Conkers

Until the rest of Europe get a Junior Ice Racing programme similar to the Russians, then the UEM were on a hiding to nothing with this one, plus staging it opposite big meetings prevented potential riders like Sven Holstein attending. BTW Jesper, the Assen site has a new rider's name listed, Gerrit Schukken. What can you tell us about him?

Amur is the furthest east of the Russian Regions - the track is nearer the Korean peninsula than Moscow. The riders had to travel there by train which took a few days. It was held the last two weekends as the riders competing are now on their way back west (!) to Novosibirsk for the training which preceeds the Russian Season. These meetings are in effect out of season. AFAIK Franky Zorn will travel up to Scandinavia to train, as he does normally. Posa, Stefan S, Bauer and the Klatovskys like to train in Russia, plus Posa is a big hero in Russia and to get him to race was a coup for the organisers, as they expect Krasnikov et al to be there. I do agree that Franky would benefit from training in Russia, but he prefers Sweden. Plus he'll get plenty of training in as his base in Austria allows him to find plenty of places to train locally, and he normally rides in several open meetings in Germany/Austria prior to his qualifier.

Round 2 Governers Cup 20th & 21st November 2010 Result (Russia unless stated) Nikolai Krasnikov (3, 3, 3, 3, 3) 15 + (3,3,3,3,3) 15 = 30 Danil Ivanov (3, 3, 3, 2, 3) 14 +(2,3,3,3,3) 14 = 28 Dmitri Khomitsevich (2, 3, 2, 3, 2) 12 + (3,3,2,2,3) 13 = 25 Vitali Khomitsevich (3, 1, 2, 2, 3) 11 +(3,3,3,1,2) 12 = 23 Roman Akimenko (3, 2, 1, 3, 1) 10 + (3,1,2,3,1) 10 = 20 Stefan Svensson (1, 1, 2, 3, 2) 9 +(2,2,1,2,2) 9 = 18 Gunther Bauer (2, 2, 3, 0, 2) 9 + (1,2,3,2,1) 9 = 18 Ivan Ivanov (2, 2, 1, d, 2) 7 + (2,2,1,2,0) 7 = 14 Antonin Klatovsky (0, ns, 3, ns , 1) 4 + (0,2,2,3,3) 10 = 14 Peter Shevshenko (0, 0, 2, 0, 3) 5 + (1,0,1,1,2) 5 =10 Per-Olof Serenius (1, 1, 1, 2, 1) 6 + (1,0,0,1,1) 3 = 9 Anatoly Komarov (0, 3, 0, 1, 0) 4 +(2,1,1,0,0) 4 = 8 Jan Klatovsky (2, 1, d, ns, ns) 3 + (d,0,2,0,2) 4 = 7 Andrei Selfonev (1, 2, 0, d, 1) 4 + (0,1,0,1,0) 2 = 6 Alexander Kotylar (0, 0, t, 1, 0) 1 + (1,1,0,0,1) = 4 Vladislav Litvinov (Res) (0, 1, 2) 3 + (0,0,0,0,0) 0 = 3 Andrei Ivanov (1, 0, d, ns, ns) 1 + (0,0,0,0,0) 0 = 1 Overall: Krasnikov 60 (15,15,15,15) D.Ivanov 55 (13,14,14,14) Khomitsevich 50 (12,13,12,13) Khomitsevich 42 (11,8,11,12) Akimenko 39 (8,11,10,10) Svensson 37 (8,11,9,9) Bauer 32 (7,7,9,9) I.Ivanov 30 (9,7,7,7) A.Klatovsky 27 (5,8,4,10) Shevchenko 23 (6,7,5,5) Komarov 18 (4,6,4,4) Serenius 17 (3,5,6,3) Selfonov 15 (6,3,4,2) J.Klatovsky 10 (2,1,3,4) Kotlyar 7 (1,2,1,3) A.Ivanov 7 (4,2,1,0) Kononov 5 (-,5,-,-) Litvinov 3 (0,0,3,0) Polikarpov 1 (-,1,-,-) Pavlenko DNR Unless Krasnikov suffers a major disaster, I don't thnk you'd get good odds on him winning the World Championship again! odds on favourite

Amur Regional Championship Round 2 Governers Cup Day 1 , Nikolai Krasnikov (3, 3, 3, 3, 3) 15 Danil Ivanov (3, 3, 3, 2, 3) 14 Dmitri Khomitsevich (2, 3, 2, 3, 2) 12 Vitali Khomitsevich (3, 1, 2, 2, 3) 11 Roman Akimenko (3, 2, 1, 3, 1) 10 Stefan Svensson (1, 1, 2, 3, 2) 9 Gunther Bauer (2, 2, 3, 0, 2) 9 Ivan Ivanov (2, 2, 1, d, 2) 7 Per-Olof Serenius (1, 1, 1, 2, 1) 6 Peter Shevshenko (0, 0, 2, 0, 3) 5 Anatoly Komarov (0, 3, 0, 1, 0) 4 Antonin Klatovsky (0, ns, 3, ns , 1) 4 Andrei Selfonev (1, 2, 0, d, 1) 4 Jan Klatovsky (2, 1, d, ns, ns) 3 Vladislav Litvinov (Res) (0, 1, 2) 3 Alexander Kotylar (0, 0, t, 1, 0) 1 Andrei Ivanov (1, 0, d, ns, ns) 1 Another week and yet another unbeaten run for Krasnikov. This man will take some stopping this year! Day 2 Sunday at 1300hrs Amur Time, approx: 5am here!

Amur Championship R1 Mayors Cup: Nikolai Krasnikov 30 (15+15), Daniil Ivanov 27 (13 +14), Dmitri Khomitsevich 25 (13+12), Stefan Svensson (Sweden) 19 (8+11), Vitaly Khomitsevich 19 (11+8), Roman Akimenko 19 (8+11), Ivan Ivanov 16 (9+7), Gunter Bauer (Germany) 14 (7+7), Peter Shevshenko 13 (6+7), Antonin Klatovsky (Czech Rep) 13 (5+8) Anatoly Komarov 10 (4+6), Andrej Selifonov 9 (6+3), Per Olov Serenius (Sweden) 8 (3+5), Andrej Ivanov 6 (4+2), Igor Kononov 5 (nr+5), Jan Klatovsky (Czech Rep) 3 (2+1), Vladislav Litvinov 2 (0+2), Juri Polikarpov 1 (nr+1), Alexander Kotlyar 1 (1+nr), Roman Pavlenko DNR EDIT Correct Results from Ijsspeedway Assen Looks like they have a somewhat complicated meeting with some riders in one meeting and not in the other, but once again, Nikolai Krasnikov shows what a rider he is!

Thanks for posting the rsults Jesper, had a rather busy day today, so I couldn't chanse them up. Day 2 is on Tuesday at 1900hrs Amur time - About 9am GMT.

Looks like it was a sudden warm spell that made the track unridable. Reading the Russian Forums, it looks like all the riders are there but the track started to thaw on Thursday. They have been frantically working on it!

Any news on the U-19/25 (depending on what the UEM decree) final Jesper?

From what I could gather last year, Kaminski decided against riding in the Russian Championships last year, preferring to take out a Ukrainian Licence. He didn't disgrace himself, as he had to get through the qualifier first, and did so with ease. But it could be argued that the Russian Championship is tougher than the World Championship, and by having a guaranteed slot in a qualifier on a Ukraine Licence was easier than battling through on a Russian Licence. The FIM are supposedly trying to expand the sport, but appear to favour the established nations. We know the FIM are a law unto themselves, but a WTC qualifier wouldn't be too hard to fit in.

Interesting piece of gossip on the Russian Forums. After a seasonlast winter in Amur (2009/10) racing on the Ice, Denis Saifutdinov, the older brother of Emil, intends to go to Novosibirsk for training with a view to riding in the Russian Championship in 2010/11. He still races speedway but wants to try and branch out and move from his brothers shadow. He rode with Grigory Laguta last year, so maybe he will be trying the Ice again?

in fact Buxton have won more meetings than them. er you forgot to mention you LOST 3 more than them also NATIONAL LEAGUE M W D L F A PTS 1 Dudley 18 13 0 5 938 724 45 2 Buxton 18 14 0 4 899 722 45 3 Newport 18 13 0 5 878 742 45 4 Rye House 18 10 0 8 801 821 31 5 Bournemouth 18 10 1 7 837 803 30 6 Plymouth 18 9 0 9 844 819 27 7 Isle of Wight 18 6 0 12 779 867 18 8 Scunthorpe 18 5 1 12 743 893 15 9 King's Lynn 18 5 0 13 758 873 14 10 Weymouth 18 4 0 14 719 932 13 Beg to differ - In the NL, Buxton lost 4 meetings to Dudley's 5, although Dudley were the only team to take a point home from Derbyshire in the NL In addition, Buxton only lost away to IOW and Plymouth in the Trophy (Dudley didn't compete), whilst Dudley beat them in the 2nd leg of the KO Cup Semi Final, and Kings Lynn won the 2nd Leg of the Final.

Looks like the Amur Regional Championship is going to be a big series, as they have signed some of the top riders to open the season according to the Amur Sports Development site Remember, this event is being held in the Far East of Russia, 100kms from the Russian - Chinese Border, and it's nearer to Korea and Japan than it is to Moscow, so they must be paying good money to get the riders there.I can only assume that the foreigners are going to Novosibirsk to train after the second weekend's racing 13/14th November - Blagoveshchensk Mayors Cup 20th/21st November Amur Region Governers Cup Points scored in both meetings will count to the overall championship Line Up: 1 Roman Akimenko 2 Gunther Bauer (D) 3 Andrey Ivanov 4 Daniil Ivanov 5 Ivan Ivanov 6 Antonin Klatovsky (CzR) 7 Jan Klatovsky (CzR) 8 Anatoliy Komarov 9 Igor Kononov 10 Alexander Kotlyar 11 Nikolai Krasnikov 12 Vladislav Litvinov, 13 Roman Pavlenko 14 Yuri Polikarpov 15 Stefan Svensson (S) 16 Andrew Selifonov 17 Per-Olov Serenius (S) 18 Vitaly Khomitsevich 19 Dmitry Khomitsevich 20 Petr Shevchenko, Should be an interesting couple of meetings

Looks like Mark Uzzell will be riding in Austria this year then!

Confirmed FIM Dates: Individual World Championship 2011 15 January OeAMTC Qualifying Round 1 St Johann (Austria) 21 January PZM Qualifying Round 2 Sanok (Poland) 22 January KNMV Qualifying Round 3 Saalfelden (Austria) 05-06 February MFR Final 1 Krasnogorsk - Zorkiy Stadium (Russia) 12-13 February MFR Final 2 Togliatti (Russia) 12-13 March KNMV Final 3 Assen - DeSmelt (Netherlands) 26-27 March DMSB Final 4 Inzell (Germany) Team Championship 26-27 February DMSB Final Berlin (Germany)

In the past, it's riders who are at the top of their game who beat the Russians. Currently only Franky Zorn is at that level, and he needs to have a bit more "killer instinct" this year if he wants to be World Champion. As for the Russian, having seen some of the younger Russian at last year's Roloef Thijs Bokaal then they have a conveyor belt of rising stars coming through.

Thanks for the update, at least the Russians will be pleased, as they will stage their final on the dates they want!

Scheduled flights into Salzburg are quite expensive, and the budget airlines fly in weekly, as I've been looking. I have plumped for Lufthansa to Munich from Manchester and then train/bus. My hotel is booked but I need to speak the Jacky & Lars to find out where I'm staying

NLRC is at Rye House on 30/10. No date for the 4s though

Weather looks good. Coming down to snap this one again. If tonights match is half as good as the last one it will be a great match.

Russian Individual Championship: 11-12/12/2010 - Preliminary Round, Kemerovo 18-19/12/2010 - Semi Finals: Novosibirsk, Kemerovo & Ufa 8-9/1/2011 - Final, Ufa (Provisional) Other Russian Fixtures: 15-16/1/2011 - Cup Of Russia, Izhevsk Junior Team Championship 19-20/2/2011 - Semi Final, Novosibirsk (Teams: Novosibirsk, Saransk, Ufa, Kamensk-Ural, Kemerovo, Penza, Blagoveshchenk Amur) 26-27/2/2011 - Final, Kemertau (Teams: Kemertau (hosts), Shadrinsk (Champions), plus top 5 from semi final) The top 8 from the Russian Final will b e their World Championship Nominees, plus the top 4 from the Cup of Russia will be the European Final Nominees. The Russians may have to change the dates of the Final, as the first FIM QR round is in St Johann, and will clash. Reading the Russian Forum, they are far from happy with the FIM over this.

Flims have announced their annual meeting at the Alpenarena natural Ice Track. The Swiss Championship is Friday 14/1/2011, with a Team Event on Saturday 15/1/2011. Full details On The Swiss Ice Racing Site

Reading the BSPA site, the Trophy appears to be decided on each team meeting each other Home and Away once only. Don't remember them having a Final before. The other problem is when do Buxton and Newport fit all these matches in? I can see furrows develping on the roads between Buxton and Newport as the riders, officials and fans wear out the surfaces between the venues as it is

The Russians are certainly dragging their feet this year regarding dates, but I now have the Leagues and Fixtures: SUPER-LEAGUE 1. Mega-Lada Togliatti 2. Bashkortostan Ufa 3. Kaustic Sterlitamak 4. Moscow Area Lukovitsy 5. Kamensk-Ural 6. Mordovia Saransk 7. Siberia Novosibirsk (promoted) Fixtures: 4-5.12.2010 - R 1 & 2 Novosibirsk 29-30.01.2011 - R 3 & 4 Ufa 19-20.02.2011 - R 5 & ^ Togliatti MAJOR-LEAGUE 1. Torpedo Shadrinsk 2. Leader Tyumen 3. Kuzbass Kemerovo 4. Samara 5. Izhevsk 6. Penza 7. Kemertau Fixtures: 25-26.12.2010 - R 1 & 2 Kemertau 19-20.2.2011 - R 3 & 4 Samara It looks like there will be four new teams this year in the Major League (Div 2) after last year when they had a few "second" teams to make up the number. Siberia Novosibirsk were promoted to the Super League and Saransk have stayed up after the withdrawal of Miner Uchaly. There are some provisional dates for the Russian Championship on the Russian Forum, but these are not yet confirmed, although there is to be training at Novosibisrk, from 22.11.10 to 2.12.2010 They do plan to have an all Russian event in The Far Eastern Amur Region at Blagoveshchenk. These are on 12/13.11.2010 (Blagoveshchenk Mayors Cup) and on 19/20.11.2010 (Amur Governers Cup). They have been arranged so riders who wish to attend training can make it back to Siberia. Blagoveshchenk is actually close to the Chinese Border so the trip is about three days from there to Novosibirsk by road

I'm sorry if I was appearing to go over the top, but having followed the Hitmen for some time, it's a real bonus to find out we have won the National Trophy. Commiserations to Newport, especially with their injury troubles, but I'm sure you will be more than a match for Kings Lynn and Bournemouth in your respective semi finals.

I think BUXTON ARE THE NATIONAL TROPHY CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!! Up to and including Sunday, September 26, 2010 M 3W 2W D L 4W 3W D 1L L F A Pts 1 Buxton 8 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 397 342 20 2 Isle of Wight 8 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 375 357 15 3 Newport 7 2 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 322 316 13 4 Weymouth 7 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 2 290 335 7 5 Plymouth 8 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 343 377 5 Newport can only score 16 points by beating Weymouth by more than 7 points