Anders

Dackarna haven't had much of an away form so far. The reserves of Ludvig Lindgren and Andreas Bergström have actually averaged more away from home, though just slightly, but the top five have significant drops in their away averages and haven't been able to win meetings for them, except the Smederna one. My team (Elit Vetlanda) have also tried a top heavy line-up in previous year and haven't had much success either. If nominating a top heavy team, all the star riders must ride to their maximum capacity, and that hasn't happened. Dackarna statistics: Peter Karlsson 9.00 [10.00 home / 8.36 away] Fredrik Lindgren 8.94 [11.47 / 6.95] Hans Andersen 8.78 [10.93 / 7.24] Andreas Jonsson 8.65 [9.14 / 8.35] Lukas Dryml 5.82 [9.20 / 3.00] I am a bit surprised anyway, because this year's Dackarna team actually do have a stronger tail than previous versions of the top heavy Elit Vetlanda team. They should've done better so far, even though they shouldn't feel ashamed by losing away to Lejonen and Elit Vetlanda...

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 8 Tuesday June 17th 2008 CURRENT STANDING: 1. Lejonen, 7, 6-0-1, 12p (+60) 2. Hammarby, 7, 5-0-2, 10p (+29) 3. Rospiggarna, 7, 5-0-2, 10p (+13) 4. Dackarna, 7, 4-0-3, 8p (+31) 5. Elit Vetlanda, 7, 4-0-3, 8p (+17) 6. Västervik, 7, 3-0-4, 6p (+27) ------------------------------------------------ 7. MasarnaAvesta, 7, 3-0-4, 6p (-40) 8. Piraterna, 7, 2-0-5, 4p (-17) 9. Indianerna, 7, 2-0-5, 4p (-65) ------------------------------------------------ 10. Smederna, 7, 1-0-6, 2p (-55) *-*-* LEJONEN - INDIANERNA The league leading Lions takes on 9th placed Indianerna, and even though the home side starts without Chris Holder it feels like "Mission Impossible" for The Indians, surely they won't be able to do something that neither Dackarna or Elit Vetlanda did, to win in Gislaved. Indianerna signed Jesper B Monberg in the latest transfer period but he wasn't registred when they nominated their line-up on Thursday evening. He will likely take a place in the line-up, but instead of who? Lejonen (home) 1. Nicki Pedersen 2. Sebastian Ulamek 3. Tomasz Jedrzejak 4. David Ruud 5. Piotr Swiderski 6. Ricky Kling 7. Mariusz Wegrzyk ( 8. - ) Indianerna (away) 1. Magnus Zetterström 2. Matej Ferjan 3. Adrian Miedzinski 4. Henrik Gustafsson 5. Piotr Protasiewicz 6. Simon Gustafsson 7. Christian Hefenbrock ( 8. - ) *-*-* MASARNAAVESTA - PIRATERNA A win or loss makes a lot of difference for both teams in "no mans land", a win will mean fighting for Play Off while a loss could mean a struggle to avoid relegation. Anyway, the home side is mssing Emil Sajfutdinov but Kenneth Bjerre is back in the team after missing some meetings due to injury. Piraterna are at full strength and have done reasonably well in Avesta in 2006 & 2007 and may do it again, but The Pirates are a nightmare to predict. MasarnaAvesta (home) 1. Leigh Adams 2. Simon Stead 3. Kenneth Bjerre 4. Billy Janniro 5. Dave Watt 6. Oliver Allen 7. Anton Rosén ( 8. Dennis Andersson ) Piraterna (away) 1. Damian Balinski 2. Robert Kosciecha 3. Daniel Nermark 4. Grzegorz Walasek 5. Ryan Sullivan 6. Mikael Max 7. Linus Sundström ( 8. Tobias Planberg ) *-*-* DACKARNA - HAMMARBY Both teams at G&B Arena are missing a key rider, the home team are missing Fredrik Lindgren while the away team lacks the services of the injured Tomasz Gapinski who scored 13 points in this meeting last year. Niklas Klingberg steps in from partner team Örnarna but will - of course - have a hard time to match Freddie's points scoring and overall Dackarna seems to have some possible holes in their team, I wonder if Hammarby could used it to their advantage? However, they could also miss the services of junior Kim Nilsson who crashed in Rye House on Sunday, his presence is doubtful for Tuesday. Dackarna (home) 1. Hans Andersen 2. Lukas Dryml 3. Peter Karlsson 4. Niklas Klingberg 5. Andreas Jonsson 6. Ludvig Lindgren 7. Nicolai Klindt ( 8. Christian Isomettä ) Hammarby (away) 1. Rafal Dobrucki 2. Joonas Kylmäkorpi 3. Scott Nicholls 4. Martin Smolinski 5. Matej Zagar 6. Pawel Hlib 7. Kim Nilsson ( 8. - ) *-*-* SMEDERNA - ROSPIGGARNA Bottom of the standing Smederna were highly active in the latest transfer period as they signed three new riders, and the Slovakian junior Martin Vaculik will be the first one tested by the management, as a replacement for the out-of-form Rory Schlein. Smederna have lost two of three home meetings so far and can't afford another one, while Rospiggarna can ride a lot more relaxed, being 8 points ahead of Smederna in the standing already. It could possibly be the desperation of the home side that tips it over to their advantage, they simply need it more, if the second strings and/or reserves deliver the goods alongside the heat leaders. Smederna (home) 1. Wieslaw Jagus 2. Krzysztof Buczkowski 3. Krzysztof Kasprzak 4. Martin Vaculik 5. Jonas Davidsson 6. Robert Miskowiak 7. Linus Eklöf ( 8. Robert Henderson ) Rospiggarna (away) 1. Greg Hancock 2. Charlie Gjedde 3. Janusz Kolodziej 4. Chris Slabon 5. Adam Shields 6. Travis McGowan 7. Andreas Messing ( 8. Jonas Messing ) *-*-* VÄSTERVIK - ELIT VETLANDA TV-match The Canal+ meeting from round 8 is broadcast from Västervik on Tuesday night, a re-match of 2005 and 2006 finals with each team winning once. Västervik have been hit hard by injuries so far this season but are back at normal strength, with Grigorij Laguta scratching Tomasz Chrzanowski from the starting line-up. Elit Vetlanda have also had some problems but are also at full strength. Ales Dryml, a three season veteran for Vetlanda in a previous stint, starts at reserve in his first meeting back with the club. It's a hard meeting to predict as each team have won twice and drawn two times in the six latest meetings during three seasons in Västervik. A highly interesting encounter can be expected! Västervik (home) 1. Grigorijs Laguta 2. Bjarne Pedersen 3. Niels-Kristian Iversen 4. Chris Harris 5. Tomasz Gollob 6. Billy Forsberg 7. Stefan Ekberg ( 8. Jonas Andersson ) Elit Vetlanda (away) 1. Jaroslaw Hampel 2. Thomas H Jonasson 3. Lee Richardson 4. Peter Ljung 5. Rune Holta 6. Daniel Davidsson 7. Ales Dryml ( 8. Robin Aspegren ) All meetings can be followed on www.speedway.nu, and this rounds starts - as normal - at 19:00 local time.

The Swedish girls tops the Danish ones. Well, I'm expected to say that, right?

The second transfer period of the Swedish season ended last Sunday, and two days ago all the transfers were made official on the official online results website, www.speedway.nu. ELITSERIEN Dackarna, struggling to find a solid complement alongside Ludvig Lindgren at reserve, released the trio of Sebastian Aldén (Team Dalakraft), Andreas Bergström (Team Dalakraft) and Kenneth Hansen (Griparna). Newcomers in the Dackarna squad are Tomas Topinka (unattached), Claus Vissing (Solkatterna) and Nicolai Klindt (Smederna). Elit Vetlanda replaced Adam Skornicki for Ales Dryml (unattached), the Czech having spent three seasons with the Vetlanda outfit before, between 2003-05 winning one gold and one silver league medal with VMS Elit. Hammarby entered Renat Gafurov in their squad, replacing Jesper B Monberg who requested a transer after a slow season so far with Hammarby. They also got Adrian Gheorge on a 2.00 average from neighbour club Eldarna. Indianerna released Edward Kennett and 15 year (?) Indianerna veteran Kaj Laukkanen, signing Jesper B Monberg from Hammarby and unattached Krzysztof Jablonski, previously released by Hammarby in the first transfer period of the season. Lejonen got Swedish U21 champion Robert Pettersson from Griparna, replacing Solkatterna bound Henrik Möller, both having 2.00 Elitserien averages. MasarnaAvesta's own partner/reserve team Team Dalakraft (in Division 1) signed Sebastian Aldén and Andreas Bergström, both will be available through the co-operation deal between MasarnaAvesta and Team Dalakraft. Smederna let Nicolai Klindt go to Dackarna and put Swedes Linus Eklöf and Kim Jansson in their partner team Team Bikab's squad, leaving three places in the Smederna squad. Those were taken by Daniel King, Marcin Jedrzejewski and Slovak youngster Martin Vaculik. Henrik Karlsson, previously in Team Bikab, was also switched to the Smederna roster. He doesn't take one of the 9 places in the Smederna squad as he only has a 2.00 average. Piraterna, Rospiggarna and Västervik didn't make any changes. ALLSVENSKAN LEAGUE Griparna released struggling Robert Pettersson for Danish junior Kenneth Hansen, previously in Dackarna. Solkatterna found themselves in some problems with Manuel Hauzinger signing for Swindon (another Thursday night track), so they let him go. Claus Vissing left the club as well, signing for Dackarna. Replacements were brought in, in Henrik Möller from Lejonen and Polish junior Adam Kajoch with no previous Swedish league experience. Valsarna have signed Adrian Gomolski (unattached/6.71) in place of Christian Henry (9.33), as reported on their website. There seems to be a slight delay in the registration according to team manager Mikael Lindh, but it should be solved soon. Vargarna and Örnarna didn't make any changes. DIVISION 1 Eldarna released Adrian Gheorge to Hammarby and seems to have added some 2.00 riders on speedway.nu, Benny Olsson seems to be among them even though I'm not sure... Filbyterna let Emil Lindqvist go to Stjärnorna, but Harald Andersson went the other way. Gnistorna signed Michael Berntsson, previously with Team Dalakraft. Stjärnorna signed home town hero Emil Lindqvist who didn't want to make excess travel to ride for Filbyterna within the same league. Harald Andersson left for Filbyterna. Team Bikab swapped some riders with "A" team Smederna, as listed above (see Smederna). Team Dalakraft signed Sebastian Aldén and Andreas Bergström from Dackarna but released Michael Berntsson to Gnistorna. Crossbone Pirates, Njudungarna, and Team CanVac didn't make any changes. Apologizes if I missed any minor deals/transfers.

A tough line-up, way better than both Abensberg and Gorican so far. Only quality names went through, yet the likes of Gizatullin, Hampel and Kolodziej failed to qualify. Apart from a few names in the Czestochowa line-up, it looked so strong it could well have been the Grand Final!

Excellent speedway tonight, on a temporary track! Well, at least the best temporary track and meeting ever IMO! I'm not a fan of Scott Nicholls but I must say he looked quite good tonight, the best we've seen of him so far this season. Some comments made in this thread are a bit harsh. (Can't believe I'm defending Scott, better lay down...) Couldn't have said it better myself, so I won't try.

There could be several factors; 1) Away team #1 starts on gate 2 while home team #2 starts on gate 1 in heat 1. The home team could be wanting a good start in that heat. 2) Furthermore, home team #2 rides three times in the opening seven heats (1,5,7) so using a hot/strong rider early on may open up a lead which will prove to be a psychologic boost for the home side. 3) Home team #2 meets away team #4 three times (5,7,13) and if the away team put someone good on #4, the home team might want to match that particular rider. Riders 6 & 7 are reserves and must have lower rolling averages than all riders 1-5. The optional rider 8 must be a Swedish junior and must, if nominated, have the lowest rolling average of them all. Not all teams use a #8 as can be seen. There are no restriction as to where riders ride among positions 1-5.

Well, I wouldn't use today's round as a established fact regarding the attendence figures. All meetings started one hour earlier, at 18:00, due to the European Championship meeting between Sweden and Greece. Can't say I'm particulary troubled with the 1867 figure at Vetlanda today, was roughly as expected. Last season the average attendence was 2742, despite today's poor round it's 2734 for 2008. Not worried yet.

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 7 Tuesday June 10th 2008 INDIANERNA - HAMMARBY 52-44 Attendence: 1456 The Indians left last place in the standing as they beat Hammarby by a comfortable margin. Tomasz Gapinski got injured in heat 6 with the meeting tied at 15-15 and Hammarby couldn't hold on. The meeting slipped away and with a 5-1 maximum in heat 14, the meeting was practically over. Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Indianerna (home) 52 1. Adrian Miedzinski 3-1*-3-3-1* = 11+2 (5) 2. Henrik Gustafsson 2*-3-2-1-0 = 8+1 (5) 3. Magnus Zetterström 3-3-3-0-2 = 11 (5) 4. Matej Ferjan 0-0-1-3 = 4 (4) 5. Piotr Protasiewicz F-3-2*-2*-2 = 9+2 (5) 6. Simon Gustafsson 2-1-1-2 = 6 (4) 7. Christian Hefenbrock 1*-0-2*-0 = 3+2 (4) 8. - Hammarby (away) 44 1. Tomasz Gapinski 1-Fn-N-N = 1 (1) 2. Rafal Dobrucki 0-2-2-1-1 = 6 (5) 3. Martin Smolinski 1*-0-N-N-3 = 4+1 (3) 4. Scott Nicholls 2-1*-3-Fx-3-3 = 12+1 (6) 5. Matej Zagar 3-2-1-2*-1-0 = 9+1 (6) 6. Kim Nilsson 0-2-0-0-3 = 5 (5) 7. Joonas Kylmäkorpi 3-2*-1*-0-1-0 = 7+2 (6) 8. - *-*-* MASARNAAVESTA - LEJONEN 43-53 Attendence: 1629 Newcomers and league leaders Lejonen managed another away win and are now in sole possession of first place in the standing. Nicki Pedersen and Piotr Swiderski combined for two maximums to give The Lions a 23-19 lead after seven rides. MasarnaAvesta tried to stage a comeback but never got back to scratch as Lejonen took five of six heat victories after the interval. Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. MasarnaAvesta (home) 43 1. Leigh Adams 1*-0-1-3-3-2-2 = 12+1 (7) 2. Kenneth Bjerre R/R (2,0,0,-) 3. Emil Sajfutdinov 2-1-3-2-0-1* = 9+1 (6) 4. Billy Janniro 0-2*-1*-2-N-Ef = 5+2 (5) 5. Dave Watt 3-0-3-0-0-2 = 8 (6) 6. Simon Stead 3-1-2-0-1-2 = 9 (6) 7. Anton Rosén 0-N-N-F = 0 (2) 8. Dennis Andersson Lejonen (away) 53 1. Tomasz Jedrzejak 0-0-2-2 = 4 (4) 2. Chris Holder 3-1-1*-1-3 = 9+1 (5) 3. Nicki Pedersen 3-2*-3-3-3 = 14+1 (5) 4. Piotr Swiderski 2*-1-3-1*-0 = 7+2 (5) 5. Sebastian Ulamek 2-3-Ef-1 = 6 (4) 6. Ricky Kling 1*-3-2-1-1 = 8+1 (5) 7. David Ruud 2-0-0-3 = 5 (4) 8. - *-*-* PIRATERNA - DACKARNA 53-42 Attendence: 1463 The Pirates produced the shock of the 7th round as they beat champions Dackarna. The home side opened with a maximum over Andreas Jonsson and when Mikael Max were involved in two other maximums just before and after the interval, the home lead was a solid 11 points, from which Dackarna never recovered. Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Piraterna (home) 53 1. Grzegorz Walasek 2*-2-3-3-0 = 10+1 (5) 2. Ryan Sullivan 3-3-1*-1-3 = 11+1 (5) 3. Robert Kosciecha 2-Fx-2*-3-0 = 7+1 (5) 4. Damian Balinski 1*-2-3-2-2 = 10+1 (5) 5. Daniel Nermark 1*-Ef-0-1 = 2+1 (4) 6. Linus Sundström 0-N-N-2* = 2+1 (2) 7. Mikael Max 2-2-1-1-2*-3 = 11+1 (6) 8. Tobias Ingesson Dackarna (away) 42 1. Andreas Jonsson 1-3-3-2-2-3 = 14 (6) 2. Lukas Dryml 0-Ef-2*-1-1* = 4+2 (5) 3. Hans Andersen 3-0-3-0-1 = 7 (5) 4. Peter Karlsson 0-2-3-0-2 = 7 (5) 5. Fredrik Lindgren 3-1-0-N = 4 (3) 6. Andreas Bergström 1-0-N-1 = 2 (3) 7. Ludvig Lindgren 3-0-0-1-0 = 4 (5) 8. Christian Isomettä *-*-* VÄSTERVIK - SMEDERNA 52-44 Attendence: 1560 The Blacksmiths did a fairly strong performence in Västervik but still lost and are now bottom of the standing. The home side scored three straight maximums in heats 7-9, involving six different riders, as they pulled away from a tight 19-17 scoreline to a comfortable 34-20 lead. Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Västervik (home) 52 1. Chris Harris 1-2*-2-1-1* = 7+2 (5) 2. Bjarne Pedersen 3-3-3-2-3 = 14 (5) 3. Tomasz Chrzanowski 1*-1-2*-0 = 4+2 (4) 4. Grigorij Laguta 2-3-3-1-1 = 10 (5) 5. Tomasz Gollob 1-2*-Ef-0-2 = 5+1 (5) 6. Billy Forsberg 2-0-3-3 = 8 (4) 7. Stefan Ekberg 1*-1-0-2* = 4+2 (4) 8. Jonas Andersson Smederna (away) 44 1. Wieslaw Jagus 2-0-1-3-3-2 = 11 (6) 2. Rory Schlein 0-2-0-N = 2 (3) 3. Krzysztof Kasprzak 3-0-3-2*-3 = 11+1 (5) 4. Krzysztof Buczkowski 0-2-1-1-0 = 4 (5) 5. Jonas Davidsson 3-0-1-2*-3-Ef = 9+1 (6) 6. Linus Eklöf 0-N-N-1 = 1 (2) 7. Robert Miskowiak 3-2*-0-1-0 = 6+1 (5) 8. Robert Henderson *-*-* ELIT VETLANDA - ROSPIGGARNA 52-44 Attendence: 1867 Elit Vetlanda took the command in heat three but couldn't finish Rospiggarna off, as two tactical substitution maximums by Hancock/Kolodziej in heats 7 & 13 kept it close. Lee Richardson and Peter Ljung however clinched the meeting in the first nomination heat, scoring a 5-1 against Shields/Gjedde. Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Elit Vetlanda (home) 52 1. Lee Richardson 1*-1-2-3-3 = 10+1 (5) 2. Peter Ljung 2-2*-0-1-2* = 7+2 (5) 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 3-3-2*-0-2 = 10+1 (5) 4. Karol Zabik 1-0-3-0 = 4 (4) 5. Rune Holta 2-3-2-1-1* = 9+1 (5) 6. Thomas H Jonasson 3-1*-3-2*-3 = 12+2 (5) 7. Robin Törnqvist 0-N-Ef-0 = 0 (3) 8. Robin Aspegren Rospiggarna (away) 44 1. Greg Hancock 3-2-3-Ef-2*-3 = 13+1 (6) 2. Charlie Gjedde 0-1*-1-1-1 = 4+1 (5) 3. Janusz Kolodziej 2-2*-3-3-2-0 = 12+1 (6) 4. Lubos Tomicek 0-1-N-N = 1 (2) 5. Adam Shields 3-1-3-0-0 = 7 (5) 6. Chris Slabon 1*-X-1-1* = 3+2 (4) 7. Andreas Messing N-0-0-2 = 2 (3) 8. Jonas Messing 2 = 2 (1) For Elit Vetlanda, Richardson didn't look particulary fast even infront, but got the job done. Ljung was a bit up and down. Hampel had one 'dud' ride as usual, shot from the tapes in the other heats. Zabik scored a win but is still lacking something, can't put my finger on it. Holta had to work hard from the back all night, for little reward. Jonasson had some easy points but dropping only a single point always looks good. Törnqvist was never in the races, unfortunately. For Rospiggarna, Hancock suffered an engine failure while second and could've had even more. Gjedde, like Holta, fought very well and it was a surprise to see him with only four points. Kolodziej was excellent all night even though dead last in heat 16. Tomicek was way behind in two outings, his first on this track. Shields' record speaks for itself. Slabon, well, I certainly expected more as he can be really good around Vetlanda but just looked slow today. (Andreas) Messing did what could be expected. (Jonas) Messing should have had some more heats. Man of the match: Janusz Kolodziej Most exciting rider: Janusz Kolodziej *-*-* CURRENT STANDING: 1. Lejonen, 7, 6-0-1, 12p (+60) 2. Hammarby, 7, 5-0-2, 10p (+29) 3. Rospiggarna, 7, 5-0-2, 10p (+13) 4. Dackarna, 7, 4-0-3, 8p (+31) 5. Elit Vetlanda, 7, 4-0-3, 8p (+17) 6. Västervik, 7, 3-0-4, 6p (+27) ----------------------------------------- 7. MasarnaAvesta, 7, 3-0-4, 6p (-40) 8. Piraterna, 7, 2-0-5, 4p (-17) 9. Indianerna, 7, 2-0-5, 4p (-65) ----------------------------------------- 10. Smederna, 7, 1-0-6, 2p (-55) *-*-* NEXT ROUND - ROUND 8 - TUESDAY JUNE 17TH: MasarnaAvesta - Piraterna Lejonen - Indianerna Dackarna - Hammarby Smederna - Rospiggarna Västervik - Elit Vetlanda

So, what was the last thing you ate then? Nah, just kidding, best of luck to you! (EDIT)

I was wondering which Swedish team would take a gamble on him on a supposedly (sp?) high average, around 6.00 I would guess? I actually like this signing but I'm afraid that many Blacksmiths fans will consider him a saviour after a slow start to the season. Once he settles down in the Swedish league, he should prove a solid signing but I'm not sure it will be right from the start.

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 7 Tuesday June 10th 2008 INDIANERNA - HAMMARBY Piotr Protasiewicz is back for the Indians and they should be hoping for the tail of Henrik & Simon Gustafsson and Matej Ferjan to score more than five points between them as they did at Smederna last week. At home, they surely will. This meeting should have the possibility to be a close one as Hammarby have a line-up similar to the one that got a draw at Indianerna last year, they should even be considered a small favourite, despite being on the road. Indianerna (home) 1. Adrian Miedzinski 2. Henrik Gustafsson 3. Matej Ferjan 4. Magnus Zetterström 5. Piotr Protasiewicz 6. Simon Gustafsson 7. Christian Hefenbrock ( 8. - ) Hammarby (away) 1. Tomasz Gapinski 2. Rafal Dobrucki 3. Martin Smolinski 4. Scott Nicholls 5. Matej Zagar 6. Kim Nilsson 7. Joonas Kylmäkorpi ( 8. - ) *-*-* MASARNAAVESTA - LEJONEN After being without the services of Adams, Bjerre and Sajfutdinov last week, MasarnaAvesta suffered a huge loss against Rospiggarna. Those three are back in the team and will provide a tough test for league leaders Lejonen, newcomers in this year's Elitserien. Tomasz Jedrzejak and Sebastian Ulamek usually performs well at Avesta, but will the middle order riders do the same? MasarnaAvesta (home) 1. Leigh Adams 2. Kenneth Bjerre 3. Emil Sajfutdinov 4. Billy Janniro 5. Dave Watt 6. Simon Stead 7. Anton Rosén ( 8. Dennis Andersson ) Lejonen (away) 1. Tomasz Jedrzejak 2. Chris Holder 3. Nicki Pedersen 4. Piotr Swiderski 5. Sebastian Ulamek 6. Ricky Kling 7. David Ruud ( 8. - ) *-*-* PIRATERNA - DACKARNA The Pirates hosts Dackarna at Lastpartner Arena, a tough task for them. Dackarna are always strong after the interval as two of their top five riders always rides in the five remaining heats. However, the Motala outfit won their latest home meeting and could possibly take some confidence with them from that one, but I wonder if that will be enough. I doubt it. Piraterna (home) 1. Grzegorz Walasek 2. Ryan Sullivan 3. Robert Kosciecha 4. Damian Balinski 5. Daniel Nermark 6. Linus Sundström 7. Mikael Max ( 8. Tobias Ingesson ) Dackarna (away) 1. Andreas Jonsson 2. Lukas Dryml 3. Hans Andersen 4. Peter Karlsson 5. Fredrik Lindgren 6. Andreas Bergström 7. Ludvig Lindgren ( 8. Christian Isomettä ) *-*-* VÄSTERVIK - SMEDERNA Seventh-placed Västervik hosts eight-placed Smederna with both teams eager to win to keep a short distance to the top 6 teams (Play Off). Västervik looks a certain winner with the Blacksmith's side having a bad record at this track. As an example Krzysztof Kasprzak only has an 8+2 score in 13 heats during the three latest visits, and with Rory Schlein lacking any Swedish form, more things are pointing towards a solid home win than a close encounter. Västervik (home) 1. Chris Harris 2. Bjarne Pedersen 3. Tomasz Chrzanowski 4. Grigorij Laguta 5. Tomasz Gollob 6. Billy Forsberg 7. Stefan Ekberg ( 8. Jonas Andersson ) Smederna (away) 1. Wieslaw Jagus 2. Rory Schlein 3. Krzysztof Kasprzak 4. Krzysztof Buczkowski 5. Jonas Davidsson 6. Linus Eklöf 7. Robert Miskowiak ( 8. Robert Henderson ) *-*-* ELIT VETLANDA - ROSPIGGARNA Rospiggarna have been good visitors at the Vetlanda track, and have started the season very well with five wins out of six. Team manager Mikael Messing have found the right combination of experience (Hancock, Shields), youth (Kolodziej, Tomicek) and middle order riders (Gjedde, Slabon). Despite that fact, Elit Vetlanda should be considered favourites in this one, due to home track advantage. Should be a tough nut to crack though... Elit Vetlanda (home) 1. Lee Richardson 2. Peter Ljung 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 4. Karol Zabik 5. Rune Holta 6. Thomas H Jonasson 7. Robin Törnqvist ( 8. Robin Aspegren ) Rospiggarna (away) 1. Greg Hancock 2. Charlie Gjedde 3. Janusz Kolodziej 4. Lubos Tomicek 5. Adam Shields 6. Chris Slabon 7. Andreas Messing ( 8. Jonas Messing ) All meetings will be covered on www.speedway.nu, as usual.

Thank you, Anne! Yes, Jonasson (3,3,3) replacing Gustafsson (0,0) in heat 14 when 7 points down must have seemed logical at the time, despite facing Laguta. Well, sports ain't logical, or what's the saying?

If my calculations are correct, the Russians only were down by 6 points at one time as they trailed leaders Czech Republic by 6 points after 8 heats. In heats 9 & 10 they already had Sajfutdinov and Laguta who scored two points each, and then Russia weren't down by 6 points again until after the final heat.

Czech website Speedway A-Z have the same score as Speedway.org and Inspeed.de forum also has the same result except the likely tactical substitution of Woffinden for Lambert in heat 18. With heat 12 & 13 listed as on the Czech site... 12: Thomas H Jonasson, Hynek Stichauer, Alexander Kosolapkin, William Lawson 13: Matej Kus, Emil Sajfutdinov, Ludvig Lindgren, Simon Lambert ...Great Britain would have been 7 points behind the leader Czech Republic going into heat 18, thereby making a tactical substitution possible: 18. Simon Lambert Tai Woffinden, Simon Gustafsson, Adam Vandirek, Igor Kononov Would seem more logical for Woffinden to win his fourth rather for Lambert to suddenly win a heat. (No offence!) This would make the final result: 1. Sweden 41 2. Czech Republic 38 3. Great Britain 36 4. Russia 35 I would like to trust the Czech site, the meeting was held in Czech Republic after all. Did any forum member actually go to this meeting and can confirm the result?

...and the Inspeed.de forum has a different result/point scores as well. How on earth can four different sources have four different results!?

Agree, Russia are starting to look very exciting indeed. BTW, way to go Sweden!

AFAIK it's on Sunday June 22nd in Diedenbergen.

Thanks for keeping us informed. Keep them coming!

I wasn't there but I guess he was actually only a victim of three tactical substitutions. In Sweden, there isn't any rule that leaves a riders with a minimum number of rides. A rider in the main body can be replaced by tactical substitutions as many times as possible, in this case; 3.

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 6 Tuesday June 3rd 2008 ROSPIGGARNA - MASARNAAVESTA 60-36 Attendence: 2648 MasarnaAvesta, without the trio of Adams, Sajfutdinov and Bjerre, only managed one heat advantage all night. It came in the final heat as Watt headed home Hancock, but it wasn't significant at all as Rospiggarna dominated the meeting, as expected. Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Rospiggarna (home) 60 1. Greg Hancock 3-3-3-2-2 = 13 (5) 2. Charlie Gjedde 2*-3-2*-3-X = 10+2 (5) 3. Janusz Kolodziej 3-1-2*-F = 6+1 (4) 4. Chris Slabon 2*-3-3-2*-1 = 11+2 (5) 5. Adam Shields 3-3-3-1*-3 = 13+1 (5) 6. Travis McGowan 2-N-0-3 = 5 (3) 7. Andreas Messing 1*-F-X-N = 1+1 (3) 8. Jonas Messing 0-1 = 1 (2) MasarnaAvesta (away) 36 1. Simon Stead 1-0-2-1-2-1 = 7 (6) 2. Kenneth Bjerre R/R (Ef,2,1*,1) 3. Steve Johnston Ef-1-1-0-0 = 2 (5) 4. Pawel Miesiac 0-1*-0-1*-1*-X = 3+3 (6) 5. Dave Watt 1*-2-1-2-3-3 = 12+1 (6) 6. Anton Rosén N-N-N-N = 0 (0) 7. Billy Janniro 3-2-2-0-2-2 = 11 (6) 8. Dennis Andersson 0-1*-0 = 1+1 (3) *-*-* SMEDERNA - INDIANERNA 53-42 Attendence: 2548 The Blacksmiths got on the board tonight as they beat a three man Indian's team to register their first league points of the season. Robert Miskowiak made the jump to second string wihtout much problem, but Nicolai Klindt probably didn't make much of an impression on the team management in his Elitserien debut. Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Smederna (home) 53 1. Wieslaw Jagus 1*-1*-3-3-2* = 10+3 (5) 2. Robert Miskowiak 2-3-2-2*-0 = 9+1 (5) 3. Krzysztof Kasprzak 3-1*-3-3-3 = 13+1 (5) 4. Krzysztof Buczkowski 1-2-1-1 = 5 (4) 5. Jonas Davidsson 1-3-3-0-3 = 10 (5) 6. Linus Eklöf 2-0-0-2 = 4 (4) 7. Nicolai Klindt 0-1-N-1* = 2+1 (3) 8. Robert Henderson 0 = 0 (1) Indianerna (away) 42 1. Adrian Miedzinski 3-2*-3-2-M-1*-1* = 12+3 (7) 2. Henrik Gustafsson 0-0-1*-0-N-R = 1+1 (5) 3. Magnus Zetterström T-3-2-2-2-2 = 11 (6) 4. Matej Ferjan 0-0-0-2-Fx-1 = 3 (6) 5. Piotr Protasiewicz R/R (2*,2,2,N) 6. Christian Hefenbrock 3-2-3-2-1*-3 = 14+1 (6) 7. Simon Gustafsson 1-N-0-0 = 1 (3) 8. - *-*-* LEJONEN - PIRATERNA 54-42 Attendence: 2746 Newcomers Lejonen are still on the top of the standing as they beat Piraterna by a comfortable margin of twelve points. Pedesen/Ulamek started the evening with a maximum and the Lions never looked back as they only gave Piraterna one single heat advantage all night, a 1-5 in heat 15. But that was too little too late for the Pirates. Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Lejonen (home) 54 1. Nicki Pedersen 3-3-3-3-3 = 15 (5) 2. Sebastian Ulamek 2*-1*-0-0 = 3+2 (4) 3. Tomasz Jedrzejak 3-1*-3-3-0 = 10+1 (5) 4. Chris Holder 0-2-1-3-Ef = 6 (5) 5. Piotr Swiderski 3-2-1-1-1 = 8 (5) 6. Ricky Kling 2-0-1*-3 = 6+1 (4) 7. David Ruud 1*-3-0-2* = 6+2 (4) 8. Anton Göthberg Piraterna (away) 42 1. Damian Balinski 0-0-0-N = 0 (3) 2. Robert Kosciecha 1-3-3-2-1*-2 = 12+1 (6) 3. Grzegorz Walasek 2-1*-0-0 = 3+1 (4) 4. Ryan Sullivan 1*-2-2-1*-2-3 = 11+2 (6) 5. Daniel Nermark 2-2-2-2-1* = 9+1 (5) 6. Linus Sundström 0-N-N-0 = 0 (2) 7. Mikael Max 3-1*-0-0-1-2* = 7+2 (6) 8. Christian Ingesson *-*-* HAMMARBY - ELIT VETLANDA 51-44 Attendence: 2353 Elit Vetlanda's bad trend at the Gubbängen track continues with another loss against Hammarby. The home side lead from the word 'Go' but some astute tactical moves kept Elit Vetlanda in contention into the nomination heats where Zagar/Smolinski recorded their second maximum of the night, in heat 15, to clinch the meeting for second placed Hammarby. On another note, last season's FIM Youth Gold Trophy 80cc champion Anders Mellgren, from partner team Valsarna, recorded his first Elitserien point of his career in heat 2. Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Hammarby (home) 51 1. Rafal Dobrucki 2*-1*-1-0 = 4+2 (4) 2. Tomasz Gapinski 3-1*-2-2-0 = 8+1 (5) 3. Matej Zagar 3-1-3-M-3 = 10 (5) 4. Martin Smolinski 1-0-2*-1-2* = 6+2 (5) 5. Scott Nicholls 1-2-3-2-1 = 9 (5) 6. Joonas Kylmäkorpi 3-3-2-1*-Ef-2* = 11+2 (6) 7. Kim Nilsson 0-N-N-3 = 3 (2) 8. - Elit Vetlanda (away) 44 1. Jason Crump 1-2*-3-2*-3-3 = 14+2 (6) 2. Adam Skornicki 0-N-N-N = 0 (1) 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 0-3-3-2-3-2* = 13+1 (6) 4. Peter Ljung 2-3-0-0-Fx-1 = 6 (6) 5. Rune Holta 2-1-3-0-1-Ef = 7 (6) 6. Robin Aspegren N-N-N-N = 0 (0) 7. Morten Risager 2-0-0-0-1 = 3 (5) 8. Anders Mellgren 1*-0 = 1+1 (2) *-*-* DACKARNA - VÄSTERVIK 51-45 TV meeting Attendence: 6045 Last year's finalists squared off in Målilla, and the current champions went out on top. Dackarna were drifting away before the interval but after the second reserve's race (heat 11), the meeting was suddenly tied again at 33-33. The massive top five of the home side are not an easy task towards the end of a meeting, and Västervik couldn't keep up with them so went down by six. A decent result overall which leaves them in the hunt of the bonus points later this season. Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Dackarna (home) 51 1. Peter Karlsson 2*-1-1-1 = 5+1 (4) 2. Hans Andersen 3-3-3-2-2 = 13 (5) 3. Andreas Jonsson 2-1*-3-1*-1* = 8+3 (5) 4. Lukas Dryml 1*-2-2*-2*-2 = 9+3 (5) 5. Fredrik Lindgren 2-3-3-3-1* = 12+1 (5) 6. Ludvig Lindgren 3-0-0-0-0-0 = 3 (6) 7. Andreas Bergström N-N-N-1 = 1 (1) 8. Christian Isomettä 0 = 0 (1) Västervik (away) 45 1. Tomasz Gollob 1-0-1*-3-3 = 8+1 (5) 2. Grigorij Laguta 0-3-2-2*-1-T = 8+1 (6) 3. Tomasz Chrzanowski 3-0-0-2-0 = 5 (5) 4. Chris Harris 0-2-2-0 = 4 (4) 5. Bjarne Pedersen 3-0-3-0-3 = 9 (5) 6. Stefan Ekberg 1*-1*-N-3 = 5+2 (3) 7. Billy Forsberg 2-1-1-2*-0 = 6+1 (5) 8. Jonas Andersson For Dackarna, Karlsson wasn't as fast as usual and was left out of the nomination heats. Andersen looked sharp throughout the meeting. Jonsson wasn't as dominant as he can be, only had one win all night. Dryml was always in the mix of it, as he usually is. (Fredrik) Lindgren is a rock solid heat leader nowadays and can be counted upon in all situations. (Ludvig) Lindgren was a one heat wonder tonight. Bergström and Isomettä only had one ride each so I won't judge them on that. For Västervik, Gollob started horribly but gated twice from the inside towards the end. Nothing special TBH. Laguta won my 'Most Exciting Rider' award for the night after an initial dodgy ride. Chrzanowski fought hard for little reward and deserved more. Harris was also better than the score suggest, actually made some decent gates but couldn't always hold on to positions. Pedersen made some splendid heats but certainly couldn't spell consistency. Ekberg definitely did his job with a paid seven, a solid team rider who always tries hard. Forsberg made a good comeback from injury, though a bit passive at times. Man of the match: Fredrik Lindgren Most exciting rider: Grigorij Laguta *-*-* CURRENT STANDING: 1. Lejonen, 6, 5-0-1, 10p (+50) 2. Hammarby, 6, 5-0-1, 10p (+37) 3. Rospiggarna, 6, 5-0-1, 10p (+21) 4. Dackarna, 6, 4-0-2, 8p (+42) 5. Elit Vetlanda, 6, 3-0-3, 6p (+9) 6. MasarnaAvesta, 6, 3-0-3, 6p (-30) ----------------------------------------- 7. Västervik, 6, 2-0-4, 4p (+19) 8. Piraterna, 6, 1-0-5, 2p (-28) 9. Smederna, 6, 1-0-5, 2p (-47) ----------------------------------------- 10. Indianerna, 6, 1-0-5, 2p (-73) *-*-* NEXT ROUND - ROUND 6 - TUESDAY JUNE 10TH: MasarnaAvesta - Lejonen Indianerna - Hammarby Piraterna - Dackarna Västervik - Smederna Elit Vetlanda - Rospiggarna All meetings start one hour earlier (at 18:00) due to the European Championship match between Sweden and Greece with kick-off time at 20:45.

Nah, not that often, just a couple of times a year for fun. (Might make a bet tonight actually) However, I write previews of all Elitserien meeting on the Elit Vetlanda website, where I always makes a prediction as well. Tonight I have the predictions as follow; Rospiggarna-MasarnaAvesta 61-35, Smederna-Indianerna 58-38, Lejonen-Piraterna 49-47, Hammarby-Elit Vetlanda 51-45, Dackarna-Västervik 54-42. Therefore you can definitely count on these results NOT to happen today.

Line-up's for tomorrow: ROSPIGGARNA - MASARNAAVESTA Hallstavik outfit Rospiggarna have been the surprise package of the 2008 Elitserien season, but it certainly won't be a surprise with another victory tomorrow evening. MasarnaAvesta comes to town without Leigh Adams and Emil Sajfutdinov, as well as Riders Replacement for Kenneth Bjerre, and could certainly be heading for a massive loss. Rospiggarna (home) 1. Greg Hancock 2. Charlie Gjedde 3. Janusz Kolodziej 4. Chris Slabon 5. Adam Shields 6. Travis McGowan 7. Andreas Messing ( 8. Jonas Messing ) MasarnaAvesta (away) 1. Simon Stead 2. Kenneth Bjerre R/R 3. Steve Johnston 4. Pawel Miesiac 5. Dave Watt 6. Anton Rosén 7. Billy Janniro ( 8. Dennis Andersson ) SMEDERNA - INDIANERNA The bottom-of-the-standing Blacksmiths are in desperate need for some points as they host the 9th placed Indians. The home side have struggled to find anything so far and are winless after five rounds. Rory Schlein has been scratched for this meeting and Nicolai Klindt makes his Elitserien debut at reserve, forcing Robert Miskowiak up to second string. Smederna (home) 1. Wieslaw Jagus 2. Robert Miskowiak 3. Krzysztof Kasprzak 4. Krzysztof Buczkowski 5. Jonas Davidsson 6. Linus Eklöf 7. Nicolai Klindt ( 8. Robert Henderson ) Indianerna (away) 1. Adrian Miedzinski 2. Henrik Gustafsson 3. Magnus Zetterström 4. Matej Ferjan 5. Piotr Protasiewicz 6. Christian Hefenbrock 7. Simon Gustafsson ( 8. - ) LEJONEN - PIRATERNA Newcomers Lejonen from Gislaved has already beaten Smederna, Dackarna and Elit Vetlanda at home and are looking to beat the Pirates as well. The Lions are actually league leaders and are certain favourites tomorrow night, even though Piraterna broke their winless streak in round 5, and they also have a former Lion in Grzegorz Walasek who should provide much resistence for the home team alongside Flyin' Ryan and in-form Daniel Nermark. Lejonen (home) 1. Nicki Pedersen 2. Sebastian Ulamek 3. Tomasz Jedrzejak 4. Chris Holder 5. Piotr Swiderski 6. Ricky Kling 7. David Ruud ( 8. Anton Göthberg ) Piraterna (away) 1. Damian Balinski 2. Robert Kosciecha 3. Grzegorz Walasek 4. Ryan Sullivan 5. Daniel Nermark 6. Linus Sundström 7. Mikael Max ( 8. Christian Ingesson ) HAMMARBY - ELIT VETLANDA Jesper B Monberg steps aside for Hammarby as Tomasz Gapinski is back in the line-up, but changes are also made to the Elit Vetlanda line-up that beat Dackarna last week. Jaroslaw Hampel is back at No 3 after missing due to family reasons against Dackarna, which means that the reserve positions will be a bit weaker than last week with Morten Risager and Robin Aspegren filling those positions. Elit Vetlanda have had problems at the Gubbängen track in the two previous meetings in Stockholm, and the second placed Hammarby will be favourites against the fifth placed Elit Vetlanda. Hammarby (home) 1. Rafal Dobrucki 2. Tomasz Gapinski 3. Matej Zagar 4. Martin Smolinski 5. Scott Nicholls 6. Joonas Kylmäkorpi 7. Kim Nilsson ( 8. - ) Elit Vetlanda (away) 1. Jason Crump 2. Thomas H Jonasson Adam Skornicki 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 4. Peter Ljung 5. Rune Holta 6. Robin Aspegren 7. Morten Risager ( 8. Anders Mellgren ) DACKARNA - VÄSTERVIK The county derby between Dackarna and Västervik at Grand Prix venue Målilla will be an interesting battle, infront of the TV cameras. Top heavy Dackarna took a heavy loss last week while Västervik lost as well. For this meeting, the top five in Dackarna should score more in comparison to last week, and surely should be powerful enough for Västervik after the interval. The middle order riders of Chrzanowski, Harris and Laguta needs to step up for Västervik to keep it close. Dackarna (home) 1. Peter Karlsson 2. Hans Andersen 3. Andreas Jonsson 4. Lukas Dryml 5. Fredrik Lindgren 6. Ludvig Lindgren 7. Andreas Bergström ( 8. Christian Isomettä ) Västervik (away) 1. Tomasz Gollob 2. Grigorij Laguta 3. Tomasz Chrzanowski 4. Chris Harris 5. Bjarne Pedersen 6. Stefan Ekberg 7. Billy Forsberg ( 8. Jonas Andersson )

Jeez, time is flying obviously. Haven't had a minute to spare this week...but better late than never, some comments about the riders in the meeting above: For Elit Vetlanda, Crump [2'3333] was untouchable and was even quick from the gate this time. Zabik [31'011] took a step forward in comparison to previous meetings this year, still a bit erratic though which sometimes caused problems for both team-mates and opposition riders. Ljung [33103] upped his game when it was needed the most and produced a heat leader performence in the absense of 'Jarek' Hampel and the injured Lee Richardson. Skornicki [R2'00] had a fantastic second ride as he went from fourth to a paid win against Dryml/Lindgren, but that was all. Holta [2222'2'] started slow but ended with two maximums with Crump towards the end. Jonasson [101'2'] looked dreadfully slow all night, still managed a paid six. Davidsson [3213] was awesome! Shot from the gate every time for his 9 points. Will surely get more chances in the Elit Vetlanda team during the season. For Dackarna, (Fredrik) Lindgren [1132'0] had a couple of good heats in the middle but wasn't as convincing as in Gothenburg. Dryml [000N] had some engine problems but the GP rider should at least manage to score on his former home track. Andersen [21'312] looked faster than ever at the Vetlanda track, always mixing it with the home riders. Karlsson [1'322'30] is always pure class at the Vetlanda track, and today wasn't an exception. He was the reason Dackarna stayed in this one for so long. Jonsson [332101] started like a train but faded dramatically, as the score suggest. Bergström [0NN1] didn't do much. (Ludvig) Lindgren [210N00] started by beating Jonasson twice but blew a bit hot and cold overall. Man of the match: Peter Ljung

Well, you are certainly not pessimistic about their chances then.