Conkers

You've got to hand it to Posa - 59 next birthday and still up with the young 'uns! Good to see Bauer's name back, not a bad start after an eighteen month hiatus!

Distinct lack of British riders in the field I see. Must ring Roger Newton and find out why. That will go down well - running against the WC Qualifying Round at Saalfalden!

Are you spannering for any of the Swiss riders this year in the Golden Spike?

I've got my Russian Hat AND It's my 50th Birthday on the Saturday, so if you want to hit the bar at the Winters Hotel.....

With the Santa Cup less than four weeks away, and the World Championship preliminary rounds just over a month away, the Ice Racing season will be in full swing soon. Therefore here is my usual plea: Is anyone planning a trip to Assen and/or Berlin or both? I will be at Assen for the full three days going out on Friday 9th and home on Monday 12th, then I'm in Berlin, out Saturday back Sunday. Will there be enough for a forum get together at either meeting?

Hmm, Nikulin conspicuous by his absence. Maybe he has realised that he is still struggling to be as competitive as he once was. He showed flashes of brilliance last year, but in my opinion, he looked off the pace in some heats. I'm not surprised about Robert Eibl, as I always thought he needed better sponsors than he had. But after all the time I've seen him riding, he is still a middle order rider. Good to see Bauer and Pletschacher back, just hope they stay injury free this season. Stefan is possibly at the make or break year, and if he manages a season without an injury he will only improve. As for the Russians, it's too early to say but looking at the results, there are two new names in there. It's as you were with the young guns like Ivanov, Krasnikov, The Khomitsevich's and Baraboshkin. Interesting that Danil Ivanov didn't ride. Him and Dmitri K are two of the hottest prospects for the future in my opinion. If Krasnikov does win the World Championship this year then he'll be the first rider to get three in a row since Sergei Tarabanko in 1977 (and he is the only Ice Racer to get four in a row.) Is there a reason the Finns picked Jouni Seppänen? I would have thought that Tommy Flyktman would benefit from riding in that series. Oh well, only a couple of weeks to the Santa Cup! BTW iris 123, we may be having that Guinness on my Birthday in Berlin after all! I'm looking at a flyer - out Saturday back late Sunday.

Interesting on their website that the UEM should promote the clockwise aspect of the sport, as all their competitions appear to be riding the opposite direction to the FIM. Or should I get my coat......

Assen Ticket booking form HERE

Rochdale staged their Double Header on Wednesday 25th August 1971 and took on Berwick in the first match, them Romford in the second. There is a copy of the cover HERE

Have a look at my Post about Ryanair from 2004 HERE (The link within that post is dead howevert!)

Sorry for not replying sooner but I was waiting for a reply from a German friend, who knows him. Bauer intends to ride next season, and has had an operation on his knee which means he can now bend his knee to 90'. Hopefully with physio he will be able to race in 2007. I just hope he is fit enough to take on the challenge of the Young Russians like Krasnikov, the Ivanovs and the Khomitsevich brothers. He has also a new Sponsorship deal with Fuchs Silkolene, who also sponsor Franz Zorn

It's also my 50th Birthday on St. Pats day.

Yes, I know it's hot and the sun is shining, and the country has had a heatwave, with the hottest July since records began - But the The Assen site has announced the dates for 2007. They will stage the event from Thursday 8th to Sunday 11th March 2006. The schedule is usually something like this: Thurs 8/3: 17.00hrs - Practivce for the Roloef Thijs Bokaal Fri 9/3: 09.00hrs - World Championship Practice 19.00hrs - Roloef Thijs Bokaal Sat 10/3: 19.00hrs - World championship R3 - 24 heats Sun 11/3: 13.30hrs - World Championship R4 - 24 Heats. From The Berlin Ice Racing Site The racing is Saturday 17th/ Sunday 18th March 2007. No other details at present

I'm sure I can help you, but as I've just had my roof repaired, the loft is under a ton of crap. We will have to clear it out, so at sometime during the Summer I should be able to find pics off the Morans and Bobby Ott in BV Colours. Please PM me

There are some pics from Buxton on my site, the link is in my sig

I've just sent photos of Ben Hopwood, George Piper, Adam Wrathall, Joe Haines and Brendan Johnson to Jayne at Buxton, and she has photos of Jack Roberts and Ben Taylor, so there are 7 of the riders. Looking forward to some good racing

Thanks for putting the times on the Forum, as last year I sat around the press Office waiting for the Photographers Briefing and missed the U-15s. This year I'm going to try and get to see them, and take some pics if I can. Funny, we have the briefing and never miss the musical act.

In 2004 we stayed in Monmouth then drove in, and found a car park in Dumfries Place, about 15 minutes walk from the stadium. We were back at the car at 10.40pm and were on the road by 10.50pm for the drive back to Monmouth. It is a straight walk from Stadium up Queen Street If you follow the signs from Dumfries Place you actually get into the car park by St Andrews lane. Hope this helps

This link shows them riding on dirt - a bit like longtrack. Thanks for the link Dutch!

It's actually called "Speedway Heroes - Where Are They Now?" and it's published by Peter White's Speedway World in Australia. The issue I have is Issue 4 and was put out last month. It came with my May Issue of Speedway World. Have a look on The Speedway World Website and you should have more details

Going off at a Tangent I know, but I just got a copy of an Australian Publication from Peter White (Publisher of "Speedway World") called "Where Are They Now" . In it is an article on Juneichi ("Jimmy") Ogisu, who is now 73, and still alive, living in Tokyo. He says he started racing at Funabashi Speedway, in Tokyo in 1953. He rode all the Japanese Speedways and they were dirt in those days, but later when they all changed to Asphalt, they had to change the bikes too. He was the Japanese Speedway Champion in 1964, and visited Australia to race in 1962 and again in 1969. He held the track record at Funabashiu from 1964 to 1967. In 1970, he raced in New Zealand, then Dave Lanning got him a ticket to England where he rode in Hackney and at The Wills Internationale at Wimbledon. He only scored one point as all the others were so much faster than him (his description). After the high point of his career, riding at Wimbledon, he retired, and runs a Cleaning company in Tokyo. His first wife died in 1969, and his second wife and he have been married since the 1970s. His son owns a compant with a UK branch. Juneichi intends to retire "in another 10 years or so". Hope you found this interesting.

Erfurt: Final Round 26.3.2006: 1. Junir Baseev 15 2. Sebastian Gegenbauer 12 3. Antonin Klatovsky 11 4. Johnny Tuinstra 11 5. Markus Skarbraut 11 6. René Stellingwerf 11 7. Ilya Drozdov 11 8. Jan Klatovsky 9 9. Martin Leitner 7 10. Dmitri Tschatschin 6 11. Johann Bruckner 4 12. Andreas Roth 3 13. Heinz Göldi 3 14. Thomas Cavigelli 2 15. Claude Gadeyne 2 16. Graham Halsall 2 Overall: 1 A. Klatovsky 74 2. Skabraut 66 3. Gegenbauer 63 4. J. Klatovsky 62 5. Tuinstra 60 6. Stellingwerf 57 7. Tschatschin 41 8. Halsall 35 9. Leitner 33 10. Baseev 30 Juniors: 1. Simon Gartmann 13 2. Max Niedermaier 13 3. Sven Holstein 7 4. Lukas Rösti 5 5. Mario Schweiger 2 6. Martin Posch 1 Overall: 1. =Sven Holstein (NED) 42 1. =Max Niedermaier (GER) 42 3. Simon Gartmann (SUI) 32 4. Mario Schwaiger (AUT) 31 5. Martin Posch (AUT) 20 6. Lukas Rösti (SUI) 15 7. Johann Weber (GER) 7 So Klatovsky retains the Golden Spike. However, according to the German sites, Skabraut was second and Jan K only scored 62 but I'm sure its a mistake. EDIT The worst result doesn't count so all the riders who took part in all 7 rounds have had their worse score dropped. All the others didn't do all the rounds don't lose points as long as they didn't do more than 6 rounds. Crackers I call it! Well done to Graham Halsall, 8th overall is a good achievement

Result from Erfurt - Round 6, 25.3.2005 1. Younir Baseev (Rus) 15 2. Ilya Drozdov (Rus) 14 3. Sebastian Gegenbauer (D) 12 4. Markus Skabraut (A) 11 5. Antonin Klatovsky CzR) 11 6. Johnny Tuinstra (NL) 10 7. Rene Stellingwerf (NL) 9 8. Jan Klatovsky (CzR) 8 9. Martin Leitner (A) 7 10. Dmitri Tschatschin (D) 7 11. Ulrich Roth (D) 5 12. Graham Halsall (GB) 4 13. Johann Brukner (A) 3 14. Claude Gadeyne (F) 1 15. Thomas Cavigelli (CH) 1 16. Heinz Göldi (CH) 1 Overall (after 6 of 7 rounds) 1. Antonin Klatovsky Cz 70 2. Jan Klatovsky Cz 61 3. Marcus Skabraut A 55 4. Rene Stellingwerf NL 53 5. Sebastian Gegenbauer D 51 6. Johnny Tuinstra NL 49 7. Dmitri Tschatschin D 35 8. Graham Halsall GB 35 9. Martin Leitner A 26 10. Heinz Goldi CH 21 11. Claude Gaydene F 14 12. Thomas Cavageli CH 14 Looks like the Russians showed everyone how to race with Baseev and Drozdov beating them all. The Klatovskys look like taking first and second, with Toni only needing to score more than brother Jan to take the title. Skabraut can't win, and best he can get is second. Stellingwerf needs to score more than Skabraut to get a Rostrum spot. Well done to Graham Halsall, with 8th place overall with one round to go. Final Round tomorrow start time 13.00hrs CET. EDIT: Junior Championship Result: 1. Niedermeier 6 2. Gartmann 5 3. Rösti 3 4. Holstein 2 5. Posch 1 6. Schweiger 0 Overall: 1. Sven Holstein (NED) 35 2. Mario Schwaiger (AUT) 29 3. Max Niedermaier (GER) 29 4. Simon Gartmann (SUI) 19 5. Martin Posch (AUT) 19 6. Lukas Rösti (SUI) 10 7. Johann Weber (GER) 7

Watching both of them in Assen, I was impressed by Holstein, but Neidermaier was like his dad in style and was streets ahead of Holstein. Johnny Tuinstra said about Sven, "He is good but needs to be less reckless" a fact bourne out by his two falls. Either way, the young riders - Gatmann, Holstein, Schwaiger, Neidermaier and the Weber brothers, together with the "mad young Russians" - there will be some great Ice racing for years to come

Final result (from Speedway.org) Russia 59 (Krasnikov 12, Baseev 11, Bogdanov 6) Sweden 43 (Sernius 14, Svensson 8, Engenstrom DNR) Finland 42 (Aakko 12, Flyktman 10, Kartunen 0) Germany 36 (Nikulin 11, Eibl 8, Kreklau DNR) Czech Rep 36 (A. Klatovsky 11, J Klatovsky 7, Pecina DNR) Netherlands 20 (Stellingwerf 6, Tuinstra 3, Holstein DNR) Switzerland 15 (Gartmann 4, Goldi 3, Weiss 0) The Russians dropped one point in their opening ride when Posa Serenius split the Russian pairing of Krasnikov and Bogdanov. Bogdanov came in third and was the only Russian to be beaten by someone other than a team-mate. Johnny Tuinstra obviously still suffering from the effects of his fall last weekend from his score. Gartmann can be proud of himself this weekend top scoring for his country in his first World Final. A promising youngster for the future. Look forward to hearing iris123's report when he gets around to it. And I'm not jelous that I didn't go