Anders

Generally, each team is responisble for their own line-ups, so I can't speak for them, but in the case of THJ, I have some facts. He won't be able to make it to Sweden, at least not on Friday. His place in the Elit Vetlanda line-up will be taken by Peter Ljung, while Ljung's place in the Njudungarna line-up will be taken by Filbyterna's Michael Sjöqvist. (Benny Johansson will be moved up to No 1 position, Sjöqvist steps in at No 2) There aren't that many riders in the line-ups that does ride in Britain, other than THJ I can only think of Daniel Davidsson (Lakeside) and Viktor Bergström (Scunthorpe). I don't know if they are in Britain or Sweden at the moment, but I haven't heard anything from their team managers, so I guess their status for Friday's qualifiers are OK.

Ah, yes, I forgot to add that the SVEMO track racing committee has made it acceptable to ride with the old silencer in the Vetlanda 4TT, but that's the final meeting. So if SVEMO hold their ground, the A-final on Saturday will be the last meeting in Sweden with the old silencers.

This upcoming Friday, the first official fixture will be held in Sweden, the annual Vetlanda Lagcup (Vetlanda 4 Team Tournament). The three qualifying rounds will be raced on Friday, with the C-, B- and A-final on Saturday. Of course, there are some riders that are well known for the international fans, the most noticable being Andreas Jonsson, followed by Peter Ljung, David Ruud and Daniel Nermark. Vargarna manager Peter Jansson have brought over two Russian riders to "scout" the Russian market, but several other nationalities are also represented, as Denmark (Peter Juul), Finland (Juha Hautamäki) and Poland (Adrian Gomolski). All of the three qualifiers can be followed via live updates on Elit Vetlanda's website, starting at 12:00 local time on Friday. For Saturday, most likely the A-final will be the only one with live updates (as I'm busy for the other two finals). *** QUALIFIER 1 - FRIDAY APRIL 16TH at 12:00 HRS *** NJUDUNGARNA 1. Peter Ljung 2. Benny Johansson 3. Victor Palovaara 4. Mattias Persson 5. Tommy Jonsson TM: Anders Nilsson MASARNA 1. Andreas Bergström 2. Andreas Westlund 3. Fredrik Andersson 4. Joel Nyström 5. Alexander Liljekvist TM: Per Andersson/Jonas Ekeberg GRIPARNA 1. Daniel Davidsson 2. Peter Juul 3. Freddie Eriksson 4. Juha Hautamäki 5. Dennis Ekstrand TM: Mats Boström/Tommy Carlberg DACKARNA 1. Andreas Jonsson 2. Tim Gudmunsson 3. Christian Isomettä 4. Joel Larsson 5. Marcus Åström TM: Mikael Karlsson/Jerker Eriksson *** QUALIFIER 2 - FRIDAY APRIL 16TH at 15:30 HRS *** IKAROS SMEDERNA 1. Robert Henderson 2. Henrik Karlsson 3. Daniel Henderson 4. Alexander Edberg 5. Rasmus Eklöf TM: Jimmy Jansson NÄSSJÖ 1. Kalle Fleetwood-Carlsson 2. Thomas Ljung 3. Henric Lindqvist 4. Lennart Persson 5. Mikael Axelsson TM: Benny Woentin/Sten-Inge Carlsson ÖRNARNA 1. David Ruud 2. Dennis Andersson 3. Robert Pettersson 4. Christian Agö 5. Anton Göthberg TM: Anders Fröjd VALSARNA 1. Daniel Nermark 2. Henrik Gustafsson 3. Robin Törnqvist 4. Jeremia Thelaus 5. Thimm P Norberg TM: Robert Eriksson *** QUALIFIER 3 - FRIDAY APRIL 16TH at 19:00 HRS *** ELIT VETLANDA 1. Adrian Gomolski 2. Thomas H Jonasson 3. Robin Aspegren 4. Jonas Messing 5. Jacob Thorssell TM: Fredrik Staaf VARGARNA 1. Viktor Bergström 2. Danil Ivanov 3. André Hertzberg 4. Sergey Karachintsev 5. Sebastian Carlsson TM: Peter Jansson INDIANERNA JUNIOR 1. Niklas Eriksson 2. Freddy Godlund 3. Alexander Claesson 4. Marcus Johansson 5. Pontus Nilsson TM: Rholand Jensen GASARNA 1. Sebastian Aldén 2. Anton Rosén 3. Eric Andersson 4. Pontus Aspgren 5. Alexander Söderholm TM: Per Andersson/Åsa Bergström

Just published this morning on SVEMO website: The track racing committee has decided that the introduction of the new FIM homologated silencers (which were introduced on 2010-01-01) stands. An exception has been made for Vetlanda Lagcup on 16th-17th of April.

Could we hope for a little less rain next year (than at the previous qualifying final in Vetlanda)?

Sorry, but I can't find any information about that just yet. However, the other combined teams have scheduled their meetings between them, as below: For Lejonen/Gnistorna: May 1st and June 13th in Malmö (Gnistorna). June 20th and August 21st in Gislaved (Lejonen). For Örnarna/Smederna: May 16th and June 19th in Mariestad (Örnarna). May 22nd and July 18th in Eskilstuna (Smederna). For Västervik/Dackarna: May 1st and July 25th in Västervik. May 23rd and July 17th in Målilla (Dackarna). For Elit Vetlanda/Bysarna: May 22nd and August 15th in Vetlanda. Track for May 29th and July 24th are unknown.

From what I've been able to find online... According to www.speedway.org/history: 1995-10-08, Lonigo (Italy) 1996-10-05, Prague (Czech Republic) 1997-10-05, Wiener-Neustadt (Austria) 1998-10-03, Pardubice (Czech Republic) 1999-10-17, Lonigo (Italy) 2000-10-08, Abensberg (Germany) 2001-10-13, Krsko (Slovenia) 2002-08-25, Pila (Poland) 2003-08-17, Poole (Great Britain) According to www.speedwayresultat.com: 2004-08-14, Vojens (Denmark) 2006-08-19, Vetlanda (Sweden) 2007-09-15, Vojens (Denmark) 2008-09-14, Zielona Gora (Poland) 2009-09-18, Coventry (Great Britain) No qualifiers were held in 2005. Hopefully this should be correct.

As a statistican, albeit mostly on a hobby basis, I'm not sure I can make a good analyze on the attendence figures on holidays. April 30th-May 1st is a holiday period, even though only May 1st is actually a "red day" in the calender, but when meetings are scheduled on these days, they are often the 1st round of Elitserien or Allsvenskan. Is the attendence figure at a certain number because it's a holiday or because it's the first league fixture of the season for the speedway starving crowd? Personally, I think it's the latter even though I can't back it up in any way. The 39th day after Easter Sunday (which is a Swedish holiday), always a Thursday, may be a better stick of measurement for the attendence figures as most clubs have had at least 1 home fixture before that date. Thursdays are the race day for the Allsvenskan league (2nd tier), and since 2001, I have listed all Allsvenskan meetings held on this day: In the list below, the first figure lists the actual attendence for that meeting, and the number in brackets lists the home average in the same season. 9th of May 2002 (1st home fixture) Lejonen - Bysarna, Allsvenskan = 942 (~771) + 29th of May 2003 Lejonen - Örnarna, Allsvenskan = 852 (~721) + 20th of May 2004 Valsarna - Örnarna, Allsvenskan = 909 (~703) + Team Dalakraft - Lejonen, Allsvenskan = 399 (~480) – Eldarna - Bysarna, Allsvenskan = 180 (~240) – 5th of May 2005 (1st home fixture) Eldarna - Bysarna, Allsvenskan = 120 (~172) - Lejonen - Valsarna, Allsvenskan = 784 (~616) + 1st of May 2008 (1st home fixture) Vargarna - Griparna, Allsvenskan = 1436 (~1228) + Örnarna - Valsarna, Allsvenskan = 1059 (~913) + 21st of May 2009 Örnarna - Masarna, Allsvenskan = 696 (~584) + Getingarna - Solkatterna, Allsvenskan = 280 (~292) – Griparna - Valsarna, Allsvenskan = 483 (~420) + No Allsvenskan meetings were scheduled on May 24 2001, May 25th 2006 or May 17th 2007. Those dates/meeting that are listed in grey represents 1st home meeting of the season. If those are not calcuated, there are only 7 meetings left. That's not a big enough statistical data to make an analyze IMO. Either way, of those 7 meetings, 4 of them had bigger attendence than the season average, but it may be a reason as to the remaining ones had less people in attendence. Bad weather perhaps? It's hard to make any conclusion on this, you can prove anything with stats (remember "there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics), but my gut feeling is that further travels and bigger crowds on holidays aren't necessarily true in Sweden. We simply doesn't have the tradition, I guess. Tuesdays (Elitserien) and Thursday (Allsvenskan) are our designated days, the British scene have all other days of the week, so... A final note. I remember having a re-scheduled home meeting in Elitserien against Västervik on a Sunday back in 2006, and that wasn't a huge success. Despite Västervik being a fairly local team, we (VMS Elit back then) had roughly 700 people less than the average in that season. Ramling over.

Ah, yes of course. I didn't realise that as I posted the fixtures here, but planning meetings to the Midsummer holiday doesn't seem right. I must admit I thought all teams had been consulted about the fixture list, as the five meetings in each round were spread throughout the week, but obviously this isn't the case. That's just poor. Guess we can expect some changes then... Agree. A verbal agreement means nothing in this business. If the rider in question has finally decided to move to the new club, I really can't see what Ikaros Smederna can do, especially since he's old enough not to be affected by the transfer fee list (only 23 or younger, I think). I have several good friends among Smederna's fans and staff, and it hurts me to see all the conflicts around the club/team. It's sad, but I would sadly agree with you, I doubt that it will be the last.

Rider averages for 2010 are based on all meetings, including Play Off, but excluding Ikaros Smederna's meetings. He rode for Indianerna in the away meeting (against Ikaros Smederna), scoring 6 points in 5 heats. Therefore, as you exclude those 5 heats, he has only ridden 14 heats in total, and keeping his starting average from the year before. Tough for Kylmäkorpi...

80CC YOUTH LEAGUE FIXTURES FOR 2010 Teams: Dackarna (Målilla), Elit Vetlanda (Vetlanda), Elit Vetlanda/Bysarna (Vetlanda/Visby), Indianerna (Kumla), Lejonen/Gnistorna (Gislaved/Malmö), Piraterna (Motala), Rospiggarna (Hallstavik), Valsarna/Solkatterna (Hagfors/Karlstad), Västervik/Dackarna (Västervik/Målilla) White Tigers (Eskilstuna), Örnarna/Smederna (Mariestad/Eskilstuna) (Track/town in bracket) As almost half of the teams are combined teams, it's not clear where those teams will ride their meetings. That will be specified later on. As an example, I'll guess that the tracks in Hagfors and Karlstad takes two meetings each for their combined team. If any of you are planning to see a Youth League fixture in Sweden, and are unsure of which track is host to a meeting, feel free to ask. Saturday May 1st Lejonen/Gnistorna - Örnarna/Smederna - Valsarna/Solkatterna Västervik/Dackarna - White Tigers - Rospiggarna Piraterna - Elit Vetlanda/Bysarna - Indianerna Sunday May 2nd Elit Vetlanda - Rospiggarna - Örnarna/Smederna Dackarna - Valsarna/Solkatterna - White Tigers Saturday May 15th Valsarna/Solkatterna - Elit Vetlanda - Västervik/Dackarna Rospiggarna - Dackarna - Lejonen/Gnistorna Sunday May 16th White Tigers - Piraterna - Elit Vetlanda Örnarna/Smederna - Västervik/Dackarna - Lejonen/Gnistorna Indianerna - Dackarna - Elit Vetlanda/Bysarna Saturday May 22nd Elit Vetlanda/Bysarna - Lejonen/Gnistorna - Elit Vetlanda Örnarna/Smederna - White Tigers - Indianerna Piraterna - Västervik/Dackarna - Dackarna Sunday May 23rd Indianerna - Valsarna/Solkatterna - Rospiggarna Västervik/Dackarna - Elit Vetlanda/Bysarna - Örnarna/Smederna Saturday May 29th Elit Vetlanda/Bysarna - White Tigers - Rospiggarna Dackarna - Piraterna - Elit Vetlanda Sunday May 30th White Tigers - Lejonen/Gnistorna - Indianerna Piraterna - Örnarna/Smederna - Valsarna/Solkatterna Saturday June 12th Rospiggarna - Piraterna - Valsarna/Solkatterna Elit Vetlanda - Indianerna - Västervik/Dackarna Sunday June 13th Lejonen/Gnistorna - Dackarna - Elit Vetlanda/Bysarna Saturday June 19th Örnarna/Smederna - Elit Vetlanda/Bysarna - Dackarna Indianerna - Elit Vetlanda - Piraterna White Tigers - Rospiggarna - Västervik/Dackarna Sunday June 20th Valsarna/Solkatterna - Elit Vetlanda/Bysarna - White Tigers Rospiggarna - Indianerna - Örnarna/Smederna Lejonen/Gnistorna - Västervik/Dackarna - Elit Vetlanda Saturday July 17th Västervik/Dackarna - Piraterna - Lejonen/Gnistorna Rospiggarna - Elit Vetlanda - Elit Vetlanda/Bysarna Sunday July 18th Örnarna/Smederna - Elit Vetlanda - Piraterna Valsarna/Solkatterna - Dackarna - Indianerna Saturday July 24th Elit Vetlanda/Bysarna - Västervik/Dackarna - Valsarna/Solkatterna Dackarna - Lejonen/Gnistorna - Rospiggarna Indianerna - Örnarna/Smederna - White Tigers Sunday July 25th Piraterna - Rospiggarna - White Tigers Västervik/Dackarna - Valsarna/Solkatterna - Dackarna Sunday August 15th Elit Vetlanda - Lejonen/Gnistorna - Dackarna Elit Vetlanda/Bysarna - Indianerna - Piraterna Saturday August 21st White Tigers - Valsarna/Solkatterna - Örnarna/Smederna Lejonen/Gnistorna - Indianerna - Piraterna Sunday August 22nd Valsarna/Solkatterna - Rospiggarna - Lejonen/Gnistorna Elit Vetlanda - White Tigers - Elit Vetlanda/Bysarna Dackarna - Örnarna/Smederna - Västervik/Dackarna Saturday/Sunday August 28th-29th Reserve date Saturday September 4th Semifinal 1; 1st vs 4th vs 6th Semifinal 2: 2nd vs 3rd vs 5th Sunday September 5th Final: Winner of Semifinal 1 & 2 + Highest-scoring 2nd placed team in Semifinal 1 & 2 Source: www.svemo.se

DIVISION 1 FIXTURES FOR 2010 Teams: Eldarna (Huddinge), Filbyterna (Linköping), Gasarna (Avesta), Gnistorna (Malmö), Hultsfreds Gymnasium (Målilla), Ikaros Smederna (Eskilstuna), Indianerna U (Kumla), Nässjö, Stjärnorna (Hallstavik), Team Värmland (Hagfors/Karlstad) (Track/town in bracket) According to the SVEMO fixture list, Team Värmland is scheduled to ride all meetings in Hagfors, but I doubt that will be the case. I guess that some meetings will be raced in Karlstad. Round 1: Wednesday 28 April: Gnistorna - Nässjö Wednesday 28 April: Filbyterna - Gasarna Wednesday 28 April: Ikaros Smederna - Eldarna Sunday 2 May: Hultsfreds Gymnasium - Stjärnorna Sunday 2 May: Indianerna U - Team Värmland Round 2: Wednesday 5 May: Nässjö - Filbyterna Sunday 9 May: Eldarna - Indianerna U Sunday 9 May: Team Värmland - Hultsfreds Gymnasium Sunday 9 May: Gasarna - Ikaros Smederna Sunday 9 May: Stjärnorna - Gnistorna Round 3: Wednesday 12 May: Filbyterna - Gnistorna Wednesday 12 May: Ikaros Smederna - Stjärnorna Sunday 16 May: Eldarna - Team Värmland Sunday 16 May: Hultsfreds Gymnasium - Nässjö Sunday 16 May: Indianerna U - Gasarna Round 4: Wednesday 19 May: Gnistorna - Hultsfreds Gymnasium Wednesday 19 May: Nässjö - Indianerna U Saturday 22 May: Team Värmland - Ikaros Smederna Saturday 22 May: Gasarna - Eldarna Saturday 22 May: Stjärnorna - Filbyterna Round 5: Wednesday 26 May: Ikaros Smederna - Gnistorna Saturday 29 May: Eldarna - Nässjö Saturday 29 May: Team Värmland - Gasarna Saturday 29 May: Indianerna U - Stjärnorna Sunday 30 May: Hultsfreds Gymnasium - Filbyterna Round 6: Wednesday 2 June: Gnistorna - Indianerna U Wednesday 2 June: Filbyterna - Ikaros Smederna Wednesday 2 June: Nässjö - Team Värmland Wednesday 2 June: Stjärnorna - Eldarna Saturday 5 June: Gasarna - Hultsfreds Gymnasium Round 7: Wednesday 9 June: Ikaros Smederna - Nässjö Saturday 12 June: Eldarna - Filbyterna Saturday 12 June: Team Värmland - Gnistorna Saturday 12 June: Gasarna - Stjärnorna Saturday 12 June: Indianerna U - Hultsfreds Gymnasium Round 8: Wednesday 16 June: Gnistorna - Eldarna Wednesday 16 June: Filbyterna - Indianerna U Wednesday 16 June: Nässjö - Gasarna Sunday 20 June: Hultsfreds Gymnasium - Ikaros Smederna Sunday 20 June: Stjärnorna - Team Värmland Round 9: Wednesday 23 June: Nässjö - Stjärnorna Sunday 27 June: Eldarna - Hultsfreds Gymnasium Sunday 27 June: Team Värmland - Filbyterna Sunday 27 June: Gasarna - Gnistorna Sunday 27 June: Indianerna U - Ikaros Smederna Round 10: Wednesday 30 June: Nässjö - Gnistorna Sunday 4 July: Gasarna - Filbyterna Sunday 4 July: Stjärnorna - Hultsfreds Gymnasium Sunday 4 July: Eldarna - Ikaros Smederna Sunday 4 July: Team Värmland - Indianerna U Round 11: Wednesday 7 July: Ikaros Smederna - Gasarna Wednesday 7 July: Filbyterna - Nässjö Wednesday 7 July: Gnistorna - Stjärnorna Sunday 11 July: Indianerna U - Eldarna Sunday 11 July: Hultsfreds Gymnasium - Team Värmland Round 12: Wednesday 14 July: Gnistorna - Filbyterna Wednesday 14 July: Nässjö - Hultsfreds Gymnasium Saturday 17 July: Team Värmland - Eldarna Saturday 17 July: Stjärnorna - Ikaros Smederna Saturday 17 July: Gasarna - Indianerna U Round 13: Wednesday 21 July: Ikaros Smederna - Team Värmland Wednesday 21 July: Filbyterna - Stjärnorna Sunday 25 July: Hultsfreds Gymnasium - Gnistorna Sunday 25 July: Eldarna - Gasarna Sunday 25 July: Indianerna U - Nässjö Round 14: Wednesday 28 July: Nässjö - Eldarna Wednesday 28 July: Filbyterna - Hultsfreds Gymnasium Wednesday 28 July: Gnistorna - Ikaros Smederna Sunday 1 August: Gasarna - Team Värmland Sunday 1 August: Stjärnorna - Indianerna U Round 15: Wednesday 4 August: Ikaros Smederna - Filbyterna Sunday 8 August: Indianerna U - Gnistorna Sunday 8 August: Hultsfreds Gymnasium - Gasarna Sunday 8 August: Team Värmland - Nässjö Sunday 8 August: Eldarna - Stjärnorna Round 16: Wednesday 18 August: Filbyterna - Eldarna Wednesday 18 August: Gnistorna - Team Värmland Wednesday 18 August: Nässjö - Ikaros Smederna Sunday 22 August: Stjärnorna - Gasarna Sunday 22 August: Hultsfreds Gymnasium - Indianerna U Round 17: Wednesday 25 August: Ikaros Smederna - Hultsfreds Gymnasium Saturday 28 August: Eldarna - Gnistorna Saturday 28 August: Indianerna U - Filbyterna Saturday 28 August: Gasarna - Nässjö Saturday 28 August: Team Värmland - Stjärnorna Round 18: Wednesday 1 September: Filbyterna - Team Värmland Wednesday 1 September: Gnistorna - Gasarna Wednesday 1 September: Ikaros Smederna - Indianerna U Sunday 5 September: Hultsfreds Gymnasium - Eldarna Sunday 5 September: Stjärnorna - Nässjö Source: www.svemo.se

Yes, I remember her name from one of the test matches between Denmark and Sweden back in 2001, from the meeting in Vetlanda. She rode all four meetings between the two sides that year. The previous year, 2000, Maria Moberg rode for the Danish U21 team, in another Sweden vs Denmark test match, in Gothenburg. In Sweden, I think there are two female riders on 500cc at the moment, both born in 1991. Martina Wassberger scored 15 points in 48 heats for Eldarna in Division 1 last year. Chatrine Friman rode in the 80cc Youth League in 2009 with an average of 6.07, but will make her 1st season on 500cc come spring time, riding for Malmö team Gnistorna in Division 1. Ann-Marie Säberg also rode in the 80cc Youth League last season, but I don't know how old she is, or where she'll ride in 2010.

The fixtures for the Elitserien and Allsvenskan regular seasons have been finalized, but it's still not decided how the Play-Offs will be held in each league. AFAIK, not even a proposed list for Division 1 (Tier III) has been sent to the clubs yet. A draft fixture list for the 80cc Youth League does exist (I know that because I'm the one who actually made it). It has been sent to the federation but it still hasn't been forwarded for referral to the participating clubs. It's stuck somewhere in the administration. Regarding championship qualifying rounds (senior, junior, youth, world U21 etc.) and other national meetings, I have an idea about the dates, but the clubs have yet to receive any official paper as how to apply for these meetings. All clubs and regional committees have until January 15th to apply for their own meetings. For Ghostwalker, Robin Aspegren (Elit Vetlanda) will be put in the Nässjö squad, and be available to Elit Vetlanda as part of the co-operation deal with Nässjö. Thereby, Elit Vetlanda have 9 riders in the current squad and won't make any more changes until later (first transfer window), before the season starts. According to Elit Vetlanda's website.

All Elitserien teams have been sent a draft fixture list, so that won't be very long. Sometime during the upcoming week, I would guess. Division 1 could take longer, and from what I've heard, I'm not sure the fixture list will be ready in this month.

Thank you!

Even though my question is regarding the 2010 season, I didn't think it was necessary to start a new thread, so here it goes; I found all the Danish squads for 2010 on Sportowefakty.pl. For league speedway in 2009, the rules I have found on the Danish federations website are listed as: A rider = 8 points, B rider = 6, C rider = 3, D rider = 1 Team total from 20 points up to 25 points. Maximum of 1 group A rider. Maximum of 3 group B riders. Maximum of 3 foreign riders. Are the Danish rules for team selection the same in 2010? Brovst could, as an example, have Miedzinski ( A ), Madsen ( B ), Klecha ( B ), Jensen ( C ) and Jörgensen ( D ) (=24) if it's the same as in 2009.

I would like the chances for "my" team; 1. Nicki Pedersen 8.95, 2. Krzysztof Kasprzak 6.10, 3. Hans Andersen 6.50, 4. Peter Karlsson 5.36, 5. Tomasz Gollob 7.43, 6. Janusz Kolodziej 4.97, 7. Kim Nilsson 2.64 (= 41.95) Kolodziej won't be a reserve, but a second string, to start the 2010 season with Elit Vetlanda, but he would be an excellent reserve in this line-up.

He is now signed for the 2010 season, with an option for 2011. The same goes for Adrian Gomolski, a re-signing from last year's Elit Vetlanda squad. Junior Jonas Messing has also signed for Elit Vetlanda, a 1 year loan deal from parent club Rospiggarna. All courtesy of Elit Vetlanda's website.

Mads Korneliussen has signed for Rospiggarna, according to the team's website. IMO, a solid back-up, mostly on reserve but have the capacity to score at second string as well.

Daniel Davidsson won tonight's icespeedway meeting at Cloetta Center in Linköping, home of the Swedish Elitserien icehockey team Linköping HC. Kim Nilsson looked like a favourite for the final after his 15 point maximum in the main event, but was outgated in the 4-lap final heat (all other heats were held over 3 laps). Perhaps he shouldn't have had a maximum to start with, as he surely should have been excluded in his first one, as he fell on his own, but the youngster was the top rider on show, only to lose the win in the final. 4012 in attendence witnessed this meeting/show and I had a feeling that most of them (at least in our bus) were happy with the event. So a massive "Well done!" to Stefan Andersson and Piraterna Speedway for hosting this event! I hope this can become a nice off-season tradition for the Swedish fans. 1) (15) Daniel Davidsson, Sweden, 11p ( 3 1 3 3 1 ) +3 2) (8) Freddie Eriksson, Sweden, 10p ( X 2 3 3 2 ) +2 +2 3) (7) Kim Nilsson, Sweden, 15p ( 3 3 3 3 3 ) +1 4) (5) Jonas Davidsson, Sweden, 10p ( 2 3 2 3 0 ) +3 +0 5) (6) Darcy Ward, Australia, 10p ( 1 3 3 0 3 ) +1 6) (1) Ricky Kling, Sweden, 10p ( 3 1 2 1 3 ) +X 7) (12) Chris Holder, Australia, 10p ( 2 3 1 2 2 ) 8) (9) Troy Batchelor, Australia, 9p ( 1 2 2 2 2 ) 9) (11) Anders Henriksson, Sweden, 8p ( 3 2 0 2 1 ) 10) (14) Sebastian Aldén, Sweden, 7p ( 2 2 0 0 3 ) 11) (4) Slawomir Drabik, Poland, 7p ( 1 1 2 1 2 ) 12) (3) Grzegorz Walasek, Poland, 4p ( 2 0 1 1 0 ) 13) (13) Pontus Aspgren, Sweden, 3p ( Fx 0 1 1 1 ) 14) (10) Antonio Lindbäck, Sweden, 2p ( X X Fx 2 0 ) 15) (2) Dave Watt, Australia, 2p ( 0 1 0 Fx 1 ) 16) (16) Grzegorz Zengota, Poland, 1p ( Fx 0 1 0 0 ) R1) (17) Tomas Bäck, Sweden R2) (18) Tobias Bäck, Sweden 1 [32.9]: Kling, Walasek, Drabik, Watt 2 [29.6]: Nilsson, J Davidsson, Ward, Eriksson (X) 3 [32.3]: Henriksson, Holder, Batchelor, Lindbäck (X) 4 [31.5]: D Davidsson, Aldén, Aspgren (Fx), Zengota (Fx) 5 [30.7]: J Davidsson, Batchelor, Kling, Aspgren 6 [30.1]: Ward, Aldén, Watt, Lindbäck (X) 7 [30.5]: Nilsson, Henriksson, D Davidsson, Walasek 8 [30.9]: Holder, Eriksson, Drabik, Zengota 9 [33.0]: Ward, Kling, Zengota, Henriksson 10 [31.9]: D Davidsson, J Davidsson, Holder, Watt 11 [31.1]: Eriksson, Batchelor, Walasek, Aldén 12 [30.7]: Nilsson, Drabik, Aspgren, Lindbäck (Fx) 13 [31.9]: Nilsson, Holder, Kling, Aldén 14 [31.4]: Eriksson, Henriksson, Aspgren, Watt (Fx) 15 [34.2]: J Davidsson, Lindbäck, Walasek, Zengota 16 [32.4]: D Davidsson, Batchelor, Drabik, Ward 17 [34.1]: Kling, Eriksson, D Davidsson, Lindbäck 18 [33.0]: Nilsson, Batchelor, Watt, Zengota 19 [34.0]: Ward, Holder, Aspgren, Walasek 20 [33.3]: Aldén, Drabik, Henriksson, J Davidsson Last Chance [31.9]: J Davidsson, Eriksson, Ward, Kling (X) Final [--.-]: D Davidsson, Eriksson, Nilsson, J Davidsson

Indeed! I certainly didn't see that coming.

Not particulary for or against this one. I really can't see the need to change. Surely it's reasonable to be able to replace an underperforming rider with a newcomer, that's possible in all other sports, upon a certain date prior to the play off, of course. Great! Not a minute too late, IMO. How is this format? How many riders are there in each team? How many of them have scheduled rides? How many heats? There could be things that complicates the process of signing riders to contracts, or change the (best) way to build a team. It could screw everything up, but surely the clubs most have a view on this? I certainly haven't seen it yet. As it says in the protocol, Elitserien should consist of 9 teams next year "as the conditions radically have changed since the decision about 10 teams in Elitserien for 2010 was determined". I don't know what they mean exactly, I have no idea. Apart from the two changes mentioned above, I'm not sure what's different next year. The part that I'm involved in, is to make a proposal for a new fixture list, together with Lejonen's Anders Fröjd. Both Finland and Norway have a league structure, although a small one. So, I wonder which Islandic riders are available? You could translate "A-team" as a stand-alone team. Several Elitserien teams have their reserve league team in Division 1, under the existing Elitserien organization, so they can't sign Nordic rider. Stand-alone teams such as Filbyterna, Eldarna etc. can do this. But as you have pointed out, I also wonder what the point is? Am I surprised? No, not really. I rarely get surprised by decisions anymore. I won't print my opinion here, because I'm pretty sure that would get me suspended from this forum, and the fact that I know more than I actually can share. Sure, I can see it as reasonable that the federation want to make a point here, but a 4 weeks suspension? Give me a *** **** break... Not sure what effect this will get, because I think clubs will still bluff SVEMO, even though that would be a criminal offence. Hopefully, more clubs will sign and pay riders they can actually afford. Guess it's not a bad thing, but how it will work in factual cases remains to be seen. 9 teams aren't good, as there will always be one team with no meeting in each round. However, I'm convinced that there aren't enough riders to fill 10 fairly equal line-ups, why a league consisting of 8 teams would probably be better in that aspect.

Apparently, there's a pairs meeting in Gdansk on Sunday as well, starting at 14:00. Line-up, according to lotosgdansk.pl, is: Lukasz Jankowski (Poznan) & Cyprian Szymko (Gdansk) Piotr Swist (Pila) & Marcin Jedrzejewski (Bydgoszcz) Renat Gafurov (Gdansk) & Piotr Rembas (Opole) Piotr Swiderski (Tarnow) & Andrej Kobrin (Gdansk) Norbert Kosciuch (Poznan) & Damian Sperz (Gdansk) Zbigniew Suchecki (Poznan) & Adrian Szewczykowski (Gorzow) Track reserve: Marcel Szymko Must say that I'm quite hopeful to see some speedway on Sunday now, before getting back on the ferry (from Gdynia).

Directions to the stadium is given by spanner47 (three posts up), but the meeting itself is the 2nd leg of the qualifier to Liga 1 (eq. Premier League). Liga 1 team Grudziadz beat Liga 2 runner-up Lodz (at Lodz) by 47-43, so are firmly in the drivers seat for the 2nd leg. Results from the 1st leg, so you can see which riders are likely to ride in Grudziadz, can be found on the link below; http://www.sportowefakty.pl/zuzel/2009/10/...adz-4347-wynik/