Conkers

Posa will be 62 in March. My favourite quote from Icy Riders: Interviewer: "Does Ice Racing Scare You?" Posa: "No." (Pause) "Driving down Russian Motorways scares me"

More fixtures for January (from Speedway.Org) Sun 3.1.10 - Kirchberg am Walde, Austria - International Meeting (The Austrians are really having a lot of meetings!) Wed 6.1.10 - Steingaden, Germany - International Meeting Fri 8.1.10 - Flims, Switzerland, Swiss Championship Sat 9.1.10 - Flims, Switzerland, International Meeting

And we are off! Mayor's Cup - Open Amur Region Championship - Rajchikhinsk (Round 1) Day 1: 1. (15) Pavel Tschajka (Blagoveshchenk) - 14 (3, 3, 2, 3, 3) 2. (4) Nikolai Kaminsky (Vladivostok) - 14 (3, 3, 3, 2, 3) 3. (5) Roman Akimenko (Blagoveshchenk) - 12 (3, 3, 3, 3, P) 4. (2) Anatoli Komarov (Ussuriysk) - 12 (2, 3, 1, 3, 3) 5. (16) Alexander Kotlyar (Ussuriysk) - 11 (2, 2, 3, 2, 2) 6. (1) Anton Zmaga (Ussuriysk) - 10 (1,2, 2, 3, 2) 7. (11) Peter Shevchenko (Ussuriysk) - 9 (3, 2, 1, 1,2) 8. (13) Andrey Selifonov (Khabarovsk) - 8 (1, 1, 1,2, 3) 9. (12) Eugene Yukhnov ( Ussuriysk ) - 6 (2, 0, 0.2, 2) 10. (9) Alexander Voytenko (Blagoveshchenk) - 5 (1, P, 3, 1, 0) 11. (2) Vladimir Matyash (Ussuriysk) - 4 (0, 1,2, 1, s ) 12. (14) Roman Pavlenko (Zavitinsk) - 3 (0.2, P, 0, 1) 13. (6) Vladislav Litvinov (Ussuriysk) - 3 (2, 0, 0, 0, 1) 14. (7) Arkady Salavin (Ussuriysk) - 3 ( s , 0, 1, 1, 1) 15. (8) Vladimir Momont (Ussuriysk) - 3 (1, 1, 1, 0, s ) 16. (10) Constantine Staroseltsev ( Raychikhinsk ) - 2 (0, 1, 0, 0, 1) Pozaezdno : 1. Kaminsky, Komarov, Zmaga, Matyash 2. Akimenko , Litvinov , Momont , Salavin - SKH 3. Shevchenko, Yukhnov , Voytenko , Staroseltsev 4. Tschajka, Kotlyar , Selifonov , Pavlenko 5. Akimenko , Zmaga , Selifonov , Voytenko - P 6. Komarov, Pavlenko, Staroseltsev , Litvinov 7. Tschajka, Shevchenko, Matyash , Salavin 8. Kaminsky, Kotlyar , Momont , Yukhnov 9. Kotlyar , Zmaga , Shevchenko, Litvinov 10. Akimenko , Tschajka, Komarov, Yukhnov 11. Voytenko , Matyash , Momont , Pavlenko - P 12. Kaminsky, Selifonov , Salavin , Staroseltsev 13. Zmaga , Yukhnov , Salavin , Pavlenko 14. Komarov, Selifonov , Shevchenko, Momont 15. Akimenko , Kotlyar , Matyash , Staroseltsev 16. Tschajka, Kaminsky, Voytenko , Litvinov 17. Tschajka, Zmaga , Staroseltsev , Momont 18. Komarov, Kotlyar , Salavin , Voytenko 19. Selifonov , Yukhnov , Litvinov , Matyash - s 20. Kaminsky, Shevchenko, Pavlenko, Akimenko - P Day 2: 1. (15) Pavel Tschajka- 15 (3, 3, 3, 3, 3) 2. (4) Nikolai Kaminsky- 14 (2, 3, 3, 3, 3) 3. (5) Roman Akimenko - 13 (3, 3, 2, 3, 2) 4. (2) Anatoly Komarov- 11 (2, 3, 3, 2, 1) 5. (16) Alexander Kotlyar- 10 (1,2, 3, 2, 2) 6. (11) Peter Shevchenko- 10 (2, 2, 2, 1, 3) 7. (1) Anton Zmaga- 10 (3, 2, 1,2, 2) 8. (13) Andrey Selifonov- 9 (1, 1, 1, 3, 3) 9. (12) Eugene Yukhnov- 6 (0, 1, 1,2, 2) 10. (9) Vladimir Matyash- 5 (2, 2, 0, 1, 0) 11. (9) Alexander Voytenko- 5 (1, 1,2, 1, SKH ) 12. (3) Vladislav Litvinov- 4 (3, 1, 0, 0, 0) 13. (7) Arkady Salavin- 3 (0, s , 2, 0, 1) 14. (8) Vladimir Momont- 2 (0, 0, 1, 0, 1) 15. (14) Roman Pavlenko- 2 (0, 0, 0, 1, 1) 16. (10) Constantine Staroseltsev- 1 (1, 0, 0, s , 0) Pozaezdno : 1. Litvinov , Matyash , Staroseltsev , Momont 2. Tschajka, Kaminsky, Kotlyar , Yukhnov 3. Zmaga , Komarov, Selifonov , Pavlenko 4. Akimenko , Shevchenko, Voytenko , Salavin 5. Kaminsky, Matyash , Voytenko , Pavlenko 6. Komarov, Kotlyar , Litvinov , Salavin - s 7. Akimenko , Zmaga , Yukhnov , Momont 8. Tschajka, Shevchenko, Selifonov , Staroseltsev 9. Kotlyar , Shevchenko, Zmaga , Matyash 10. Kaminsky Akimenko , Selifonov , Litvinov 11. Tschajka, Salavin , Momont , Pavlenko 12. Komarov, Voytenko , Yukhnov , Staroseltsev 13. Selifonov , Yukhnov , Matyash , Salavin 14. Tschajka, Zmaga , Voytenko , Litvinov 15. Kaminsky, Komarov, Shevchenko, Momont 16. Akimenko , Kotlyar , Pavlenko, Staroseltsev - SKH 17. Kaminsky, Zmaga , Salavin , Staroseltsev 18. Shevchenko, Yukhnov , Pavlenko, Litvinov 19. Selifonov , Kotlyar , Momont , Voytenko - s 20. Tschajka, Akimenko , Komarov, Matyash After the first stage: 1. Pavel Tschajka- 14 + 15 = 29 2. Nikolai Kaminsky- 14 + 14 = 28 3. Roman Akimenko- 13 + 12 = 25 4. Anatoly Komarov - 12 + 11 = 23 5. Alexander Kotlyar- 11 + 10 = 21 6. Anton Zmaga - 10 + 10 = 20 7. Peter Shevchenko- 9 + 10 = 19 8. Andrey Selifonov- 8 + 9 = 17 9. Eugene Yukhnov- 6 + 6 = 12 10. Alexander Voytenko- 5 + 5 = 10 11. Vladimir Matyash- 4 + 5 = 9 12. Vladislav Litvinov- 3 + 4 = 7 13. Arkady Salavin- 3 + 3 = 6 14. Roman Pavlenko- 3 + 2 = 5 15. Vladimir Momont- 3 + 2 = 5 16. Constantine Staroseltsev- 2 + 1 = 3 Around 200 people attended this meeting. Next week is Round 2 for the Amur Governers Cup Taken from the Russian Forum

According to the Russian Forums, apart from Eugene Kuznetsov there don't appear to be many big names turning up, but the line-up should be announced tomorrow. Most of the big names are at the Novosibirsk training camp where they have the following riders: Stanislav ARKHIPOV, Yunir BAZEEV, Sergey BALTACHEV, Mikhail Bogdanov, Dmitri BULANKIN, Ilya Drozdov, Maxim Zakharov, Danil Ivanov, Ivan Ivanov, Igor Cononov, Maxim KORCHEMAKHA, Alexander KOCHETOV, Nikolai KRASNIKOV, Edward KRYSOV, Sergey Makarov, Vitalli KHOMITSEVICH, Dmitriy KHOMITSEVICH, Pavel Tschajka. Reserves: Nikita Alekseyev, Andrey GAVRILKIN, Mikhail ZELEPUKIN, Sergey KARACHINTSEV, Dmitri Carpuchin, Dmitri KOLTAKOV The trainers are: Igor DREPIN Moscow; Rais MUSTAFIN, Ufa; Valeri Ivanov, Togliatti; Alexander SAMORODOV, Ufa Obviously these are the riders that the MFR are hoping to dominate the World and European championships, and looking at the list Igor Cononov is there so they are obviously pushing him forward. Korchemakha and Kochetov are two new names so there are some young riders coming through.

Can't tell you what make it is but I did find THIS which may help you. Plus you could PM Grachan as he has been to the racing and may know more.

The tickets are on sale for Assen on THIS LINK THE FRIDAY NIGHT TICKETS ARE NOW €14 for a seat and €8 for the standing area. A standing ticket has got to be the bargain price for the season. AND I think that you get some great racing on the Friday. They have the 24 heat old GP formula and 24 riders. The World Championship rounds are €29 for a seat and €20 to stand each day and are rounds 7 and 8. The pricing for Berlin is on THIS LINK for the final two rounds although you may need to use a translator unless you can read German (unlike me).

Nothing like firm dates then! Can't see many non-Russians traipsing half way around eastern Europe for that meeting, as it clashes with the Team Final, and I suspect that Sven Holstein will be riding for The Netherlands, Henri Malinen will be hoping for a Finnish spot and Simon Gartmann will probably be in the Swiss team (if the Swedes are still out after last year). It's also the same weekend as the Russian Junior Team semi Finals in Lukhovitsy & Novosibirsk, so once again the UEM fail to read the local fixture lists.

Hyde Road staged numerous qualifiers and staged the 1974 World Pairs Final (maybe wrong on the year), and didn't Hampden Park in Glasgow stage a Qualifier - British-Nordic Final or something similar?

I got a provisional calendar from Joni at the MC Assen, which I posted a few posts back. The Assen site appears to have the St. Johann round on 23/24th Jan, whilst Speedway.org has it on the 16th. The FIM calendar press release has them as provisional on the 16th, so I'm confused. When is the St. Johann round?

According to the UEM thread you started But the UEM have done a real cock up here as it's the St. Johan WC qualifier in Austria, and the 2nd round of the Elite League at Togliatti. Does anyone at the UEM consult the existing fixture lists or do they just throw darts at a yearplanner and note the hits. At least they have scrapped the Junior Ice Championship which lost the UEM a shed load of money last season

Maybe he just wanted the one heat?

Having looked at the Russian Forum and the Calendar, there are four weekends of World Championship Events, then a three week break and two weekends of Championship events. I suppose a trek for the Russians from Saransk to Innsbruck, then back to Ufa for the final round of the Elite League is a bit much. Innsbruck proposed date only clashes with an All Russian Meeting in Arsenievo, whereas there is nothing the weekend of 6/7th March (unless the UEM have eyes on that date for the European Championship at Ufa) The feelings on the Russian Forum are that it's Russia who are the dominant Ice Racing power yet the other nations are having too much of a say. One poster has particularly harsh words for the Motorclub Assen because of their involvement in The Netherlands and Austria. Some are even calling for the MFR to break away from the FIM (now where have I heard that before? ) Maybe the FIM will relent as Innsbruck is an artificial track, and then there can be two blocks of three rounds. After all Innsbruck to Assen isn't as far as Ufa to Assen

According to a poster on the German Speedway Forum, the Eispeedwayclub Lenzing-Saalfelden and the KNMV will be organising the Innsbruck rounds of the World Championships, and the track will be the Olympia Eisstadion. German Speedway Forum

Looks like Berlin will be hosting the German Championship on the Thursday before the final rounds of the World Championship, 18.3.2010. They have a ticker on their site announcing it HERE

Saalfelden is organised by Eisspeedwayclub Lenzing-Saalfelden and AFAIK were/are helped by Motorclub Assen. If I remember correctly, St.Johann is organised by the Motorclub of which Harald Simon is a member. More than likely, the Lenzing Saalfelden club lend a hand there as the two places are only 45 minutes apart. I suspect that the Innsbruck meeting may be orgainsed by DMV Sudbayern, who orgainse the Inzell meeting, together with a local Mortorclub and with the OaMTC. Mind you, looking at the Google Earth view of Innsbruck, they may need to build a few temporary stands around the track as it appears to just be a track and an adjacent building - The Olympia Eisstadion, and nothing else.

Just had this list from Joni, which is not official. Biggest shock is that Innsbrook returns to the fold after some considerable time! And they have gone for St.Johann, so Iris123 was right Qualifying rounds: 9 jan Saalfelden (A) 16 jan Sanok (Pl) 23/24 jan St Johann (A) Finals: 6 feb Togliatti (Rus) 13/14 feb Saransk (Rus) 20/21 feb Innsbruck (A) 13/14 mrt Assen (Nl) 20/21 mrt Berlin (D) Team Final: 30/31 jan Krasnogorsk (Rus)

If I remember correctly, the time you were there may well have been the last time they staged racing there, in 1988. The track was a "natural" ice track, and despite it's location it wasn't cold enough to support a natural track. Plus the lack of success by French riders meant that the French Federation withdrew their support. The same thing happened in 1993 with Madonna Di Campiglio in Italy, when that track held the first day's racing at Midnight, as the track wasn't properly frozen, and the second day was terrible, as the track was like slush. It also co-incided with the death of Reme Dal Bosco in Berlin, that the Italians completely withdrew from Ice Racing.

To add to what DGT has already written, you may like to know Frankfurt has a covered Tennis Court built on it,although you can still see the outline of the track on Google Maps. Deventer, Eindhoven, Heerenveen and Almaar are now covered but don't stage Ice Racing, whilst Groningen now has an office block built on it (it's behind the Hotel that I stay at when I go to Assen). Assen is the sole Dutch track, and has been covered for about 15-16 years, Berlin Wilmersdorf is still used, but the SportForum in the East hasn't staged Ice Racing since 2002, whilst Inzell is currently being redevoloped with a dome put over it and won't stage Ice Racing until 2011 at the earliest.

Can't see them having two QRs in Austria, although this IS the FIM we are talking about . If Jacqueline is right, then Strömsund may be the third QR. The big problem is where else could you stage it?

Thanks for that Jacqueline. After the cock up with Stockholm last year I thought the FIM would punish them this year, but looks like they have kissed and made up Any dates being tentatively mentioned?

Great news, and it will be a speedway track shape too by the sound of it. How far is it from Hamburg?

So we are no better off knowing the third QR then. TBH I had forgotten about Inzell being re-built. (Looking at the film and pics of the demolition, they appear to have left the bar up! ) Had a look on the FIM site and the conference is 17-23rd October in China, so we should know by then where all the rounds are supposed to be. Incidentally, I had a look on Google Maps a the old Frankfurt track. The shape of the track can be seen but they appear to have covered over the tennis courts in the centre of the the track with a permanent structure, which would rule that one out for a return. I've also had a look at some of the former Dutch tracks. Eindhoven appears to have an Assen type cover over it, as does the Deventer track. Could either of those be used again, or is it out of the question Jesper?

The full list of the World Championship rounds is now on Speedway.org But here they are anyway: 9.1.2010 - QR1 Saalfelden, Austria 16.1.2010 - QR 2 - Sanok, Poland (which means that the Sanok Cup must be the 15.1.2010) 23/24.1.2010 - QR 3 - Inzell, Germany Iris123 posted this at the start of the thread: The UEM haven't decided the dates for the European events yet although Ufa will stage the European Championship for them whilst the U-19 event(or maybe the U-23 depending on where you look) is still TBA. Looking at the Russian Calendar there are very few free weekends for either event which don't clash with the above dates, so expect the UEM to stage the EM to clash with a big event elsewhere (Inzell weekend perhaps?)

I hope it is a really cold Swedish winter for good racing. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to go sadly, but I will be with you in spirit!

Went through the Russian Calendar and they have meetings almost every weekend from 5/6th December (Novosibirsk) through to 13/14th March. Considering the shale sport is losing money hand over fist in Russia, the Ice has 13 tracks and three leagues. One mistake in the Russian Calendar is that they have the Assen Rounds of the GP as 6/7th March when they are the week after, although I am informed by our friend Joni that Motorclub Assen always book the second weekend in March at DeSmeldt. British Ice Team news is that Graham Halsall has retired, and Roger Newton has decided to hang up his leathers too, but he tells me Mark, Rob and Kev (who is buying a second bike) will be Flying the Union Flag this year. Roger's bike is up for sale if anyone is interested, and if you are, PM me and I'll pass your details on to Roger. One final thing, Eurorider are running their Ice Trip to Assen which takes in the Friday meeting, and the link is in my signature.