Anders

As Germany has home track advantage, which team do you not consider being a solid outfit? Anyway, looks a cracking meeting! Go Sweden!

Think only places among top 3, and positions which determines who goes straight through or being reserve, are handled by run-offs. The only run-off should be for 3rd place, Hougaard vs Larsen. No need for a run-off between Lindgren and Kildemand, as Lindgren should be 5th due to more heat victories than Kildemand.

Replying to my own post, but better do it before someone notice... I obviously missed a bonus point for Ryan, it should read: 2-0-2*-0-1-1* = 6+2 (6)

Don't want to be picky (but I'll be it anyway) , but his name is Aspegren. The Aspgren family (Niklas, Joakim (retired) and Pontus) are from Avesta and the Aspegren family (Daniel (retired), Kim (retired) and Robin) are from Vetlanda. Niklas and Joakim are twin brothers, and Pontus is their cousin, I think... Daniel, Kim and Robin are all brothers. Full date of birth for Andreas Bergström is August 27th 1978. Emil Lindqvist: December 8th 1976 Tomas Olsson: February 26th 1972 (Edited for spelling mistake)

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 4 Tuesday May 19th 2009 VÄSTERVIK - INDIANERNA 54-42 at Sparbanken Arena Västervik Attendence: 3598 Västervik (home) 54 1. Chris Harris 1-1-2-1* = 5+1 (4) 2. Bjarne Pedersen 3-3-3-1*-2 = 12+1 (5) 3. Niels-Kristian Iversen 3-3-2*-2-1* = 11+2 (5) 4. Grigorijs Laguta 0-2*-3-0-2 = 7+1 (5) 5. Tomasz Gollob 1*-3-1-2-R = 7+1 (5) 6. Kevin Doolan 1*-2-1-1-3 = 8+1 (5) 7. Anton Rosén 2-N-0-2* = 4+1 (3) 8. Pontus Aspgren Indianerna (away) 42 1. Grzegorz Walasek 2-Fx-0-2-3-1 = 8 (6) 2. Matej Ferjan 0-1-N-N = 1 (2) 3. Piotr Protasiewicz 2-Fx-F-3-3-3 = 11 (6) 4. Jesper B Monberg 1*-2-2-1-0-3 = 9+1 (6) 5. Rune Holta 3-1-3-2*-0-R = 9+1 (6) 6. Alexander Edberg N-N-N-N = 0 (0) 7. Christian Hefenbrock 3-0-0-N-0 = 3 (4) 8. David Rohlén 0-1 = 1 (2) *-*-* VARGARNA - DACKARNA 48-48 at Norrköping's Motorstadion Attendence: 2088 Vargarna (home) 48 1. Scott Nicholls 2-2-1*-2*-3 = 10+2 (5) 2. Edward Kennett 1*-2*-0-F = 3+2 (4) 3. Adrian Miedzinski 1-1-2*-2-0 = 6+1 (5) 4. Adam Skornicki R-0-3-2-2 = 7 (5) 5. Adam Shields 1-3-0-3-1 = 8 (5) 6. Kim Nilsson 3-0-2*-1* = 6+2 (4) 7. Joe Screen 1-3-2-2 = 8 (4) 8. Jonas Andersson Dackarna (away) 48 1. Andreas Jonsson 3-2*-1-3-2 = 11+1 (5) 2. Grzegorz Zengota Fx-3-Fx-N = 3 (3) 3. Kenneth Bjerre 3-1-3-0-3 = 10 (5) 4. Peter Karlsson 2*-1-3-1-0 = 7+1 (5) 5. Fredrik Lindgren 3-1-T/T-1-1 = 7 (5) 6. Rory Schlein 2-0-3-3-1 = 9 (5) 7. Ludvig Lindgren 0-2*-0-F-0 = 2+1 (5) 8. Niklas Larsson *-*-* LEJONEN - IKAROS SMEDERNA 61-35 at Axelent Arena, Gislaved Attendence: 2301 Lejonen (home) 61 1. Nicki Pedersen 3-3-3-3-3 = 15 (5) 2. Sebastian Ulamek 2*-1*-0-3 = 6+2 (4) 3. David Ruud 0-1*-2*-1-3 = 7+2 (5) 4. Chris Holder 3-2-3-3-2* = 13+1 (5) 5. Piotr Swiderski 2-3-1-2* = 8+1 (4) 6. Ricky Kling 3-0-0-2* = 5+1 (4) 7. Robert Pettersson N-N-0-N = 0 (1) 8. Dennis Andersson 2*-2-3 = 7+1 (3) Ikaros Smederna (away) 35 1. Krzysztof Kasprzak 1-0-1*-2 = 4+1 (4) 2. Mikael Max 0-3-2-0-2 = 7 (5) 3. Daniel King 2-1*-2-2-0-1 = 8+1 (6) 4. Magnus Zetterström 1*-3-2-0-0-1* = 7+2 (6) 5. Krzysztof Buczkowski 3-1-1*-1-0 = 6+1 (5) 6. Martin Vaculik 1-0-N-Fx = 1 (3) 7. Linus Eklöf 0-1-N-1 = 2 (3) 8. Robin Bergqvist *-*-* ELIT VETLANDA - ROSPIGGARNA 59-37 at Vetlanda Motorstadion Attendence: 2042 Elit Vetlanda remains the only 100% record team after the fourth round (as Dackarna "only" got a draw in Norrköping), winning comfortably against Rospiggarna. There were never much contest as it soon appeared that Rospiggarna were woefully week at second string, well in fact, the entire strength in depth department belonged to the home side. Just like last year, Greg Hancock and Janusz Kolodziej provided much of the scoring, and also much of the entertainment as they were the only ones to challenge the home riders throughout the entire evening. All in all, it wasn't a classic in Vetlanda tonight, but it does take two to tango, or so they say... Elit Vetlanda (home) 59 1. Lee Richardson 2-3-1-3-3 = 12 (5) 2. Peter Ljung 1*-3-1-1 = 6+1 (4) 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 2-3-3-3-1* = 12+1 (5) 4. Thomas H Jonasson 1*-2*-1-1 = 5+2 (4) 5. Jason Crump 3-2-3-2*-2 = 12+1 (5) 6. Patrick Hougaard 2*-1-0-1 = 4+1 (4) 7. Adrian Gomolski 3-2*-0-3 = 8+1 (4) 8. Robin Aspegren 0 = 0 (1) Rospiggarna (away) 37 1. Greg Hancock 3-1-2-3-2-3 = 14 (6) 2. Henrik Gustafsson 0-0-1-N-0 = 1 (4) 3. Janusz Kolodziej 3-2-3-2-0-0 = 10 (6) 4. Charlie Gjedde 0-1-0-N = 1 (3) 5. Ryan Sullivan 2-0-2-0-1-1* = 6+1 (6) 6. Maciej Janowski 1-0-N-2-2 = 5 (4) 7. Jonas Messing 0-0-N-N = 0 (2) 8. Robin Burestad 0 = 0 (1) For Elit Vetlanda, Richardson was solid, a perfect third heat leader so does his job quietly. Ljung didn't have his normal lightning gates, but fought incredibly hard and deserved more. So close at the line at times. Hampel was so quick that he actually caught and passed the fast gating Hancock twice in three attempts. Jonasson rode very well for his points, beat an opponent in each of his heats, Hancock once and Sullivan twice, was also up against tactical substitutions twice, but still scored. Crump lost his first points of the year as he couldn't catch the excellent American. Hougaard was better than the score suggests, lost two points due to an unfortunate lift in heat 11. Gomolski was good, and looked much faster this week than the week before. Aspegren shouldn't be judged on his only appearence. For Rospiggarna, Hancock is a pleasure to watch and can always be counted upon to give the home riders some resistence. Gustafsson was poor, just a week after beating Nicki Pedersen and scoring 14 points. Kolodziej was back to the one he should be. Has had a horrible season coming in to tonight's meeting (11 points in 3 meetings), but almost doubled it tonight. Worth all he got, despite fading. Gjedde hasn't done much in Vetlanda throughout history (had 9 points with Vargarna one year if my memory serves me), and tonight was no exception. Sullivan had a couple of decent ones, but usually goes much better around the Vetlanda track, so not good enough on the night. Janowski improved as the meeting went along, and his score is what could be expected on his first visit to Vetlanda. Messing was off the pace, sad to say. Burestad shouldn't be judged on his only heat. Man of the match: Greg Hancock Most exciting rider: Thomas H Jonasson

PREVIEW OF SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 4 Tuesday May 19th 2009 Piraterna won't be riding this week as they are the odd team out of the 9 teams in Elitserien. The other meetings are: VÄSTERVIK - INDIANERNA at Sparbanken Arena Västervik In round 4, Västervik finally makes their season debut at home, against Indianerna. Västervik have some problems with Tomasz Gapinski and Billy Forsberg being unavailable through injury. The management duo of Helgesson/Cox have also made the change at reserve with Kevin Doolan riding instead of Artem Laguta, the latter who scored just two points last week. Possibly an even bigger impact is the injury to Simon Gustafsson and The Indians. With Joonas Kylmäkorpi out with an injury as well, huge pressure is on Christian Hefenbrock to keep the reserve's heats a close contest. The top three of each teams looks evenly matched, but with the depth riders giving Västervik an advantage. Jesper B Monberg hasn't shown any form so far, Matej Ferjan usually blows hot and cold (but is riding on his former home track) and Christian Hefenbrock could find it difficult, even against Doolan/Rosén. Two of these three riders probably need to score well to give Indianerna a chance to win, but I doubt it. Västervik (home) 1. Chris Harris 2. Bjarne Pedersen 3. Niels-Kristian Iversen 4. Grigorijs Laguta 5. Tomasz Gollob 6. Kevin Doolan 7. Anton Rosén ( 8. Pontus Aspgren ) TM: Peter Helgesson & Marvyn Cox Indianerna (away) 1. Grzegorz Walasek 2. Matej Ferjan 3. Piotr Protasiewicz 4. Jesper B Monberg 5. Rune Holta 6. Alexander Edberg 7. Christian Hefenbrock ( 8. David Rohlén ) TM: Dalle Andersson & Ove Österberg *-*-* VARGARNA - DACKARNA at Norrköping's Motorstadion (TV-broadcasting by Canal+) Edward Kennett gets another shot in the Vargarna line-up, replacing Niklas Klingberg who scored 2 point in the Wolves' last meeting (two weeks ago). Joe Screen drops down to reserve where he'll form a potent duo alongside Kim Nilsson. Dackarna have opted to keep Hans Andersen out of Tuesday's line-up, where Kenneth Bjerre will make his Dackarna debut instead. That move free up approximately two points under the maximum 42.00 average, making it possible for the Målilla team to replace Claus Vissing with Rory Schlein at reserve. The Aussie Schlein will be counted upon to keep an eye on the Nilsson/Screen partnership at reserve, and as Dackarna also have a strong advantage in the main body, compared to Vargarna, the away team looks a favourite in this one. Vargarna have home track advantage in the short and technical track of their's, but Dackarna should have too much overall skill for the Wolves. Vargarna (home) 1. Scott Nicholls 2. Edward Kennett 3. Adrian Miedzinski 4. Adam Skornicki 5. Adam Shields 6. Kim Nilsson 7. Joe Screen ( 8. Jonas Andersson ) TM. Peter Jansson Dackarna (away) 1. Andreas Jonsson 2. Grzegorz Zengota 3. Kenneth Bjerre 4. Peter Karlsson 5. Fredrik Lindgren 6. Rory Schlein 7. Ludvig Lindgren ( 8. Niklas Larsson ) TM. Daniel Nelson & Morgan Andersson *-*-* LEJONEN - IKAROS SMEDERNA at Axelent Arena, Gislaved The current champions Lejonen remains unbeaten at home since the return to Elitserien, and it looks unlikely that Ikaros Smederna should be the team to break that home winning streak. The away team have the hot Slovak Martin Vaculik at reserve, and the reserves may give an advantage to Ikaros Smederna, but that surely won't be enough. Lejonen can welcome back Chris Holder to the team, a move which takes Emil Kramer out of the team, and Ricky Kling moves down to reserve. Lejonen (home) 1. Nicki Pedersen 2. Sebastian Ulamek 3. David Ruud 4. Chris Holder 5. Piotr Swiderski 6. Ricky Kling 7. Robert Pettersson ( 8. Dennis Andersson ) TM. Anders Fröjd Ikaros Smederna (away) 1. Krzysztof Kasprzak 2. Mikael Max 3. Daniel King 4. Magnus Zetterström 5. Wieslaw Jagus 6. Martin Vaculik 7. Linus Eklöf ( 8. Robin Bergqvist ) TM. Bosse Jansson *-*-* ELIT VETLANDA - ROSPIGGARNA at Vetlanda Motorstadion League leading Elit Vetlanda takes on bottom-of-the-table Rospiggarna at home. Elit Vetlanda beat Piraterna at home last week and don't make any changes to the line-up, with the Hougaard/Gomolski partnership at reserve getting the nod ahead of Aldén/Aspegren. For Rospiggarna, Chris Slabon has been left out of the line-up, with Charlie Gjedde moving up to the No 4 position, and Polish youngster Maciej Janowski stepping in at reserve. Greg Hancock and Ryan Sullivan always goes very well in Vetlanda, but Rospiggarna needs Janusz Kolodziej to stop his slump of only 11 points in 3 meetings. If he has a good meeting, Rospiggarna could push Elit Vetlanda hard, but towards the end, Elit Vetlanda are a very strong team... Elit Vetlanda (home) 1. Lee Richardson 2. Peter Ljung 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 4. Thomas H Jonasson 5. Jason Crump 6. Patrick Hougaard 7. Adrian Gomolski ( 8. Robin Aspegren ) TM. Fredrik Staaf & Bosse Wirebrand Rospiggarna (away) 1. Greg Hancock 2. Henrik Gustafsson 3. Janusz Kolodziej 4. Charlie Gjedde 5. Ryan Sullivan 6. Maciej Janowski 7. Jonas Messing ( 8. Robin Burestad ) TM. Mikael Messing All meetings can be followed live on www.speedway.nu.

I fully agree with that statement. Excellent speedway at an excellent stadium!

The meeting was a Nordic U19 European Championship Semifinal. The Nordic U21 Final (=World Qualifier 5) will be held next week at Elgane (Norway).

It was in the fixture list for the 2009 season, but has been cancelled. Don't know the reason though...

ROSPIGGARNA - LEJONEN 50-46 Rospiggarna 50: Greg Hancock ( 1 2* 3 2* 1 ) = 9+2 (5), Henrik Gustafsson ( 3 3 3 2 3 ) = 14 (5), Janusz Kolodziej ( 2 0 0 1* ) = 3+1 (4), Chris Slabon ( 1* 2 2 R ) = 5+1 (4), Ryan Sullivan ( 1* 3 2 3 1 ) = 10+1 (5), Charlie Gjedde ( 2 2 1 0 3 0 ) = 8 (6), Jonas Messing ( 1* 0 N N ) = 1+1 (2), Robin Burestad ( 0 ) = 0 (1) Lejonen 46: Nicki Pedersen ( 2 3 Fx 3 3 ) = 11 (5), David Ruud ( 0 1 2 1 2* ) = 6+1 (5), Piotr Swiderski ( 3 1 3 1 2 ) = 10 (5), Ricky Kling ( 0 2 0 0 ) = 2 (4), Sebastian Ulamek ( 3 3 2 0 0 ) = 8 (5), Robert Pettersson ( 0 N N 1* ) = 1+1 (2), Emil Kramer ( 3 0 1* 1 1* 2 ) = 8+2 (6) *-*-* INDIANERNA - DACKARNA 44-52 Indianerna 44: Grzegorz Walasek ( 1 1 2* 3 2 1* ) = 10+2 (6), Matej Ferjan ( 0 2 N 0 ) = 2 (3), Piotr Protasiewicz ( 3 0 3 1 1 3 ) = 11 (6), Renat Gafurov ( 0 1 N 1* 0 ) = 2+1 (4), Rune Holta ( 3 3 3 2 1* 2 ) = 14+1 (6), Christian Hefenbrock ( 1 0 R N 0 3 ) = 4 (5), Alexander Edberg ( N N N 1 ) = 1 (1), David Rohlén ( Fx ) = 0 (1) Dackarna 52: Andreas Jonsson ( 2* 3 2 3 3 ) = 13+1 (5), Grzegorz Zengota ( 3 2* 0 3 0 ) = 8+1 (5), Fredrik Lindgren ( 1* 2 0 3 1* ) = 7+2 (5), Peter Karlsson ( 2 3 0 2* 2 ) = 9+1 (5), Hans Andersen ( 2 1 2 0 ) = 5 (4), Ludvig Lindgren ( 2* 1 1* 2 ) = 6+2 (4), Claus Vissing ( 3 1* 0 F ) = 4+1 (4), Niklas Larsson *-*-* IKAROS SMEDERNA - VÄSTERVIK 44-52 Ikaros Smederna 44: Krzysztof Kasprzak ( 3 3 2 3 1 ) = 12 (5), Mikael Max ( 1 1* 0 1 ) = 3+1 (4), Magnus Zetterström ( 3 3 1* 0 0 ) = 7+1 (5), Troy Batchelor ( 1 0 N 1 ) = 2 (3), Daniel King ( 2 3 0 0 3 ) = 8 (5), Linus Eklöf ( N 1* 1 1 ) = 3+1 (3), Krzysztof Buczkowski ( 1 2 2 1* 3 0 ) = 9+1 (6), Robin Bergqvist ( 0 ) = 0 (1) Västervik 52: Bjarne Pedersen ( 2 2 0 2* 1* ) = 7+2 (5), Chris Harris ( 0 1* 2 3 ) = 6+1 (4), Niels-Kristian Iversen ( 2 1* 2* 1* 2 ) = 8+3 (5), Grigorijs Laguta ( 0 3 2 3 2* ) = 10+1 (5), Tomasz Gollob ( 3 3 3 2 3 ) = 14 (5), Anton Rosén ( 3 0 0 0 2 ) = 5 (5), Artem Laguta ( 2* 0 N 0 ) = 2+1 (3) *-*-* ELIT VETLANDA - PIRATERNA 58-38 The crowd in Vetlanda got served a meeting with much entertainment, despite the hugh scoreline, one of the better in Vetlanda for several years. Elit Vetlanda quickly opened up a 10-2 lead and even though Piraterna tried some tactical substitutions, they couldn't get any closer. Antonio Lindbäck rode as a tactical substitution with Jonas Davidsson in heat 8, but the home duo of Jaroslaw Hampel and Thomas H Jonasson scored a maximum to make the scores 30-18. When Lee Richardson then passed both Davidsson and Daniel Nermark in two laps time in heat 10, that was one psychologic set-back too many for the Pirates this evening. There were some tough races on the track, but Antonio Lindbäck was the only one stepping over the line and receiving an exclusion from the heat and a warning for unfair/dangerous riding against Thomas H Jonasson in heat 12. Elit Vetlanda 58 Lee Richardson ( 2* 2 3 1 2 ) = 10+1 (5) Peter Ljung ( 3 2 0 0 ) = 5 (4) Jaroslaw Hampel ( 2 3 3 3 2* ) = 13+1 (5) Thomas H Jonasson ( 1* 1 2* 1 0 ) = 5+2 (5) Jason Crump ( 3 3 3 3 3 ) = 15 (5) Patrick Hougaard ( 3 1 1 2 ) = 7 (4) Adrian Gomolski ( 2* 0 0 1* ) = 3+2 (4) Robin Aspegren Piraterna 38 Rafal Okoniewski ( 0 Fx N 2 3 ) = 5 (4) Antonio Lindbäck ( 1 2 1 0 X ) = 4 (5) Damian Balinski ( 0 1 2 2 R ) = 5 (5) Rafal Dobrucki ( 3 3 3 2 1* 1 ) = 13+1 (6) Jonas Davidsson ( 0 0 1* 0 ) = 1+1 (4) Daniel Nermark ( 0 2 1 2 3 1 ) = 9 (6) Linus Sundström ( 1 N N 0 ) = 1 (2) Oliver Berntzon For Elit Vetlanda, Richardson was good and once again showed that he can do so much more than gate. Ljung was involved even when he recored his second zero point score, but his bike seemed a lot slower towards the end. Squad members Zabik and Pavlic are breathing down his neck for a place in the line-up. Hampel was good, but in the end I was actually surprised that he had only lost one point all night. Jonasson beat an opponent in each of his regular heats before finishing last in heat 15, so a solid second string job. Crump recorded his third straight maximum to start the Swedish season, and only Damian Balinski was able to get close to him. Hougaard made an impressive Elitserien debut. Solid style and always in total control, beating several Swedish WTC riders along the way. Gomolski was OK, but seemed awfully slow, despite scoring some points. For Piraterna, Okoniewski had a bad first one, but was then involved in his remaining heats and was worth more. Lindbäck and several other riders rode some tough lines against each other, but Lindbäck was the only one to be issued a warning, rightly so. I'll leave the comments with that. Balinski was also involved in some great action and was worth more. Dobrucki started like a train but faded, just as the score suggest. Davidsson was awful on the night, just soooo sloooow. Nermark was OK and can't be blamed for the loss, even though he has been better on this track. Sundström tried hard when behind, but with no luck. Man of the match: Patrick Hougaard (Jason Crump is too obvious, sorry Jason!) Most exciting rider: Rafal Okoniewski *-*-* Vargarna didn't race tonight as they were the odd team out among the 9 Elitserien teams.

I actually like the fact that Swedish TV starts 30 minutes late so they can catch it up live somewhere after the interval. I don't want to see/hear meaningless interviews with predictable answers, so leaving those out and speeding through the races works for me. Maybe it's a sad fact that the entire magic of the Grand Prix series has become so boring, that I actually want the meeting to end as quickly as possible so I can watch something else on TV. Personally, I feel I now watch it just because I'm supposed to...

That's me.

Well, I'm obviously happy with the outcome of yesterday's meeting. It felt strange though as I though Ikaros Smederna had the meeting in their hands for 3/4 of the meeting, but suddenly the score was as tight as 40-38 (after 13 heats), and I finally realized we actually had a chance of victory. The Elit Vetlanda stars delivered the goods once again with a 17-7 score in the final four heats, which was almost as good as the 19-5 overhauling of Västervik in the final four heats in round 1. For Ikaros Smederna, Kasprzak was better than the score suggested, and it was surprising to see that by the end of the meeting, he had failed to register a heat victory. Batchelor didn't do much, and considering his paid 13 score last week, it was something of a disappointment. Zetterström had one good ride, as the scoreline says. King definitely did his job, despite fading in the end. Jagus was the one rider to threaten the top riders of the away team. Eklöf was as expected. Max, though he is not my favourite rider, honestly he did a great job to cement the fact that Ikaros Smederna will always have one ace down at reserve. For Elit Vetlanda, Richardson was always there or thereabout, always beat an opponent and definitely provided quality back-up to Crump & Hampel. Ljung can do much better, will certainly have a tough time cracking the away line-up if his score doesn't improve away from home. Hampel started slow but eventually got a 12 points score, which is good enough. Jonasson was, just like several others on the night, more into the action than the score suggest. Crump was fanastic, simple as that. Aldén was solid, and had a crucial win lowering the colours of Max in heat 11. Mellgren wasn't really close this time. Man of the match: Jason Crump Most exciting rider: Wieslaw Jagus Bring on those Pirates next week!

PREVIEW OF SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 2 Tuesday May 5th 2009 LEJONEN - INDIANERNA at Axelent Arena, Gislaved Nicki Pedersen isn't available for Lejonen due to his injury, so The Lions will be able to try their strength-in-depth line-up. Pedersen, Suchecki and Kling leaves last week's line-up, being replaced by Ruud, Jedrzejak and Swiderski, which gives the current champions a much more solid look. Lejonen (home) 1. Chris Holder 2. David Ruud 3. Leigh Adams 4. Tomasz Jedrzejak 5. Piotr Swiderski 6. Dave Watt 7. Robert Pettersson ( 8. Dennis Andersson ) Indianerna (away) 1. Grzegorz Walasek 2. Jesper B Monberg 3. Piotr Protasiewicz 4. Matej Ferjan 5. Rune Holta 6. Simon Gustafsson 7. Leon Madsen ( 8. - ) *-*-* DACKARNA - PIRATERNA at G&B Arena, Målilla The most interesting meeting of this round is held in Målilla. Piraterna opened the league campaign with an excellent beating of Lejonen, and must show that the win wasn't a fluke. Emil Sajfutdinov is missing (don't know why...) so Antonio Lindbäck steps up into the main body, with Daniel Nermark making his season debut in round 2. Dackarna (home) 1. Andreas Jonsson 2. Peter Karlsson 3. Fredrik Lindgren 4. Rory Schlein 5. Hans Andersen 6. Nicolai Klindt 7. Niklas Larsson ( 8. Ludvig Lindgren ) Piraterna (away) 1. Rafal Dobrucki 2. Robert Kosciecha 3. Antonio Lindbäck 4. Damian Balinski 5. Jonas Davidsson 6. Daniel Nermark 7. Linus Sundström ( 8. Oliver Berntzon ) *-*-* VARGARNA - ROSPIGGARNA at Norrköpings Motorstadion, Norrköping The teams riding in Norrköping both lost their opening meetings, Vargarna at home and Rospiggarna away from home. Rospiggarna change Maciej Janowski and Freddie Eriksson for former Vargarna rider Charlie Gjedde and Andreas Messing. For the home side, Adrian Miedzinski replaces Edward Kennett who only scored four points last week. Also, Tai Woffinden drops to reserve while Adam Skornicki takes the No 4 race jacket. Vargarna (home) 1. Scott Nicholls 2. Joe Screen 3. Adrian Miedzinski 4. Adam Skornicki 5. Adam Shields 6. Tai Woffinden 7. Kim Nilsson ( 8. Jonas Andersson ) Rospiggarna (away) 1. Greg Hancock 2. Henrik Gustafsson 3. Janusz Kolodziej 4. Charlie Gjedde 5. Ryan Sullivan 6. Andreas Messing 7. Jonas Messing ( 8. - ) *-*-* IKAROS SMEDERNA - ELIT VETLANDA at Smedstadion, Eskilstuna Ikaros Smederna took a surprising away win last Tuesday, and the question is: Are they that good or did Vargarna have an off night? Anyway, Thomas H Jonasson is back in the saddle in Elit Vetlanda so both teams should be considered to be at full strength. Ikaros Smederna (home) 1. Krzysztof Kasprzak 2. Troy Batchelor 3. Magnus Zetterström 4. Daniel King 5. Wieslaw Jagus 6. Linus Eklöf 7. Mikael Max ( 8. - ) Elit Vetlanda (away) 1. Lee Richardson 2. Peter Ljung 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 4. Thomas H Jonasson 5. Jason Crump 6. Robin Aspegren 7. Sebastian Aldén ( 8. Anders Mellgren ) *-*-* Västervik will rest in the 2nd round. All meetings can be followed live on www.speedway.nu, as usual. All meetings starts (with rider presentation) at 19:00 local time, so first heat should be underway at approximately 19:10. Enjoy! (As I will be in Eskilstuna on Tuesday night, I won't be able to post the scores until sometime on Wednesday. If someone will provide links/results before that, you are welcome. Regardless, I'll give a report from the Ikaros Smederna vs Elit Vetlanda meeting sometime on Wednesday)

From 2001 and forward, it's the second time. Last year, Matej Ferjan beat Tobias Kroner in the run-off to take Hungary to the World Cup.

An away win would be nice, but there aren't any easy away meetings I'm afraid. Jagus won't be scoring 5 points next week, even though I doubt Max will be scoring a paid 17 either... I'll be there anyway!

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 1 Tuesday April 28th 2009 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. INDIANERNA - ROSPIGGARNA 59-37 Attendence: 5033 Indianerna (home) 59 1. Grzegorz Walasek 2-3-3-3-3 = 14 (5) 2. Matej Ferjan 1*-3-X-0 = 4+1 (4) 3. Piotr Protasiewicz 3-2-3-2-2* = 12+1 (5) 4. Jesper B Monberg 1-1*-0-0 = 2+1 (4) 5. Rune Holta 2-2-3-2*-2 = 11+1 (5) 6. Simon Gustafsson 3-1*-2*-1*-2*-1* = 10+5 (6) 7. Leon Madsen 2*-N-1-3 = 6+1 (3) 8. David Rohlén Rospiggarna (away) 37 1. Greg Hancock 3-3-2-3-3-1 = 15 (6) 2. Maciej Janowski 0-R-N-N = 0 (2) 3. Janusz Kolodziej 2-1*-0-1*-0-0 = 4+2 (6) 4. Henrik Gustafsson 0-1-2-1-3 = 7 (5) 5. Ryan Sullivan 3-1-2-2-1-0 = 9 (6) 6. Freddie Eriksson 1-0-0-1 = 2 (4) 7. Jonas Messing 0-0-N-0 = 0 (3) 8. - *-*-* VARGARNA - IKAROS SMEDERNA 43-53 Attendence: 2381 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Vargarna (home) 43 1. Scott Nicholls 1-3-1*-2*-1 = 8+2 (5) 2. Joe Screen 3-1-0-1 = 5 (4) 3. Edward Kennett 2-2-0-0 = 4 (4) 4. Tai Woffinden 0-0-1-2-1 = 4 (5) 5. Adam Shields 3-3-1*-3-0 = 10+1 (5) 6. Kim Nilsson 0-0-N-2 = 2 (3) 7. Adam Skornicki 2-3-2*-2-1*-0 = 10+2 (6) 8. Jonas Andersson Ikaros Smederna (away) 53 1. Krzysztof Kasprzak 2-1-0-3-3 = 9 (5) 2. Daniel King 0-3-1-0 = 4 (4) 3. Magnus Zetterström 1-1*-3-0-3 = 8+1 (5) 4. Troy Batchelor 3-2-2-2*-2* = 11+2 (5) 5. Wieslaw Jagus 1*-3-0-1 = 5+1 (4) 6. Linus Eklöf 1-0-N-0 = 1 (3) 7. Mikael Max 3-2-2*-3-3-2* = 15+2 (6) 8. Robert Henderson *-*-* PIRATERNA - LEJONEN 62-34 Attendence: 3680 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Piraterna (home) 62 1. Rafal Dobrucki 3-2*-1-3-X = 9+1 (5) 2. Robert Kosciecha 1-3-3-0 = 7 (4) 3. Jonas Davidsson 3-3-2-2-2 = 12 (5) 4. Damian Balinski 2*-2*-1*-2* = 7+4 (4) 5. Emil Sajfutdinov 1-2-3-0-3 = 9 (5) 6. Linus Sundström 2*-N-0-2* = 4+2 (3) 7. Antonio Lindbäck 3-3-2*-3-3 = 14+1 (5) 8. Oliver Berntzon 0 = 0 (1) Lejonen (away) 34 1. Nicki Pedersen 2-0-3-X-3-Fn = 8 (5) 2. Zbigniew Suchecki 0-N-1-1 = 2 (3) 3. Dave Watt 0-0-0-N-1*-2 = 3+1 (5) 4. Chris Holder 1-1-1-1-1* = 5+1 (5) 5. Leigh Adams 2-1-3-2-2-3 = 13 (6) 6. Robert Pettersson N-N-N-0 = 0 (1) 7. Ricky Kling 1-0-0-0-1 = 2 (5) 8. Dennis Andersson 0-1 = 1 (2) *-*-* ELIT VETLANDA - VÄSTERVIK 57-39 Attendence: 3468 Elit Vetlanda took a seemingly comfortable win in a fairly entertaining meeting, but the score doesn't reflect the meeting. Västervik rode well and was only down by four (38-34) after twelve heats, but crashed and burned in the later stages, despite some good chases which they couldn't turn into passes. Highlight of the night being Gollob's two man pass on two bends in heat 8. Excellent stuff from vintage Gollob. Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Elit Vetlanda (home) 57 1. Lee Richardson 3-1-1-2*-3 = 10+1 (5) 2. Peter Ljung 2*-2-0-2*-2* = 8+3 (5) 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 3-0-2-3-1 = 9 (5) 4. Karol Zabik F-2-1*-0 = 3+1 (4) 5. Jason Crump 3-3-3-3-3 = 15 (5) 6. Sebastian Aldén 3-2*-1*-0-3-3 = 12+2 (6) 7. Robin Aspegren 0-N-N-0 = 0 (2) 8. Anders Mellgren Västervik (away) 39 1. Chris Harris 0-1-1*-0 = 2+1 (4) 2. Bjarne Pedersen 1-3-2-2-2 = 10 (5) 3. Niels-Kristian Iversen 2-2*-1*-1-0 = 6+1 (5) 4. Grigorijs Laguta 1*-3-3-1-0 = 8+1 (5) 5. Tomasz Gollob 1-3-2-0-1 = 7 (5) 6. Billy Forsberg 2-0-0-2 = 4 (4) 7. Kevin Doolan 1*-0-0-1* = 2+2 (4) 8. Pontus Aspgren For Elit Vetlanda, Richardson blew hot and cold. Ljung used his superb gating ability to win his points on the night, was chased hard by several away riders but kept his cool despite being under pressure. Hampel was OK, but can be better on the Vetlanda track. Zabik was usually in the thick of action but rode to far towards the inside, and thereby lost momentum and points. Crump was untouchable. Aldén was a definite match winner with a paid 14, beating Gollob 2-0 in the progress. Aspegren mixed it well in his two heats, but got passed both times. For Västervik, Harris didn't look like a Grand Prix rider, but he rarely does particulary well in Vetlanda. Pedersen tried hard and deserved everything he got, he even tried some outside line moves! Iversen was decent, but nothing special. Is usually better than this in Vetlanda. Laguta did more than his fair share of the job, tried hard even when he didn't beat an opponent. Gollob had one trademark Gollob blowing past Hampel and Zabik in heat 8 was class, but that was that. Forsberg still has some way to go before being 100% match fit again. Doolan discovered that Vetlanda isn't an easy place to ride for the first time, had to pass Aspegren twice to earn his points. Man of the match: Sebastian Aldén Most exciting rider: Bjarne Pedersen (am I really writing this?) *-*-* NEXT ROUND - ROUND 2: Tuesday May 5th 2009 Lejonen - Indianerna Dackarna - Piraterna Ikaros Smederna - Elit Vetlanda Vargarna - Rospiggarna

PREVIEW OF ELITSERIEN ROUND 1 Tuesday April 28th 2009 The 2009 season is finally around the corner, as the four meetings of round 1 will be held on Tuesday night. This upcoming season seems to be one of the most unpredictable for several years with many - if not all - teams capable to reach the 6 team Play Off. INDIANERNA - ROSPIGGARNA at Sannahed's Motorstadion, Kumla The two surprise packages of the 2008 season will open their 2009 league campaigns at Kumla. Rospiggarna have only made small adjustments to their squad during the off-season, with the most important signing being Ryan Sullivan from Piraterna, likely as a direct replacement for Adam Shields who have left for Vargarna. Their are also some changes at second string (at least for the opener) as long time Indianerna veteran Henrik Gustafsson got squeezed out of Indianerna's 2009 line-up, but now returns "home" for the opening round with a point to prove. He is joined at second string by talented Maciej Janowski. Indianerna have added the services of Grand Prix riders Rune Holta and Grzegorz Walasek in the off-season and should be headed for the Play Off once again. Indianerna (home) 1. Grzegorz Walasek 2. Matej Ferjan 3. Piotr Protasiewicz 4. Jesper B Monberg 5. Rune Holta 6. Simon Gustafsson J 7. Leon Madsen ( 8. David Rohlén J ) Rospiggarna (away) 1. Greg Hancock 2. Maciej Janowski 3. Janusz Kolodziej 4. Henrik Gustafsson 5. Ryan Sullivan 6. Freddie Eriksson 7. Jonas Messing J ( 8. - ) *-*-* ELIT VETLANDA - VÄSTERVIK at Vetlanda Motorstadion, Vetlanda The two team that will square off in Vetlanda have meet in several high prestige meetings throughout a five year period, and have a definite rivalry between each other. Västervik have virtually the same line-up as last year, with exception of newcomer Kevin Doolan from Vargarna. They have a solid line-up throughout, and usually goes well in Vetlanda, so the crowd will be in for a tight one on Tuesday night. Elit Vetlanda will be missing Thomas H Jonasson who crashed in Vetlanda Challenge on Tuesday and was recommended a 10 day rest, but Karol Zabik replaces him and the Pole has been in good form so far. Elit Vetlanda (home) 1. Lee Richardson 2. Peter Ljung 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 4. Karol Zabik 5. Jason Crump 6. Sebastian Aldén 7. Robin Aspegren J ( 8. Anders Mellgren J ) Västervik (away) 1. Chris Harris 2. Bjarne Pedersen 3. Niels-Kristian Iversen 4. Grigorijs Laguta 5. Tomasz Gollob 6. Billy Forsberg J 7. Kevin Doolan ( 8. Pontus Aspgren J ) *-*-* VARGARNA - IKAROS SMEDERNA at Norrköpings Motorstadion, Norrköping In Norrköping, the two teams tipped for bottom places in the standings will meet each other. The newcomers (Vargarna) will likely rely on their home track to rack up points throughout the year, while Ikaros Smederna probably haven't got the same advantage in their home track, but they looks more likely than Vargarna to pick up something away from home. Vargarna (home) 1. Scott Nicholls 2. Joe Screen 3. Edward Kennett 4. Tai Woffinden 5. Adam Shields 6. Kim Nilsson J 7. Adam Skornicki ( 8. Jonas Andersson J ) Ikaros Smederna (away) 1. Krzysztof Kasprzak 2. Daniel King 3. Magnus Zetterström 4. Troy Batchelor 5. Wieslaw Jagus 6. Linus Eklöf J 7. Mikael Max ( 8. Robert Henderson J ) *-*-* PIRATERNA - LEJONEN at Lastpartner Arena, Motala Current champions Lejonen have opted for both Nicki Pedersen and Leigh Adams in their opening line-up in Motala, infront of the Canal+ TV cameras. Despite seemingly lacking some strength in depth, at least comparing to Piraterna, they still have Ricky Kling at reserve and he will be vital for the outcome of this one. The Pirates have a much more balanced team with several riders capable of being Number 1 for a night. The home fans will be in for a treat this season with several natural born racers in the squad, one of them being Czech Grand Prix winner Emil Sajfutdinov. Piraterna (home) 1. Rafal Dobrucki 2. Robert Kosciecha 3. Jonas Davidsson 4. Damian Balinski 5. Emil Sajfutdinov 6. Linus Sundström J 7. Antonio Lindbäck ( 8. Oliver Berntzon J ) Lejonen (away) 1. Nicki Pedersen 2. Zbigniew Suchecki 3. Dave Watt 4. Chris Holder 5. Leigh Adams 6. Robert Pettersson J 7. Ricky Kling ( 8. Dennis Andersson J ) Dackarna will rest in the 1st round. All meetings can be followed live on www.speedway.nu, as usual. All meetings starts (with rider presentation) at 19:00 local time, so first heat should be underway at approximately 19:10. Enjoy!

I can understand foreign riders not making the trip to Sweden to ride in a challenge (without payment), but Swedish riders without a foreign league contract should want to get as many meetings as possible before the league season starts.

Starting this season, every official Swedish meeting scoring sheets must be written with the following codes: F = Fall X = Excluded Fx = Fall, excluded Fn = Fall, non-starter in re-run N = Non-starter M = Excluded for exceeding two minutes R = Retired or engine failuire T/T = Touch the tape exclusion (as previous)

Piraterna had no problems beating Indianerna for the second straight night, especially since The Indians came to Motala without Rune Holta, Grzegorz Walasek and Matej Ferjan. The Pirates won by a score of 63-33. The 3 team challenge in Linköping between Filbyterna, Vargarna and Griparna was cancelled due to rider shortage! Must be unheard of, a meeting being cancelled due to riders shortage....in april! Riders from these team are scheduled to ride in Nyköping (home of Griparna) on Thursday night.

Piraterna came from 4 points back to win by 8 in Kumla against home side Indianerna. Challenge; Indianerna - Piraterna 44-52 Jason Crump won Vetlanda Challenge by a 4 ride maximum, with Karol Zabik and Lee Richardson filling out the rostrum. Vetlanda Challenge

Elit Vetlanda will host Vetlanda Challenge tonight (no live updates though), with the following line-up: 1. Jason Crump 2. Jurica Pavlic 3. Sebastian Aldén 4. Peter Ljung 5. Jaroslaw Hampel 6. Adrian Gomolski 7. Robin Aspegren 8. Thomas H Jonasson 9. Anders Mellgren 10. Lee Richardson 11. Patrick Hougaard 12. Karol Zabik ( 13. Robin Törnqvist ) ( 14. Jeremia Thelaus ) This meeting will be run over 12 heats.

From the Swedish Speedway Results Website; Vetlanda 4TT C-final

Hehe, sorry to disappoint you.