f-s-p

Indeed. In Sweden I believe Tunavallen from Eskilstuna was closed due to noise, track moved to the woods and regular fanbase halved 10-15 years ago.

No, I mean the old ones that that are to be used in Poland.

Now that PZM is telling it's riders not to ride abroad with the new silencers, what happens when FIM declares a ban on all riders (non polish) riding with the old ones in Poland? Then there's only Tero Aarnio and Jari Mäkinen left!

I was sitting on my computer all tuesday compiling speedway news and read from the Spar (by Wojtech Szoltycek) that Poland was the last from the big three to agree on using the new silencers. A huge monkey dropped from my shoulders but luckily it had not hit the ground yet, when the poles brought this on us. I see two options: 1) The poles and PZM banned from all racing worldwide. This could get tricky, as PZM controls car racing as well in Poland (I think?). 2) FIM go back on their word AGAIN, look like total fools to the outsider/lose all credibility/have no right or means to introduce rules like this again... Many are saying they sound daft, thats not a reason to forget them. Kolodziejs bikes for this season look awful, but no one is banning him from the GP's...

Finnish league calendars 2011. SM-liiga lineups: Kotkat (SeMK): 1) Juha Hautamäki, 2) Markku Autio, 3) Rene Lehtinen, 4) Mika Loppi, 5) Kauko Nieminen. Paholaiset (PMK): 1) Joni Keskinen, 2) Jiri Nieminen, 3) Marko Suojanen, 4) Jere Lehtonen, 5) Jouni Viljanen. Keittiöpiste (KMMK): 1) Timo Lahti, 2) Tero Aarnio, 3) David Hillborg SE, 4) Marko Hyyryläinen, 5) Teemu Lahti. Sand Blowers (HyMK): 1) Jari Mäkinen, 2) Niko Siltaniemi, 3) Pasi Pulliainen, 4) Aarni Heikkilä, 5) Kalle Katajisto. SM-liiga fixtures: 14. toukokuuta, Pori: Paholaiset - Sand Blowers - Kotkat - Keittiöpiste. 24. toukokuuta, Seinäjoki: Kotkat - Keittiöpiste - Paholaiset - Sand Blowers. 14. kesäkuuta, Kuusankoski: Keittiöpiste - Paholaiset - Sand Blowers - Kotkat. 16. heinäkuuta, Hyvinkää: Sand Blowers - Kotkat - Keittiöpiste - Paholaiset. 23. heinäkuuta, Seinäjoki: Kotkat - Sand Blowers - Paholaiset - Keittiöpiste. 20. elokuuta, Kuusankoski: Keittiöpiste - Kotkat - Sand Blowers - Paholaiset. 23. elokuuta, Pori: Paholaiset - Keittiöpiste - Kotkat - Sand Blowers. 24. syyskuuta, Hyvinkää: Sand Blowers - Paholaiset - Keittiöpiste - Kotkat. Reserved dates for SM-liiga: kesäkuun 21, 28, heinäkuun 17, 19 ja syyskuun 6, 13, 20, 25. Kaupunki Cup 2011 lineups: Hyvinkää 1: Jani Eerikäinen, Jarkko Kunnaskari, Ari Tuomisto. Hyvinkää 2: Tino Turkia, Pekka Toikka, Marko Toikka. Kauhajoki: Miikka Hyyryläinen, Vili Mattila, Olli Heikkilä. Lahti: Jiri Nieminen, Jukka Nieminen, Janne Nyman, Anssi Vartiainen. Pori: Jere Lehtonen, Jouni Viljanen. Seinäjoki: Mika Loppi, Jyri Viemerö, Jani Pirttinen. Kaupunki Cupin fixtures: 15.5. Pori: Pori - Seinäjoki - Hyvinkää 1 - Hyvinkää 2 - Lahti - Kauhajoki. 12.6. Seinäjoki: Seinäjoki - Hyvinkää 1 - Hyvinkää 2 - Lahti - Kauhajoki - Pori. 17.7. Hyvinkää: Hyvinkää 1 - Hyvinkää 2 - Lahti - Kauhajoki - Pori - Seinäjoki. 24.7. Kauhajoki: Kauhajoki - Pori - Seinäjoki - Hyvinkää 1 - Hyvinkää 2 - Lahti. 28.8. Hyvinkää: Hyvinkää 2 - Lahti - Kauhajoki - Pori - Seinäjoki - Hyvinkää 1. Lahti: Lahti - Kauhajoki - Pori - Seinäjoki- Hyvinkää 1 - Hyvinkää 2. at a later date. 80cc Suomen Cup 14. toukokuuta, Pori 15. toukokuuta, Pori 12. kesäkuuta, Seinäjoki 23. heinäkuuta, Seinäjoki 20. elokuuta, Kuusankoski 28. elokuuta, Hyvinkää Lahti, date later.

All the Swedish papers are headlining Fredrik Lindgren today/yesterday, who's now worried that due to new exhausts riders need to become lighter and he's afraid anorexia might become a problem in speedway. He mentions "a rider" in last years GP challenge that spent time in his van with the heat turned on before the meeting in order to sweat/lose weight...

I guess todays meeting is already done, but after yesterday Kononov was in a position that he only had to win the remaining three rounds to become World Champ. Not a biggie...

Thank you very much, this is nice. I'm gonna celebrate the day by opening up a bottle of the Jameson Distillery reserve whiskey thats only available for guests at the Jameson's old distillery in Dublin for 52 euros + flights and accomdation. And naturally available to everyone visiting the online shop at jamesonwhiskey.com... And the same thing happened with Tullamore Dew (though thats still sealed even further back in the cabinet), only it was available from the local irish pub here in Tampere. Distillery reserve my xx year old ärse!

Funny you should mention, as I happen to know that they are being sent to the federation this week (including league rules) for approval. On another note, they were finalised in the conference mentioned and the clubs have been aware of the dates 6 weeks earlier than last year. So the "secrecy factor" has been played down considerably this year.

Without going in too deep to this subject, the reasons behind mx gear and his weight loss is all about performance. Less total mass (bike and rider) equals faster accelerator in speedway if nothing else, and we saw some pretty amazing stuff from kolo last year. His methods include (this is confirmed by a polish trainer) losing a couple of kg's before each meeting by using a sweatsuit and then getting the kg's back later. My opinion is that it's stupid, but then again Kolo has been mentioned as THE rider of 2010 outside the GP's, so I guess it's working for him. Probably it'll continue to work for until the first knock comes his way when a bit of fat and muscle would have saved the day...

Suomi 57 Kai Lehtinen 33322 13 Henri Malinen d2'312' 8+2 Janne Vilponen 33231 12 Jussi Hytönen 12'1'1' 5+3 Tomi Tani 2T2'1' 5+2 Jouni Seppänen 23323 13 Ari Tuomisto 0001 1 Ruotsi 39 Robert Henderson 2R 2 Viktor Svensson 1'111'11 6+2 Jocke Söderström 01'020 3+1 Mats Svensson 222230 11 Fredrik Johansson 331333 16 Markku Weckman 10000 1 Erä erältä: 1. Lehtinen, Henderson, V.Svensson, Malinen d 51,84 (3-3) 3-3 2. Johansson, Seppänen, Weckman, Tuomisto 55,43 (2-4) 5-7 3. Vilponen, Svensson, Hytönen, Söderström 54,93 (4-2) 9-9 4. Johansson, Tani, V.Svensson, Tuomisto 56,03 (2-4) 11-13 5. Vilponen, Hytönen, V.Svensson, Henderson R 55,96 (5-1) 16-14 6. Lehtinen, Malinen, Johansson, Weckman 54,81 (5-1) 21-15 7. Seppänen, Svensson, Söderström, Tani T 56,72 (3-3) 24-18 8. Malinen, Svensson, V.Svensson, Tuomisto 57,18 (3-3) 27-21 9. Johansson, Vilponen, Hytönen, Weckman 55,54 (3-3) 30-24 10. Lehtinen, Svensson, Malinen, Söderström 55,95 (4-2) 34-26 11. Seppänen, Tani, V.Svensson 59,00 (5-1) 39-27 12. Vilponen, Söderström, Tuomisto, Weckman 58,26 (4-2) 43-29 13. Johansson, Lehtinen, Tani 55,78 (3-3) 46-32 14. Svensson, Seppänen, Hytönen, Söderström 58,19 (3-3) 49-35 15. Seppänen, Malinen, V.Svensson, Weckman 58,59 (5-1) 54-36 16. Johansson, Lehtinen, Vilponen, Svensson 57,16 (3-3) 57-39 Tuomari: Matti Pöysä, katsojia 400. PICTURES! Sunday morning report time... Quite entertaining test match on a beautiful spring day. Both teams were missing their best rider (Serenius, Koij, Lindström, Svensson, Aakko, Järf) which in a way played for a better meeting. It started with Sweden in front but their chances literally blew up in heat 5 when Robert Hendersons bike packed up from the lead on lap 3. After that Finland ran away with it. The track itself was a bit small and narrow, but it was the same for everyone. Second corner surprised a lot of riders early, as it was really tight entering the back straight. Last year the fiveone's were 9-1 in Swedens favour, this time it was 3-0 for the Finns.

My first dabblings with my new gear and software: Ice racing Finnish final 2011!

Quite common to have a monday meeting in Germany. A bit like a bank holiday monday I suspect.

Jouni Seppänen hugging the red line in the ice racing Finnish final, heat 1.

Change of plan for the test match this weekend. Swedes are coming without their top 3 so Finland would have a chance. But Finland strikes back and is entering the meeting without Aakko and Järf. Meeting starts 2 PM local time this saturday. SWEDEN 1. Frederik Johansson 2. Patrik Sohlberg 3. R/R it seems, as there was no name here 4. Jocke Söderström 5. Robert Henderson 6. Viktor Svensson 7. Mats Svensson FINLAND 1. Kai Lehtinen 2. Henri Malinen 3. Janne Vilponen 4. Jussi Hytönen 5. Tomi Tani 6. Jouni Seppänen 7. Jussi Nyrönen

Press release today says it's the other way round! Team Great Britain face the ultimate test in Event Two of this year’s FIM PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna Speedway World Cup when they take on defending champions Poland at King’s Lynn on July 11. Tickets are now on sale – with an early bird discount for fans booking before July 1 - for the meeting at the Norfolk Arena. Event Two will also feature Russia and the winner of the qualifying round at Italian track Lonigo between Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Latvia. Event One at Danish circuit Vojens on July 9 sees last season’s silver medallists Denmark host Scandinavian rivals Sweden. They will also take on Australia, who will be determined to bounce back from their Race-Off elimination at the venue last year. The winner of the qualifier between Germany, Finland, the Ukraine and the United States at German track Landshut will join them. The top side from each event will progress directly into the SWC Final at Gorzow, Poland on July 16. Meanwhile, the second and third-placed teams will meet at the Edward Jancarz Stadium on July 14 to scrap for the remaining two Final spots in the Race-Off. After watching Team GB storm to victory in front of a partisan crowd at King’s Lynn last summer, BSI Speedway managing director Paul Bellamy cannot wait to see the Lions take on the world champions.

Just saw it myself online. I hate these reports that start by explaining the basics. Why not come to the tracks more often and keep the people informed... It was OK. On the Berlin front I wonder whats happened with Harald Simon? Has he won the lottery or something? Challenging the Russians the EC final and a good score today. Lehtinen made his comeback in Berlin, after I was told numerous times that his season is finished. Weird people these track racing riders, I guess the only way they will not ride (or nurse themselves to full fitness) is if they are dead.

There'll be one with possibly a Finnish team in it.

Finnish final results from Hyvinkää February 20th Henri Malinen P-KMK 33233 14 Aki-Pekka Mustonen VRT 33332 14 Mats Järf VaMK 32333 14 Seppo Siira SE 23322 12 Janne Vilponen A-SMP 23321 11 Jussi Hytönen P-KMK 22221 9 Tomi Tani P-KMK 02213 8 Jouni Seppänen PirMM 21212 8 Sami Hassinen P-KMK 10R23 6 Teppo Toivola A-SMP 31101 6 Timo Kankkunen P-KMK 11130 6 Jussi Nyrönen P-KMK 02111 5 Markku Weckman HeMK 10102 4 Ari Tuomisto FMS 01010 2 Harri Saari IRR 1000N 1 Mika Helin ValkMK 00000 0 Nina Ala-Riihimäki IRR 0 0 Erä erältä: Karsinta: Mustonen, Tani, Ala-Riihimäki 58,15 1. Malinen, Seppänen, Weckman, Tuomisto 57,39 2. Mustonen, Siira, Saari, Helin 58,05 3. Toivola, Hytönen, Kankkunen, Nyrönen 60,16 4. Järf, Vilponen, Hassinen, Tani 59,93 5. Mustonen, Tani, Kankkunen, Weckman 58,09 6. Malinen, Järf, Toivola, Saari 58,53 7. Siira, Hytönen, Seppänen, Hassinen 60,67 8. Vilponen, Nyrönen, Tuomisto, Helin 59,98 9. Vilponen, Hytönen, Weckman, Saari 61,23 10. Mustonen, Malinen, Nyrönen, Hassinen 59,62 11. Järf, Seppänen, Kankkunen, Helin 61,23 12. Siira, Tani, Toivola, Tuomisto 62,39 13. Järf, Siira, Nyrönen, Weckman 59,96 14. Malinen, Hytönen, Tani, Helin 63,96 15. Mustonen, Vilponen, Seppänen, Toivola 61,10 16. Kankkunen, Hassinen, Tuomisto, Saari 66,12 17. Hassinen, Weckman, Toivola, Helin 65,84 18. Malinen, Siira, Vilponen, Kankkunen 62,53 19. Tani, Seppänen, Nyrönen, Ala-Riihimäki 62,56 20. Järf, Mustonen, Hytönen, Tuomisto 60,42 Semifinaali: Siira, Vilponen, Nyrönen, Tani 62,65 Finaali: Järf, Malinen, Siira, Mustonen d 60,78 Tuomari: Jaakko Mäki, katsojia 545. Like mentioned, some mistakes in my list. A poor start to the season on my part. Not gonna offer any excuses though, I have a few good ones saved but I'll save them for speedway. Maybe these (corrected results) will find their way to sportowefakty also...

There was a mistake in my results, sure, but not THAT big! Always Ian read it all the way through... I'll post it back in a few minutes...

SM-liiga calendar was finalised today and will be out next week after going through the proper channels. The meeting/conference today included some debate over a few rules and lasted about twice the time than any of the 10 previuos meetings I've attended. I think it all turned out fine and people involved are well informed about whats going on. So bring it on! The ice racing test match against the Swedes in a few weeks will feature ALL the top Swedes and top Finns. The Finnish team will be decided after tomorrows national final. And only -15 forecasted for tomorrow. I've woken up to -28 or less every day this week... (freezin smiley)

Thought about that, U21 finalist last year and all but Katajisto might be better in his last U21 year (2012) and I'm willing to (almost) put money on it that Timo Lahti will be (2013).

Egon Muller just said in an interview that Germany doesn't even have any up'n coming riders at the moment apart from Smolinski (who's not so up'n coming anymore at around 25)... We do, and will be beating the Germans with our left hands in the near future on speedway tracks. Actually we already are! So as an answer to your proposal, NO WAY!

The league fixtures will be confirmed this saturday and finals are as follows: Individual saturday September 3rd - Haapajärvi and U21 July 30th - Kauhajoki. Kaupunki cup will be announced a bit later. Pairs is gone now, wont be arranged again because of the number of clubs taking part was too small and all the stuff that happened last season.

Finnish final next sunday at 1pm local time at Hyvinkää. Draw: 1. Markku Weckman HeMK 2. Henri Malinen P-KMK 3. Jouni Seppänen PirMM 4. Ari Tuomisto FMS 5. Quali 1st 6. Harri Saari IRR 7. Seppo Siira Ruotsi 8. Mika Helin ValkMK 9. Timo Kankkunen P-KMK 10. Teppo Toivola A-SMP 11. Jussi Hytönen P-KMK 12. Jussi Nyrönen P-KMK 13. Quali 2nd 14. Mats Järf VaMK 15. Sami Hassinen P-KMK 16. Janne Vilponen A-SMP 17. Quali 3rd 18. Quali 4th A mini qualifier will be held before heat 1 with 6 riders competing for 2+2 places in the final. Two 3 rider semis with 2 going through and then one heat for the 2+2 places in the actual final. Riders in the mini quali are: Aki-Pekka Mustonen VRT, Esko Rantanen PirMM, Nina Ala-Riihimäki IRR, Pertti Flink LMS, Tomi Tani P-KMK, Tommi Suolammi HäMK.