Conkers

Live results from Berlin First Day: 1) Russia 30 (Krasnikov 11, Bogdanov 10, Baseev 9) (MAXIMUM POINTS!) 2) Sweden 21 (Svensson 14, Sernius 7, Engenström DNR) 3) Finland 20 (Aakko 14, Flyktman 6, Karttunen DNR) 4) Czech Rep. 18 (A. Klatovsky 11, J. Klatovsky 7, Pecina DNR) 5) Germany 17 (Eibl 13, Nikulin 4, Kreklau 0) 6) Netherlands 11 (Tuinstra 6, Stellingwerf 5, Holstein DNR) 7) Switzerland 8 (Gartmann 6, Goldi 2, Weiss 0) Sweden not wanting to miss out on a rostrum spot three years running, but the Russians are running away with it. Gartmann seems to be doing well for the Swiss though, not bad for his first final. Germany certainly missing Bauer, and if it wasn't for Robert Eibl I reckon they'd be further down the order.

Pictures from Assen: Roelof Thijs Bokaal/Golden Spike Round 5, 10.3.2006 106 Pics Assen Saturday Pics Assen Sunday Pics

You're gonna hate me - but Anne Van Der Helm took up Ice racing for the 1992 season and he was instrumental in their third place in the team final in Assen that year. Interesting that Verhoef has been dropped but after watching him last week he was well off the pace in the GSS, but a masterstroke by naming Tuinstra at reserve. Mainly because of his injury last weekend I suspect, but he will give Stellingwerf and Holstein some firepower. Russian team - only surprise is Loumpov at reserve considering Bogdanov is higher placed, but then again Loumpov is one of those dependable riders.

Judging by the light on your pictures I would say you were half way around turn 2? I was just along from you for part of Sunday's racing, with a Dutch photographer, and we were using flash for part of the afternoon. I've taken close on 400+ pics which need editing and sorting so my pics should be up later in the week. Glad there is another convert to Ice racing!

Sunday:(Heat Scores in brackets) A Final: Krasnikov (13), Bogdanov (14), Zorn (11), Aakko (11) B Final: Baseev (10), Drozdov (10), Svensson (9), Bulankin (8) C Final: Serenius (7), Zacharov (8), Loumpov (4), Klatovsky (5) D Final: Harald Simon (Austria) (3), Robert Eibl (Germany) (4), Nikulin (1), Shishegov (1) OVERALL: Nikolai Krasnikov 100, Younir Baseev 70, Mikhail Bogdanov 64, Vladimir Loumpov 58, Franz Zorn 56, Maksim Zakharov 47, Illya Drozdov 46, Antti Aakko 44, Stefan Svensson 41, Andrei Shishegov 40, Dmitri Bulankin 40, Per-Olof Serenius 36, Antonin Klatovsky 21, Viatcheslav Nikulin 21, Harald Simon 16, Tommy Flyktman 9, Robert Eibl 8, Johnny Tuinstra 7. Congrats to Nikolai who noy only becomes the Youngest Rider ever to win two world Championships back to back, but he becomes the first to win a GP Type series with maximum points! Frany Zorn gets 5th his best show for some time in the WC. Tuinstra had to withdraw from Sunday due to a kidney problem after his fall in the D Final Saturday. Sorry for the late update but I had to get back to Amsterdam and do my report and pics.

Saturday result from Assen 11.3.2006: World Championship R 3 Nikolai Krasnikov Rus 25 Maksim Zakharov Rus 20 Vladimir Loumpov Rus 18 Younir Baseev Rus 16 Ilya Drozdov Rus 14 Franz Zorn A 13 Mikhail Bogdanov Rus 12 Per-Olof Serenius S 11 Dmitri Bulankin Rus 10 Antti Aakko SF 9 Andrey Shishegov Rus 8 Stefan Svensson S 7 Tommy Flyktman SF/S 6 Antonin Klatovsky CzR 5 Viatcheslav Nikulin D/Rus 4 Johnny Tuinstra NL 3 A Final- Baseev excluded for bring down Krasnikov, Then in the re-run Loumpov fell & exclude, then in the re-run Zacharov packed up gifting the top points to Krasnikov Tuinstra fell in D Final Overall: Nikolai Krasnikov Rus 75 Younir Baseev Rus 56 Vladimir Loumpov Rus 50 Mikhail Bogdanov Rus 44 Franz Zorn A 38 Maksim Zakharov Rus 38 Andrey Shishegov Rus 37 Ilya Drozdov Rus 33 Stefan Svensson S 29 Dmitri Bulankin Rus 29 Antti Aakko SF 28 Per-Olof Serenius S 26 Viatcheslav Nikulin D/Rus 17 Antonin Klatovsky CzR 14 Harald Simon A 10 Tommy Flyktman SF/S 9 Johnny Tuinstra NL 7 Robert Eibl D 3

Roelof Thijs Bokaal/GSS Round 5, Assen Friday 10/3/2006 FINAL: 1) Ivan Ivanov (Rus) (13) 2) Joakin Soderstrom (S) (13) 3) Markus Skabraut (A) (12) 4) Sebastian Gegenbauer (D) (11) Other scorers: Stanislav Arkhipov (Rus) 11 Johnny Tuinstra (NL) 10 Jan Klatovsky (Cz) 10 Rene Stellingwerf (NL) 8 Antonin Klatovsky (Cz) 7 Dmitri Tschatschin (D) 6 Graham Halsall (GB) 5 Claude Gatdeyne (F) 5 Martin Leitner (A) 4 Heinz Goldi (CH) 2 Thomas Cavigelli (CH) 1 Rene Verhoef (NL) 0 Juniors: Max Neidermaier Jnr 11 Simon Gartmann 5 Sven Holstein 4 Mario Schwaiger 4 Klabo suffered two falls during the meeting, whilst Ivanov and Soderstrom showed everyone how to race. Skabraut was quite good but a second and a thrid did him no favours Overall: 1) Antonin Klatovsky 59 2) Jan Klatovsky 53 3) Rene Stellingwerf 44 4) Marcus Skabraut 44 5) Johnny Tuinstra 39 6) Sebastian Gegenbauer 39 7) Graham Halsall 31 8) Dmitri Tschatschin 31 9) Heinz Goldi 23 10) Martin Leitner 19 11) Thomas Cavagelli 13 12) Claude Gadeyne 13 Got the scorechart wrong - had to amend in the edit!

From Inspeed.de 1. Dimitri Khomitsewitsch 29+3 2. Danil Iwanow 29+2 3. Pawel Tschajka 24 4. Dimitri Karpukhin 22 5. Maxim Luschnikow 21 6. Sergej Koltakow 18 7. Mikhail Selepukin 16 8. Roman Akimenko 16 9. Fedor Krawtschenko 12 10. Mikhail Dumanow 11 11. Semjon Goloshejkin 9 12. Andrej Gavrilkin 8 13. Nikolaj Kaminski 6 14. Aleksandr Rodin 6 15. Viktor Tshajka 4 16. Maksim Koltakov 4 17. Evgeni Dydykin 3 Good to see the two "Wild Boys" (Dmitri and Danil) doing so well. Maybe next year we'll get to see them ride in the World Championship again.

DGT - Make sure you introduce yourself to me - Ask Gert Bos to point me out!

Think so!

Any predictions for the wekend? Overall Weekend Top 5 Zorn Baseev Aakko Krasnikov Loumpov World Champion: Krasnikov 2nd Baseev 3rd Zorn Nikolai Krasnikov will do enough to retain his Championship, but won't let Baseev get the better of him. Franky loves Assen and I think a final Rostrum placing will be in order for him

The juniors will race at assen on Friday too, and Holstein will be in front of his home fans. Line Up: 1. Sven Holstein (NL) 2. Mario Schwaiger (A) 3. Simon Gartmann (CH) 4. Max Niedermaier (D) (Hope his Dad is with him, could be an interesting pic!)

I do hope you feel better soon, look forward to seeing you in the future. As for my website - well it's offline for some reason at the moment but I can't contact my Host to get it sorted! Joanne - I hope I'll finally make your aqaintance this weekend, after missing you last year.

As it is the Assen Weekend from Friday, I take it that any Forum members going will be meeting in the bar under the main grandstand on Saturday, before the racing? If that is the case I will make every effort to get there before the racing starts. As for Friday, if anyone is going I'm the stocky bespectacled photographer in the brown coat and Russian Fur Hat so please say hello if you see me. I do spend some races photographing the action from the terraces. See you all there.

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See that poor old Mark Uzzell was reserve for the meeting and didn't get a ride. Just hope he had his thermals on.

Gary I sent you a PM with the contact details I have

Doc, if you contact Wolfslayer - he and his friends are going to Berlin, and can give you all the gen you need. One tip, thermal underear on the saturday Night could be a good idea! Iris123 - didn't notice the Austrians weren't in it, but without Franky and Bauer there will be a smaller crowd. I suspect Sweden will be out to get a rostrum spot after the last two years finishing in fourth. I think it will be Germany or the Czech Republic for the othert spot. As for Switzerland, I'm afraid they will be a little out of their depth in their Debut final, and anything above 7th will be a bonus (sorry Malcolm). Mind you, with the number of nations now competing in Ice racing, maybe they could re-introduce the qualifier and include GB, Switzerland, and France with some of the lesser lights (like Austria Netherlands & Czech Republic) with the top 2 going on to the Final?

Kevin, if you contact me I will give you the address of one of the organising club who will answer all your questions.

The line ups confirmed so far for Berlin: Switzerland: 1,2,15: Henz Goldi, Philipp Weiss, Simon Gartmann Russia: 3,4,16: Nikolai Krasnikov, Younir Baseev, Vladimir Loumpov Czech Rep.: 5,6,17: Antonin Klatovsky, Jan Klatovsky, Jan Pecina Germany: 7,8,18: Viatcheslav Nikulin, Robert Eibl, Marian Kreklau Finland: 9,10,19: Antti Aakko, Tommy Flyktman, Pekka Karttunen Netherlands: 11,12,20: Rene Stellingwerf, Sven Holstein, Johnny Tuinstra Sweden: 13,14,21: Per-Olof Serenius, Stefan Svensson, Ulf Engenstrom

I've just had a look at Krasnikov's results at Assen in the last three seasons there: 2003: Sat: 2nd B Final; Sun 2nd D Final. Overall position 8th 2004: Sat: 1st A Final; Sun 1st B Final. Overall Position 5th 2005: Sat: 2nd A Final; Sun 4th A Final. Overall position: Champion Not bad for someone who doesn't like the track Last Year he won both rounds in Russia, and won the title by riding in both A Finals at Assen and in Berlin. I think you may be right Paragon, He could easily retain his title although I do think Baseev may want to make amends for his Last place in the C Final and second in the D Final of 2004, by winning the title. To do that he needs to win both A Finals and for Krasnikov to get a third on one of the nights. From your account of Inzell and from his scores at the weekend, I think it's highly unlikely. Remember, Krasnikov only turned 21 in February so he is already in the record books as the youngest Tracksport World champion ever, so being a double World champion by the time he's 21 is another record.

From what I can gather, Bulankin suffered loads of Machine trouble on the Sunday. Saturday he was in better form as he beat Baseev. Think Franky could cause an upset in Assen though as he really likes the track - given he can make the gate in every race, and with Aakko & Posa on a track they like, the Russians could find themselves up against a three pronged attack. I still think it will be a Russian who wins, but Krasnikov doesn't really like the Dutch track I'm told - First world title for Baseev?

Saransk Day 2 Result: (from:The Russian Site ) A Final Nikolai Krasnikov Junir Baseev Mikhail Bogdanov Vladimir Loumpov B Final Ilya Drozdov Franz Zorn Andrei Shishegov Stefan Svensson C Final Antti Aakko Antonin Klatovsky Per-Olof Serenius Maksim Zacharov D Final: Dmitri Bulankin Viatcheslav Nikulin Harald Simon Robert Eibl Overall: Nikolai Krasnikov 25+25=50 Jounir Bazeev 20+20=40 Vladimir Lumpov 16+16=32 Mikhail Bogdanov 18.+14=32 Andrey Shishegov 11+18=29 Franz Zorn 13+12=25 Stefan Svensson 12+10=22 Antti Aakko 10+11=21 Ilja Drozdov 14+6=20 Dmitri Bulankin 6+13=19 Maksim Zakharov 7+11=18 Per Olov Serenius 8+7=15 Viatscheslav Nikulin 5+8=13 Antonin Klatovsky 0+9=9 Harald Simon .4+5=9 Johnny Tuinstra 4+0=4 Robert Eibl 0+3=3 Tommy Flyktman 3+0=3 Indivisual Scores from Heats 1-20: Antti Aakko (23110) 7 Dmitri Bulankin (12000) 3 Vladimir Loumpov (23332) 13 Robert Eibl (00111) 3 Andrey Shishegov (32211) 9 Viatcheslav Nikulin (01000) 1 Franz Zorn (23212) 10 Maksim Zakharov (10021) 4 Antonin Klatovsky (01122) 6 Younir Baseev (33333) 15 Ilya Drozdov (10231) 7 Per-Olof Serenius (21202) 7 Mikhail Bogdanov (31323) 12 Stefan Svensson (02123) 8 Nikolai Kraznikov (32333) 14 Harald Simon (10000) 1 Well no surprises that the Russians would Dominate but 6th Place overall for Franky Zorn puts him in good place for an upset in Assen. Well done to Stefan Svensson and Antti Aakko for denting the Russian ranks. Two weeks to assen - It's going to be a great weekend!

Result from Day 1 in Saransk (from the Russian Speedway site) FINAL А 15.Nikolai Krasnikov………25 10.Jounir Bazeev…………..20 5.Andrey Shishegov…….….18 3.Vladimir Lumpov………..16. Final B 13.Mikhail Bogdanov…….14 2.Dmitri Bulankin………..13 7.Franz Zorn……………...12 8.Maksim Zakharov…..…..11 Final С 14.Stefan Svensson……….10 1.Antti Aakko………………9 6.Viatscheslav Nikulin……...8 12.Per Olov Serenius……….7 Final D. 11.Ilja Drozdov……………..6 16.Harald Simon……………5 4.Johnny Tuinstra…………..4 9.Tommy Flyktman…………3 Individual Scores from Hts 1 - 20: Antti Aakko (12300) 6 Dmitri Bulankin (23223) 12 Vladimir Loumpov (33312) 12 Johnny Tuinstra (00010) 1 Andrey Shishegov (33123) 12 Viatcheslav Nikulin (01220) 5 Franz Zorn (12122) 8 Maksim Zakharov (23211) 9 Tommy Flykyman (00000) 0 Younir Baseev (32333) 14 Ilya Drozdov (20101) 4 Per-Olof Serenius (12011) 5 Mikhail Bogdanov (01233) 9 Stefan Svensson (10132) 7 Nikolai Kraznikov (31332) 12 Harald Simon (21001) 4 Good to see Franky making a dent in the Russian Front. Third in the B Final is no mean feat there. Perhaps he can go one better tomorrow. Looks like Wolfslayer was right - he finally has a good meeting in Russia! Poor old Posa - not having a good time in Russia this season at all. If the racing goes to plan, Ebl and Klatovsky should replace Tuinstra and Flyktman tomorrow.

Seems odd in a competition which is SUPPOSED to be restricted to Western European Riders, that the Organisisers in Assen should plump for two Russian Riders as Wild Cards, mind you Samorodov is a brilliant rider but I've never heard of the other one, Chapalo. Still if Chapalo is half as good as Danil Ivanov and Dmitri Khomitsevich who rode two years ago and were incredible, Friday should have some cracking races in the DeSmeldt Stadium! BTW Malcolm, I'll probably be the only English photographer in the Pits on that Friday, so I shouldn't be too hard to miss, I normally have a chat with Graham and Heinz when I get in there, so our paths should cross.