Simon Reitsma NL 17 Tobias Busch D 18 Tomi Tani SF 19 Lukáš Hutla CzR 20 Martin Haarahiltunen S 21 Charly Ebner A 22 Andrej Diviš CzR 23 Eduard Krysov Rus 24 Viktor Svensson S (winner 2016) Live update from the track - with minutes to go we get changes! Follow the meeting on http://live.baanspor...heerenveen.html

Rami Systä has had to drop out of the meeting. He will be replaced by British Rider Rob Irvine.

You'll be telling me next that the Pope is a Catholic Jesper!

Thought it was too good to be true - Jimmy Olsen has withdrawn, and Finland's Timo Kankunen (57) will replace him Is anyone planning a Jaunt to Heerenveen?

Maybe he thinks those rockwool bales are soft enough! Are you planning a jaunt to Heerenveen by any chance?

Roelof Thijs Bokaal Friday 31.3.17, Heerenveen Line up: Simon Reitsma NL Bart Schaap NL Jimmy Tuinstra NL Jasper Iwema NL Luca Bauer Germany Tobias Busch Germany Sebastian Gegenbauer Germany Franz Mayerbüchler jr Germany Reinhard Greisel Germany Tomi Tani Finland Rami Systä Finland Jo Saetre Norway Charly Ebner Austria Erwin Schuster Austria Eduard Krysov Russia Andrej Diviš Czech Rep Lukáš Hutla Czech Rep Lukáš Volejník Czech Rep Viktor Svensson Sweden Martin Haarahiltunen Sweden Andreas Westlund Sweden Jonas Andersson Sweden Mikael Flodin Sweden Ronny Häring Switzerland Interesting line up, especially since Krysov is riding. Be good to see Tobi Busch ride again, what he lacks in experience he makes up for in enthusiasm!

See, I knew you'd know! See you in two weeks! BTW It was good to catch up with Steve69 in Inzell, and he managed to join the 'togs scrum at the end trying to get pics. Hope you enjoyed the weekend!

Line up draw for Heerenveen 1 33 Hans Weber DMSB Germany 2 69 Jan Klatovsky ACCR Czech Republic 3 81 Jimmy Olsen SVEMO Sweden 4 WC Simon Reitsma KNMV The Nederlands 5 11 Ove Ledström SVEMO Sweden 6 100 Franz Zorn AMF Austria 7 333 Danil Ivanov MFR Russia 8 58 Stefan Svensson SVEMO Sweden 9 88 Max Niedermaier DMSB Germany 10 192 Niclas Svensson SVEMO Sweden 11 911 Igor Kononov MFR Russia 12 50 Harald Simon AMF Austria 13 114 Dinar Valeev MFR Russia 14 919 Dmitri Khomitsevich MFR Russia 15 106 Dmitri Koltakov MFR Russia 16 22 Günther Bauer DMSB Germany Reserve TR1 TBA Reserve TR2 TBA Surprised to see Olsen back in the line up for the final round. I'll update the reserves as soon as I know them, unless young Jesper beats me to it!

ASTANA EXPO FIM ICE SPEEDWAY GLADIATORS WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP INZELL, GERMANY, MARCH 11-12 RESULT: RUSSIA 60 (30+30) Igor Kononov 22 (11+11), Dmitri Koltakov 22 (11+11), Dmitri Khomitsevich 16 (8+8), AUSTRIA 45 (22+23) Franz Zorn 29 (15+14), Charly Ebner 16 (7+9), Josef Kreuzberger 0 (DNR+0), GERMANY 41 Gunther Bauer 28 (14+14). Max Niedermaier 12 (8+4), Hans Weber 1 (0+1) SWEDEN 39 Niklas Svensson 20 (10+10), Ove Ledstrom 12 (1+11), Stefan Svensson 7 (7+DNR) CZECH REP 25 Jan Klatovsky 16 (11+5), Lukas Hutla 5 (0+5), Andrej Divis 4 (4+0), FINLAND 25 (11+14) Tomi Tani 11 (4+7), Antti Aakko 8 (2+6), Mats Jarf 6 (4+2) SWITZERLAND 14 (8+6) Simon Gartmann 7 (5+2), Ronny Haring 6 (3+3), Thomas Cavigelli 1 (0+1) I'm told all is not well in the German camp as Bauer has said they won as a duo, to which Weber has responded with a lengthy statement. Perhaps someone with Facebook who speaks German could elaborate, but looks like Bauer is still trying to be Gunther No Mates again. Apologies again for the late posting but I am beginning to loose patience with the poor German WiFi in hotels!

I'm flying into Munich, Friday then train to Traunstein, followed by a taxi to Inzell. If you get the Salzburg Airport Bus to Salzburg Station, you can get a train to Traunstein (approx 27 minutes)and costs around €15, then a taxi from Traunstein to Inzell is around €30 but if you get to Traunstein around 1-15pm, I would be willing to share a cab, as I get in around that time. Or you can follow Iris 123's advice and get the senic bus ride, which takes longer but is quite breathtaking if you've never been before..

There was no two ways about Luca Bauer. He was well out of his depth. His encounter with Tobi Busch was the only spark of his weekend, and even then Busch's inexperience made young Bauer look better than he actually was. He needs another couple of season's before he should be dropped in a wild card again, just 'cos your Dad's in the GP doesn't mean you get there without effort. Niclas Svensson is there on merit, not because Stefan is there.

ASTANA EXPO FIM ICE SPEEDWAY GLADIATORS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL 4, BERLIN-WILMERSDORF, SATURDAY & SUNDAY, MARCH 4 - 5 ROUND 8 SUNDAY Koltakov 20 (14+3+3), Kononov 17 (13+2+2), Khomitsevich 17 (14+2+1), Valeev 16 (13+3+0), Zorn 12 (11+1), Ivanov 11 )10+1), Bauer 8 (8+0), S. Svensson 8 (8+0), N. Svensson 6, Klatovsky 6, Ledstrom 4, Niedermaier 4, Kankunen 3, Weber 2, Simon 1, Tobias Busch (Res - Germany) 1, Markus Jell (Res - Germany) 1, L. Bauer 0 Semi Final 1: Valeev, Khomitsevich, Ivanov, S. Svensson Semi Final 2: Koltakov, Kononov, Zorn, G. Bauer Final: Koltakov, Kononov, Khomitsevich, Valeev OVERALL (After 8 Rounds. * = Wildcard) Koltakov 146, Kononov 138, Khomitsevich 122, Valeev 109, Zorn 85, Ivanov 79, S. Svensson 59, G. Bauer 56, Niedermaier 38, Ledstrom 38, Simon 35, Krasnikov* 28, Weber 25, Klatovsky 24, Olsen 20, Toloknov* 19, Cheblakov *7, L. Bauer* Rather frustrated by the Hotel WiFi and the Berlin Public Free WiFi meant that its another late update!

ASTANA EXPO FIM ICE SPEEDWAY GLADIATORS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL 4, BERLIN-WILMERSDORF, SATURDAY & SUNDAY, MARCH 4 - 5 RESULTS: (Russia unless stated) ROUND 7 SATURDAY Dmitri Koltakov 21 (15+3+3), Igor Kononov 18 (13+3+2), Dinar Valeev 16 (13+2+1), Franz Zorn (Austria) 11 (9+2+0), Danil Ivanov 12 (11+1), Dmitri Khomitsevich 11 (10+1), Harald Simon (Austria) 9 (9+0), Hans Weber (Germany) 8 (8+0), Max Niedermaier (Germany) 7, Stefan Svensson (Sweden) 7, Gunther Bauer (Germany) 6, Jan Klatovsky (Czech Rep) 4, Ove Ledstrom (Sweden) 2, Niclas Svensson (Sweden) 2, Timo Kankunen (Finland) 2, Luca Bauer (Germany) 1 Semi Final 1: Koltakov, Zorn, Ivanov, Simon Semi Final 2: Kononov, Valeev, Khomitsevich, Weber Final: Koltakov, Kononov, Valeev, Zorn Apologies for the late update, I had an appointment with beer after the meeting.

German Final, Berlin Wilmersdorf, March 2 GERMAN FINAL, Berlin-Wilmersdorf 2.3.17 Max Niedermaier (3,3,3,3,3) 15, Hans Weber (3,3,2,3,3,) 14, Markus Jell (2,3,3,3,2) 13, Tobias Busch (2,3,2,3,1) 11, Sebastian Gegenbauer (2,2,3,2,1) 10, Luca Bauer (3,2,1,3,0) 9, Jonas Andersson (Sweden) (1,fd, 2,2,3) 8, Simon Reitsma (Netherlands) (0,2,1,1,3) 7, Franz Mayerbuchler (2,1,1,1,2) 7, Bart Schaap (Netherlands) (1,1,2,0,2) 6, Jasper Iwema (Netherlands) (0,1,2,2,1) 6, Gunter Bauer (3,D,N,N,N) 3, Reinhard Greisl (0,0,0,1,2) 3, Albin Lindblom (Sweden) (1,2,0,0,0) 3, Erwin Schuster (Austria) (1,R,0,1,1) 3 Bauer took out Weber in Heat 5 on the final turn, and was disqualified for dangerous riding. He withdrew from the meeting after that.

Thanks for that. I was going off what Ottie has on http://speedway.org no doubt we'll get the updated line up before Thursday. See you Saturday. EDIT: Albin Lindblom (Sweden) will replace Andreas Westlund at No. 1, with Jasper Iwema (Netherlands) replacing Tomi Norola at No. 16

German Final, Berlin, Thursday 2nd March. Full line up: (Germany unless stated) 1. Andreas Westlund (Sweden) 2. Miroslaw Daniszewski (Poland) 3. Luca Bauer 4. Tobias Busch 5. Gunther Bauer 6. Franz Mayerbuchler 7. Franz Griesel 8. Erwin Schuster (Austria) 9. Jonas Andresson (Sweden) 10. Simon Reitsma (Netherlands) 11. Max Niedermaier 12. Sebastian Gegenbauer 13. Hans Weber 14. Markus Jell 15. Bart Schaap (Netherlands) 16. Tomi Norola (Finland) I'm told there will live updates on Jesper's (Dutch Grasstrack) site http://live.baansportfansite.nl/event/200/duits-kampioenschap-ijsspeedway-berlijn.html I know one or two people are going to Berlin for the full weekend, but if you do see me there please say hello.

FIM-EUROPE EUROPEAN INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP, UFA, RUSSIA, SATURDAY & SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25-26 SUNDAY D Final: Saetre (3), Maki (3), R. Hutla (2), Kirilov (2) ret. C Final: Niedermaier (6), Volejnik (5), Kreuzberger (5), Bauer (4) B Final: Simon (10), L .Hutla (9), Nesytyh (11), Busch (7) A Final: Krasnikov (15), Krysov (14), Solyannikov (13), Ebner (11) OVERALL RESULT Krasnikov 32 (16+16), Krysov 30 (15+15), Solyannikov 28 (14+14), Simon 24 (12+12), Ebner 21 (8+13), L. Hutla 21 (10+11), Nesytyh 21 (11+10), Niedermaier 21 (13+8), Busch 18 (9+9), Volejnik 14 (7+7), Kreuzberger 11 (5+6), Saetre 10 (6+4), Bauer 9 (4+5), Maki 6 (3+3), R. Hutla 3 (1+2), Kirilov 3 (2+1) Makes you wish Krasnikov rode outside Russia just to watch him ride again. RUSSIA SUPER LEAGUE ROUNDS 5 & 6, TOGLIATTI, SATURDAY & SUNDAY FEBRUARY 25-26 RESULTS: ROUND 6, SUNDAY KAMENSK URAL 47 (Sharov 14, Khomitsevich 13, Valeev 13, Khuzhin 7) TOGLIATTI 42 (Kononov 15, D. Ivanov 11, Toloknov 10, Saydullin 6) STERLITAMAK 26 (Shishegov 8, Tarasov 8, Svinuhov 5, A. Ivanov) UFA 4 (Shadrin 3, Bogdanov 1, Hanmurzin 0, Bauer 0) FINAL TABLE Kamensk Ural 26, Togliatti 22, Sterlitamak 11, Ufa 7 MAJOR LEAGUE, ROUNDS 5 & 6, GLASOV, SATURDAY & SUNDAY FEBRUARY 25-26 ROUND 6, SUNDAY NEFTEKAMSK 26 (Korchemakha 13, Bulankin 9, Baltachev 4) KAMENSK URAL 23 (Bobin 8, Golosheykin 8, Kozyrev 7) SHADRINSK 20 ( Akulov 17, Zverev 3, Verhoturtsev 0) SARANSK 19 (Lushnikov 12, Karpuhkin 7, Masalov 0) LUKHOVITSY 18 (Makharov 12, Kolganov 4, Kozenyi 2) ALMATY KAZAKHSTAN 11 (Nekrasov 9, Cheblakov 2, Slepuchin 0) IZHEVSK 8 (Volkov 6, Masalov 2, Bashmakov 0) FINAL TABLE Kamensk Ural 44, Neftekamsk 34, Lukhovitsy 31, Saransk 27, Shadrinsk 18, Almaty Kazakhstan 13, Izhevsk 7 Kamensk Ural have won both the leagues this year, and it looks like Ufa have a major rebuilding task after this weekend.

FIM-EUROPE EUROPEAN INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP, UFA, RUSSIA, SATURDAY & SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25-26 RESULTS (Heat scores in brackets) SATURDAY D Final: Luca Bauer (Germany) (4), Radek Hutla (Czech Rep) (1), Tomi Kirilov (Finland) (3), Olli-Pekka Mati (Finland) (1) C Final: Charly Ebner (Austria) (7), Lukas Volejnik (Czech Rep.) (5), Jo Saetre (Norway) (5), Josef Kreuzberger (Austria) (6) B Final: Harald Simon (Austria) (9), Vasilli Nesytyh (Russia) (11), Lukas Hutla (Czech Rep.) (8), Tobias Busch (Germany) (7) (fd) A Final: Nikolai Krasnikov (Russia) (15), Eduard Krysov (Russia) (14), Dmitri Solyannikov (Russia) (13), Max Niedermaier (Germany) (11) Standings After Day 1: Krasnikov 16 Krysov 15 Solyannikov 14 Niedermaier 13 Simon 12 Nesytyh 11 L. Hutla 10 Busch 9 Ebner 8 Volejnik 7 Saetre 6 Kreuzberger 5 Bauer 4 R. Hutla 3 Kirilov 2 Mati 1 RUSSIA SUPER LEAGUE ROUNDS 5 & 6, TOGLIATTI, SATURDAY & SUNDAY FEBRUARY 25-26 RESULTS: ROUND 5, SATURDAY TOGLIATTI 48 (Igor Kononov 15, Nikita Toloknov 12, Danil Ivanov 11, Igor Saydullin 10) KAMENSK URAL 42 (Dmitri Khomitsevich 14, Yevgeny Sharov 13, Dinar Valeev 12, Ivan Khuzhin 3) STERLITAMAK 27 (Andrei Shishegov 8, Alexei Ivanov 7, Nikita Tarasov 6, Vadim Svinuhov 6) UFA 2 (Gunther Bauer 2, Nikita Shadrin 0, Nikita Bogdanov 0, German Hanmurzin 0) Danil Ivanov rode with his shoulder strapped up and scored 11. Ufa totally humiliated with Bauer their top scorer with 2. You can see the final round on You Tube tomorrow from 10am UK Time on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBOqE18GieE MAJOR LEAGUE, ROUNDS 5 & 6, GLASOV, SATURDAY & SUNDAY FEBRUARY 25-26 ROUND 5, SATURDAY KAMENSK URAL 28 (Vladimir Bobin 16, Danil Golosheykin 8, Alexandre Kozyrev 4) NEFTAKAMSK 25 (Maxim Korchemakha 15, Dmitri Bulankin 6, Sergei Baltachev 4) LUKHOVITSY 19+3 (Sergei Makharov 10+3, Alexei Kolganov 6, Egor Kozenyi 3) SARANSK 19+2 (Maxim Lushnikov 13+2, Maxim Karpuhin 4, Maxim Maslikov 2) SHADRINSK 18 (Artem Akulov 14, Dmitri Zverev 4, Rodin Verhoturtsev 0) ALMATY KAZAKHSTAN 10 (Pawel Nekrasov 5, Vladimir Cheblakov 5, Denis Slepuchin 0) IZHVESK 6 (Ivan Volkov 5, Pawel Masalov 1, Ivan Bashmakov 0)

Luca Bauer has been named as the Wildcard for Berlin with Track reserves named as Markus Jell (TR1) and Tobias Busch (TR2) Full line up: 1 106 Dmitry Koltakov MFR Russia 2 919 Dmitry Khomitsevich MFR Russia 3 11 Ove Ledström SVEMO Sweden 4 22 Günther Bauer DMSB Germany 5 100 Franz Zorn AMF Austria 6 114 Dinar Valeev MFR Russia 7 88 Max Niedermaier DMSB Germany 8 57 Timo Kankunen SML Finland 9 58 Stefan Svensson SVEMO Sweden 10 69 Jan Klatovsky ACCR Czech Republic 11 33 Hans Weber DMSB Germany 12 333 Daniil Ivanov MFR Russia 13 192 Niclas Svensson SVEMO Sweden 14 WC Luca Bauer DMSB Germany 15 911 Igor Kononov MFR Russia 16 50 Harald Simon AMF Austria Reserve TR1 Marcus Jell DMSB Germany Reserve TR2 Tobias Busch DMSB Germany

FIM-EUROPE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP Ufa, Saturday - Sunday February 25-26 Line Up: 1. Jo Saetre (Norway), 2. Max Niedermaier (Germany), 3. Lukas Volejnik (Czech Rep.), 4. Eduard Krysov (Russia), 5. Claude Cadeyne (France), 6. Charly Ebner (Austria) 7. Luca Bauer (Germany), 8. Lukas Hutla (Czech Rep), 9. Nikolai Krasnikov (Russia), 10. Dmitri Solyannikov (Russia), 11. Tomi Kirilov (Finland), 12. Josef Kreuzberger (Austria), 13. Harald Simon (Austria), 14. Tobias Busch (Germany), 15. Olli-Pekka Mati (Finland), 16. Vasilli Nesytyh (Russia) Reserves: 17. Jan Klauz (Czech Rep.), 18. Artem Afanasyev (Russia) 2 Rounds, usual Ice Speedway 40 heat formula with A,B,C & D Finals each day. Points awarded from 16 - 1st to 1 point - 16th and then both days added together. Krasnikov defends his title on his home track again.