Conkers

I was speaking to the press officer for Assen last week and the dates booked at the Stadium are: Thurs March 6th - 6.30pm, Practice for the Roloef Thijs Bokaal Friday March 7th - 9.00am, World Championship Practice 7.00pm , Roloef Thijs Bokaal Saturday March 8th - 6.30pm, World Championship R3 Sunday March 9th - 1.30pm, World Championship R4 Apparantly, the club have booked the Stadium for the second weekend in March for so long, the local tourist office don't need to ask the dates. If you are booking hotels now, then Motel Assen is just over the road, but it is a bit pricey. If you have your own transport, then a weekend in Groningen is highly recommended! And for those of us planning a Berlin trip, the meeting is 15/16th March, with a possible meeting on the Thursday depending on whether they run at Erfurt and/or Steingarden. Hopefully Posa will celebrate his 60th birthday at Assen next year too! (BTW Doug, which Hotel are they planning for next year?)

Eurosport show the GPs live in continental Europe, but the UK version has no Speedway - still that means we're spared Jack Burnicle's uninformed commentary (make Millard and Pearson sound like Alvar Liddle and Brian Perkins). His Ice Racing commentaries were hilarious as riders names were not just pronounced wrong, but their country of origin changed from lap to lap!!!! Eursport UK Saturday

From possibly the last Ice meeting of the season - The results of the Golden Spike: [/u]Pre-Meeting Qualifier: Franz Zorn Simon Gartmann Dmitri Tschatschin Andreas Roth Martin Leitner Christoph Kirchner ---------------------- Max Niedermaier Sven Holstein Both failed to qualify. Golden Spike: Vitaly Khomitsevich 14+3 Franz Zorn 14+2 Günther Bauer 13 Nikolai Krasnikov 11 Dmitri Tschatschin 11 René Stellingwerf 10 Harald Simon 10 Per Olov Serenius 8 Antonin Klatovsky 8 Jan Klatovsky 5 Simon Gartmann 4 Martin Leitner 4 Stefan Pletschacher 4 Jouni Seppänen 2 Christoph Kirchner 1 Andreas Roth 1 Heinz Göldi 0 Sebastian Gegenbauer 0 According to one site, Krasnikov brought down Khomitsevich in Heat 10, and was excluded. Franky dropped his only point to Khomitsevich, whilst Vitali lost a point to Bauer. Beat Zorn after a tussle in the run off.

Good to see Franky Zorn getting the better of Khomitsevich in Erfurt. Franky told me in Assen that he had only ridden in Inzell, Poland and Russia plus some limited Ice training on poor ice in Sweden before Assen this season. I'm certain that had he ridden a full season, he could have had a top three place. Incredible that Erfurt is only his seventh meeting all winter. Anyway he was pleased with the title Iris123 and I gave him after the World Championships, "King Of The B Final", but wants to change it next year and include the A rather than the B As for Krasnikov, another fine performance. I'd like to see him get four in a row next year, but I do think that Ivan Ivanov and Vitali Khomitsevich might have something to say about that!

Just checked the results sheet and my pics from Assen, Klabo rode but Jan didn't ride at all. In fact I didn't see him there. The only other Czech was Andrej Divis. Didn't see him in Berlin with Dad and Klabo either. Is he in Erfurt this weekend for the Golden Spike meeting (which they still insist on calling the Finale! )

Got to agree - best Ice Meeting I've been to for many a year. Some really exiting racing and I got some great pics. They'll be on my site this week. Good to see the lads from Cradley and Iris123 again, too. Also I met German Speedway Fan in our hotel and never got around to buying him a beer. And yes I was very embarrassed to have my 50th Birthday announced to the crowd! Thank god for the Finnish Vodka and Lordi Coke afterwards eh FSP! On a serious note, I believe that Johnny T has sustained a cracked or broken vertebrae and punctured his lung in two places as a result of his fall. I did speak to his mechanic on Sunday but I didn't get to speak to Mrs T as she was at the Hospital. I will try and contact some friends in Holland over the next few days and see if I can find out more about him. I'll keep you all posted.

Have a look at these two pics HERE and HERE On Sunday, Antti had his number two bike in Assen and borrowed Joachim Soderstrom's bike as reserve. After Berlin, the CD of Finnish Pics will be in the post f.s.p.!

German Championship in Erfurt 24.3.2007: 1 Günther Bauer 2 Anton Weber 3 Christoph Kirchner 4 5 Stefan Pletschacher 6 Franz Mayerbüchler 7 Andreas Roth 8 9 Sebastian Gegenbauer 10 Helmut Weber 11 Sergej Kasakov 12 Jochen Reischmann 13 Max Niedermaier 14 Dmitri Tschatschin 15 Johann Weber 16 Marian Kreklau R17 R18 The two empty places will be filled by the first and second place riders in an elimination heat. The others will take the reserve spots. Riders in the elimination race are: Andreas Wieser Erik Ernst Otto Fischer Florian Fürst Interesting that Sergej Kasakov will be riding, as I remember him riding in Assen the first time I went in 1985, and he was World Champion in 1982 (inzell) and 1983 (Eindhoven). Saw him in the pits in Assen over the weekend and he looked exactly the same as he did the first time I saw him. Wonder if he has his portrait in his attic? (Obscure literary reference to an Oscar Wilde story)

Assen pics on these links Roloef This Bokaal - 9.3.2007 World Ice Racing Championship R3, 10.3.2007 World Ice Racing Championship R4, 11.3.2007

Not being a regular at Berlin Wilmersdorf, (3 times in 20 years) I tend to treat it a bit like Assen where there is easy access to the stadium, forgetting of course that the Fourth Turn is a bit of a trek from the entrance. 3pm sounds fine, I will do my best to be there. My flight arrives at 11.30ish, so I can get to my hotel, have a quick snooze, then walk over to the track. See you Saturday

Line up for Berlin: 1 Markus Skabraut A 2 Sergej Baltashev MFR 3 Antti AAkko SML 4 Mikhail Bogdanov MFR 5 Vitaly Khomitsevich MFR 6 Dmitri Bulankin MFR 7 Antonin Klatovsky ACCR 8 Harald Simon ÖAMTC 9 Stefan Svensson SVEMO 10 Nikolai Krasnikov MFR 11 Günther Bauer DMSB 12 Daniil Ivanov MFR 13 Franz Zorn ÖAMTC 14 Johnny Tuinstra KNMV 15 Ivan Ivanov MFR 16 Stanislav Arkhipov MFR 17 Per Olov Serenius SVEMO 18 Max Niedermaier DMSB As with previous rounds the two lowest scorers in the table will be replaced on Sunday by the Reserves (although if Bauer is in the last two, the rider(s) above him will go, and he will be the Wild Card) I didn't quite hear the result of the C Final and went off what Lars Schroer said to me. I've now just checked the official results and Johnny was excluded on two minutes - so I stand corrected. I now need to amend the reports I sent off! Look forward to see you in Berlin at weekend, I did try to find you on the Sunday, but was unsuccessful. Now trying to sort out my 950 photos of the meeting into some sort of manageable number! On Saturday night, when Krasnikov met Bulankin, Nrasnikov wheelied on the back straight and hit Bulankin, knocking him off line, and causing him to slow. After Wojaczek's ruling on Friday when he excluded Pletschacher when he touched Shishegov, I expected the same for Krasnikov but No! Then when Bulankin (possible one of the fairest Russian riders ever) touched Zorn (which Franky told me didn't worry him as Bulankin did it accidentally) the Ref excludes him! The ref normally goes to the after meeting press conference at Assen. Mr Noel (president of the Jury) was there but Wojaczek wasn't. Some members of the German Press Corps were a bit miffed as they wanted to speak to him.

Sunday Results: (Heat Scores In Brackets) D Final: Markus Skabraut (2), Harald Simon (4), Antti Aakko (3), Max Neidermaier (0) C Final: Stefan Svensson (6), Johnny Tuinstra (x2m) (6)Antonin Klatovsky (x) (6), Sergej Baltashev (f) (4) B Final: Franz Zorn (12), Mikhail Bogdanov (10), Danil Ivanov (7), Per-Olof Serenius (7) A Final: Nikolai Krasnikov (13), Vitali Khomitsevich (f)(13), Ivan Ivanov (f)(13), Dmitri Bulankin (x) (13) Ivan Ivanov Rus 84 Nikolai Krasnikov Rus 83 Vitali Khomitsevich Rus 77 Mikhail Bogdanov Rus 69 Franz Zorn A 56 Danil Ivanov Rus 51 Stefan Svensson S 41 Dmitri Bulankin Rus 40 Sergej Baltachev Rus 36 Stanislav Archipov Rus 29 Johnny Tuinstra NL 28 Antti Aakko SF 26 Marcus Skabraut A 24 Antonin Klatovsky CzR 24 Harald Simon A 23 Gunther Bauer D 14 Per Olof Serenius S 11 Max Neidermaier D 8 Some bizarre refereeing today, In the A Final, Bulankin left the track, then Ivanov fell. Both excluded, Khomitsevich fell in the rerun Khomitsevich fell so Krasnikov won by default. EDIT: Results amended

The results from World Championship R3 in Assen, Saurday 10.3.207: D FINAL: Gunther Bauer, Harald Simon, Markus Skabraut, Antonin Klatovsky C FINAL: Antti Aakko, Stefan Svensson. Johnny Tuinstra, Stanislaw Archipov B FINAL: Franz Zorn, Danil Ivanov, Dmitri Bulankin (exc), Sergej Baltachev (ef) A FINAL: Vitali Khomitsevich, Nikolai Krasnikov, Mikhail Bogdanov, Ivan Ivanov Overall: 1 Ivan Ivanov Rus 66 2 Nikolai Krasnikov Rus 58 3 Vitali Khomitsevich Rus 57 4 Mikhail Bogdanov Rus 56 5 Franz Zorn A 42 6 Danil Ivanov Rus 39 7 Stefan Svensson S 31 8 Stanislav Archipov Rus 29 9 Sergej Baltachev Rus 29 10 Dmitri Bulankin Rus 24 11 Antti Aakko SF 22 12 Johnny Tuinstra NL 19 13 Marcus Skabraut A 18 14 Harald Simon A 18 15 Antonin Klatovsky CzR 16 16 Gunther Bauer D 14 17 Max Neidermaier D 5 18 Per Olof Serenius S 0 Archipov dislocated his shoulder and didnt ride in the C Final, Bulankin exluded for colliding with Zorn and the B Final ended in confusuin, and the points awarded Today (Sunday) Neidermaier replaces Klatovsky, Posa replaces Bauer, Kabo replaces Archipov and Bauer is reserve - Klabo should be reserve, but moves up.

Roloef Thijs Results Cracking night's racing, with some really good action. Bad result for Graham as he was underpowered in his first race, then after a great pass, slid off on the next turn in his second race. Great racing by Sven Holstein, Lukas Roesti and Simon Gartmann, with a good win for Dmitri Khomitsevich 1. Dmitri Khomitsevich (Rus), 2. Stefan Pletschacher (D), 3. Joachim Soderstrom (S), 4. Rene Stellingwerf (NL), 5. Andrei Shishegov (Rus), 6. Torleif Burman (S), 7. Sven Holstein (NL), 8. Lukas Roesti (CH), 9. Matin Leitner (A), 10. Simon Gartmann (CH), 11. Tommy Flyktman (SF), 12. Andrej Divis (CzR), 13. Anton Weber (D), 14. Marian Kreklau (D), 15. Jouni Seppanen (SF), 16. Claude Gadeyne (F), 17. Heinz Goldi (CH), 18. Jo Saetre (N), 19. Johan Bruckner (A), 20. Tomi Kirilov (SF), 21. Graham Halsall (GB), 22. Zdislaw Zerdinski (Pl), 23. Piotr Hejnowski (Pl), 24. Martin Posch (A).

Perhaps we should set the food stalls behind the first and second bends as the meeting point say an hour before the start time Saturday, then? One advantage of my changing flights is that I can have a leisurely stroll around the stadium before the first race in Berlin. As for Assen, the bar under the main grandstand is favourite if you are going there.

Luckily, LastMinute.com managed to change my flight for me to a KLM Flight via Amsterdam, after BA offered me a flight leaving Manchester at 1.15pm via Heathrow arriving in Berlin at 5pm, then leaving Tegal at 2pm Sunday arriving back in Manchester at 5pm - thereby depriving me of seeing the Ice Racing! (They didn't see it as a problem) I also saw on a news website that BA Connect cancelled the return flights for many people in destinations they served, with BA offering them flights that either cut short their hols or would incur more cost staying until they could get the offered flight. Still I'll see you on Saturday Evening Wolfslayer, will you be in the usual places?

I spoke to Roger Newton last night who told me the Ice Meeting planned for Norway on Sunday 10th is off as the track is a 400 mtr oval waterway at the moment. Most of the British Ice Racers will therefore be in Assen to support Graham. Remember if you are there for the Roleof Thijs meeting in Assen on Friday, Graham needs your support!

URGENT! If anyone is flying to Berlin with BA Connect I strongly urge to check your flights. BA have sold BA Connect to Flybe and have cancelled all BA Connect flights from the UK. (which includes my flight to Berlin next weekend) I only found out by seeing a news item in the business pages of the Manchester Evening News, as BA haven't bothered to tell anyone it seems! At the moment I'm scrabbling round for a cheapish flight but my trip to the final two rounds looks distinctly shaky!

World Ice Racing Team Championship, Saransk 4.3.2007 Day 2: Russia 30 Nikolai Krasnikov: 11, Vitali Khomitsevich: 7, Mikhail Bogdanov: 11 Germany - 21 Gunther Bauer: 12, Sebastian Gegenbauer: 9, Dmitri Tschatschin ns Sweden - 20 Per-Olov Serenius: 8, Stefan Svensson: 11, Torleif Burman 1 Finland - 16 Antti Aakko: 14, Tommy Flyktman 2, Jouni Seppänen: 0 Czech Republic – 14 Antonin Klatovsky: 11, Jan Klatovsky 3, Andrej Divis: 0 Austria 13 Martin Leitner: 2, Joseph Bruckner: 0, Harald Simon: 11 Holland - 11 Johnny Tuinstra: 10, René Stellingwerf 1, René Verhoef ns OVERALL: 1. Russia 60 2. Sweden 46 3. Germany 38 4. Czech Republic 31 5. Finland 29 6. Austria 25 7. Holland 22 I may be wrong, but I think this is the first time the Russians have won without dropping a point! Posa struggling on the second day and a better performance by the Germans saw them haul up to third, with the Finns (well Aakko) getting fourth on Day 2, but finishing 5th overall. Well done to the Russians! EDIT: I think the individual scores may be wrong as my Russian is none existent and the translation site I was using was a little iffy. Anyone know the correct scores feel free to add or PM me and I'll edit them

And for those of you who can't be bothered to follow the links: Day 1 in Saransk Ht. 1: Stefan Svensson, Per-Olov Serenius, Antti Aakko, Tommy Flyktman (X) Ht. 2: Harald Simon, Antonin Klatovsky, Jan Klatovsky, Johann Bruckner Ht. 3: Nikolai Krasnikov, Vitaly Khomitsevich, Dmitri Tschatschin, Sebastian Gegenbauer Ht. 4: Antti Aakko, Johnny Tuinstra, Tommy Flyktman, René Stellingwerf Ht. 5: Per-Olov Serenius, Stefan Svensson, Harald Simon, Martin Leitner Ht. 6: Jan Klatovsky, Günther Bauer, Dmitri Tschatschin, Antonin Klatovsky (X) Ht. 7: Vitaly Khomitsevich, Mikhail Bogdanov, Johnny Tuinstra, René Stellingwerf Ht. 8: Antti Aakko, Harald Simon, Johann Bruckner, Tommy Flyktman Ht. 9: Stefan Svensson, Per-Olov Serenius, Antonin Klatovsky, Jan Klatovsky (X) Ht. 10: Sebastian Gegenbauer, Dmitri Tschatschin, Johnny Tuinstra, René Stellingwerf Ht. 11: Nikolai Krasnikov, Mikhail Bogdanov, Antti Aakko, Tommy Flyktman Ht. 12: Stefan Svensson, Per-Olov Serenius, Sebastian Gegenbauer, Dmitri Tschatschin Ht. 13: Mikhail Bogdanov, Vitaly Khomitsevich, Harald Simon, Martin Leitner Ht. 14: Antonin Klatovsky, Johnny Tuinstra, Jan Klatovsky, René Stellingwerf Ht. 15: Antti Aakko, Sebastian Gegenbauer, Dmitri Tschatschin, Tommy Flyktman Ht. 16: Nikolai Krasnikov, Vitaly Khomitsevich, Stefan Svensson, Per-Olov Serenius Ht. 17: Johnny Tuinstra, Harald Simon, René Stellingwerf, Johann Bruckner Ht. 18: Antonin Klatovsky, Jan Klatovsky, Antti Aakko, Tommy Flyktman Ht. 19: Stefan Svensson, Per-Olov Serenius, Johnny Tuinstra, René Stellingwerf Ht. 20: Günther Bauer, Harald Simon, Sebastian Gegenbauer, Johann Bruckner Ht. 21: Nikolai Krasnikov, Vitaly Khomitsevich, Antonin Klatovsky, Jan Klatovsky Russia (30) Nikolai Krasnikov (3 - 3 - 3 3) 12 Vitaly Khomitsevich (2 3 - 2 2 2) 11 Mikhail Bogdanov (- 2 2 3 - -) 7 Sweden (26) Per-Olov Serenius (2 3 2 2 0 2) 11 Stefan Svensson (3 2 3 3 1 3) 15 Torleif Burman (- - - - - -) ns Czech Rep (17) Antonin Klatovsky (2 X 1 3 3 1) 10 Jan Klatovsky (1 3 X 1 2 0) 7 Andrej Divis (- - - - - -) ns Germany (17) Günther Bauer (- 2 - - - 3) 5 Sebastian Gegenbauer (0 - 3 1 2 1) 7 Dmitri Tschatschin (1 1 2 0 1 -) 5 Finland (13) Antti Aakko (1 3 3 1 3 1) 12 Tommy Flyktman (X 1 0 0 0 0) 1 Jouni Seppänen (- - - - - -) ns Austria (12) Martin Leitner (- 0 - 0 - -) 0 Johann Bruckner (0 - 1 - 0 0) 1 Harald Simon (3 1 2 1 2 2) 11 Netherlands (11) Johnny Tuinstra (2 1 1 2 3 1) 10 René Stellingwerf (0 0 0 0 1 0) 1 René Verhoef (- - - - - -) ns (taken from DGT's excellent site) Looks like the Russians want to try and keep a clean sheet this year. Wonder if Bogdanov is under orders not to drop any points Looking at the scores, the Russians, Swedes and Czechs seem to be the most consistent, whereas all the others are literally one man teams. Interesting that the Germans are using Bauer sparingly. Not totally match fit? If the Austrians had selected Zorn (and he had ridden), could they be further up the field?

Is the TV in Russia going to show this meeting on the web like last week? Anyone got a link?

Line up for Assen 10/11.3.2007 1 Günther Bauer D 2 Mikhail Bogdanov Rus 3 Dmitri Bulankin * Rus 4 Antonin Klatovsky CzR 5 Harald Simon A 6 Daniil Ivanov Rus 7 Franz Zorn A 8 Stefan Svensson S 9 Ivan Ivanov Rus 10 Vitaly Khomitsevich Rus 11 Markus Skabraut A 12 Sergej Baltashev Rus 13 Stanislav Arkhipov Rus 14 Antti Aakko SF 15 Johnny Tuinstra NL 16 Nikolai Krasnikov Rus R17 Max Niedermaier D R18 Per Olov Serenius S * Dmitri Bulankin may not ride due to his injury in which case Neidermaier moves up and there is a standby reserve to replace him. EDIT: Looking at the scorers from the Semis, Younir Baseev could be the favoured reserve - Russian for a Russian, although Tommy Flyktman could also be considered, and he will be in Assen for the Friday meeting. (from Speedway.org) As with the first rounds, the reserves will replace the 15/16th placed riders on Day 2 (unless of course one of them is Johnny Tuinstra, in which case the rider (s) above him will be replaced by the reserves.) It would appear that he becomes a wildcard on the Sunday if he finishes 15/16th according to one of the ladies from the Assen organising committee.

Sounds reasonable, Bogdanov is currently second in the championship with Krasnikov, behind Ivanov. Khomitsevich is fourth. Baseev is out of the Championship. Personally I would have had Ivan Ivanov in as I think he's a better rider that Khomitsevich, but then again, the MFR must be spoilt for choice. Russia to score 60 and not drop a point this year? They managed 59 last year. 2nd - Sweden, third Finland, and fourth Czech Rep.

Erm.....(Shuffles feet in embarrassment) Quite right, it's his 30th consecutive World Championship this year, I dug out my 2002 article on him in Speedway star (23.2.2002) and he started riding in 1976, entered the World championship in 1977, but qualified for his first world final in 1978. My mistake! (Put it down to having such a great time at the HammerFall gig on Friday night!)

Bit of a stop start coverage which spoiled it a little. I didn't manage to see a complete race without interruption, unlike yesterday when it ran for the full time without breaks, stops or buffering problems. Still it looked a good meeting and I think Zorn will do well when it rolls into Assen in two weeks. Hope Posa rides, as if he misses the championship through illness, he won't be able to celebrate his 31st consecutive World Championship series, which must be a first. Ivanov does look the man to beat this year. Does he have a point to prove?