Anders

Unfortunately no, he's 22 later this year.

Other meetings tonight are: Lejonen - Valsarna Indianerna - Piraterna Västervik - Rospiggarna For Dackarna, Grzegorz Zengota and Rory Schlein replaces the injured duo of Hans Andersen and Peter Karlsson. Should still be an interesting match though. For live updates from ALL meetings, turn to www.speedway.nu from 19:00 local time.

Matej Kus is the Wild Card, while Lubos Tomicek and Zdenek Simota are track reserves, according to speedwaygp.com.

So, this is the line-up for the second World Cup qualifier, held in Abensberg on May 24th. (Source: Speedway.org) NORWAY 1. Kim Rudi Juritzen 2. Tord Solberg 3. Marius Rökeberg 4. Stein Roar Pedersen 5. Patrick Herold CZECH REPUBLIC 1. Ales Dryml 2. Matej Kus 3. Lukas Dryml 4. Michal Malek 5. Josef Franc GERMANY 1. Martin Smolinski 2. Tobias Kroner 3. Kevin Wölbert 4. Christian Hefenbrock 5. Frank Facher LATVIA 1. Viacheslav Geruckis 2. Maksims Bogdanovs 3. Jevgenijs Karavackis 4. Leonids Paura 5. Kjastas Puodzuks Two days and only 300 km from Prague GP, so I will actually be there for this one (along with Zetters)! Should be a good fight between the Czechs and Germans, with the Latvians acting spoilers. Norway looks weak, and it seems like several of their better riders won't be there. I would have thought Lars Daniel Gunnestad would be a top five rider in Norway, and what about Mikke Bjerk, Rune Sola, Björn Hansen or Carl-Johan Raugstad? All rode last year... BWT, what are the correct spellings of riders No 1 and 3 in Latvia? I've seen so many different spellings of both their first name and surname that I don't know what to think anymore...

This meeting has now been postponed due to bad weather/track conditions.

KetteringPanther, On their website, they now list the fixture against Team Värmland as postponed, with their next meeting at Gasarna on Wednesday. So if you want to see some 500cc action on Sunday, the only choice is the Division 1 meeting between Hultsfred's Gymnasium and Nässjö SK, which starts at 15:00 at G&B Arena in Målilla. There are also three meetings in the Youth League (80cc), at Mariestad (13:00), Kumla (13:00) and Eskilstuna (12:00).

According to Valsarna's website, it will be held in Hagfors, to start at 13:00 local time. I'm not sure it will held in Huddinge. From what I can gather on their website, they are working hard to finish the reconstruction of the fence on each straights. (From the 2010 season, all tracks must have wooden fences on the straights.) Their home opener (Sunday May 9th) was held in Eskilstuna, but I have no idea what the status is for the Sunday fixture against Team Värmland.

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 4 Tuesday May 18th 2010 VALSARNA - LEJONEN 43-53 at Emtbjörks AB Arena, Hagfors Attendence: 1550 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Not even 1600 persons were counted as Valsarna rode their first Elitserien fixture for seven years, and despite the fact that two time champions Lejonen - with Nicki Pedersen in the line-up - came to town. That must have been disappointing, and even worse - the home side lost. Valsarna turned a six point deficit after three heats to a four point lead just four heats later, but the Lions were stronger after the interval, and managed a ten point win. Valsarna (home) 43 1. Grigorijs Laguta 3-3-2-1-0 = 9 (5) 2. Daniel Nermark X-3-2*-2-1 = 8+1 (5) 3. Tomasz Gapinski 2-2-0-1*-1 = 6+1 (5) 4. Matej Kus 0-0-2-N = 2 (3) 5. Sebastian Ulamek 2*-1*-2-0-3 = 8+2 (5) 6. Henrik Gustafsson 1-3-2*-2-2-R = 10+1 (6) 7. Anders Mellgren 0-N-0-0 = 0 (3) 8. Victor Palovaara Lejonen (away) 53 1. Nicki Pedersen 2-3-3-3-2* = 13+1 (5) 2. Dave Watt 1*-1-0-3 = 5+1 (4) 3. Troy Batchelor 1-1-1-3-3 = 9 (5) 4. Mikael Max 3-1-0-0 = 4 (4) 5. Chris Holder 0-3-1-2*-0 = 6+1 (5) 6. Artur Mroczka 3-0-3-3-2 = 11 (5) 7. Dennis Andersson 2*-1-1-1 = 5+1 (4) 8. Christian Agö *-*-* PIRATERNA - INDIANERNA 50-45 at Biltema Arena, Motala Attendence: 3080 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. The Pirates remain unbeaten after three rounds, winning the local derby against Indianerna by a five point margin. The partnership of Jonas Davidsson and Damian Balinski (late replacement for Antonio Lindbäck) scored two maximums in heats 6 & 8 to give Piraterna the lead for good. In theory, the meeting went to a last heat decider, but as Piraterna had a five point lead before heat 16, Indianerna would have needed both home riders as non-finishers in the last race to gain a point. Piraterna (home) 50 1. Greg Hancock 1*-1-1*-3-2 = 8+2 (5) 2. Maciej Janowski 2-0-3-0 = 5 (4) 3. Jonas Davidsson 2-3-3-3-3 = 14 (5) 4. Damian Balinski 0-2*-2*-X-Fx = 4+2 (5) 5. Rafal Dobrucki 3-R-3-1-0 = 7 (5) 6. Linus Sundström Fx-0-2-0 = 2 (4) 7. Robert Kosciecha 3-2-2-3 = 10 (4) 8. Tomas Bäck Indianerna (away) 45 1. Bjarne Pedersen 3-0-3-1*-1* = 8+2 (5) 2. Leon Madsen 0-1-N-1* = 2+1 (3) 3. Magnus Zetterström 1-0-2-0 = 3 (4) 4. Grzegorz Walasek 3-3-2-1-2-2 = 13 (6) 5. Piotr Protasiewicz 1*-1-0-2-3 = 7+1 (5) 6. Renat Gafurov 2-1-3-1*-M = 7+1 (5) 7. Simon Gustafsson 1*-2-0-2 = 5+1 (4) 8. Freddy Godlund *-*-* ROSPIGGARNA - VÄSTERVIK 45-51 at Orionparken, Hallstavik Attendence: 1667 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Rospiggarna suffered a huge blow for their Play Off chances already in round 3, as they lost at home to Västervik. Nicolai Klindt and Peter Ljung won heats 3 & 4 respectively, and they went on to become the surprise packages of the night, to complement the Grand Prix duo of Gollob & Harris. However, the meeting wasn't decided until the nominated heats, but as Chris Harris won heat 15, with Peter Ljung in third place, that was it. Rospiggarna (home) 45 1. Ben Barker 0-1-1-0 = 2 (4) 2. Sebastian Aldén 1-1-0-N-0 = 2 (4) 3. Wieslaw Jagus 2-3-1*-2*-2-2 = 12+2 (6) 4. Mads Korneliussen 0-1-2-1-2 = 6 (5) 5. Ryan Sullivan 2-3-3-3-1* = 12+1 (5) 6. Kauko Nieminen 2-1*-3-N-2-1* = 9+2 (5) 7. Anton Rosén 1*-N-0-1* = 2+2 (3) 8. Pontus Aspgren Västervik (away) 51 1. Joonas Kylmäkorpi 2*-0-1-0 = 3+1 (4) 2. Tomasz Jedrzejak 3-2-0-0 = 5 (4) 3. Chris Harris 1-3-2-1*-3 = 10+1 (5) 4. Nicolai Klindt 3-2-2*-3-0 = 10+1 (5) 5. Tomasz Gollob 0-3-2*-2-3 = 10+1 (5) 6. Robin Bergqvist 0-0-N-N = 0 (2) 7. Peter Ljung 3-3-0-3-3-1 = 13 (6) 8. Robin Messing 0 = 0 (1) *-*-* DACKARNA - ELIT VETLANDA 51-45 at G&B Arena, Målilla Attendence: 5611 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. The Leszno duo of Hampel/Kolodziej were on fire early on to produce two maximums in heats 3 & 7, which opened up a 24-18 lead for the away team. Then, Jurica Pavlic stunned three Grand Prix riders to win heat 8 (though team mate Crump was last!), and when Lee Richardson shocked Rune Holta by a great pass in heat 9 to split the home pair, Elit Vetlanda still looked in control. After the interval, Jurica Pavlic won the second reserve heat by a huge distance, but after that, the home team started to fire up. The remaining heats were won by a dominant total of 21-9, and Elit Vetlanda just couldn't find a way to stop the running train, losing a couple of vital point on the finish line on a couple of occasions didn't help either. The meeting went to a last heat decider, but with two GP riders (Holta and Jonsson) against Lee Richardson and Janusz Kolodziej, it didn't come as a surprise to see the home side scoring a maximum to win it by six in total, in an expected win. Dackarna (home) 51 1. Hans Andersen 1*-1-2-2*-R = 6+2 (5) 2. Andreas Jonsson 2-3-0-3-3-2* = 13+1 (6) 3. Fredrik Lindgren 1-3-2-2*-1-2 = 11+1 (6) 4. Peter Karlsson 0-R-N-N = 0 (2) 5. Rune Holta 3-1*-1-3-3-3 = 14+1 (6) 6. Ricky Kling 2-1-N-0-1* = 4+1 (4) 7. Ludvig Lindgren 1*-0-N-2 = 3+1 (3) 8. Joel Larsson Elit Vetlanda (away) 45 1. Lee Richardson 3-2-2-2-0 = 9 (5) 2. Patrick Hougaard 0-1*-0-N = 1+1 (3) 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 3-3-0-0-1 = 7 (5) 4. Janusz Kolodziej 2*-2-2*-R-1 = 7+2 (5) 5. Jason Crump 2-0-3-1-3 = 9 (5) 6. Jurica Pavlic 3-1*-3-1-3-1 = 12+1 (6) 7. Jonas Messing 0-0-N-R = 0 (3) 8. Henric Lindqvist For Dackarna, Andersen actually deserved some more. He didn't gate much, but was involved in quite some action. Jonsson was good, as he should be. (Fredrik) Lindgren scored valuable points throughout the meeting. Karlsson only had five lap before being replaced twice, won't even judge him on that. Holta showed class once again, which is a bit surprising considering it's still early on in 2010 and he usually comes stronger later in the year. Kling and (Ludvig) Lindgren beat opposition junior Messing for their points, not close to beat anyone else. For Elit Vetlanda, Richardson fought hard for the points and produced an excellent pass on Holta to split the home pair in heat 9 before disappearing in heat 16. In honesty, he is a rider for heat 15, but often has to do a job in heat 16 on the road. Hougaard looked slow, and not particulary smooth on the night. Hampel gated twice, but faded, as the scoresheet says. Kolodziej got stranded on the start line in his fourth, but was involved in every other race, and deserved more. Crump was hit and miss, which is unusual to see. Pavlic was great, though most points were scored against reserves, he mixed it with Dackarna' stars as well. Messing wasn't really close this time. Man of the match: Rune Holta Most exciting rider: Janusz Kolodziej *-*-* CURRENT STANDING (after 3 rounds): 1. Piraterna, 3, 3-0-0, 1/1, 7p (+41) 2. Dackarna, 3, 3-0-0, 1/1, 7p (+34) 3. Elit Vetlanda, 3, 2-0-1, 1/1, 5p (+28) 4. Lejonen, 3, 2-0-1, 1/1, 5p (+16) 5. Indianerna, 3, 1-0-2, 0/1, 2p (-11) 6. Västervik, 3, 1-0-2, 0/1, 2p (-22) -------------------------------------------------- 7. Valsarna, 1, 0-0-1, 0/0, 0p (-10) 8. Vargarna, 2, 0-0-2, 0/1, 0p (-36) 9. Rospiggarna, 3, 0-0-3, 0/1, 0p (-40) *-*-* NEXT ROUND - TUESDAY MAY 18TH 2010: Lejonen - Valsarna Indianerna - Piraterna Västervik - Rospiggarna Elit Vetlanda - Dackarna

DOH! Can't believe I had missed that, but it sure made me look stupid.

Not too bad I must admit... Can't wait until June 6th when they square off at Vetlanda!

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 3 Tuesday May 11th 2010 VALSARNA - LEJONEN at Emtbjörks AB Arena, Hagfors After being the odd team out in the opening two rounds of Elitserien, newcomers Valsarna steps into Elitserien with their first meeting of the season, and it couldn't be tougher opposition than the two time champions Lejonen. The Lions are still without the injured Piotr Swiderski and the management have also decided to scratch local rider David Ruud, with Troy Batchelor making his season debut for the Gislaved team. This meeting will be broadcasted live on Canal+. Valsarna (home) 1. Grigorijs Laguta 2. Daniel Nermark 3. Tomasz Gapinski 4. Matej Kus 5. Sebastian Ulamek 6. Henrik Gustafsson 7. Anders Mellgren ( 8. Victor Palovaara ) Lejonen (away) 1. Nicki Pedersen 2. Dave Watt 3. Troy Batchelor 4. Mikael Max 5. Chris Holder 6. Artur Mroczka 7. Dennis Andersson ( 8. Christian Agö ) *-*-* PIRATERNA - INDIANERNA at Biltema Arena, Motala League leading Piraterna started off the 2010 season with two crushing wins against their Östergötland region rivals Vargarna, now they face their closest opponent of them all - Indianerna. The Pirates can welcome back Antonio Lindbäck into the team, after using the Riders Replacement facility last week. The Indians have opted for Leon Madsen to make his season debut instead of Niels-Kristian Iversen, despite the fact that Iversen has scored the most points for the Indians in the opening rounds. Piraterna (home) 1. Greg Hancock 2. Maciej Janowski 3. Jonas Davidsson 4. Antonio Lindbäck 5. Rafal Dobrucki 6. Linus Sundström 7. Robert Kosciecha ( 8. Tomas Bäck ) Indianerna (away) 1. Bjarne Pedersen 2. Leon Madsen 3. Magnus Zetterström 4. Grzegorz Walasek 5. Piotr Protasiewicz 6. Renat Gafurov 7. Simon Gustafsson ( 8. Freddy Godlund ) *-*-* ROSPIGGARNA - VÄSTERVIK at Orionparken, Hallstavik Both teams meeting in Hallstavik comes from a double loss against tough opponents, but are looking to rebound with a couple of wins against a side - which I guess they both believe - they should win against. If one of these teams lose both their home and away meeting in the round 3-4 double header, that team will most likely not reach the Play Off. It's a crucial double header, despite the fact that it's early in the season. Rospiggarna is still missing Jesper B Monberg for a while, and Mads Korneliussen will keep filling in for his countryman. They ride with the same riders as last week, just as Västervik. However, the rolling average has dictated a change, with Nicolai Klindt moving into the main body and Peter Ljung dropping to reserve. Rospiggarna (home) 1. Ben Barker 2. Sebastian Aldén 3. Wieslaw Jagus 4. Mads Korneliussen 5. Ryan Sullivan 6. Kauko Nieminen 7. Anton Rosén ( 8. Pontus Aspgren ) Västervik (away) 1. Joonas Kylmäkorpi 2. Tomasz Jedrzejak 3. Chris Harris 4. Nicolai Klindt 5. Tomasz Gollob 6. Robin Bergqvist 7. Peter Ljung ( 8. Robin Messing ) *-*-* DACKARNA - ELIT VETLANDA at G&B Arena, Målilla Both Dackarna and Elit Vetlanda cruised to a double win over two teams predicted to in the bottom of the standing, Västervik and Rospiggarna respectively. The two meetings in round 3 & 4 will provide both teams with a much more realistic test of their medal capacity for this season. Dackarna continues with their standard line-up, to no surprise, leaving Rory Schlein and Grzegorz Zengota on the sidelines. Changes though for Elit Vetlanda as the management duo of Staaf/Wirebrand wants to test their remaining squad riders, with both Patrick Hougaard and Jurica Pavlic making their season debuts instead of Martin Vaculik and Adrian Gomolski. A change is also made at their junior position as Jonas Messing replaces Robin Aspegren. Dackarna (home) 1. Hans Andersen 2. Andreas Jonsson 3. Fredrik Lindgren 4. Peter Karlsson 5. Rune Holta 6. Ricky Kling 7. Ludvig Lindgren ( 8. Joel Larsson ) Elit Vetlanda (away) 1. Lee Richardson 2. Patrick Hougaard 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 4. Janusz Kolodziej 5. Jason Crump 6. Jurica Pavlic 7. Jonas Messing ( 8. Henric Lindqvist ) *-*-* All meetings can be followed via live updates on www.speedway.nu from 19:00 local time on Tuesday night.

First of all, well done Bjerre! Sad to say tonight was the first time ever that I changed channel while watching a Grand Prix meeting. I watched the first 8 heats before giving up on the "entertainment" served from Ullevi, to change to the ice hockey World Championship match between Denmark and Finland (congrats to the Danes for beating Finland by a stunning 4-1 score). Hope for a better one from Prague in two weeks time. Usually not a track that produces particulary good speedway either, but perhaps it's better to see it live at the track. Marketa, here I come! Anyone knows when the practise starts on that Friday in Prague?

On a Danish track, I would be happy with a "glorious defeat", at least in comparison to the hammerings we usually receive... Line-up for Vojens, according to their website: DK: Kenni Nissen, Jesper Shaff, Anders Thomsen, Nikolaj Andersen, Sam Jensen, Martin Steen Hansen, Mark Frimodt Pedersen, Emil Gröndal SWE: Jonas Engdahl, Freddie Broms, Fredrik Engman, Kenny Wennerstam, Oskar Karlsson, Joel Andersson, Joel Kling, Rasmus Broberg Go Wennerstam!

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 2 Tuesday May 4th 2010 VARGARNA - PIRATERNA 42-54 (Aggregate: 78-114) at ICA-Maxi Arena, Norrköping Attendence: 2581 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Vargarna (home) 42 (78) 1. Adrian Miedzinski 3-3-1*-3-3-3 = 16+1 (6) 2. Scott Nicholls 1-3-R-0-1 = 5 (5) 3. Krzysztof Kasprzak M-0-2-1 = 3 (4) 4. Tai Woffinden 1-1-1*-1 = 4+1 (4) 5. Adam Shields F-2-0-1 = 3 (4) 6. Kim Nilsson 1-1-N-2 = 4 (3) 7. Michael Jepsen Jensen 3-1-1-1*-1 = 7+1 (5) 8. André Hertzberg 0 = 0 (1) Piraterna (away) 54 (114) 1. Greg Hancock 2-3-3-3-3-2 = 16 (6) 2. Maciej Janowski 0-2*-0-2*-2*-3 = 9+3 (6) 3. Jonas Davidsson 2*-2-1*-3-0-2* = 10+3 (6) 4. Antonio Lindbäck R/R (3,2,2,2*) 5. Rafal Dobrucki 3-2-3-0-2-0 = 10 (6) 6. Robert Kosciecha 0-0-2-3 = 5 (4) 7. Linus Sundström 2-2*-0-0 = 4+1 (4) 8. Tomas Bäck *-*-* INDIANERNA - LEJONEN 57-39 (Aggregate: 93-99) at ICA-Maxi Arena, Kumla Attendence: 3521 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Indianerna (home) 57 (93) 1. Niels-Kristian Iversen 2*-3-2-1*-1* = 9+3 (5) 2. Bjarne Pedersen 3-2-2*-1-1 = 9+1 (5) 3. Grzegorz Walasek 2*-1-1-3 = 7+1 (4) 4. Magnus Zetterström 3-3-0-3-2 = 11 (5) 5. Piotr Protasiewicz 2-2-1-2-3 = 10 (5) 6. Simon Gustafsson 3-0-0-3 = 6 (4) 7. Renat Gafurov 2*-0-1*-2* = 5+3 (4) 8. Niklas Eriksson Lejonen (away) 39 (99) 1. Nicki Pedersen 1-2-3-3-2-3 = 14 (6) 2. David Ruud 0-0-N-N-0 = 0 (3) 3. Dave Watt 0-M-0-0 = 0 (4) 4. Mikael Max 1-3-1-1-0-2 = 8 (6) 5. Chris Holder 3-2*-3-2-3-0 = 13+1 (6) 6. Artur Mroczka TT-1-0-1 = 2 (4) 7. Dennis Andersson 1-1-N-0 = 2 (3) 8. Christian Agö 0 = 0 (1) *-*-* VÄSTERVIK - DACKARNA 30-36 (Aggregate: 58-74*) at Sparbanken Arena Västervik Attendence: 1817 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Meeting abandoned after 11 heats - result stands. * The score for the aggregated point is calculated using the first eleven heats of each meeting. Västervik (home) 30 (58) 1. Joonas Kylmäkorpi 0-1-1 = 2 (3) 2. Tomasz Jedrzejak 3-2*-0 = 5+1 (3) 3. Chris Harris 2-2-2* = 6+1 (3) 4. Peter Ljung 0-X-3 = 3 (3) 5. Tomasz Gollob 2-F = 2 (2) 6. Nicolai Klindt 3-1*-3-1-3 = 11+1 (5) 7. Robin Bergqvist 1-N-0-0 = 1 (3) 8. Robin Messing Dackarna (away) 36 (74) 1. Hans Andersen 2-3-2* = 7+1 (3) 2. Andreas Jonsson 1*-1-3 = 5+1 (3) 3. Fredrik Lindgren 1-2* = 3+1 (2) 4. Peter Karlsson 3-1-3 = 7 (3) 5. Rune Holta 3-1-3 = 7 (3) 6. Ludvig Lindgren R-0-2*-1* = 3+2 (4) 7. Ricky Kling 2-0-0-2 = 4 (4) 8. Joel Larsson *-*-* ELIT VETLANDA - ROSPIGGARNA 58-38 (Aggregate: 113-79) at Vetlanda Motorstadion Attendence: 1638 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Elit Vetlanda (home) 58 (113) 1. Lee Richardson 3-1-2-1*-2* = 9+2 (5) 2. Janusz Kolodziej R-3-3-2*-3 = 11+1 (5) 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 3-2*-3-3-X = 11+1 (5) 4. Martin Vaculik 1-3-2*-1* = 7+2 (4) 5. Jason Crump 2-3-2-2-2 = 11 (5) 6. Robin Aspegren 3-0-0-0 = 3 (4) 7. Adrian Gomolski M-2*-1*-3 = 6+2 (4) 8. Jonas Messing Rospiggarna (away) 38 (79) 1. Ben Barker 1*-1-2-0-1 = 5+1 (5) 2. Sebastian Aldén 2-0-1*-0-1 = 4+1 (5) 3. Wieslaw Jagus 2-2-3-3-3-3 = 16 (6) 4. Mads Korneliussen 0-1-N-0 = 1 (3) 5. Ryan Sullivan 3-0-1-0-0 = 4 (5) 6. Kauko Nieminen 1*-0-N-2 = 3+1 (3) 7. Anton Rosén 2-1-0-1* = 4+1 (4) 8. Pontus Aspgren 0 = 0 (1) It didn't become much of a meeting at a freezing cold Vetlanda on Tuesday night (we actually had snow on the night towards Wednesday...). Rospiggarna caught some breaks early on to get a tie after four heats, but a 19-5 score in the following four heats killed the drama in this meeting. No drama on the scoresheet, and not much drama on the track either, but it takes two to tango, and only former Vetlanda rider Wieslaw Jagus was able to match the opposition througout the evening. For Elit Vetlanda, It was an good performance overall, with all riders scoring at least one heat victory each. Kolodziej would have probably taken a maximum but for a blown engine at the gate in his first ride. Hampel got excluded in his last heat for moving at the tapes for the second time on the night, which was a shame because it would have been fun to see the Hampel vs Jagus fight in heat 16, but it wasn't meant to be. All in all, a good overall performance for Elit Vetlanda. For Rospiggarna, Jagus was outstanding, I can't remember seing such a dominant rider around the track for a while, as he rode in his final four heats at least. Just incredible! Rosén did his business in beating opposition junior Aspegren 2-1, but the rest probably should forget this meeting ASAP... Man of the match: Wieslaw Jagus Most exciting rider: Wieslaw Jagus *-*-* CURRENT STANDING (after 2 rounds): 1. Piraterna, 2, 2-0-0, 1/1, 5p (1.46) 2. Elit Vetlanda, 2, 2-0-0, 1/1, 5p (1.43) 3. Dackarna, 2, 2-0-0, 1/1, 5p (1.41) 4. Lejonen, 2, 1-0-1, 1/1, 3p (1.07) 5. Indianerna, 2, 1-0-1, 0/1, 2p (0.94) 6. Valsarna, 0, 0-0-0, 0/0, 0p (-.--) -------------------------------------------------- 7. Västervik, 2, 0-0-2, 0/1, 0p (0.71) 8. Rospiggarna, 2, 0-0-2, 0/1, 0p (0.70) 9. Vargarna, 2, 0-0-2, 0/1, 0p (0.68) The number in brackets are achieved riders points, divided by riders points allowed) *-*-* NEXT ROUND - TUESDAY MAY 11TH: Dackarna - Elit Vetlanda Valsarna - Lejonen (on Canal+) Rospiggarna - Västervik Piraterna - Indianerna *-*-* New sponsorship deals in both Norrköping (home of Vargarna) and Kumla (home of Indianerna) have had their stadiums re-named, with both stadiums now being known as ICA-Maxi Arena. (ICA being one of the biggest, probably the biggest, chain of supermarkets/food store in Sweden, comparable to British chain Sainsbury's I presume)

2008 at Avesta: 1. Victor Palovaara, Solkatterna 2. Jacob Thorssell, Elit Vetlanda 3. David Nielsen, MasarnaAvesta 2009 at Målilla: 1. Jonas Engdahl, Dackarna 2. Victor Palovaara, Solkatterna 3. Jacob Thorssell, Elit Vetlanda

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 2 Tuesday May 4th 2010 Vargarna - Piraterna Elit Vetlanda - Rospiggarna Västervik - Dackarna Indianerna - Lejonen Live updates on www.speedway.nu from 19:00 local time. It's chaos at work (first Elitserien home meeting of the season), so no long preview this week. Hopefully next time around...

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 1 Tuesday April 27th 2010 PIRATERNA - VARGARNA 60-36 at Biltema Arena, Motala Attendence: 4182 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Adrian Miedzinski won heat 1 against Piraterna newcomers Greg Hancock and Maciej Janowski, but that one turned out to be half the number of heat victories for Vargarna, on the entire night! The Pirates once again opened up the season in style, as turning the time back by a year saw Piraterna beat Lejonen by a massive score then, only for Piraterna to miss the Play Off and Lejonen to win the gold medal. The home side have yet to prove a point, despite this hammering of last year's silver medalists, but with Emil Sayfutdinov being able to replace Damian Balinski in this line-up, it's hard to imagine the Motala missing the Play Off once again, for sure. Piraterna (home) 60 1. Greg Hancock 2-1-3-1-3 = 10 (5) 2. Maciej Janowski 1*-3-3-0 = 7+1 (4) 3. Jonas Davidsson 3-3-3-3-1 = 13 (5) 4. Damian Balinski 0-1-0-0 = 1 (4) 5. Antonio Lindbäck 3-3-3-3-3 = 15 (5) (MAX) 6. Linus Sundström 1-1-2*-1*-1 = 6+2 (5) 7. Robert Kosciecha 3-1-2*-2 = 8+1 (4) 8. Tomas Bäck Vargarna (away) 36 1. Adrian Miedzinski 3-2-X-2-2-2 = 11 (6) 2. Tai Woffinden 0-0-1-N = 1 (3) 3. Krzysztof Kasprzak 1*-2-2-1*-2-0 = 8+2 (6) 4. Adam Skornicki 2-0-0-N = 2 (3) 5. Scott Nicholls 2-1-Fx-1*-0-2 = 6+1 (6) 6. Michael Jepsen Jensen 2-2-1-3-0 = 8 (5) 7. Kim Nilsson 0-0-N-0 = 0 (3) 8. André Hertzberg *-*-* LEJONEN - INDIANERNA 60-36 at Axelent Arena, Gislaved Attendence: 2327 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Indianerna lost against Lejonen in last year's semifinal, so obviously had a point to prove, but that didn't happen on track. The home side opened up a gigantic 21-9 lead already after five heats, and when Artur Mroczka crossed the finish line first in heat 10, joined by Nicki Pedersen, that must definitely have killed the meeting. The two time champions Lejonen cruised to 60 points despite Leigh Adams having a sub-par performence based on the scoresheet and his normally high standard in all leagues, but also noticable is the fact that all Lions' riders recorded at least one heat victory each. Impressive. Lejonen (home) 60 1. Nicki Pedersen 2*-3-2*-3-1 = 11+2 (5) 2. Mikael Max 3-3-0-3-1* = 10+1 (5) 3. David Ruud 3-0-1*-0 = 4+1 (4) 4. Chris Holder 2*-2-2-3-3 = 12+1 (5) 5. Leigh Adams 1*-3-0-1-2 = 7+1 (5) 6. Dennis Andersson 3-2-1-3 = 9 (4) 7. Artur Mroczka 0-2*-3-2* = 7+2 (4) 8. Christian Agö Indianerna (away) 36 1. Bjarne Pedersen 1-1-0-1*-0 = 3+1 (5) 2. Niels-Kristian Iversen 0-3-3-2-2-0 = 10 (6) 3. Grzegorz Walasek 1-1*-1*-2-0-3 = 8+2 (6) 4. Magnus Zetterström 0-1-2-0-N = 3 (4) 5. Piotr Protasiewicz 3-0-1-2-2 = 8 (5) 6. Simon Gustafsson 1*-0-N-0 = 1+1 (3) 7. Renat Gafurov 2-0-N-1 = 3 (3) 8. Niklas Eriksson *-*-* ROSPIGGARNA - ELIT VETLANDA 41-55 at Orionparken, Hallstavik Attendence: 2012 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Underdogs Rospiggarna held the lead briefly early on, and kept it close for about half the meeting, but couldn't prevent last year's bronze medalists to record the only away victory of the opening round. Martin Vaculik joined Jason Crump for a maximum just before the interval, and when Lee Richardson and Janusz Kolodziej kept tactical substitution Ryan Sullivan and Wieslaw Jagus to 3rd and 4th place in heat 13, that opened up a ten point lead for the away team. As if the loss wasn't enough, bad luck struck Rospiggarna in heat 14 as Jesper B Monberg fell, with the possibility of a serious injury. -"The worst case scenario is a broke wrist" Monberg said to Upsala Nya Tidning after the meeting. Rospiggarna (home) 41 1. Jesper B Monberg 3-0-TT-Fx = 3 (4) 2. Sebastian Aldén R-1-3-N-2 = 6 (4) 3. Wieslaw Jagus 2-2*-0-0-1* = 5+2 (5) 4. Ben Barker 0-3-2-1*-0 = 6+1 (5) 5. Ryan Sullivan 1*-3-2-1-1-3 = 11+1 (6) 6. Anton Rosén 1-N-0-0-1* = 2+1 (4) 7. Kauko Nieminen 3-2-0-1-2 = 8 (5) 8. Pontus Aspgren Elit Vetlanda (away) 55 1. Lee Richardson 2-1-2-3-3 = 11 (5) 2. Ales Dryml 1*-0-1*-N = 2+2 (3) 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 1-1*-3-3-0 = 8+1 (5) 4. Janusz Kolodziej 3-2*-2-2*-2 = 11+2 (5) 5. Jason Crump 3-3-3-2*-1* = 12+2 (5) 6. Martin Vaculik 2-3-1-2*-3-0 = 11+1 (6) 7. Jonas Messing F-0-N-0 = 0 (3) 8. - *-*-* DACKARNA - VÄSTERVIK 59-37 at G&B Arena, Målilla Attendence: 4640 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Title favourites Dackarna got stunned in the opening ride of the 2010 season as Grand Prix riders Andreas Jonsson and Hans Andersen surrended to Tomasz Jedrzejak and Joonas Kylmäkorpi, followed by Peter Ljung who won heat 2 and Peter Karlsson crashing out in heat 3, making it a horrible start for the home side. Despite the loss of Peter Karlsson, who walked back to the pit by himself but still withdrew from the meeting, Dackarna were able to pull themselves together and a 23-7 run in heats 5-9 turned a 10-14 deficit into a 33-21 lead, from which Västervik never recovered. Although the difference between the sides was obvious on paper as well in the final score, the second half of the meeting actually prodcued some exciting racing, despite the lack of a close score. Heat 14 could probably go down as one of the best heats of the year, with Hans Andersen and Rune Holta swapping places with Tomasz Gollob and Chris Harris, to eventually come out on top for a maximum. That was just incredible! Dackarna (home) 59 1. Hans Andersen R-2*-2-3-3 = 10+1 (5) 2. Andreas Jonsson 1-3-3-1*-1 = 9+1 (5) 3. Fredrik Lindgren 3-3-2*-2-2* = 12+2 (5) 4. Peter Karlsson Fn-N-N-N = 0 (0) 5. Rune Holta 3-3-3-2*-3 = 14+1 (5) 6. Ricky Kling 2-0-1-3-1-2 = 9 (6) 7. Ludvig Lindgren 0-1-2*-0-1*-1 = 5+2 (6) 8. Tim Gudmunsson Västervik (away) 37 1. Joonas Kylmäkorpi 2*-R-0-0 = 2+1 (4) 2. Tomasz Jedrzejak 3-2-2-1-0-0 = 8 (6) 3. Chris Harris 2-1-2-0-2 = 7 (5) 4. Tomasz Chrzanowski 0-1-0-N = 1 (3) 5. Tomasz Gollob 2-1-3-3-1-1 = 11 (6) 6. Robin Bergqvist 1-0-N-N = 1 (2) 7. Peter Ljung 3-1*-0-3-0 = 7+1 (5) 8. Robin Messing 0 = 0 (1) For Dackarna, Andersen got squeezed out in his first, but looked good in his remaining rides. Used his always successful inside line to full advantage, but even blasted around an opponent! Can't remember seeing that before. Jonsson was OK, but nothing special. (Fredrik) Lindgren earned his point from the gate, by team-riding team-mates and passing opponents. Well done! Karlsson crashed in his first ride, the reserves covered him well with 6 points. Holta was extraordinary, which is not usually the case this early in a season. Kling is a force on a low average, as shown this night. (Ludvig) Lindgren blew hot and cold, just as the scoresheet suggest. For Västervik, Kylmäkorpi had some ups and some downs. Got taken brutally wide in his second ride and was furious after the race, trying to get to the referee's box for a chat with the referee. I fully understand him. Jedrzejak started well but faded some, and wasn't to be found in heat 16. Harris was stuck in the mix, but never looked like a potential heat winner. Chrzanowski was better than the score suggested. Rode his heart out early on but didn't score, and made a mistake in his third after making a gate. Gollob was the one to stand up against the powerful Dackarna side throughout the meeting, no question. Bergqvist and Messing did what could be expected regarding their points production. Ljung had to fight hard for the points, he tried hard from behind, with good imagination in trying to find the right lines. Man of the match: Rune Holta Most exciting rider: Tomasz Gollob

According to one of the local newspapers in Norrköping, Norrköpings Tidningar, Scott Nicholls will take Adam's place in the main body of the team, with Michael Jepsen Jensen taking the No 6 race jacket (for Nicholls).

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 1 Tuesday April 27th 2010 Ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow is the start of the 2010 Elitserien season. Four meetings takes place on Tuesday, with only newcomers Valsarna not in action on the night. PIRATERNA - VARGARNA at Biltema Arena, Motala Already in the first round, the two rivals from the Östergötland region square off at Biltema Arena (formerly known as Lastpartner Arena). The home side missed out of the Play Off last season, despite going for gold, and to avoid a similar situation in 2010, they have acquired Greg Hancock and Maciej Janowski from Rospiggarna. With Hancock in the team, the Pirates have a stronger set-up towards the end, a rider that can win the crucial heats 14 & 16 on a regular basis. The opposition from Norrköping proved to be a terrific newcomer to Elitserien last season, being underdogs before the season started, yet finished as silver medalists behind Lejonen. The Wolves management haven't done many changes to the winning formula from last year. Talanted Dane Michael Jespen Jensen has been acquired from Solkatterna, but he isn't in Tuesday's line-up, and despite his enormous talent, he will have a hard time to knock out Nicholls from a place among the seven. LATE NEWS: Damian Balinski replaces Emil Sayfutdinov according to Piraterna's website. Piraterna (home) 1. Greg Hancock 2. Maciej Janowski 3. Jonas Davidsson 4. Emil Sayfutdinov Damian Balinski 5. Antonio Lindbäck 6. Linus Sundström 7. Robert Kosciecha ( 8. Tomas Bäck ) Vargarna (away) 1. Adrian Miedzinski 2. Tai Woffinden 3. Krzysztof Kasprzak 4. Adam Skornicki 5. Adam Shields 6. Scott Nicholls 7. Kim Nilsson ( 8. André Hertzberg ) *-*-* DACKARNA - VÄSTERVIK at G&B Arena, Målilla The perennial gold medal favourites Dackarna open up the league campaign against rivals Västervik. After sub-par seasons from Hans Andersen and Peter Karlsson in 2009, now all the star riders of Dackarna can fit under the 42.00 point limit, giving them the top candidate status of 2010. Replacing the former management duo of Morgan Andersson and Daniel Nelson, Mikael Karlsson and Jerker Eriksson will now be co-managers of Dackarna, one of the toughest manager positions in Sweden. A change in management has been made in Västervik as well, with former Rospiggarna chief Mikael Messing now being in charged of a makeshift side from the beautiful summer town of Västervik. The team came close to bankruptcy in the winter, but managed to stay alive, and now they have quite some competition within the squad, with Nicolai Klindt, Rafal Okoniewski and Denis Gizatullin being left out of the opening line-up. Tuesday's opener could get ugly, but they could contend for the final Play Off spot in the final standing. Dackarna (home) 1. Hans Andersen 2. Andreas Jonsson 3. Fredrik Lindgren 4. Peter Karlsson 5. Rune Holta 6. Ricky Kling 7. Ludvig Lindgren ( 8. Tim Gudmunsson ) Västervik (away) 1. Joonas Kylmäkorpi 2. Tomasz Jedrzejak 3. Chris Harris 4. Tomasz Chrzanowski 5. Tomasz Gollob 6. Robin Bergqvist 7. Peter Ljung ( 8. Robin Messing ) *-*-* LEJONEN - INDIANERNA at Axelent Arena, Gislaved Broadcasted live on Canal+. Two time champions Lejonen open up their defence of the gold medal against Indianerna, shown live on Canal+. Team manager Anders Fröjd has opted for the top heavy version of his line-up, including both Nicki Pedersen and Leigh Adams in the opening line-up, just like in the 2009 when they got beaten silly by Piraterna, losing 62-34. Artur Mroczka was acquired from Solkatterna in the only transfer period of this season, and his Elitserien debut will be one to follow with interest. The Indians went to the semifinal stages last fall, but lost against Lejonen to end up with fourth place overall. From that line-up, both Jesper B Monberg and Rune Holta have gone separate ways, and Leon Madsen being a victim of a successful 2009 season, giving him a 6.40 starting average in 2010. Bjarne Pedersen and Niels-Kristian Iversen have both arrived from the financially challenged Västervik squad to give Indianerna a solid strength-in-depth look. Lejonen (home) 1. Nicki Pedersen 2. Mikael Max 3. David Ruud 4. Chris Holder 5. Leigh Adams 6. Dennis Andersson 7. Artur Mroczka ( 8. Christian Agö ) Indianerna (away) 1. Bjarne Pedersen 2. Niels-Kristian Iversen 3. Grzegorz Walasek 4. Magnus Zetterström 5. Piotr Protasiewicz 6. Simon Gustafsson 7. Renat Gafurov ( 8. Niklas Eriksson ) *-*-* ROSPIGGARNA - ELIT VETLANDA at Orionparken, Hallstavik The Hallstavik team had a hard 2009 campaign to finish last in the standing, with just half the points of the second to last team in the league. Only Ryan Sullivan remains from last year's squad, and he's taking on the role of team skipper in newly appointed team manager Mikael Teurnberg's squad. Wieslaw Jagus is obviously the best of the newcomers, with Ben Barker making his Elitserien debut. Two of Rospiggarna's losses during the off season comes back to Orionparken in the opening round, as Janusz Kolodziej and junior Jonas Messing are now being a part of Elit Vetlanda's squad. Last year's bronze medalists once again rely on heat leaders Crump, Hampel and Richardson to produce the goods, but they may also have a couple of riders on bargain average this year. Martin Vaculik have started the season well for a 4.35 rider, not to mention Janusz Kolodziej on a 4.97 average... Rospiggarna (home) 1. Jesper B Monberg 2. Sebastian Aldén 3. Wieslaw Jagus 4. Ben Barker 5. Ryan Sullivan 6. Anton Rosén 7. Kauko Nieminen ( 8. Pontus Aspgren ) Elit Vetlanda (away) 1. Lee Richardson 2. Ales Dryml 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 4. Janusz Kolodziej 5. Jason Crump 6. Martin Vaculik 7. Jonas Messing ( 8. - ) *-*-* As usual, all meeting should be covered via live updates on www.speedway.nu from 19:00 local time. Enjoy!

I'm typing it as we speak....eh, as I type this....eh, looks in here later!

Yes. He is suspended from April 26th up to and including May 24th.

Ales Dryml has been added to the Elit Vetlanda squad, with Thomas H Jonasson switching to partner team Nässjö (Division 1). For THJ's participation in Elit Vetlanda, it doesn't mean anything in reality, as he's still available for last year's bronze medalists. Source: Elit Vetlanda's website

Jacob (born 1993/07/24) originally started at the Filbyterna club in Linköping, where his dad has previously ridden. After a stint with Piraterna's youth team in Motala, he rode for Elit Vetlanda's youth team for his final three seasons of 80cc speedway. This is his first season of 500cc speedway, and it looks like he has adapted quite well. Not much of a gater yet, it's quite a different technique to 80cc, but he's not afraid to a full throttle ride. I was amazed to see him blast around the Vetlanda track on an impressive 65,9 seconds in his first outing in the third qualifier on Friday night. Only Peter Ljung clocked two faster times on the night. Jacob should see most of his season spent with Elit Vetlanda's partner team in Division 1, Nässjö, but it looks highly likely he'll figure with Elit Vetlanda as well, at least as a No 8 junior (without scheduled rides). And especially for you, Vicar, some date of births for some of the new riders in your database; Victor Palovaara: 1994/01/31 Lennart Persson: 1961/01/28 Henric Lindqvist: 1993/12/30 Heat details and scoresheets are now available from all six meetings in Vetlanda, courtesy of the Swedish Speedwayresults website. I've always been a fan of Hautamäki as he usually goes very well at the Vetlanda track, so I certainly hope so. However, from the 2010 season, an Allsvenskan line-up must always consist of 1 Swedish U23 and 1 Swedish U21 rider (or 2 U21 riders of course), so it's a bit tougher this year. With Daniel Davidsson and Kim Nilsson riding in Britain, and it may be some fixture clashes, his chances looks quite good. Timo Lahti did a solid but unspectactular job with 6 points in the A-final, in his first visit to the track. He wasn't a stand out in the meeting, I must admit, but he's still only 17 years old so I'll follow his progress with interest.

*** RESULT - C-FINAL *** Indianerna Junior 49 Niklas Eriksson ( 3 3 3 1 ) = 10 (4) Freddy Godlund ( 3 3 2 3 ) = 11 (4) Alexander Claesson ( 2 3 3 3 ) = 11 (4) Marcus Johansson ( 2 0 1 2 ) = 5 (4) Pontus Nilsson ( 3 3 3 3 ) = 12 (4) Njudungarna 26 Benny Johansson ( 3 1 1 0 ) = 5 (4) Michael Sjöqvist ( 1 2 3 1 ) = 7 (4) Eric Åshede ( 2 1 1 2 ) = 6 (4) Tommy Jonsson ( 0 0 R 0 ) = 0 (4) Victor Palovaara ( 2 2 2 2 ) = 8 (4) Nässjö SK 24 Kalle Fleetwood-Carlsson R/R Thomas Ljung ( 2 2 2 2 3 ) = 11 (5) Henric Lindqvist ( 0 2 1 0 3 ) = 6 (5) Andreas Berglund ( 0 1 1 1 0 ) = 3 (5) Mikael Axelsson ( 1 1 0 1 1 ) = 4 (5) Masarna 21 Andreas Bergström ( 3 3 3 2 ) = 11 (4) Fredrik Andersson ( 1 2 2 0 ) = 5 (4) Joel Nyström ( 1 0 2 1 ) = 4 (4) Alexander Söderholm ( 0 0 0 1 ) = 1 (4) Alexander Liljekvist ( 0 Fx 0 0 ) = 0 (4) *** RESULT - B-FINAL *** Vargarna 38 Viktor Bergström ( 1 1 3 1 ) = 6 (4) Danil Ivanov ( 3 3 3 Fx ) = 9 (4) Michael Jepsen Jensen ( 3 2 1 3 ) = 9 (4) Johannes Kikkenborg ( 2 1 0 1 ) = 4 (4) Sergey Karachintsev ( 2 3 3 2 ) = 10 (4) Elit Vetlanda 34 Adrian Gomolski ( 2 3 3 2 ) = 10 (4) Peter Ljung ( 3 3 2 R ) = 8 (4) Robin Aspegren ( 1 1 0 3 ) = 5 (4) Jonas Messing ( Fx 0 0 2 ) = 2 (4) Jacob Thorssell ( 3 1 2 3 ) = 9 (4) Örnarna/Lejonen 31 David Ruud ( 3 2 3 3 ) = 11 (4) Dennis Andersson ( 2 3 2 3 ) = 10 (4) Anton Göthberg ( F 2 1 1 ) = 4 (4) Christian Agö ( 2 1 2 F ) = 5 (4) Oliver Berntzon ( 1 R 0 M ) = 1 (4) Ikaros Smederna 15 Robert Henderson ( Fx 0 1 Fx ) = 1 (4) Henrik Karlsson ( 1 0 N 2 ) = 3 (3) Daniel Henderson ( 0 0 1 0 ) = 1 (4) Alexander Edberg ( 1 2 2 0 2 ) = 7 (5) Rasmus Eklöf ( R 2 1 Fx ) = 3 (4) *** FINAL STANDING *** 1. Gasarna 2. Dackarna 3. Valsarna 4. Griparna 5. Vargarna 6. Elit Vetlanda 7. Örnarna/Lejonen 8. Ikaros Smederna 9. Indianerna Junior 10. Njudungarna 11. Nässjö 12. Masarna I won't be able to post scoresheets/heat details from the B- and C-final tonight (because quite frankly I'm exhausted), but hopefully tomorrow. Now, I'm going to enjoy a fine Polish beer, Zywiec or Tyskie, can't make up my mind...

Live updates from Vetlanda Lagcup will be available as listed below: Qualifier 1 (Friday 16th 12:00 hrs): Live updates Qualifier 2 (Friday 16th 15:30 hrs): Live updates Qualifier 3 (Friday 16th 19:00 hrs): Live updates C-final (Saturday 17th 09:00 hrs): No live updates B-final (Saturday 17th 12:00 hrs): No live updates A-final (Saturday 17th 15:00 hrs): Live updates I will update this post with links to the updates for each of the meetings as they will become available.