Anders

Nah, not from me anyway. Been hectic at work and now I'm off to Malmö (for Gnistorna vs Njudungarna). Normal service will be resumed next week.

Karpov (and Andrej Kobrin) rides in the World U21 Quarterfinal in Zielona Gora tomorrow.

Speedway.hu has it the other way around with Franc on 10 points...

Yeah, that's shocking!

It rules him out of No 6 and/or 7, bad enough.

Definitely so. As you know, we have tried a heavy top-four as well in previous year and we may have had a 48-48 tie sometime, but still lost most times due to the fact that someone of the top 4 has a bad day. A top heavy team may work reasonably well if you only want to keep it close away from home and defend the aggregated point, or at home if you can get the tail of the team to score some points. Lejonen won't lose many at home, for sure. Most of the riders in Elitserien have never been to Gislaved, and without the practise session before the meeting, Lejonen will take a big lead in several meetings. If Crump comes into the team, it will be impossible to have THJ at reserve so the question for the management is: Is it worth trying to keep the reserve heats together with a balanced team, though without Crump, or give them up? Possible line-ups are (in rolling average order): Holta, Crump, Hampel, Ljung, Jonasson, Davidsson, Törnqvist, (Aspegren) or Holta, Hampel, Ljung, Zabik, Skornicki, Jonasson, Risager, (Törnqvist) (yesterday's line-up) Doesn't seem that Zabik may be 100% fit yet, but I think I would prefer the second line-up, then Jonasson and/or Risager could replace any out-of-form riders. It will be interesting to see which road they chose.

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 3 Tuesday May 13th 2008 LEJONEN - DACKARNA 52-44 Attendence: 3564 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Dackarna suffered their first loss of the season, beaten by newcomers Lejonen. The Lions took the command early on with a couple of 5-1's by local hero David Ruud in heat 2 & 5 to open up a 24-12 lead after six heats. Dackarna tried three straight tactical substitutions before the interval but only scored three tied heats, and never got really close to the impressive newcomer. Lejonen (home) 52 1. Nicki Pedersen 3-2-3-3-3 = 14 (5) 2. Sebastian Ulamek 1-3-1*-0 = 5+1 (4) 3. Tomasz Jedrzejak 1*-3-3-2-0 = 9+1 (5) 4. Mariusz Wegrzyk 2-1-0-0 = 3 (4) 5. Piotr Swiderski 2-3-2-1-Ef= 8 (5) 6. Ricky Kling 2*-1*-0-1 = 4+2 (4) 7. David Ruud 3-2*-0-3-1 = 9+1 (5) 8. Anton Göthberg Dackarna (away) 44 1. Fredrik Lindgren 2-2-2-2-1-1* = 10+1 (6) 2. Troy Batchelor 0-0-N-N = 0 (2) 3. Hans Andersen 3-0-1*-1-2-3 = 10+1 (6) 4. Peter Karlsson 0-1-3-1*-3-2* = 10+2 (6) 5. Andreas Jonsson 3-1*-2-3-0-2 = 11+1 (6) 6. Ludvig Lindgren Fx-0-0-N-2 = 2 (4) 7. Christian Isomettä N-N-N-N = 0 (0) 8. Christian Agö 1-Ef = 1 (2) *-*-* PIRATERNA - ROSPIGGARNA 47-48 Attendence: 1775 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Rospiggarna won their third straight meeting, despite missing Adam Shields and Lubos Tomicek, and being on the road. The Pirates lead by seven points after heat 11 but as Janusz Kolodziej and fellow countryman Mateusz Szczepaniak recorded a maximum in heat 12 to start the comeback. It went down to a last heat decider where Hancock/Koloziej scored a 4-2 to win it for Rospiggarna. Piraterna (home) 47 1. Grzegorz Walasek 2-2-2-X-3 = 9 (5) 2. Mikael Max 0-3-0-N = 3 (3) 3. Robert Kosciecha 3-1-3-1*-0 = 8+1 (5) 4. Damian Balinski 1-3-2*-1-2 = 9+1 (5) 5. Ryan Sullivan 3-3-Ef-1-1 = 8 (5) 6. Linus Sundström 0-1-N-1* = 2+1 (3) 7. Daniel Nermark 2-Ef-1-1*-2-2 = 8+1 (6) 8. Christian Ingesson Rospiggarna (away) 48 1. Greg Hancock 3-0-2-3-3-3 = 14 (6) 2. Mateusz Szczepaniak 1-2-0-2*-0 = 5+1 (5) 3. Janusz Kolodziej 2-3-3-2*-1 = 11+1 (5) 4. Chris Slabon 0-2-1-0 = 3 (4) 5. Charlie Gjedde 2-1-0-3-2 = 8 (5) 6. Travis McGowan 1-Fx-0-N-3 = 4 (4) 7. Andreas Messing N-N-N-N = 0 (0) 8. Jonas Messing 3-0-0 = 3 (3) *-*-* MASARNAAVESTA - HAMMARBY 44-52 Attendence: 1835 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Two teams are keeping their winning streaks alive after three rounds, Rospiggarna and Hammarby. The Stockholm team were involved in a tight one as both teams were square at 36 with four heats to go. However, Hammarby ended with four straight 4-2's, including two wins for Scott Nicholls over Leigh Adams in heats 14 & 16. MasarnaAvesta (home) 44 1. Kenneth Bjerre 1*-Fx-1*-0-2 = 4+2 (5) 2. Emil Sajfutdinov 2-3-3-2-0 = 10 (5) 3. Dave Watt 2-1-3-Fx = 6 (4) 4. Billy Janniro 0-3-1-0-0 = 4 (5) 5. Leigh Adams 2-3-3-2-2 = 12 (5) 6. Simon Stead 2-0-2*-0-2-2 = 8+1 (6) 7. Dennis Andersson N-N-N-N = 0 (0) 8. Anton Rosén 0-0 = 0 (2) Hammarby (away) 52 1. Jesper B Monberg 0-0-1*-3 = 4+1 (4) 2. Tomasz Gapinski 3-2-2-1*-1 = 9+1 (5) 3. Scott Nicholls 1-1*-2-3-3 = 10+1 (5) 4. Martin Smolinski 3-1-2-1 = 7 (4) 5. Matej Zagar 3-0-3-1-3 = 10 (5) 6. Kim Nilsson 1-N-0-1 = 2 (3) 7. Joonas Kylmäkorpi 3-1-Ef-2-3-1 = 10 (6) 8. - *-*-* VÄSTERVIK - INDIANERNA 56-39 Attendence: 1883 Heat details and heat comments (in english), courtesy of www.speedway.nu. With their third loss of the season, The Indians slips down to last place in the standings. Elitserien newcomer Grigorij Laguta started with an exclusion in heat 2 as Indianerna took an early lead but a maximum with Mads Korneliussen in heat 5 and with Chris Harris in heat 9 turned it around completely, the home side lead by eleven points at that point, and never looked back. Västervik (home) 56 1. Tomasz Gollob M-3-3-3-3 = 12 (5) 2. Mads Korneliussen 3-2*-0-0 = 5+1 (4) 3. Niels-Kristian Iversen 3-3-2*-3-2* = 13+2 (5) 4. Tomasz Chrzanowski 1-0-3-2-0 = 6 (5) 5. Chris Harris 2-3-1*-1-3 = 10+1 (5) 6. Grigorij Laguta Fx-1*-3-2*-0-3 = 9+2 (6) 7. Jonas Andersson 1-N-N-F = 1 (2) 8. Kim Johansson Indianerna (away) 39 1. Matej Ferjan M-2-Ef-2-1*-0 = 5+1 (6) 2. Magnus Zetterström 2-1*-1-0-2 = 6+1 (5) 3. Adrian Miedzinski 2-1*-3-2-2-1 = 11 (6) 4. Kaj Laukkanen 0-1-N-N = 1 (2) 5. Piotr Protasiewicz 3-0-1*-0-1* = 5+2 (5) 6. Henrik Gustafsson 3-0-2-1-N-2 = 8 (5) 7. Simon Gustafsson 2*-0-N-1* = 3+2 (3) 8. David Rohlén *-*-* ELIT VETLANDA - SMEDERNA 53-43 Attendence: 2391 Heat details and heat comments (in english), courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Despite the late Monday night loss of Lee Richardson, Elit Vetlanda management managed to bring Karol Zabik and Morten Risager into the line-up to lose a bit in the top, but improve down low. Peter Ljung also stepped up to the challenge and supported the Grand Prix duo of Hampel and Holta. Elit Vetlanda slowly got away from Smederna, going from a 9-9 tie after 3 heats to a ten point lead after 9 heats. The Blacksmiths tried to make a comeback but when Hampel/Ljung headed home former Vetlanda favorite Wieslaw Jagus in heat 13, that was virtually the nail in the Smederna coffin. Elit Vetlanda (home) 53 1. Karol Zabik 1*-1-X-1 = 3+1 (4) 2. Peter Ljung 2-3-3-2*-0 = 10+1 (5) 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 2-0-3-3-3 = 11 (5) 4. Adam Skornicki 1*-3-0-0 = 4+1 (4) 5. Rune Holta 3-3-2-3-2 = 13 (5) 6. Thomas H Jonasson 2-2*-1-2-X-Fx = 7+1 (6) 7. Morten Risager 1*-1-N-3 = 5+1 (3) 8. Robin Törnqvist Smederna (away) 43 1. Wieslaw Jagus 3-2-1*-2-1-3 = 12+1 (6) 2. Rory Schlein 0-1*-0-N-1* = 2+2 (4) 3. Krzysztof Kasprzak 3-0-3-3-2-1 = 12 (6) 4. Krzysztof Buczkowski 0-2-2-0-2 = 6 (5) 5. Jonas Davidsson Ef-2-1-1-0 = 4 (5) 6. Linus Eklöf 0-0-N-2 = 2 (3) 7. Robert Miskowiak 3-1-N-1* = 5+1 (3) 8. Robert Henderson For Elit Vetlanda, Zabik always put himself into contention, but looked slow and got passed a couple of times. Worth more. Ljung was excellent, lead heat 16 but lost all points due to a mistake/lift, still score a paid eleven. Hampel appearently changed his bike after his second ride, was ultra fast after that. Skornicki had an excellent heat when going from third to first to pass Jagus in heat 6, didn't do much otherwise. Holta was solid as always in Elitserien, despite feeling ill earlier on the day. Jonasson has definitely upped his game and definitely deserved it all, IMO he was robbed with the exclusion in heat 15. Risager improved as the meeting went along. For Smederna, Jagus was good but has been better in Vetlanda. Schlein had some dirty moves, among them as he started the day by trying to put Zabik on the inside of the track in heat 1. Can't believe he got another chance in heat 15 ahead of Miskowiak. Kasprzak was excellent! Hasn´t done much at the Vetlanda track even though he had a solid 9 score last year, today was even better despite an awful second ride. Buczkowski had a solid debut at this track. Davidsson had some good rides, but was a dissapointment overall. Eklöf did what could be expected against these reserves. Miskowiak had one good ride, and deserved a place in heat 15, but didn't get it. Man of the match: Peter Ljung Most exciting rider: Adam Skornicki (for his heat 6 passes) *-*-* ROUND 4 - TUESDAY MAY 20TH: Lejonen - Elit Vetlanda Hammarby - Västervik Indianerna - Piraterna Dackarna - Rospiggarna Smederna - MasarnaAvesta *-*-* CURRENT STANDING: 1. Hammarby, 3, 3-0-0, 6p (+26) 2. Rospiggarna, 3, 3-0-0, 6p (+9) 3. Västervik, 3, 2-0-1, 4p (+37) 4. Dackarna, 3, 2-0-1, 4p (+34) 5. Elit Vetlanda, 3, 2-0-1, 4p (+18) 6. Lejonen, 3, 2-0-1, 4p (+18) ----------------------------------------- 7. MasarnaAvesta, 3, 1-0-2, 2p (-30) 8. Piraterna, 3, 0-0-3, 0p (-19) 9. Smederna, 3, 0-0-3, 0p (-46) ----------------------------------------- 10. Indianerna, 3, 0-0-3, 0p (-47)

No...and yes! The line-ups at speedway.nu are only preliminary. You can change the line-up if you are replacing a rider with another, and as long as the rolling average have the two lowest at 6 & 7 (not taking No 8 into account). However, you can't move riders within the team, changing Holta to No 3 and Hampel to No 5. Unless the rolling average dictate who will ride at reserve or as No 8. Elit Vetlanda website reports that Karol Zabik will replace Lee Richardson at No 1. Morten Risager replaces Robin Törnqvist at No 7 as the latter moves to No 8, all within the maximum team average. Laukkanen has a higher rolling average than 'Henka', so Laukkanen should wear No 4 and 'Henka' getting a reserve berth, along side his son.

Can it be anyone else than Tero Aarnio? Must admit he has surprised me with his scores for Berwick so far.

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 3 Tuesday May 13th 2008 LEJONEN - DACKARNA Ludvig Lindgren has done two good meetings for his new club, but competing with Kling/Ruud away from home seems like a tough enough task for him. The Lions needs a good advantage from the Kling/Ruud pairing to be able to defend the lead when the big guns of Dackarna appears after from heat 11 and forward. It's hard to predict a loss for the current champions Dackarna, but Lejonen away will be a tough nut to crack for most teams this season. However, Dackarna must be considered favourites. Lejonen (home) 1. Nicki Pedersen 2. Sebastian Ulamek 3. Tomasz Jedrzejak 4. Mariusz Wegrzyk 5. Piotr Swiderski 6. Ricky Kling J 7. David Ruud ( 8. Anton Göthberg J ) Dackarna (away) 1. Fredrik Lindgren 2. Troy Batchelor 3. Hans Andersen 4. Peter Karlsson 5. Andreas Jonsson 6. Ludvig Lindgren J 7. Christian Isomettä J ( 8. Christian Agö J ) *-*-* PIRATERNA - ROSPIGGARNA Rospiggarna are missing the injured Adam Shields as well as Lubos Tomicek (meeting in Czech Republic), with Mateusz Szczepaniak and Chris Slabon stepping in at second string position, two moves that surely will weaken the Rospiggarna line-up. Andreas Messing is scheduled to make a comeback but Rospiggarna looks to be in problem, despite winning both meetings so far while Piraterna have lost their two opening meetings. My prediction is that two trends will be broken on Tuesday night. Piraterna (home) 1. Grzegorz Walasek 2. Mikael Max 3. Robert Kosciecha 4. Damian Balinski 5. Ryan Sullivan 6. Linus Sundström J 7. Daniel Nermark ( 8. Christian Ingesson J ) Rospiggarna (away) 1. Greg Hancock 2. Mateusz Szczepaniak 3. Janusz Kolodziej 4. Chris Slabon 5. Charlie Gjedde 6. Travis McGowan 7. Andreas Messing J ( 8. Jonas Messing J ) *-*-* MASARNAAVESTA - HAMMARBY Hammarby has started with two straight wins with a line-up consisting of an evenly strength team. Six riders scored among paid ten and paid twelve in last week's meeting, only junior Kim Nilsson being held scoreless back then. One or two of the top five, possibly an in-form Zagar or the strong-at-Avesta Nicholls, must match the strength and speed of Sajfutdinov and Adams in the later stages, otherwise Hammarby could follow in the fotsteps of Elit Vetlanda who lost in a last heat decider in the opening round at Avesta. MasarnaAvesta (home) 1. Kenneth Bjerre 2. Emil Sajfutdinov 3. Dave Watt 4. Billy Janniro 5. Leigh Adams 6. Simon Stead 7. Dennis Andersson J ( 8. Anton Rosén J ) Hammarby (away) 1. Jesper B Monberg 2. Tomasz Gapinski 3. Scott Nicholls 4. Pawel Hlib 5. Matej Zagar 6. Kim Nilsson J 7. Joonas Kylmäkorpi ( 8. - ) *-*-* VÄSTERVIK - INDIANERNA Kaj Laukkanen makes his season debut for Indianerna, on a track he usually scores well. The reserves of Laukkanen/Gustafsson must outscore the Laguta/Andersson pairing to keep Indianerna in it, as usual on the road. Matej Ferjan and Magnus Zetterström are former Västervik riders and the Indians kept it close last year (50-46) but the home side are favourites anyway. Västervik used R/R for Bjarne Pedersen last week, but moves Mads Korneliussen to No 2 while Grigorij Laguta makes his Elitserien debut at No 6. Västervik (home) 1. Tomasz Gollob 2. Mads Korneliussen 3. Niels-Kristian Iversen 4. Tomasz Chrzanowski 5. Chris Harris 6. Grigorij Laguta 7. Jonas Andersson J ( 8. Kim Johansson J ) Indianerna (away) 1. Matej Ferjan 2. Magnus Zetterström 3. Adrian Miedzinski 4. Henrik Gustafsson 5. Piotr Protasiewicz 6. Kaj Laukkanen 7. Simon Gustafsson J ( 8. David Rohlén J ) *-*-* ELIT VETLANDA - SMEDERNA Two evenly matched teams meet in Vetlanda, but with different records. Smederna have started the season with two losses against Lejonen and Dackarna and now faces the third (of four) teams from the 'Småland' region. The Blacksmiths are last in the standing, but have a much stronger team than that and the meeting will be closer than the standing suggests. Home track advantage will decide the outcome of this. (Hopefully ) Elit Vetlanda (home) 1. Lee Richardson 2. Peter Ljung 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 4. Adam Skornicki 5. Rune Holta 6. Thomas H Jonasson J 7. Robin Törnqvist J ( 8. Robin Aspegren J ) Smederna (away) 1. Wieslaw Jagus 2. Rory Schlein 3. Krzysztof Kasprzak 4. Krzysztof Buczkowski 5. Jonas Davidsson 6. Linus Eklöf J 7. Robert Miskowiak ( 8. Robert Henderson J )

It couldn't have been solved in a good way, this was definitely the easiest way out of the problem for the federation and I fully understand why it went this way, especially so late upon the new season. 2 home/2 away meetings with each team would have been better, but it would've meant re-scheduling most of the fixture list, which I guess wasn't much of an option.

Elitserien (=Elite League) run all meetings on Tuesdays. 10 teams, 5 meetings in each round. For the Play Off, some Wednesdays are used as well. Division 1 (=Conference League) run one round per week, mainly on Wednesdays. 10 teams, 5 meetings in each round/week. Allsvenskan (=Premier League) run all meetings on ThursdayS. The problem is that the league only consist of 5 teams after the withdrawel of Kaparna. Every team meets the other teams once home and away (=8). Furthermore, Allsvenskan was devided into to regional "derby groups" consisting of Valsarna, Solkatterna and Kaparna in one group, and Griparna, Örnarna and Vargarna in the other. This makes an additional four meetings for each team, a total of 12 meetings per team. However, the withdrawel of Kaparna made it difficult for the remaining teams in the "Western" derby group, as Valsarna and Solkatterna now have to face each other another time to make up for the loss of Kaparna. They meet in 6 of the 12 meetings in the league! And no, that's not a joke.

From the FIM Track Racing rules: If I read it correctly, the referee was spot on! Good GP tonight, and I must say I'm continuely impressed by Niels-Kristian Iversen in the series so far. I didn't think he would make it, but he has been really good in Krsko and Leszno. Hoped for Hampel to win it, but congrats to Leigh Adams!

Should be interesting for sure. Depending on which riders that qualifies from the other semifinals (especially the Nordic qualifier), I could be temped to travel to Stralsund as it fits reasonably into my schedule. It isn't a particulary long travel and I could even travel back home during the day. Well, we have to see, but it sure will be an opportunity to see some new talants. I haven't actually seen a single one of the qualifiers from Balakovo, not even Wölbert.

According to Upsala Nya Tidning it seems to be a dislocated shoulder. Below are a couple of quotes from the newspaper: -"It sure wasn't a collarbone injury" says Rospiggarna's team manager Mikael Messing. -"They are waiting for the X-rays, but I hope it won't be much problem. If it's just a dislocated shoulder he should be able to be back soon", says Mikael Messing...

SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 2 Tuesday May 6th 2008 SMEDERNA - DACKARNA 41-55 Attendence: 2674 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. The Blacksmith's suffered their second loss of the season, and they also lost Kim Jansson to injury in heat four. A healthy Jansson probably wouldn't have helped, but it should have kept it closer and perhaps got the away team a bit nervous. Instead, 2007 champions Dackarna won the reserve match by 11+3 against 5+1, and when the Dackarna reserves scores more than the opposition reserves, Dackarna will be nearly impossible to beat. Smederna (home) 41 1. Krzysztof Kasprzak 1*-2-1-2-0-M = 6+1 (6) 2. Krzysztof Buczkowski 2-2-1*-Ef-3 = 8+1 (5) 3. Jonas Davidsson 1-0-2-1-1 = 5 (5) 4. Rory Schlein 0-3-Fx-0 = 3 (4) 5. Wieslaw Jagus 3-3-2-3-3 = 14 (5) 6. Kim Jansson 3-Fx-N-N = 3 (2) 7. Henrik Karlsson N-N-N-0 = 0 (1) 8. Robert Henderson 0-1*-0-1 = 2+1 (4) Dackarna (away) 55 1. Fredrik Lindgren 3-1*-2-2*-0 = 8+2 (5) 2. Lukas Dryml F-2-Ef-1 = 3 (4) 3. Hans Andersen 2*-0-3-1*-2 = 8+2 (5) 4. Peter Karlsson 3-3-3-3-2 = 14 (5) 5. Andreas Jonsson 2-3-3-2-1* = 11+1 (5) 6. Andreas Bergström 1*-0-N-3 = 4+1 (3) 7. Ludvig Lindgren 2-1*-1-1-2* = 7+2 (5) 8. Christian Agö *-*-* HAMMARBY - LEJONEN 54-42 Attendence: 2975 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Capital city outfit Hammarby produced their second win of the season, taking an easy victory against newcomers Lejonen. The Lions were down by twenty points after 13 heats but ended strong to cut the loss to "only" twelve points, despite only Nicki Pedersen being a genuin threat throughout the night. Hammarby (home) 54 1. Joonas Kylmäkorpi 2*-2*-3-0-0 = 7+2 (5) 2. Tomasz Gapinski 3-1*-3-3-0 = 10+1 (5) 3. Scott Nicholls 2-2*-1*-2* = 7+3 (4) 4. Jesper B Monberg 0-3-2-1*-2 = 8+1 (5) 5. Matej Zagar 3-3-2-2-1 = 11 (5) 6. Pawel Hlib 3-1-2-2*-3 = 11+1 (5) 7. Kim Nilsson 0-N-0-0 = 0 (3) 8. - Lejonen (away) 42 1. David Ruud 1-0-N-1 = 2 (3) 2. Tomasz Jedrzejak 0-1-1-N-3 = 5 (4) 3. Nicki Pedersen 3-1-3-3-3-3 = 16 (6) 4. Piotr Swiderski 1-3-0-Ef-Ef = 4 (5) 5. Sebastian Ulamek 2-0-2-0-1-2* = 7+1 (6) 6. Ricky Kling 2-Ef-1*-1* = 4+2 (4) 7. Mariusz Wegrzyk 1*-0-N-2-1 = 4+1 (4) 8. Kim Almqvist *-*-* VÄSTERVIK - MASARNAAVESTA 61-35 Attendence: 1612 Heat details and heat comments in english, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. The absence of Leigh Adams and Oliver Allen were obviously far greater than Bjarne Pedersen and Billy Forsberg of the home side. Västervik took full revenge after their surprising first round loss to Rospiggarna, taking it out on MasarnaAvesta by a massive margin. The long tail of MasarnaAvesta appeared today, with neither Stead or Watt producing much, Watt due to engine problems. Västervik (home) 61 1. Tomasz Gollob 2*-2*-3-3-2-3 = 15+2 (6) 2. Bjarne Pedersen R/R (3,2*,1,2) 3. Niels-Kristian Iversen 3-3-3-3-1*-2* = 15+2 (6) 4. Tomasz Chrzanowski 2*-2*-1-1*-2-2 = 10+3 (6) 5. Chris Harris 1-1-2*-2-1* = 7+2 (5) 6. Mads Korneliussen 2-0-3-3-3-1* = 12+1 (6) 7. Jonas Andersson 1*-N-0-1 = 2+1 (3) 8. Kim Johansson MasarnaAvesta (away) 35 1. Kenneth Bjerre 1-0-X-3-3-1 = 8 (6) 2. Simon Stead 0-1-1-1*-0 = 3+1 (5) 3. Dave Watt 1-Ef-N-N = 1 (2) 4. Pawel Miesiac 0-1-N-0-0 = 1 (4) 5. Emil Sajfutdinov 3-2-2-2-3-0 = 12 (6) 6. Anton Rosén N-N-N-N = 0 (0) 7. Billy Janniro 3-2*-0-0-2-3 = 10+1 (6) 8. Dennis Andersson 0-0-0 = 0 (3) *-*-* INDIANERNA - ROSPIGGARNA 47-49 Attendence: 3452 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. The Indians jumped to a six point lead twice in the early stages but lead by skipper Greg Hancock, Rospiggarna fought back and tied in at the interval. With Magnus Zetterström being excluded in heat 16, Hancock and McGowan (reserve replacement for Adam Shields) managed a 4-2 in the re-run to win it for Rospiggarna. Indianerna (home) 47 1. Matej Ferjan Ef-2*-2-2-3 = 9+1 (5) 2. Magnus Zetterström 2-3-3-1*-X = 9+1 (5) 3. Adrian Miedzinski 2-1-0-2-0 = 5 (5) 4. Edward Kennett 0-0-N-N = 0 (2) 5. Piotr Protasiewicz 3-3-3-1*-2 = 12+1 (5) 6. Simon Gustafsson 3-1-0-3-F = 7 (5) 7. Henrik Gustafsson 2*-2*-1-0-X = 5+2 (5) 8. David Rohlén Rospiggarna (away) 49 1. Greg Hancock 3-3-2*-2-3-3 = 16+1 (6) 2. Charlie Gjedde 1-2*-1*-1*-1* = 6+4 (5) 3. Janusz Kolodziej 3-1-2-0-2 = 8 (5) 4. Lubos Tomicek 1-0-Ef-0 = 1 (4) 5. Adam Shields 2-3-3-3-Fn = 11 (4) 6. Travis McGowan 1-0-1-1-2-1 = 6 (6) 7. Andreas Westlund N-N-N-N = 0 (0) 8. Jonas Messing 0-1* = 1+1 (2) *-*-* ELIT VETLANDA - PIRATERNA 54-42 Attendence: 2882 Heat details and heat comments in english, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. A twelve point deficit doesn't reflect the closeness of the meeting, which actually was alive entering the nomination heats. Balinski/Walasek were on the way for a maximum in heat 15 which would have taken it to a last heat decider, but Holta charged through for three points and the win for Elit Vetlanda. Man of the match Lee Richardson and Jaroslaw Hampel finished it off with Elit Vetlanda's fifth maximum of the night. Elit Vetlanda (home) 54 1. Lee Richardson 2*-3-3-2*-3 = 13+2 (5) 2. Peter Ljung 3-1*-2*-1*-0 = 7+3 (5) 3. Jaroslaw Hampel 2*-3-2-2-2* = 11+2 (5) 4. Adam Skornicki 3-0-0-0 = 3 (4) 5. Rune Holta 2-1-3-3-3 = 12 (5) 6. Thomas H Jonasson 2-1*-2-0-0-1* = 6+2 (6) 7. Robin Törnqvist 0-N-N-2 = 2 (2) 8. Anders Mellgren Piraterna (away) 42 1. Robert Kosiecha 0-2-3-3-0 = 8 (5) 2. Damian Balinski 1-1*-2*-1*-2 = 7+3 (5) 3. Grzegorz Walasek 1-1-2-0-1* = 5+1 (5) 4. Mikael Max 0-0-N-0 = 0 (3) 5. Ryan Sullivan 3-0-3-1*-1-1 = 9+1 (6) 6. Linus Sundström 1-N-N-0 = 1 (2) 7. Daniel Nermark 3-0-3-1-2-3 = 12 (6) 8. Christian Ingesson For Elit Vetlanda, Richardson was pure class, I have never seen him better than this in Elit Vetlanda colours. Ljung had a nasty crash early on, but a paid ten score is a good night's work. Hampel won most points from the gate, he really is an excellent gater. Skornicki looked faster than ever in Vetlanda, but didn't get much reward. Holta started slow but turned into a runaway train. Jonasson mixed it well in several heats but couldn't contain Nermark at reserve. Törnqvist was much improve for his second ride in which he almost caught Nermark. Needs more seasoning, then the points will come. For Piraterna, Kosiecha has never done anything special in Vetlanda, but was really good tonight and deserved it all. Balinski packed the minor places, but I was a bit surprised to see him end up with a paid ten score. Walasek has had better meetings in Vetlanda, that's for sure. Max...oh dear, I'll leave it at that. Sullivan blew hot and cold, can't believe he expected to be beaten by Richardson four times. Sundström did his job, 1-1 against Törnqvist. Nermark couldn't ride Vetlanda until last year, but has now produced two quality meetings at the track. Will soon be out of a reserve berth. Man of the match: Lee Richardson Most exciting rider: Adam Skornicki *-*-* ROUND 3 - TUESDAY MAY 13TH: MasarnaAvesta - Hammarby Lejonen - Dackarna Piraterna - Rospiggarna Västervik - Indianerna Elit Vetlanda - Smederna *-*-* CURRENT STANDING: 1. Dackarna, 2, 2-0-0, 4p (+42) 2. Hammarby, 2, 2-0-0, 4p (+18) 3. Rospiggarna, 2, 2-0-0, 4p (+8) 4. Västervik, 2, 1-0-1, 2p (+20) 5. Lejonen, 2, 1-0-1, 2p (+10) 6. Elit Vetlanda, 2, 1-0-1, 2p (+8) ----------------------------------------- 7. MasarnaAvesta, 2, 1-0-1, 2p (-22) 8. Piraterna, 2, 0-0-2, 0p (-18) 9. Indianerna, 2, 0-0-2, 0p (-30) ----------------------------------------- 10. Smederna, 2, 0-0-2, 0p (-36)

As usual, all Elitserien meetings are covered by live updates on www.speedway.nu. Report will be posted later tonight from the Elit Vetlanda - Piraterna meeting.

That's nice to hear! Kim guested for the VMS Elit (now Elit Vetlanda) junior team in Eskilstuna way back in 2006, pulling off a fantastic race for a paid win against Robin Bergqvist and Linus Eklöf in the later stages of the meeting. That really "made" my trip (as I were team manager) even though we didn't win, and I have always kept an eye on his progress ever since. Isn't there a saying that elephants have a long lasting memory? I guess I have a memory like that when it comes to inspired guest performences for "my" teams throughout the years.

Going on current form, Kim really should have a place in the Swedish U19 team that race the European U19 Team Final in Rawicz on May 22nd. But I wonder who of Gustafsson, Lindgren, Eklöf and Sundström that will have to step down? Sundström had a bad Elitserien meeting in the 1st round and struggled today, but he was the top scorer in the semifinal. Interesting times are ahead!

Yes, he is the current Swedish U21 champion, but he has started the season rather slow, being outmuscled for a place in both Hammarby and Griparna by Kim Nilsson so far.

You don't!? I'm pretty sure they are Simon Gustafsson, Kim Nilsson, Linus Eklöf, Ludvig Lindgren, Niklas Larsson and Jonas Messing (hence the run-off against Linus Sundström).

Ludvig looked good against what was supposed to be one of the best reserve pairings in the league. 'Henka' Gustafsson lead heat 11 and seemed to be joined by Simon for a maximum, but Ludvig somehow managed to find some room on the inside exiting bend four to push past 'Henka' for the win instead. A job well done for Ludvig. *************** SWEDISH ELITSERIEN ROUND 1 Tuesday April 29th 2008 MASARNAAVESTA - ELIT VETLANDA 50-46 Attendence: 2034 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Last year's semifinalist Elit Vetlanda's troubles at Avesta continues with another loss. The home side opened up an eight point lead after six heats, but the guests took it to a last heat decider in which Leigh Adams and Emil Sajfutdinov score a maximum over Rune Holta and Lee Richardson to win it for MasarnaAvesta. MasarnaAvesta (home) 50 1. Kenneth Bjerre 1*-1-2-1-1 = 6+1 (5) 2. Emil Sajfutdinov 2-3-T-2-2* = 9+1 (5) 3. Dave Watt 3-1-Ef-1*-0 = 5+1 (5) 4. Simon Stead 0-3-2-1* = 6+1 (4) 5. Leigh Adams 3-3-2-3-3 = 14 (5) 6. Oliver Allen 3-0-2*-1-1*-2 = 9+2 (6) 7. Dennis Andersson N-N-N-N = 0 (0) 8. Anton Rosén 1-0-0 = 1 (3) Elit Vetlanda (away) 46 1. Jaroslaw Hampel 3-2-2-0-2* = 9+1 (5) 2. Karol Zabik 0-F-N-N = 0 (2) 3. Lee Richardson 2-3-3-2-0 = 10 (5) 4. Peter Ljung 1*-1-N-3-3 = 8+1 (4) 5. Rune Holta 2-2*-3-3-0-1 = 11+1 (6) 6. Robin Törnqvist 0-N-0-0-1 = 1 (4) 7. Thomas H Jonasson 2-1*-0-1-3-0 = 7+1 (6) 8. Robin Aspegren ROSPIGGARNA - VÄSTERVIK 51-45 Attendence: 2154 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. Underdogs Rospiggarna pulled off a massive shock as they opened up an early 15-3 lead, and holding on for a win against last season's silver medalist Västervik. Janusz Kolodziej and Lubos Tomicek scored two maximums in heats 3 & 6 to put Rospiggarna ahead by 26-10 and despite the best efforts of the three Västervik heat leaders, they couldn't mount a good enough comeback. Rospiggarna (home) 51 1. Greg Hancock 3-3-3-1-1* = 11+1 (5) 2. Charlie Gjedde 2*-3-1-Ef-1* = 7+2 (5) 3. Janusz Kolodziej 3-2*-2-3-2 = 12+1 (5) 4. Lubos Tomicek 2*-3-1*-1-2 = 9+2 (5) 5. Adam Shields 2-1-0-0 = 3 (4) 6. Travis McGowan 2*-0-0-3 = 5+1 (4) 7. Jens Oskarsson N-N-N-N = 0 (0) 8. Jonas Messing 3-1-0-0 = 4 (4) Västervik (away) 45 1. Bjarne Pedersen 1-1-3-1*-2-3 = 11+1 (6) 2. Chris Harris 0-0-N-N = 0 (2) 3. Niels-Kristian Iversen 0-2-3-2*-3-0 = 10+1 (6) 4. Tomasz Chrzanowski 1-2-0-2*-1*-0 = 6+2 (6) 5. Tomasz Gollob 3-0-2-3-2*-3 = 13+1 (6) 6. Jonas Andersson 0-N-N-2 = 2 (2) 7. Billy Forsberg 1-1-0-N-1* = 3+1 (4) 8. DACKARNA - INDIANERNA 62-34 Attendence: 4672 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. The strength of champions Dackarna were seen at G&B Arena tonight, leaving a guy of Andreas Jonsson's caliber out of the two nomination heats and still score a 9-3 advantage really tells a story. It sure was a one-sided meeting with only Piotr Protasiewicz and Simon Gustafsson (at reserve) getting any credits for their efforts in the Indian side. Shame this was shown on Canal+, the cameras should definitely have been somewhere else, any other meeting would have been a good idea. I was at this meeting, but I won't give rider comments, the scores for each rider tells the truth. Dackarna (home) 62 1. Hans Andersen 2*-2*-2-3-3 = 12+2 (5) 2. Peter Karlsson 3-2-3-2*-2* = 12+2 (5) 3. Fredrik Lindgren 3-3-3-3-3 = 15 (5) 4. Lukas Dryml 2*-2*-1-3-1 = 9+2 (5) 5. Andreas Jonsson 3-3-0-1 = 7 (4) 6. Ludvig Lindgren 2-1-0-3 = 6 (4) 7. Andreas Bergström 1*-0-0-0 = 1+1 (4) 8. Christian Agö Indianerna (away) 34 1. Adrian Miedzinski Ef-0-2-1-1-2 = 6 (6) 2. Magnus Zetterström 1-1-1*-2-0 = 5+1 (5) 3. Matej Ferjan 0-R-N-0 = 0 (3) 4. Edward Kennett 1-3-1-M-0-0 = 5 (6) 5. Piotr Protasiewicz 2-2-3-1*-2-1 = 11+1 (6) 6. Henrik Gustafsson 0-1-N-2 = 3 (3) 7. Simon Gustafsson 3-0-N-1* = 4+1 (3) 8. David Rohlén LEJONEN - SMEDERNA 59-37 Attendence: 3237 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. The Lions produced a fine performence in their comeback to Elitserien, beating a fancied Smederna side by twenty-two points. Lejonen had a massive advantage at reserve, despite Miskowiak being a Lejonen rider a few years ago, and a red hot Tomasz Jedrzejak scoring a paid max at No 2. One thing is for sure, Lejonen won't be a push-over in this year's Elitserien! Lejonen (home) 59 1. Chris Holder 3-2*-0-2*-2 = 9+2 (5) 2. Tomasz Jedrzejak 2*-2*-3-3-2* = 12+3 (5) 3. Sebastian Ulamek 3-0-Ef-1 = 4 (4) 4. Piotr Swiderski 1-2-1-0 = 4 (4) 5. Nicki Pedersen 2-3-3-3-3 = 14 (5) 6. Ricky Kling 3-1*-0-1* = 5+2 (4) 7. David Ruud 2*-3-3-2-1* = 11+2 (5) 8. Kim Almqvist Smederna (away) 37 1. Krzysztof Kasprzak 0-3-2-1*-2-0 = 8+1 (6) 2. Kim Jansson 1-1-1*-N = 3+1 (3) 3. Jonas Davidsson 2-1-3-2-0-3 = 11 (6) 4. Rory Schlein 0-1-0-0 = 1 (4) 5. Wieslaw Jagus 3-2*-2-1*-1-1 = 10+1 (6) 6. Robert Miskowiak 0-0-N-3-0 = 3 (4) 7. Linus Eklöf 1-0-N-N = 1 (2) 8. Robert Henderson 0 = 0 (1) PIRATERNA - HAMMARBY 45-51 Attendence: 2428 Heat details, courtesy of www.speedway.nu. New team manager Stefan Andersson got off to a bad start as the man in charge for Piraterna, losing at home to Hammarby. The Pirates did actually start with a maximum in heat 1 but two maximum against the Balinski/Max pairing changed the fortunes for the home side, trailing by two after six heats. Hammarby took a crucial maximum in heat 10 to regain the momentum, but two points were still needed in heat 16 to clinch the meeting and Dobrucki/Nicholls took care of business while recording a 4-2 against Sullivan/Kosciecha. Piraterna (home) 45 1. Grzegorz Walasek 2*-1*-1-2*-2 = 8+3 (5) 2. Robert Kosciecha 3-3-2-1*-Ef-0 = 9+1 (6) 3. Damian Balinski 0-1-Fx-N-1* = 2+1 (4) 4. Mikael Max 1-0-N-N = 1 (2) 5. Ryan Sullivan 3-3-2-2-3-2 = 15 (6) 6. Daniel Nermark 3-Ef-1-3-1-2 = 10 (6) 7. Linus Sundström 0-N-0-0 = 0 (3) 8. Tobias Ingesson Hammarby (away) 51 1. Rafal Dobrucki 0-3-2-3-3 = 11 (5) 2. Tomasz Gapinski 1-2*-0-0 = 3+1 (4) 3. Jesper B Monberg 3-0-3-0 = 6 (4) 4. Matej Zagar 2*-Ef-3-1-3 = 9+1 (5) 5. Scott Nicholls 2-2-2*-1-1 = 8+1 (5) 6. Joonas Kylmäkorpi 1*-2-1*-3-3-0 = 10+2 (6) 7. Kim Nilsson 2-1*-N-1 = 4+1 (3) 8. Robert Pettersson NEXT ROUND - TUESDAY MAY 6TH: Hammarby - Lejonen Indianerna - Rospiggarna Smederna - Dackarna Västervik - MasarnaAvesta Elit Vetlanda - Piraterna

So, it's finally here, the opening round of Elitserien 2008! The line-ups for tomorrow's round 1 are: MASARNAAVESTA - ELIT VETLANDA The home side could have had Simon Stead as a reserve if they had opted for Pawel Miesiac among the top five, but that didn't happen, the management choose Oliver Allen instead of Miesiac. 'Olly' has, like several other home riders, started their seasons well abroad while several of Elit Vetlanda's riders have some questionmarks over their performences so far. Elit Vetlanda may be considered favourites by many, but the team haven't been the best travellers to Avesta, so IMO a home win looks likely. MasarnaAvesta (home) 1. Kenneth Bjerre 2. Emil Sajfutdinov 3. Dave Watt 4. Simon Stead 5. Leigh Adams 6. Oliver Allen 7. Dennis Andersson J ( 8. Anton Rosén J ) Elit Vetlanda (away) 1. Jaroslaw Hampel 2. Karol Zabik 3. Lee Richardson 4. Peter Ljung 5. Rune Holta 6. Robin Törnqvist J 7. Thomas H Jonasson J ( 8. Robin Aspegren J ) ROSPIGGARNA - VÄSTERVIK The home side have three new riders in the line-up against Västervik; Adam Shields, Lubos Tomicek and Charlie Gjedde, while Västervik have kept most of their riders from last year. The away team has been good visitors to Hallstavik and should be able to sneak another win here, though not necessarily by a big margin. Rospiggarna (home) 1. Greg Hancock 2. Charlie Gjedde 3. Janusz Kolodziej 4. Lubos Tomicek 5. Adam Shields 6. Travis McGowan 7. Jens Oskarsson J ( 8. Jonas Messing J ) Västervik (away) 1. Bjarne Pedersen 2. Chris Harris 3. Niels-Kristian Iversen 4. Tomasz Chrzanowski 5. Tomasz Gollob 6. Jonas Andersson J 7. Billy Forsberg J ( 8. ) DACKARNA - INDIANERNA Champions Dackarna take on The Indians in the meeting which seems easiest to predict. Dackarna have an ultra-strong top five, which naturally leaves them with a tail which could keep Indianerna in the meeting until heat 11. After that, the meeting will likely slip between The Indians' fingers. Dackarna (home) 1. Hans Andersen 2. Peter Karlsson 3. Fredrik Lindgren 4. Lukas Dryml 5. Andreas Jonsson 6. Ludvig Lindgren J 7. Andreas Bergström ( 8. Christian Agö J ) Indianerna (away) 1. Adrian Miedzinski 2. Magnus Zetterström 3. Matej Ferjan 4. Edward Kennett 5. Piotr Protasiewicz 6. Henrik Gustafsson 7. Simon Gustafsson J ( 8. David Rohlén J ) LEJONEN - SMEDERNA Newcomers Lejonen have built an exiting team during the off season, and despite signing Nicki Pedersen to 10.50 they have been able to have a solid look throughout the team, way down at reserve where Kling/Ruud should score heavily most times. Most of The Lions' riders have started the season well, especially second strings Tomasz Jedrzejak and Piotr Swiderski which could prove to be the decisive factor in this one. Krzysztof Buczkowski will be missing from the original line-up due to family matter, and will be replaced by Kim Jansson at No 2 for Smederna. Lejonen (home) 1. Chris Holder 2. Tomasz Jedrzejak 3. Sebastian Ulamek 4. Piotr Swiderski 5. Nicki Pedersen 6. Ricky Kling J 7. David Ruud ( 8. Anton Göthberg J ) Smederna (away) 1. Krzysztof Kasprzak 2. Krzysztof Buczkowski Kim Jansson 3. Jonas Davidsson 4. Rory Schlein 5. Wieslaw Jagus 6. Robert Miskowiak 7. Linus Eklöf J ( 8. Robert Henderson J ) PIRATERNA - HAMMARBY The meeting at Lastpartner Arena in Motala, formerly known as Platenstadion, should be a tight one. Ryan Sullivan looks to be the star of the show while the others should beat each other all the time. And at reserve, a huge battle will go on between Daniel Nermark and Joonas Kylmäkorpi, an exciting match-up for sure. Last year's meetings ended in two 48-48 draws, and it could actually happen again! Piraterna (home) 1. Grzegorz Walasek 2. Robert Kosciecha 3. Damian Balinski 4. Mikael Max 5. Ryan Sullivan 6. Daniel Nermark 7. Linus Sundström J ( 8. Tobias Ingesson J ) Hammarby (away) 1. Rafal Dobrucki 2. Tomasz Gapinski 3. Jesper B Monberg 4. Matej Zagar 5. Scott Nicholls 6. Joonas Kylmäkorpi 7. Kim Nilsson J ( 8. Robert Pettersson J ) J = Swedish junior One Swedish junior must be in a team's 1-7. The team managers can also have a No 8 (Swedish U21) in the team, with no scheduled rides. Meetings are covered by live updates on www.speedway.nu from 1900 hrs local time. I'll write a short summary of the Dackarna - Indianerna meeting as I will be going to that one, unless someone beats me to it, that meeting is also the meeting being shown live on Canal+.

Yes, we should put it back on track then with the line-ups for the upcoming meetings in the Danish league: Sunday; Holstebro - Fjelsted: Holstebro: 1. Bjarne Pedersen, 2. Leon D Madsen, 3. Tomasz Bajerski, 4. Kenni Arendt Larsen, 5. Claes Nedermark Fjelsted: 1. Rafal Trojanowski, 2. Claus Vissing, 3. Manuel Hauzinger, 4. Peter Kildemand, 5. Nicki Barret Monday; Grindsted - Outrup: Grindsted: 1. Henrik Gustafsson, 2. Jesper Kristiansen, 3. Henning Bager, 4. Anders Andersen, 5. Peter Juul Larsen Outrup: 1. Ronnie Jamrozy, 2. Kamil Zielinski, 3. Miroslaw Jablonski, 4. Tommy Georgsen, 5. Steffen Andersen Courtesy of www.speedway-league.com.

Nah, he (Lee Richardson for you, Liverstam ) actually can more than just gate, I think you need to see him ride on a weekly basis to see what he is capable of. However, I remember the pass on Nicholls as being pure poetry. Overall, I feel more and more points are won from the gate nowadays, and that's not due to the fact that I watch most of my speedway in Vetlanda, before someone mention it...