f-s-p

I dont know anything about Estonian speedway, except that they've ridden longtrack at the Tallinna Hippodrome. I didn't actually pay much attention to Mandre last weekend. I did notice that he had some sponsor stickers from Tallink and his bike looked a bit better. Last year it was more "a part from there and one from there" -sort of look. He rode @ the finnish U21 last year and won the B- final, thats how old he is . He was 9th in the finnish championship last year. As a rider I think he is a tryer, doesn't give up. That actually gave him a slot in the final, because he passed Keskinen on the line in the semi, after being way behind. As a gater he's OK? Track's in Finland were a bit crap (grippy with loads of material and holes) last year, but it seems a lot of work has been done on that front at nearly every track. So how would he do on a well prepared slicker track? I have no idea. I think the next time I see him, I'll go and have a word...

Tickets are here!

Results: 1. Tero Aarnio KMMK 2. Marko Suojanen PMK 3. Margus Mandre Eesti 4. Pekka Valo SeMK 5. Petteri Koivunen SeMK 6. Joni Keskinen SeMK 7. Jani Eerikäinen KMMK 8. Teemu Lahti KMMK 9. Tuomas Reinikainen WarkMPU 10. Janne Nyman FMS 11. Petri Meritähti PMK 12. Aarni Heikkilä FMS 13. Ari Tuomisto FMS 14. Pasi Räsänen SeMK 15. Toni Stenberg KMMK 16. Mika Suojanen PMK 17. Tomi Kauppi PMK 18. Joni kitala SsMK 19. Petri Koskela PMK 20. Juho Ruuska HjMK 21. J-E Korkeamäki KauhjMK 22. Pasi Mattila KauhjMK 23. Reino Koivuluoma KauhjMK Aarnio (21 yrs) did what he was supposed to. He had one EF while leading, once he was challenged "all the way from the tapes to backstraight" by Joni keskinen, otherwise untouchable. He has changed his riding style a bit this spring, but with this opposition he had yesterday, it's impossible to say anything. It looked better though, sort of tidier... He's been offered a contract by a British Premiere team, but with his current contracts and being in the army until July?, the man is in pieces trying to figure out what to do... Teemu Lahti (17 yrs) was a bit of a disappointment. He had loads of technical problems on saturday, but made it trough to take a place in the series. Joni Keskinen (19 yrs) on the other hand was a surprise. He gated well, which he didn't do at all last year I saw him. He bought one of Laukkanens GP -bikes during winter, and he rode well. A few years ago he was unbeaten in the finnish 80cc series. When he began riding 500cc, he had a bad accident in training and spent a month or two in the hospital. It was said he had too much steel in his back to carry on racing, but he did well. Well extremely well yesterday. One more name to mention is Janne Nyman (18 yrs). He rode well in this opposition. One of the few riders who wasn't afraid to make a move and challenge when there was a chance. Good for him! Finnish riders in Elgane for the U21 Worlds qualifier are: Tero Aarnio, Rene Lehtinen and Joni Keskinen Finnish riders for the U19 European Championship semi @ Målilla are: Joni Keskinen and Jani Eerikäinen

U21 is different, and we a place in the Polish round @ Rybnik on the 28th of August. Joonas Kylmäkorpi was the last rider to make it to a semi in the U21 individuals, and that was maybe 2-3 years ago, so I wont be making any reservations to hotels in Pardubice 1.10. The finnish U21 team isn't very strong.

The finnish season starts next weekend, when a training camp is organised by the local club, Pori motor club on the southwest coast of Finland at Pori. Training starts on saturday 10 am continuing all day. On sunday at 14 pm there's a qualifying meeting to determine 7+2 spots for the Individual Championships, in which the winner will be determined over three rounds held at: 18.06.2005 @ Kuusankoski, KMMK 16.07.2005 @ Haapajärvi, HjMK 13.08.2005 @ Varkaus, WarkMPU The best nine from last year have been seeded to the series, and they are: Kaj Laukkanen SeMK 10.00 Juha Hautamäki SeMK 8.96 Tomi Reima FMS 8.47 Tero Aarnio KMMK 8.00 Toni Salmela Nässjö SK 6.72 Rene Lehtinen SeMK 6.37 (most likely for Elgane for the U21 qualifier) Juha Mäkelä SeMK 6.33 Jyri Palomäki Nässjö SK 6.23 Jani Mäkelä SeMK 6.14 Riders in the annual Pori Open are: 1-Jani Eerikäinen 2-Aarni Heikkilä 3-Petri Meritähti 4-Teemu Lahti (-04 #3 at U21, I hope he gets the nod for the qualis in Elgane) 5-Marko Suojanen 6-Pekka Valo 7-Margus Mandre 8-Mika Suojanen 9-Pasi Räsänen 10-Kalle Kivistö 11-Juho Ruuska 12-Pasi Mattila 13-Janne Nyman 14-Petteri Koivunen 15-Tero Aarnio (-04 U21 #1, best/all we have in U21) 16-Joni Kitala 17-Tarmo Mustajärvi 18-Ari Tuomisto 19-Toni Stenberg 20-Petri Koskela 21-Tomi Kauppi 22-Joni Keskinen 23-Jan-Erik Korkeamäki 24-Tuomas Reinikainen (Riders in blue take part in the qualifying event) All together 25 riders wanted to come, so the meeting will raced under 24 rider Grand prix format. The numbers after each rider show you their league average from last year, and that avg. was used to place the riders order. Riders in black here participating in the meeting are able to win it, but not participate the series. Theres no finnish team in the World Cup this year because someone was late with the application. Funds and team were there, but depending who's asking/answering, the blame is always on the other guy (between head of speedway dep. and the secretary of the finnish union). When you add to this that the persons representing Finland at the annual FIM congress last autumn went there with a Longtrack qualifier to be held at Forssa, Finland, and came back with some Enduro meetings, I can tell you there's been a LOT happening behind the scenes. The problem is that the sport is so small, that nobody actually cares. Who ever is in charge can do as he sees fit. Sometimes it's good for the sport, sometimes not. At the moment it's not.

Sorry mates, I just found out, saw the last heat myself! in the future, check out: http://wwitv.com/portal.htm You can see it all for free if you choose dk 4....

There was a feature in the F1 mag a couple of years ago, that the technology is there to produce tyres in any color without loosing any of the grip or other characters. I've seen these in RC cars and mountain bikes already. Imagine Trick in golden tyres, or M. Smolinski in neon green...

Indeed, and golden wheels!!! Looks horrible.

I think Trick is one of the biggest favourites for the title, if not the biggest. But this year you really have to make the finals! Last year if you didnt make it to the final, you were left with 13 or 11 in the semi's, this year you could end up with only 8, depending how good it went in the qualifying heats. Hope Trick makes it, because this year you have to ride for every point!

For this to be completely fair to everyone, you have to forget about the 24 rider format with the eliminators. If someone takes his 1st heat after others have already been eliminated, how can it be fair? So it's practicly useless. Dont expect any feedback from BSI, most unlikely.

Yeah I thought about it, but Gröndal is WAY different than Ullevi or OS. They did have a "ticnet" booth at Ullevi last year, or at least they sold tickets by the stadion. Maybe they'll have something similar this year. waiting confirmation...

Just bought tickets via ticnet. Is there a place in Eskilstuna where I can pick them up? Or is it better to wait in Stockholm on saturday morning for one to open up? Ola..?

Maybe I could start running Reading for him next year, if he finds the money...

I went trough the book for a story, and found out that every rider has a chance to be in it, because every federation can offer riders for a wildcard. If enough riders are unavailable, "everyone" could be in it. Maybe I should apply for the race director-position. Hotel for three night's for FREE in every Grand Prix. And the meeting ref can overrule you during practise and the meeting itself, which means he can also run the practise and meeting himself... But seriously it says that the ref can overrule race director, dont know how it was in the old book, but maybe there's a cut in RD's rights?

Why!!! I dont get it... You better start getting the feel for the cap's, it's only few weeks time until the tapes go up again...

More yes than no!? Didn't get a good answer from a friend who followed the sport 15 years ago. He makes Antti Aakkos bikes at the moment, for a couple of seasons already. I think I should redefine the borrowed machinery in Flyktmans case, VT has provided them with equipment (as in sponsored), not borrowed them. Guess who asked "Who's he?" when heard the name Erik Stenlund, and found out five seconds later he was sitting next to him in a minibus... happened in Poland after the Bydgoszxs GP

Friend of mine who I was staying with, had moved and I had no access to internet. Sorry about the delay. results: Tommy Flyktman 33333 15 Antti Aakko 33233 14 Kai Lehtinen 33133 13 Jouni Seppänen 12332 11 Mika Kastren 23311 10 Sami Räsänen 22222 10 Pekka Karttunen 32220 9 Jussi Hytönen 22221 9 Teppo Toivola 11320 7 Christer Biskop 01113 Jaakko Mäki 20012 5 Jani Ahola 01102 4 Tomi Kirilov 11101 4 Tommi Suolammi 0k011 2 Ville Koskivähälä 10000 1 Timo Kankkunen h 000h 0 Ari Nevala 1. Flyktman, Räsänen, Seppänen, Biskop 58,86 2. Aakko, Hytönen, Kirilov, Ahola 61,82 3. Lehtinen, Kastren, Koskivähälä, Kankkunen (XT) 61,34 4. Karttunen, Toivola, Mäki, Suolammi 61,60 5. Kastren, Räsänen, Kirilov, Suolammi (R/engine) 62,80 6. Lehtinen, Seppänen, Ahola, Mäki 61,28 7. Aakko, Karttunen, Biskop, Koskivähälä 62,50 8. Flyktman, Hytönen, Toivola, Kankkunen 61,80 9. Toivola, Räsänen, Ahola, Koskivähälä 63,63 10. Seppänen, Karttunen Kirilov, Kankkunen 64,10 11. Kastren, Hytönen, Biskop, Mäki 65,41 12. Flyktman, Aakko, Lehtinen, Suolammi 62,11 13. Aakko, Räsänen, Mäki, Kankkunen 63,91 14. Seppänen, Hytönen, Suolammi Koskivähälä 66,01 15. Lehtinen, Toivola, Biskop, Kirilov 60,53 16. Flyktman, Karttunen, Kastren, Ahola 63,70 17. (re-run) Lehtinen, Räsänen, Hytönen, Karttunen 64,62 18. Aakko, Seppänen, Kastren, Toivola 64,68 19. Biskop, Ahola, Suolammi, Kankkunen (XT) 70,00 20. Flyktman, Mäki, Kirilov, Koskivähälä 64,76 Better meeting than I expected. -25 weather the night before made the ice very hard, and the racing suffered as the meeting progressed. Aakko made two mistakes that cost him the championship. In heats 7 and 12 he was left spinnig at the tapes, and in heat 12 he couldnt challenge Flycktman, who looked extremely fast. Flyckman was riding bikes and motors from Veijo Tuoriniemi, and especially in heat 1 when Räsänen took the start it looked he could've won even further from the back. Kai Lehtinen took his 1st medal after 20 years in the sport, riding with Aki Ala-Riihimäkis equipment. Being family and all. Raimo Henriksson has left the door open for a comeback next year, cant remeber what Aki said to the same question. Jimmy was on his feet helping his brother. After the accident he stayed in hospital for 12 weeks, before checking himself out before total boredom. He's been training, and expects to make a comeback in ice racing in 2006. Doctors gave him a riding ban for 18 months, and the metalwork in his back will be taken of later this year.

Jimmy had a bad crash in a longtrack meeting last summer in Finland. In fact there was a bad crash in practicly every longtrack meeting last year. He broke a lot of bones, and I think he's still in hospital, not sure. He was entering 1 bend when he collided with someone, and went straight on trough where there was no fence... It's an open meeting, because there's not so many riders. Winter here is practically non-excistent, Aakko has had the most practise = most meetings in Austria and Sweden. I think only one training session has been organised, that was last weekend.

Riders in the meeting are: 1. Sami Räsänen P-KMK 2. Jouni Seppänen FMS 3. Christer Biskop 4. Tommy Flyktman Ruotsi 5. Tomi Kirilov PirMM 6. Q 1. 7. Antti Aakko OMK 8. Jussi Hytönen KMMK 9. Mika Kastren KRT 10. Kai Lehtinen Vähämäki & Toivola Motorsport 11. Q 2. 12. Timo Kankkunen P-KMK 13. Q 3. 14. Jaakko Mäki FMS 15. Pekka Karttunen P-KMK 16. Teppo Toivola Vähämäki & Toivola Motorsport 17. Q 4. (reserve) Qualifying heat: Ville Koski-Vähälä KRT Ari Nevala PirMM Tommi Suolammi HäMK Jani Ahola KRT Riders from the qualifying heat will ride in the meeting as it indicates in the roster. Antti Aakko is the only favourite, and expects Tommy Flyktman to be his main threat. Raimo Henriksson, Seppo Klemettilä and Aki Ala-Riihimäki have (to my knowledge) all retired, so the gap between Aakko and the next one is most likely to be more than half a straight. I dont really have any expectations about the meeting, but I'm going, and I'll post the results sometime next weekend.

OK, so they rode yesterday as well. Vielen Danke!!

Yes I know they are, I've seen the icemania.at advert on it. But to me it says practise on Saturday and the meeting on Sunday. Or are they riding 40 heats today..? Dont think that the track could take that..? Thanks anyway...

Whats going on here? They are riding in Bollnäs and in Russia: two days and two meetings combining the points, and in Saalfelden one day with one meeting?!? Yet everybody is in the same competition... I must be missing something!

Assume that this position is adjacent to a bar. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I didn't even bother to check ! But I think that issue will sort it self out...

Row 17 at L32 here we come!

When you think what a football player earns for booting a bag of wind up & down a field for 90 mins,i'm sorry but in my opinion,ice racer's are more talented & professional!!!!!!! That's what I thought, not PRO pro, 1/3 pro to be more exact. But I dont agree what you're saying on ice racer's, sure it take's a man to be an ice racer, but not as much talent as it takes to be a footballer.