Anders

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I had been looking forward to visit Torun's new stadium, just as much as the GP in fact. Well, might go to Grudziadz instead, I just have to convince by travel companions as well.

The losing teams from the semifinals are placed 3rd and 4th due to their place in the regular season standing, so Elit Vetlanda won the bronze medal as they won the regular season. (Indianerna was 6th)

A fine meeting tonight in Vetlanda, with some great battles. Shame it never got really close in the aggregate score, but hey, that's the way it goes sometimes. The 15 point loss in Norrköping proved to be too much, as I expected. Can't be too dissappointed though, because I find it amazing that we actually managed to win 2 of 3 meetings without Jason Crump. In the same time, it's damn frustrating to have such a good regular season only to have it spoiled come playoff time, nothing to show for it (well, a bronze medal but...) and likely having the team torn up for next year due to the average limit. It's a sport I like, but sometimes it actually is rubbish. Well, four meetings remains for me personally, with trips to Croatia and Poland among them. The winter season is upon us.

Agree with you, it will (should) be a cracking meeting. I'm going as well, and I just can't wait for it!

No, it wasn't. Guess it went down to Miskowiak or Ales Dryml in the end. Darcy Ward, for example, would have been an exiting option but getting a work permit in just a few days is unrealistic so... With the rules, I'm not sure we (Elit Vetlanda fans) have expected a saviour. There's only a specific average to work with regarding the points limit, and a limited group of riders to choose from. At least Miskowiak has been around the Swedish tracks since 2003 so should have some track knowledge on many away tracks, and he do have some decent form but of course, he ain't more than a second string. That will have to do.

It has now been confirmed by Elit Vetlanda's website. Robert Miskowiak replaces Martin Vaculik.

Sorry for the late answer, has not seen my home computer much in the past 72 hours. It's been quite hectic, TBH. The translation is correct, so is the statement by Jason. He wants a re-match-up against Vargarna to prove the giant loss in Norrköping was a one time thing. Personally, I'm not looking forward to the visit to Norrköping again.

Mika Loppi, despite flying over landing on the top (to be exact!) the safety fence in the first running of his third outing, managed to score 13+1 in 5 rides as Elit Vetlanda won the Swedish youth league title, winning today's final in Gislaved by 49 points to Västervik/Vargarna's 34 and Rospiggarna/Gasarna's 25. Miika Hyyryläinen scored 2+1 in 4 heats for Västervik/Vargarna.

Not exciting to be honest. I could actually see myself watching something else on TV than the GP's, but as I have to post a news item regarding the meeting on my club's website, I feel obliged to watch it. Well, the grid girls were absolutely stunning anyway, best looking quartet of the year! (Yes, in this case, I'll admit to being sexist!)

And what a difference it made! Grudziadz won the second meeting between the two, with a 47-42 score which would have been enough had the 48-45 score from the 1st leg stand. Instead, with Schlein's six points removed from the 1st leg, Grudziadz are relegated to Liga 2 after a total score of 86-90 (39-48, 47-42) with Ostrow getting another chance to stay in Liga 1 when they face the loser of the Liga 2 final (in which Lodz and Miszkolc meet). The meeting was tied on aggregate before the final heat but Kamil Brzozowski fell, and Edward Kennett couldn't prevent the Ostrow duo of Chris Harris and Robert Miskowiak from scoring a maximum in heat 15. Cruel for Grudziadz and their fans, so cruel...

Oh, I guess Pardubice, Abensberg and Holsted must have been moved to Poland then, because that's where they won in 2005, 2007 and 2008 respectively. It may have been closer if it had been held on a non-Polish track, surely, but they do deserve credit. Hats off for Poland! (Expected more from Team Sweden though...)

I had a feeling that I forgot something. Jaroslaw Hampel had the least bad heats of the riders, so was man of the match, but Thomas H Jonasson was probably most exciting rider. Or at least it was exciting to see him score well, and ride fast, after having machine problems lately. (Could have put THJ as Man of The Match as well, because his scoring at reserve was crucial for Elit Vetlanda's win)

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 18 Tuesday September 1st 2009 *-*-* VÄSTERVIK - PIRATERNA 46-50 (Aggregate: 101-91) at Sparbanken Arena, Västervik Attendence: 2824 Heat details: http://www.speedway.nu/2009/reportNY.asp?Elit.IF The Pirates did all they could do in order to advance to the Play Off, in a meeting of two patched-up teams. Västerviks were missing Grigorijs Laguta and Tomasz Gapinski, as well as using the Riders Replacement facility to cover for Tomasz Gollob. The away team were missing Emil Sayfutdinov, used the R/R facility to cover the injury of Wieslaw Jagus, and had to used reserve replacements for Daniel Nermark who was at the stadium, but didn't feel good enough (as a result of the Monday night crash one might assume). An interesting thing to note is the fact that one rider for each team recorded a paid maximum. Damian Balinski scored a 18 paid point maximum in 6 rides, but Chris Harris was even one heat better to record a paid 21 score. These two riders rode in 13 of the 16 heats, but never meet, that's incredible. Västervik (home) 46 (101) 1. Kevin Doolan 1-1-0-0-N = 2 (4) 2. Tomasz Gollob R/R (3,1,3,1) 3. Chris Harris 3-3-3-2*-3-2*-3 = 19+2 (7) 4. Niels-Kristian Iversen 2*-1-3-1*-1-2 = 10+2 (6) 5. Bjarne Pedersen 3-1-2-2-3-1 = 12 (6) 6. Eric Andersson 1-0-0-1 = 2 (4) 7. Anton Rosén 0-0-1-0-0 = 1 (5) 8. - Piraterna (away) 50 (91) 1. Jonas Davidsson 2-2-3-0-2-0 = 9 (6) 2. Wieslaw Jagus R/R (N,0,1,0) 3. Daniel Nermark N-N-N-N-N = 0 (0) 4. Rafal Dobrucki 0-3-2-1-0-1 = 7 (6) 5. Antonio Lindbäck 3-0-0-3-1-2 = 9 (6) 6. Damian Balinski 2*-2*-2*-3-3-3 = 15+3 (6) 7. Linus Sundström 3-1-2*-1*-1-2* = 10+3 (6) 8. Oliver Berntzon R-0 = 0 (2) *-*-* ROSPIGGARNA - DACKARNA 46-50 (Aggregate: 93-99) at Orionparken, Hallstavik Attendence: 2477 Heat details: http://www.speedway.nu/2009/reportNY.asp?Elit.GA As Piraterna had won their meeting in Västervik before the final heat was ridden in Hallstavik, it was a clear deal for Dackarna before heat 16 against Rospiggarna; get a draw or lose the place in the Play Off! Dackarna's GP duo of Fredrik Lindgren and Andreas Jonsson took no prisoners as they scored a maximum against the GP duo of Rospiggarna, Greg Hancock and Sebastian Ulamek, to secure Dackarna's place among the top six. As the Play Off starts, Dackarna can sneak into the quarterfinal stage as underdogs, which is quite surprising since the team consist of 4 Grand Prix riders. Rospiggarna (home) 46 (93) 1. Greg Hancock 3-3-3-1-1 = 11 (5) 2. Maciej Janowski 2*-1-0-1-2* = 6+2 (5) 3. Sebastian Ulamek 3-3-2-3-0 = 11 (5) 4. Janusz Kolodziej 0-2*-0-1* = 3+2 (4) 5. Ryan Sullivan 2-3-2-0-3 = 10 (5) 6. Jonas Messing 1-0-0-1 = 2 (4) 7. Travis McGowan 0-0-0-3 = 3 (4) 8. Robin Burestad Dackarna (away) 50 (99) 1. Kenneth Bjerre 0-1-2-2-0 = 5 (5) 2. Grzegorz Zengota 1-0-N-0 = 1 (3) 3. Fredrik Lindgren 1*-2-3-3-3 = 12+1 (5) 4. Hans Andersen 2-3-1*-0-1 = 7+1 (5) 5. Andreas Jonsson 3-3-2-2*-2* = 12+2 (5) 6. Krzysztof Buczkowski 2*-2*-1*-1*-Fx = 6+4 (5) 7. Ludvig Lindgren 3-1-1-2 = 7 (4) 8. Niklas Larsson *-*-* LEJONEN - VARGARNA 49-47 (Aggregate: 89-103) at Axelent Arena, Gislaved Attendence: 2911 Heat details: http://www.speedway.nu/2009/reportNY.asp?Elit.EH The two teams in Gislaved were battling out for the number three seed, which meant the advantage to choose to start home or away in the quarterfinal stage. Vargarna started like a train and had a ten point lead already after six heats, but Lejonen came back strong and took the lead for the first time in heat 14, with a maximum. The two nominated heats ended in draws, meaning a narrow home win, but that was enough to put Lejonen in third place, ahead of Vargarna due to rider points quota (scored points divied by lost points). Lejonen (home) 49 (89) 1. Dave Watt 0-3-1-3-2*-2 = 11+1 (6) 2. David Ruud 2-1-0-3-3 = 9 (5) 3. Piotr Swiderski 3-1-2*-0 = 6+1 (4) 4. Mikael Max 2*-0-3-2-0 = 7+1 (5) 5. Nicki Pedersen 3-3-1*-3-1* = 11+2 (5) 6. Ricky Kling 1-0-R-N-3 = 4 (4) 7. Anton Göthberg 0-N-0-1 = 1 (3) 8. - Vargarna (away) 47 (103) 1. Adrian Miedzinski 3-3-2-1*-3 = 12+1 (5) 2. Adam Shields 1-2*-0-F-2 = 5+1 (5) 3. Scott Nicholls 1-1*-3-1-1* = 7+2 (5) 4. Tai Woffinden 0-3-2-2-0 = 7 (5) 5. Krzysztof Kasprzak 2-1-1*-0 = 4+1 (4) 6. Daniel King 2*-2*-2-R = 6+2 (4) 7. Kim Nilsson 3-1*-0-2 = 6+1 (4) 8. Marcus Andersson *-*-* ELIT VETLANDA - INDIANERNA 54-42 (Aggregate: 98-94) at Vetlanda Motorstadion Attendence: 3090 Heat details: http://www.speedway.nu/2009/reportNY.asp?Elit.BD For the first time this year, Elit Vetlanda faced an uphill battle to take the aggregate point, losing by eight points in Kumla back in June. The home side tied it on aggregate a couple times before the interval, but Indianerna refused to give up, despite losing Piotr Protasiewicz to an injury in his first ride. Thomas H Jonasson and Robin Aspegren recorded the home side's fourth (and final) maximum of the night in heat 11 to give them the aggregated lead for good. Former Elit Vetlanda rider Rune Holta, back in Vetlanda as a visitor for the first time since he and the club went seperate ways in the off season, received a loud reception on the rider presentation as the crowd obviously haven't forgotten his hero status after 6 seasons as a skipper, and two Swedish Championships along the way. He also showed that he finds the fastest line around the track to top score for his new team with a paid 13 score. Elit Vetlanda (home) 54 (98) 1. Lee Richardson 2*-1*-1-2-2 = 8+2 (5) 2. Peter Ljung 3-2*-2-1-F = 8+1 (5) 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 3-1-3-3-3 = 13 (5) 4. Patrick Hougaard 1-0-2*-2 = 5+1 (4) 5. Jason Crump 1-3-1*-1*-1* = 7+3 (5) 6. Thomas H Jonasson 1-3-3-1-3 = 11 (5) 7. Robin Aspegren 0-N-0-2* = 2+1 (3) 8. Anders Mellgren Indianerna (away) 42 (94) 1. Grzegorz Walasek 1-3-0-2-0-2 = 8 (6) 2. Magnus Zetterström 0-2*-2-0-R = 4+1 (5) 3. Piotr Protasiewicz Fx-N-N-N = 0 (1) 4. Jesper B Monberg 2-0-0-N-3 = 5 (4) 5. Rune Holta 2-X-3-3-3-1* = 12+1 (6) 6. Leon Madsen 2*-1-3-2*-1-R = 9+2 (6) 7. Simon Gustafsson 3-0-1-0 = 4 (4) 8. Freddy Godlund For Elit Vetlanda, Richardson scored his points in a unflashy kind of way, solid but unspectactular so to say. Ljung started very well and even though he faded some, it was nice to see him score points and get some confidence back. Elit Vetlanda need him in good form come Play Off time. Hampel was he usual self, deadly fast when gating, all but once of course. Hougaard had another solid score as second string, was also involved in a great race with Holta. Crump was like a turtle out of the gate, just like in the Vojens Grand Prix, but can be forgiven. Jonasson started with a worrying third place, otherwise had a fantastic evening. Good for him after having some machine gremlins lately. Aspegren was off the pace early on, but looked very good with a paid maximum in the second reserve race. For Indianerna, Walasek was his mysterious self with good and bad heats, more of the later sorts to be honest. Zetterström had a scoreline which reflects his evening rather well, he had some good heats, and gated well on a couple of other occasions, but got passed. Protasiewicz fell on the first bend in his first heat, so no judgement from me. The replacements in his three remaining heats gave two heat wins and a last place. Monberg looked slow all night, before being scratched and then beating Crump. He looks like that in Vetlanda at times. Holta was deadly quick when he hit the front, knows every inch of the track, and it showed. Madsen is a steal on a 2.00 average, as said before, but he faded after the interval. Gustafsson started with a comfortable, surprising to see him fade away after that. *-*-* FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDING: 1. Elit Vetlanda, 14, 9-3-2, 7/7, 28p (+90) 2. Västervik, 14, 7-2-5, 6/7, 22p (+53) 3. Lejonen, 14, 7-1-6, 3/7, 18p (+4) 4. Vargarna, 14, 7-1-6, 3/7, 18p (-6) 5. Dackarna, 14, 6-2-6, 3/7, 17p (-22) 6. Indianerna, 14, 7-0-7, 2/7, 16p (+3) ------------------------------------------------ 7. Piraterna, 14, 5-0-9, 4/7, 14p (+28) 8. Rospiggarna, 14, 3-1-10, 0/7, 7p (-150) *-*-* QUARTERFINALS: Tuesday September 8th 2009 Indianerna - Elit Vetlanda Vargarna - Västervik Dackarna - Lejonen Tuesday September 15th 2009 Elit Vetlanda - Indianerna Västervik - Vargarna Lejonen - Dackarna

PREVIEW OF SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 18 Tuesday September 1st 2009 CURRENT STANDING: 1. Elit Vetlanda, 13, 8-3-2, 6/6, 25p (+78) 2. Västervik, 13, 7-2-4, 5/6, 21p (+57) 3. Vargarna, 13, 7-1-5, 2/6, 17p (-4) 4. Indianerna, 13, 7-0-6, 2/6, 16p (+15) 5. Lejonen, 13, 6-1-6, 3/6, 16p (+2) 6. Dackarna, 13, 5-2-6, 2/6, 14p (-26) ------------------------------------------------ 7. Piraterna, 13, 4-0-9, 4/6, 12p (+24) 8. Rospiggarna, 13, 3-1-9, 0/6, 7p (-146) With one round to go, three places in the final standing are already written in stone. Elit Vetlanda have already secured top place in the regular season standing, with Västervik being runner-up to the Vetlanda team. In the bottom, Rospiggarna will definitely finish last, but as no team are relegated this season, they'll stay in Elitserien even in the 2010 season. A trio of teams, Indianerna, newcomers Vargarna and current champions Lejonen are fighting for third place, meaning the possibility of choosing to start home or away in the quarterfinal stage. Two teams are fighting for the sixth and final place in the Play Off, Dackarna and Piraterna. Dackarna, who also can advance two places in the standing depending on other results, have it all in their own hands with a draw at Rospiggarna in Hallstavik. Piraterna must win themselves, in Västervik, and hope that Rospiggarna beat Dackarna. Then they will advances to the Play Off, despite being virtually out of it for most of the second part of the season. *-*-* VÄSTERVIK - PIRATERNA at Sparbanken Arena, Västervik In Västervik, the Pirates will try to take the limited window of opportunity to reach the Play Off, as they meet Västervik. The home side looks like they will be missing Tomasz Gollob, according to various online reports, though there are no official news on their website. They will definitely be missing Grigorijs Laguta who riders in the Russian championship, with Kevin Doolan taking his place, moving Tomasz Gapinski into the main body of the team. Piraterna will also be missing their Russian ace, Emil Sayfutdinov, as he riders in Russia as well. Wieslaw Jagus is listed in the line-up, but R/R will most likely be in use as the Pole didn't ride for native Torun in their Play Off meeting lately. No official news is available in this case either. Damian Balinski comes back into the team as a replacement for Sayfutdinov, stepping in at reserve. Västervik (home) 0 (55) 1. Tomasz Gapinski 2. Tomasz Gollob 3. Chris Harris 4. Niels-Kristian Iversen 5. Bjarne Pedersen 6. Kevin Doolan 7. Anton Rosén ( 8. Pontus Aspgren ) Piraterna (away) 0 (41) 1. Jonas Davidsson 2. Wieslaw Jagus 3. Daniel Nermark 4. Rafal Dobrucki 5. Antonio Lindbäck 6. Damian Balinski 7. Linus Sundström ( 8. Oliver Berntzon ) *-*-* ROSPIGGARNA - DACKARNA at Orionparken, Hallstavik With only one round left of the regular season, it's clear that Rospiggarna are cemented to the Elitserien basement, whatever the outcome of Tuesday night's meeting. They will however ride with a full strength team to finish the season with grace infront of their home fans, with Maciej Janowski replacing Henrik Gustafsson who scored one lonely point at Piraterna last week. Dackarna are in a tough spot and could sensationally miss out of a top six spot, but will avoid it for sure if they managed a draw at the Hallstavik track. From the line-up which lost their latest meeting two weeks ago, the struggling Nicolai Klindt has been replaced by Grzegorz Zengota who is back from injury. Zengota takes a second string position with Krzysztof Buczkowski going down to reserve. Peter Karlsson is still scratched from the line-up. Rospiggarna (home) 0 (47) 1. Greg Hancock 2. Maciej Janowski 3. Sebastian Ulamek 4. Janusz Kolodziej 5. Ryan Sullivan 6. Jonas Messing 7. Travis McGowan ( 8. Robin Burestad ) Dackarna (away) 0 (49) 1. Kenneth Bjerre 2. Grzegorz Zengota 3. Fredrik Lindgren 4. Hans Andersen 5. Andreas Jonsson 6. Krzysztof Buczkowski 7. Ludvig Lindgren ( 8. Niklas Larsson ) *-*-* LEJONEN - VARGARNA at Axelent Arena, Gislaved Ahead of the season, I would have said the this fixture could result in one of the biggest home victories of the season, but surely that won't be the case, as Vargarna have provided stiff opposition throughout the season. The Lions will be missing Chris Holder for unknown reasons, and junior Dennis Andersson who is out for the season with two broken vertebrae after a crash in Denmark. Dave Watt steps up from reserve with Ricky Kling and home-grown junior Anton Göthberg filling the reserve spots. The Wolves are at full strength, but still makes two changes from the team that smashed Elit Vetlanda last week, with Adam Skornicki and Joe Screen being replaced by Tai Woffinden and Daniel King. The two Brits should do better around the long/fast Gislaved track than the Skornicki/Screen duo. Marcus Andersson continues at the number eight junior spot instead of Jonas Andersson. Lejonen (home) 0 (40) 1. Dave Watt 2. David Ruud 3. Piotr Swiderski 4. Mikael Max 5. Nicki Pedersen 6. Ricky Kling 7. Anton Göthberg ( 8. - ) Vargarna (away) 0 (56) 1. Adrian Miedzinski 2. Adam Shields 3. Scott Nicholls 4. Tai Woffinden 5. Krzysztof Kasprzak 6. Daniel King 7. Kim Nilsson ( 8. Marcus Andersson ) *-*-* ELIT VETLANDA - INDIANERNA at Vetlanda Motorstadion Regular season winners Elit Vetlanda takes on Indianerna at home, marking the return of Rune Holta who spent 6 seasons with Elit Vetlanda prior to the 2009 season, winning two championships with the team. For the Indians, also noticable is the fact that Magnus Zetterström is back in the line-up, replacing Renat Gafurov who rode in his place in the Indians' latest meeting, two weeks ago. Freddy Godlund fills the number eight junior race jacket for the third time this season. For Elit Vetlanda, Lee Richardson is back from the injury which kept him out of the line-up for the loss in Norrköping, he's replacing the out-of-form Jurica Pavlic. From that meeting, Sebastian Aldén has also been scratched and replaced with Robin Aspegren who forms an all Vetlanda duo at reserve alongside Thomas H Jonasson. Elit Vetlanda (home) 0 (44) 1. Lee Richardson 2. Peter Ljung 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 4. Patrick Hougaard 5. Jason Crump 6. Thomas H Jonasson 7. Robin Aspegren ( 8. Anders Mellgren ) Indianerna (away) 0 (52) 1. Grzegorz Walasek 2. Magnus Zetterström 3. Piotr Protasiewicz 4. Jesper B Monberg 5. Rune Holta 6. Leon Madsen 7. Simon Gustafsson ( 8. Freddy Godlund ) *-*-* Live updates will be available on www.speedway.nu from 19:00 local time.

Yes, that's correct, 8+2 in 5 heats. Scorers from that meeting as listed below: Zielona Gora 47 Rafal Dobrucki ( 3 3 R 2* 3 ) = 11+1 (5) Niels-Kristian Iversen ( 0 0 1 ) = 1 (3) Piotr Protasiewicz ( 2* 2* 2 1 0 ) = 7+2 (5) Fredrik Lindgren ( 3 3 1* 3 2* ) = 12+2 (5) Grzegorz Walasek ( 1 1 3 0 2 ) = 7 (5) Grzegorz Zengota ( 3 0 0 0 3 ) = 6 (5) Patryk Dudek ( 1 2 ) = 3 (2) Gorzow 43 Tomasz Gollob ( 1* 1 1* 2 1 ) = 6+2 (5) David Ruud ( 2 0 2 3 1 ) = 8 (5) Matej Zagar ( 1 3 2* 1 0 ) = 7+1 (5) Peter Karlsson ( 0 2* 3 0 ) = 5+1 (4) Rune Holta ( 3 2 0 1 3 ) = 9 (5) Thomas H Jonasson ( 2 2* 1* 3 0 ) = 8+2 (5) Pawel Zmarzlik ( 0 ) = 0 (1)

Oh no, we didn't! Don't lie on an international forum!

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 17 Tuesday August 25th 2009 LEJONEN - VÄSTERVIK 53-43 (Aggregate: 95-97) at Axelent Arena, Gislaved Attendence: 3390 Heat details: http://www.speedway.nu/2009/reportNY.asp?Elit.EI Lejonen (home) 53 (95) 1. Chris Holder 0-1-2-2-3 = 8 (5) 2. David Ruud 3-3-3-3-1 = 13 (5) 3. Piotr Swiderski 1-R-2*-2*-1 = 6+2 (5) 4. Nicki Pedersen 3-3-3-2-3 = 14 (5) 5. Mikael Max 0-2-1*-0 = 3+1 (4) 6. Dave Watt 2-2-2*-Fx-0-3 = 9+1 (6) 7. Dennis Andersson 0-N-N-0 = 0 (2) 8. Anton Göthberg Västervik (away) 43 (97) 1. Bjarne Pedersen 2-2-3-3-0-0 = 10 (6) 2. Grigorijs Laguta 1*-1*-1-0-0 = 3+2 (5) 3. Chris Harris 2-0-3-1-2 = 8 (5) 4. Niels-Kristian Iversen 0-1-2-1 = 4 (4) 5. Tomasz Gollob 1-1-1-3-2 = 8 (5) 6. Anton Rosén 1-N-N-2 = 3 (2) 7. Tomasz Gapinski 3-3-0-R-1* = 7+1 (5) 8. Pontus Aspgren *-*-* PIRATERNA - ROSPIGGARNA 63-33 (Aggregate: 108-84) at Lastpartner Arena, Motala Attendence: 2605 Heat details: http://www.speedway.nu/2009/reportNY.asp?Elit.FG Piraterna (home) 63 (108) 1. Rafal Dobrucki 1-3-1-2-3-2 = 12 (6) 2. Wieslaw Jagus R/R (3,3,3,1) 3. Jonas Davidsson 3-3-3-2*-3-1 = 15+1 (6) 4. Emil Sajfutdinov 2*-2*-3-3-1 = 11+2 (5) 5. Antonio Lindbäck 2-3-2-2*-2*-0 = 11+2 (6) 6. Linus Sundström 2*-0-1*-2*-0 = 5+3 (5) 7. Daniel Nermark 3-2*-1*-3 = 9+2 (4) 8. Oliver Berntzon Rospiggarna (away) 33 (84) 1. Greg Hancock 2-1-3-3-2-3 = 14 (6) 2. Henrik Gustafsson 0-0-0-N-1 = 1 (4) 3. Janusz Kolodziej 1-0-0-0-0 = 1 (5) 4. Sebastian Ulamek M-1-2-0-3 = 6 (5) 5. Ryan Sullivan 3-1-0-1-1-2* = 8+1 (6) 6. Travis McGowan 1-1-0-N-R = 2 (4) 7. Jonas Messing N-N-N-1 = 1 (1) 8. Robin Burestad Fx = 0 (1) *-*-* VARGARNA - ELIT VETLANDA 59-37 (Aggregate: 96+2 - 96+3) at Norrköping's Motorstadion Attendence: 3816 Heat details: http://www.speedway.nu/2009/reportNY.asp?Elit.HB Vargarna (home) 59 (96+2) 1. Adrian Miedzinski 2*-3-3-1*-2 = 11+2 (5) 2. Adam Shields 3-3-1-2* = 9+1 (4) 3. Scott Nicholls 2-2*-2-3-1* = 10+2 (5) 4. Adam Skornicki 1*-3-1*-1*-1 = 7+3 (5) 5. Krzysztof Kasprzak 1*-2-2-2-3 = 10+1 (5) 6. Kim Nilsson 2-2-1*-2*-3 = 10+2 (5) 7. Joe Screen R-1-N-1 = 2 (3) 8. Marcus Andersson Elit Vetlanda (away) 37 (96+3) 1. Peter Ljung 1-1-0-0 = 2 (4) 2. Jurica Pavlic 0-0-N-N = 0 (2) 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 3-2-3-0-F-0 = 8 (6) 4. Patrick Hougaard 0-2-0-1-2 = 5 (5) 5. Jason Crump 3-3-1-3-3-3 = 16 (6) 6. Sebastian Aldén 1-0-0-N = 1 (3) 7. Thomas H Jonasson 3-R-0-R = 3 (4) 8. Robin Aspegren 2-0 = 2 (2) Jason Crump beat Scott Nicholls in a run-off for the aggregated point. So, in all honesty, I didn't expect a win, but just couldn't believe that the aggregated point would be in jeopardy either. Poor showing, poor meeting, but it does take two to tango, and we didn't do that today. Simple as that. For Vargarna, Miedzinski has taken a giant step up the career ladder this season, and - for a Pole - rides the Norrköping track very well. One of the surprise packages of the Elitserien this year for sure. Shields made a great comeback, and I would've thought he would come out in heat 15 as well, but perhaps was lacking match fitness for five heats on a night. Nicholls was fast, pushed Crump hard a couple of times, but not surprising as he rides well on this track. Skornicki scored a paid ten without being flashy, except for that donut celebration after his heat victory. Kasprzak was OK, but didn't stand out in particular. Nilsson made good gates and put himself in scoring positions, a huge step towards scoring on the night. Screen had some problems with his machinery, and when Woffinden is back to 100% fitness, he'll look a long way for a place in the line-up for the rest of the season. For Elit Vetlanda, Ljung wasn't as bad as the score suggest, and he had a couple of good starts but got taken wide by his own team mate once, and getting called back due to an unsatisfactory start once. -"I haven't been to Kråkvilan in three years, and I don't mind of I don't come back for another three years" was his comment to the local paper after the meeting. Pavlic did nothing, but hopefully his Swedish form will improve when not riding in Britain. Hampel started like a train, but got lost in his second half of the meeting. Hougaard did a good job in his first meeting as second string, at least tried hard all the time. Crump is Crump, thank God for that! Aldén looked slow all night. Jonasson started with a fine win before blowing up his engine in his second outing, never looked comfortable after that. Aspegren fought for his point, and some aggression is all you can ask for. Man of the match: Scott Nicholls Most exiting rider: None that stood out *-*-* Dackarna and Indianerna didn't ride in this round. *-*-* CURRENT STANDING: 1. Elit Vetlanda, 13, 8-3-2, 6/6, 25p (+78) 2. Västervik, 13, 7-2-4, 5/6, 21p (+57) 3. Vargarna, 13, 7-1-5, 2/6, 17p (-4) 4. Indianerna, 13, 7-0-6, 2/6, 16p (+15) 5. Lejonen, 13, 6-1-6, 3/6, 16p (+2) 6. Dackarna, 13, 5-2-6, 2/6, 14p (-26) ------------------------------------------------ 7. Piraterna, 13, 4-0-9, 4/6, 12p (+24) 8. Rospiggarna, 13, 3-1-9, 0/6, 7p (-146) *-*-* FINAL REGULAR SEASON ROUND: Tuesday September 1st 2009 Elit Vetlanda - Indianerna (44-52) Rospiggarna - Dackarna (47-49) Västervik - Piraterna (55-41) Lejonen - Vargarna (40-56) *-*-* All information courtesy of www.speedway.nu.

Surprised no-one has posted the result, so here it goes: European U19 Team Championsip Final at Holsted Speedway Center, Denmark Sunday August 23rd 2009 For most of the meeting at Holsted Speedway Center, it looked like a repeat of Sweden's victory in the final in Rawicz (Poland) last year, but as the dust had settled, Poland stood there as winners. Sweden lead most of the meeting, almost all the way from heat 4 and forward. The depth of the Swedish was unmatched by all other teams, but as Poland's coach Marek Cieslak coached his reserve Przemyslaw Pawlicki hard towards the end, they were able to catch up with Sweden. Also, with some luck of the draw, the Polish riders stood right inside of the Swedish counterparts in three of the four nominated heats. Sweden still had a one point lead with two heats to go, but Ludvig Lindgren was harshly excluded in heat 19 as he fell exiting the second bend after Rene Bach had pushed on him twice on bends one/two, before Lindgren came off. There were obviously contact between the two, Lindgren fell but was on the wrong side of the exclusion against the wild Dane. In the re-run of that heat, Dawid Lampart was able to score two points to give the Polish side the lead for the first time since heat 3. Simon Gustafsson was forced to place himself ahead of Maciej Janowski in heat 20 to force a run-off for the win, but Janowski was untrouble in that heat and won it for Poland, despite it being Sweden that were in charge for most of the meeting with the strength in depth. The top riders on the day belonged to Poland though, which won them the gold medals. Host nation Denmark came third, without being particulary close to either the silver medal or fourth place Czech Republic. Surely the Czechs were ahead early on, but anyway, it felt like a question of time before the Danes should pull away. Denmark started the meeting with a touch/tape exclusion for the talented Michael Jepsen Jensen, and they had to work from the behind right from the start. For the Czech Republic, winner of the semifinal in Moorwinkelsdamm more than a month ago, only Michael Hadek produced consistent opposition to the other nations throughout the meeting, just as the scorechart suggest. POLAND 40 9. Maciej Janowski ( 3 3 1 3 2 3 ) = 15 (6) 10. Slawomir Musielak ( 0 N 1 N N ) = 1 (2) 11. Patryk Dudek ( 1 1 N N N ) = 2 (2) 12. Dawid Lampart ( 3 2 Fx N 2 ) = 7 (4) 19. Przemyslaw Pawlicki ( 1 3 3 3 2 3 ) = 15 (6) TM. Marek Cieslak SWEDEN 38 13. Simon Gustafsson ( 2 3 2 3 2 ) = 12 (5) 14. Anton Rosen ( 2 N 3 1 N ) = 6 (3) 15. Ludvig Lindgren ( 2 2 3 N Fx ) = 7 (4) 16. Linus Sundström ( N 2 1 2 N ) = 5 (3) 20. Dennis Andersson ( 2 3 1 1 1 ) = 8 (5) TM. Daniel Nelson DENMARK 27 5. Michael Jepsen Jensen ( T 3 3 2 1 1 ) = 10 (6) 6. Rene Bach ( 3 Fx 2 2 0 3 ) = 10 (6) 7. Simon Nielsen ( 1 0 N N N ) = 1 (2) 8. Patrick Bjerregaard ( 0 0 N N N ) = 0 (2) 18. Michael Palm Toft ( 2 0 2 2 ) = 6 (4) TM. Jan Staechmann CZECH REPUBLIC 15 1. Michael Hadek ( 3 2 1 0 3 0 ) = 9 (6) 2. Pavel Pucko ( 1 1 T 0 N ) = 2 (4) 3. Michal Dudek ( 0 0 N N N ) = 0 (2) 4. Jan Holub ( 1 1 0 0 0 ) = 2 (5) 17. Vaclav Milik ( 0 1 1 ) = 2 (3) TM. Milan Spinka 1 [59.0]: Lampart, Rosén, Holub, Jensen (T) 2 [58.6]: Bach, Gustafsson, P Dudek, M Dudek 3 [58.9]: Janowski, Lindgren, Pucko, Bjerregaard 4 [59.9]: Hadek, Andersson (for Sundström), Nielsen, Musielak 5 [59.0]: Janowski, Sundström, Holub, Bach (Fx) 6 [59.2]: Jensen, Lindgren, Pawlicki (for Musielak), M Dudek 7 [59.6]: Gustafsson, Lampart, Pucko, Nielsen 8 [59.9]: Andersson (for Rosén), Hadek, P Dudek, Bjerregaard 9 [59.5]: Jensen (for Bjerregaard), Gustafsson, Musielak, Holub 10 [58.9]: Rosén, Palm Toft (for Nielsen), Janowski, Milik (for M Dudek) 11 [59.7]: Pawlicki (for P Dudek), Jensen, Sundström, Pucko (T) 12 [60.2]: Lindgren, Bach, Hadek, Lampart (Fx) 13 [59.4]: Janowski (for Lampart), Sundström, Milik (for M Dudek), Palm Toft (for Bjerregaard) 14 [59.8]: Pawlicki (for P Dudek), Palm Toft (for Nielsen), Andersson (for Lindgren), Holub 15 [58.9]: Pawlicki (for Musielak), Bach, Rosén, Pucko 16 [59.6]: Gustafsson, Janowski, Jensen, Hadek 17 [59.9]: Hadek (for M Dudek), Pawlicki (for Musielak), Andersson (for Sundström), Bach (for Bjerregaard) 18 [59.8]: Pawlicki (for P Dudek), Palm Toft (for Nielsen), Andersson (for Rosén), Holub 19 [59.9]: Bach, Lampart, Milik (for Pucko), Lindgren (Fx) 20 [?]: Janowski, Gustafsson, Jensen, Hadek Crowd: 514 persons BTW, it was great meeting up with Doug (iris123). I hope the photos turned out great! (Then you could post a link ) Until next time, cheers mate! (to quote the Aussies)

PREVIEW OF SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 17 Tuesday August 25th 2009 LEJONEN - VÄSTERVIK at Axelent Arena, Gislaved At Gislaved, last year´s champions Lejonen can clinch their place in the Play Off by beating the strong Västervik team. Both teams must be considered to be at full strength. Lejonen (home) 0 (42) 1. Chris Holder 2. David Ruud 3. Piotr Swiderski 4. Nicki Pedersen 5. Mikael Max 6. Dave Watt 7. Dennis Andersson ( 8. Anton Göthberg ) Västervik (away) 0 (54) 1. Bjarne Pedersen 2. Grigorijs Laguta 3. Chris Harris 4. Niels-Kristian Iversen 5. Tomasz Gollob 6. Anton Rosén 7. Tomasz Gapinski ( 8. Pontus Aspgren ) *-*-* PIRATERNA - ROSPIGGARNA at Lastpartner Arena, Motala Russian Grand Prix star Emil Sajfutdinov makes a rare appearence in Sweden, in only his third meeting of the season as Piraterna makes another attempt to keep up for a place among the top six Play Off teams. The Pirates will however miss Wieslaw Jagus, with R/R being operated in his absence according to Piraterna's website. The visitors from Hallstavik comes with one of their standard line-ups, especially now since Sebastian Ulamek is back from the injury list. The McGowan/Messing partnership continues at reserve, leaving Maciej Janowski and/or Chris Slabon out of the team. Piraterna (home) 0 (45) 1. Rafal Dobrucki 2. Wieslaw Jagus R/R 3. Jonas Davidsson 4. Emil Sajfutdinov 5. Antonio Lindbäck 6. Linus Sundström 7. Daniel Nermark ( 8. Oliver Berntzon ) Rospiggarna (away) 0 (51) 1. Greg Hancock 2. Henrik Gustafsson 3. Janusz Kolodziej 4. Sebastian Ulamek 5. Ryan Sullivan 6. Travis McGowan 7. Jonas Messing ( 8. Robin Burestad ) *-*-* VARGARNA - ELIT VETLANDA at Norrköping's Motorstadion In this week's TV meeting, Vargarna hosts Elit Vetlanda. The Wolves have nominated Adam Shields in the line-up, but I haven't found any information if he's riding, or if Riders Replacement will be in use. For Elit Vetlanda, Lee Richardson will be missing after crashing in Britain this weekend. His place will be taken by Peter Ljung (as Elit Vetlanda can't use R/R for the Brit without scratching either Crump or Hampel), but Richardson is expected to be back in action on Friday night for Lakeside, and for next week's Elitserien fixture of course. Also, Patrick Hougaard takes a place in the main body of the team for the first time this season, with Sebastian Aldén dropping to reserve. Vargarna (home) 0 (37) 1. Adrian Miedzinski 2. Adam Shields 3. Scott Nicholls 4. Adam Skornicki 5. Krzysztof Kasprzak 6. Kim Nilsson 7. Tai Woffinden ( 8. Jonas Andersson ) Elit Vetlanda (away) 0 (59) 1. Peter Ljung 2. Jurica Pavlic 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 4. Patrick Hougaard 5. Jason Crump 6. Sebastian Aldén 7. Thomas H Jonasson ( 8. Robin Aspegren ) *-*-* Dackarna and Indianerna don't ride in this round. *-*-* All meetings can be followed via live updates on www.speedway.nu from 19:00 local time. (Meeting report from Norrköping will be available sometime on Wednesday night)

Time to get this thread back to the top with a report from yesterday's meeting in Bundesliga between Güstrow and Berlin/Wolfslake. Güstrow 45 Robert Kosciecha ( 3 3 3 2* 2 2 ) = 15+1 (6) Mathias Schultz ( 0 1 M 2 3 1* ) = 7+1 (6) Roberto Haupt ( 3 1 0 1* 1* 2 ) = 8+2 (6) Daniel Rath ( 1 2 1 0 0 ) = 4 (5) Tobias Busch ( 3 3 3 2 F ) = 11 (5) Berlin/Wolfslake 41 Rafal Okoniewski ( 1* 0 2 3 6^ 3 ) = 15+1 (6) Pawel Hlib ( 2 0 M X 1 ) = 3 (5) Thomas H Jonasson ( R 2 2 3 R R ) = 7 (6) Mathias Bartz ( 2 3 0 1* 1 1 ) = 8+1 (6) Erik Pudel ( 2 1* 2 F 3 ) = 8+1 (5) 1: Kosciecha, Hlib, Okoniewski, Schultz. 3-3, 3-3. 2: Haupt, Bartz, Rath, Jonasson ®. 4-2, 7-5. 3: Busch, Pudel, Schultz, Hlib. 4-2, 11-7. 4: Kosciecha, Jonasson, Haupt, Okoniewski. 4-2, 15-9. 5: Bartz, Rath, Hlib (M), Schultz (M). 2-3, 17-12. 6: Busch, Jonasson, Pudel, Haupt. 3-3, 20-15. 7: Kosciecha, Okoniewski, Rath, Bartz. 4-2, 24-17. 8: Jonasson, Schultz, Haupt, Hlib (X). 3-3, 27-20. 9: Busch, Pudel, Bartz, Rath. 3-3, 30-23. 10: Okoniewski, Busch, Hlib, Rath. 2-4, 32-27. 11: Schultz, Kosciecha, Bartz, Pudel (F). 5-1, 37-28. 12: Okoniewski (joker), Kosciecha, Haupt, Jonasson ®. 3-6, 40-34. 13: Pudel, Haupt, Schultz, Jonasson ®. 3-3, 43-37. 14: Okoniewski, Kosciecha, Bartz, Busch (F). 2-4, 45-41. Crowd: 1100 (if my much limited knowledge of the German language is correct) The meeting in Güstrow started slow, but produced some good heats in the remaining 2/3 part of the meeting, highlights being: - Busch's blast around Jonasson in heat 6 - An awesome scrap between Jonasson and Schultz in heat 8 - Great chase by Hlib against Busch in heat 10 - Great chase (and eventually a pass) by Schultz, on Pudel, in heat 11 There were some drama to finish the meeting, as Schultz's pass on Pudel was harsh which forced Pudel to slide off exiting bend two of the last lap. It could have gone either way, but Schultz was allowed to continue and win the heat with a maximum 5-1 for the home side, instead of a 3-3 tie (if Pudel would have won). Berlin/Wolfslake looked to have made the most of the tactical joker in heat 12, as joker Okoniewski lead with Jonasson in second place for an 8-1, only for Jonasson to suffered his second engine failure of the day, to cut the heat advantage to 6-3. The away side looked to cut the lead in the first nominated heat as Pudel and Jonasson were heading for a 5-1 with Jonasson grounding to a halt once again. A tied heat sealed the meeting for Güstrow with one heat to go. Personally, I felt that Berlin/Wolfslake threw away too many points in this one, with three engine failures on Jonasson while on a maximum/paid maximum, an exclusion on Hlib (what on earth was he doing with his goggles at the tapes) and the 50/50 situation involving Schultz and Pudel. With that said, one also has to mention Busch's fall (caused by a shed chain I think) in heat 14, which cost Güstrow some as well. Full credit to Güstrow for taking advantage of the situation. For Güstrow, Kosciecha looked unbeatable early on, but eventually got beaten himself, to my surprise. Schultz started slow, but improved a lot and was always in the thick of the action. A true fighter! Haupt picked up some points without being noticed. Rath scored mostly gifted point. Busch looked awfully quick early on, but ran into stiffer opposition (=Okoniewski) in the later stages. For Berlin/Wolfslake, Okoniewski started very poor, but was untouchable when dialed in to the track. Hlib was better than the score suggested, fought hard but to no use. Jonasson threw away too many points due to gremlins. Bartz contributed with his fair share of points, though he faded some. Pudel looked good throughout, and for a U19 rider will be quite good if he can get regular meetings against tough opposition. Man of the match: Tobias Busch Most exiting rider: Mathias Schultz /Anders Reporting from Etap Hotel in Rostock, on speedway holiday in Germany and Danmark (off to Stralsund in a while)

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 16 Wednesday August 19th 2009 ROSPIGGARNA - VÄSTERVIK 49-47 (Aggregate: 90-102) at Orionparken, Hallstavik Attendence: 1349 Heat details: http://www.speedway.nu/2009/reportNY.asp?Elit.GI Rospiggarna won the previously postponed meeting against Västervik, but despite the win, it's now clear that they'll miss the Play Off, as they failed to get the aggregated point against Västervik. For Västervik, Bjarne Pedersen rode for Poole on this night, with Tomasz Gapinski stepping up from reserve, and Eric Andersson coming in at No 7. The loss will certainly make it hard for them to win the regular season standing, as they're now four points behind Elit Vetlanda. Rospiggarna (home) 49 (90) 1. Greg Hancock 3-3-2-3-2 = 13 (5) 2. Henrik Gustafsson 2*-2-0-3-R = 7+1 (5) 3. Janusz Kolodziej 3-3-1*-0-1 = 8+1 (5) 4. Sebastian Ulamek 0-0-2-3-3 = 8 (5) 5. Ryan Sullivan 0-3-1-1 = 5 (4) 6. Jonas Messing 0-N-0-0 = 0 (3) 7. Travis McGowan 3-2-0-1*-2 = 8+1 (5) 8. Robin Burestad Västervik (away) 47 (102) 1. Tomasz Gapinski 1-1*-2-1*-0 = 5+2 (5) 2. Grigorijs Laguta 0-2-1*-0 = 3+1 (4) 3. Chris Harris 1*-1*-2-0-2 = 6+2 (5) 4. Niels-Kristian Iversen 2-3-2-2-1 = 10 (5) 5. Tomasz Gollob 3-3-3-2-3 = 14 (5) 6. Anton Rosén 1*-1-0-1 = 3+1 (4) 7. Eric Andersson 2-1-0-3 = 6 (4) 8. - *-*-* CURRENT STANDING: 1. Elit Vetlanda, 12, 8-3-1, 5/5, 24p (+100) 2. Västervik, 12, 7-2-3, 4/5, 20p (+67) 3. Indianerna, 13, 7-0-6, 2/6, 16p (+15) 4. Vargarna, 12, 6-1-5, 2/5, 15p (-26) 5. Lejonen, 12, 5-1-6, 3/5, 14p (-8) 6. Dackarna, 13, 5-2-6, 2/6, 14p (-26) ------------------------------------------------ 7. Piraterna, 12, 3-0-9, 3/5, 9p (-6) 8. Rospiggarna, 12, 3-1-8, 0/5, 7p (-116) *-*-* All information courtesy of www.speedway.nu.

Yes, he'll ride in Britain. Solkatterna will be missing his service, but have both Antonio Lindbäck and Michael Jepsen Jensen in the line-up. Line-ups for the 1st quarterfinals, accoring to speedway.nu, are: Solkatterna: Antonio Lindbäck, Linus Sundström, Michael Jepsen Jensen, Jeremia Thelaus, Magnus Karlsson, Viktor Bergström, Peter Juul, (Oliver Berntzon) Griparna: Miroslaw Jablonski, Linus Eklöf, Niklas Klingberg, Kenneth Hansen, Kim Nilsson, Sebastian Carlsson, Jonas Andersson, (André Hertzberg) Hammarby: Martin Smolinski, Tero Aarnio, Pawel Hlib, Andrej Karpov, Pawel Miesiac, Alexander Edberg, Freddy Godlund, (-) Örnarna: Norbert Kosciuch, Dennis Andersson, David Ruud, Daniel Jeleniewski, Ricky Kling, Christian Agö, Anton Göthberg, (-) Masarna: Maksims Bogdanovs, Eric Andersson, Billy Forsberg, Anton Rosén, Artur Mroczka, Pontus Aspgren, Andreas Westlund, (Alexander Söderholm) Valsarna: Daniel Davidsson, Robert Eriksson, Kauko Nieminen, Robin Aspegren, Sebastian Aldén, Anders Mellgren, Robin Törnqvist, (Ted Hagansbo)

Top seed Valsarna choose to meet Masarna, and start away, in Avesta. Second seed Solkatterna choose Griparna, and start at home, not to clash with local rivals Valsarna. Third seed Örnarna had to take Hammarby as the remaining team, and opted to start away at Hammarby. August 20th: Solkatterna - Griparna, Hammarby - Örnarna, Masarna - Valsarna August 27th: Griparna - Solkatterna, Örnarna - Hammarby, Valsarna - Masarna The winners of the three semifinals, plus the "Lucky Looser" (most points of the losing teams) advances to the semifinal stages where the highest scoring winning team will meet the Lucky Looser, and the other two quarterfinal winners will meet. Winners of the semifinal will meet in the final. All stages are run over one home and one away meeting. In short terms...

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 16 Tuesday August 18th 2009 ROSPIGGARNA - VÄSTERVIK at Orionparken, Hallstavik Postponed due to rain. New date is tomorrow, Wednesday August 19th. *-*-* INDIANERNA - VARGARNA 52-44 (Aggregate: 107-85) at Kumla Motorstadion Attendence: 4124 Heat details: http://www.speedway.nu/2009/reportNY.asp?Elit.DH Indianerna (home) 52 (107) 1. Grzegorz Walasek 3-2-2-1-0 = 8 (5) 2. Renat Gafurov 0-1*-1*-2 = 4+2 (4) 3. Piotr Protasiewicz 2*-3-3-1*-2 = 11+2 (5) 4. Jesper B Monberg 3-2*-2*-0-0 = 7+2 (5) 5. Rune Holta 2-0-3-3-3 = 11 (5) 6. Simon Gustafsson 1-0-1-1 = 3 (4) 7. Leon Madsen 3-2-0-3 = 8 (4) 8. David Rohlén Vargarna (away) 44 (85) 1. Adrian Miedzinski 2-1-2*-1-3-3 = 12+1 (6) 2. Tai Woffinden 1*-Fx-3-2-2 = 8+1 (5) 3. Scott Nicholls 1-3-1-1*-2-1 = 9+1 (6) 4. Adam Skornicki 0-3-R-0 = 3 (4) 5. Krzysztof Kasprzak 3-0-3-0-1* = 7+1 (5) 6. Joe Screen 0-0-N-0 = 0 (3) 7. Kim Nilsson 2-1-N-2 = 5 (3) 8. Jonas Andersson *-*-* DACKARNA - ELIT VETLANDA 46-50 (Aggregate: 87-105) at G&B Arena, Målilla Attendence: 4836 Heat details: http://www.speedway.nu/2009/reportNY.asp?Elit.AB Dackarna, with 4 Grand Prix riders, had the chance to secure a place among the Play Off teams, but lost for the fifth time in a row, as Elit Vetlanda won the derby clash by four points. The home side could have gotten off to a good start with a maximum in heat 1, which looked far from unrealistic, but Bjerre's touch/tape exclusion put league leading Elit Vetlanda in the driver's seat for almost the entire meeting, with Dackarna fighting from the back. As Patrick Hougaard and Jaroslaw Hampel beat Kenneth Bjerre for a maximum in heat 11, that was the start of Dackarna's downfall in this one. Jason Crump and Jaroslaw Hampel took two heat victories each for the visitors in the five remaining heats, and Dackarna couldn't come close enough to take a point. Crump's second of those victories, in the final heat, was a beauty as it looked like the leading Hans Andersen would be able to take Crump wide to make way for Freddie Lindgren on the inside for a needed maximum, but Crump turned Andersen inside-out and just turned to the inside line for the pass, and the win. A class move! Dackarna (home) 46 (87) 1. Kenneth Bjerre T/T-1*-1-2-1* = 5+2 (5) 2. Hans Andersen 3-3-2-1*-1-2 = 12+1 (6) 3. Fredrik Lindgren 2-1-3-3-1* = 10+1 (5) 4. Krzysztof Buczkowski 0-0-N-N = 0 (2) 5. Andreas Jonsson 3-3-2-1*-2 = 11+1 (5) 6. Nicolai Klindt 0-0-N-0-2 = 2 (4) 7. Ludvig Lindgren 2-0-2*-1-0-1* = 6+2 (6) 8. Niklas Larsson Elit Vetlanda (away) 50 (105) 1. Lee Richardson 2-3-2-2-0 = 9 (5) 2. Sebastian Aldén 1*-2*-1*-0-0 = 4+3 (5) 3. Jason Crump 3-3-3-0-3 = 12 (5) 4. Jurica Pavlic 1-0-N-N = 1 (2) 5. Jaroslaw Hampel 2-0-2*-3-3 = 10+1 (5) 6. Patrick Hougaard 1-1-3-3-0 = 8 (5) 7. Thomas H Jonasson 3-1*-0-2-0 = 6+1 (5) 8. Robin Aspegren For Dackarna, Bjerre was a let down after being red hot for quite a while, his touch/tape exclusion proved very costly. Andersen was very good, always in the thick of it and deserved it all. (Fredrik) Lindgren started very poor, and improved after the interval, but I was surprised to see him score a paid eleven. Buczkowski was too slow, simple as that. Jonsson made an excellent pass in his first, but had no answers to the away team's star riders after the interval. Klindt, a late replacement for Grzegorz Zengota, was poor. (Ludvig) Lindgren did more than his share of the job, rode better and scored more than he was expected to IMO. For Elit Vetlanda, Richardson was solid, had a good middle part of the meeting. Aldén didn't disappoint as a second string and even when he didn't score, he wasn't far off the home GP riders. Crump surprisingly finished last in heat 14, just like in the semifinal against Dackarna last fall. Made some enormous gates in his other heats and was untrouble. Pavlic had a good first one, got taken wide on the opening bends in his second, so it's hard to judge him. Hampel had his mandatory dud heat (his second), but otherwise a great effort. Hougaard started slow (in his first visit to the track?) but improved, and I was surprised not to see him in heat 15. Jonasson was OK, but lost too many points, despite putting himself in good positions thanks to good gating. Man of the match: Jaroslaw Hampel Most exciting rider: - *-*-* Lejonen and Piraterna don't ride in this round. *-*-* CURRENT STANDING: 1. Elit Vetlanda, 12, 8-3-1, 5/5, 24p (+100) 2. Västervik, 11, 7-2-2, 3/4, 19p (+69) 3. Indianerna, 13, 7-0-6, 2/6, 16p (+15) 4. Vargarna, 12, 6-1-5, 2/5, 15p (-26) 5. Lejonen, 12, 5-1-6, 3/5, 14p (-8) 6. Dackarna, 13, 5-2-6, 2/6, 14p (-26) ------------------------------------------------ 7. Piraterna, 12, 3-0-9, 3/5, 9p (-6) 8. Rospiggarna, 11, 2-1-8, 0/4, 5p (-118) *-*-* NEXT ROUND - ROUND 17: Tuesday August 25th 2009 Lejonen - Västervik (42-54) Piraterna - Rospiggarna (45-51) Vargarna - Elit Vetlanda (37-59) Dackarna and Indianerna don't ride in round 17. *-*-* All information courtesy of www.speedway.nu.