iris123

Racing was good.Weather a bit wet,but ok

Sad to hear about Tuinstra.He went crashing intothe bales with Baltachev and both bikes.He did wave to the crowd as they put him in the ambulance,so i hoped it wasn't too bad.Some great racing yesterday,particularly Zorn and Bauer in the B-Final.Great to see Günther back in good form.All down to the A-Final today

Just to say,i did ask and they still have plenty of tickets for all areas.I can't say exactly how many but there were lots of cheap standing for saturday.I didn't see the pile for sunday though Berlin Practice Pics

Well yes,maybe Aakko and Niedermaier.I didn't really pay too much attention to times but i think the Russians(Bogdanov,Krasnikov)were doing 90/91kmh and Bauer 88kmh.Aakko was in the group with Posa,Klabo and Svensson.They were in a race passing each other and Aakko was at the back.But i don't know how much effort they put into it

That doesn't sound good.Is he thinking of retiring or just that it is too late in the season to invest in new equipment?

This one is also hard to get Money for Speed

As way of a taster for the weekend,i have put a few clips on youtube. .Sound is knackered on this one though

No problem tommy.I will ask on friday and let you know

I think even the cheap ones tommy.If you do go we can all meet up.If you want confirmation,i am going to the friday session and can ask how sales are and report back friday night.I could even get a ticket for you friday if you want to be certain before you set off

Welcome to the club Any news on the line up for Mowidamm?

Good luck with that.950! I was thinking of phoning you while you were out in the middle,but all the action was down your end(until the Finals)so didn't want to drag you away. Agree with both of you there were some strange decisions.I guess the ref was over-ruled by the Fim officials with sharing the points between Ivanov and Bulankin.Bit late though,as Dmitri was on his way to the rostrum when he was told And did either see what happened with Klabo?Unfair riding.

Just to question your result of the C Final Conkers(nice to finally meet you )I thought Svensson was waiting for Tuinstra.Tuinstra jumped on his bike and raced to the tapes,but was too late and disqualified under the 2 minute rule.Looked on Otties and Annikas web-sites and they also have Svennson winning by default

Well it was Mr Wojaczek in charge But todays Finals were a bit of an anti climax because of the decisions.At least it is all set for a nail biting weekend in Berlin A few photos here.More to follow Monday

I am just trying to tell it how it is.Or at least the way i see it.I have no reason to try and be defensive.I am not german and nor am i a fan of the GP series.Like i said it would be nice to have more and better coverage.But ask fans in most countries and they would say the same.The trouble is with german speedway,every year is practically the same as the year before.I think if criticism was to be aimed anywhere it should be aimed at speedway rather than the media.I think it is easier to have a good relationship with the media when you have a meeting every week or every two weeks.Here with only 1,2,or 3 meetings a year at each track it is harder.Plus like i say i may be lucky but i have worked with a guy from Teterow,who went regularly,a guy from Stralsund who used to go,plus i work with a woman who used to go to Brokstedt and went on a mini-bus to Norden to see Egon Müller.Also a few others who knew what speedway is and where some of the tracks are.That is my experience.Bavarian comes from a different part of the country and comes into contact with different people,so he tells it the way he finds it I am off to Assen now,so won't be able to join in any further debate this weekend

Peter might tell you different.He has probably seen Kenneth more than me.But i wouldn't go that far.He is a promising rider,but i think he is older than both Morten and Nicolai.Not sure.I would say Jonas is the most promising of the others.And after that look out for the newcomers in the 500cc class like ex 80cc World champ Simon Nielsen and René Bach(my tip for the top)and then Michael Jepsen Jensen,Mikkel B Jensen and Mikkel Michelsen.It will be interesting to see how Kenneth and Jonas do in the Premier League this season

Maybe you don't think coverage on tv is worth watching Bavarian,but i think most would disagree.All coverage is helpfull and the coverage i have seen over the past years although we would hope for more is generally better than 2 minutes.For the Kiel meeting there was a 2 part slot.One on the preparation and the next day some of the meeting itself.Last year NDR done a bit on the indoor meeting in Schwerin.I would guess 10 minutes.The other year NDR done a very good couple of slots on the Bergring(some of which i hope to have on youtube soon )plus they did a live report from Brokstedt.What sort of coverage does speedway get in other countries?In Britain,apart from Sky i would imagine it gets similar slots in local tv.In Poland from what was said on here recently speedway is also a local thing and people from towns and cities that don't hold the sport don#t know about it.Anyway i would disagree with your stats.Maybe i am just lucky.Maybe the fact i come into contact with lots of people from Meck-Pomm,but i have met quite a few speedway(ex-speedway generally)fans.Plus others i have talked too not only know about it but know one or two places where there are tracks.Of course it isn't on a level with football,but it isn't anywhere.When i spoke to a woman from a danish tv channel she said tv there is only really interested in football or handball. Anyway if all goes well in the next week i will put a few reports from german tv on youtube Sound is knackered,but most wouldn't understand anyway

How much coverage does speedway get in other countries?In Denmark i don't think it gets much,but i doesn't stop Danish speedway from producing top quality riders.Plus the Danish GP is one of the most popular/best attended.Speedway gets coverage in the local regional press and on regional tv.Not as much as clubs/riders/fans would like,maybe.Anyway there is an article with J.Postlethwaite in this months german track mag.He says he is hoping for 20-25,000,there is a contract for 3 years and if the attendance is a success then the contract will be lengthened Just to list this year so far......The indoor meeting in Kiel was on NDR tv.Which can be seen all over Northern Germany at the very least.The Ice speedway semi final in Inzell was on Bayern tv which can be seen throughout the country.We have only had 2 meetings so far this year and both had reports on tv!I would imagine the Ice speedway GP next weekend in Berlin will also be on tv.So that is 3 out of 3.How often is speedway on mainstream tv in Britain?

Full(ish) fixture list here

Well done to Germany.Better than i expected there.I did read that Bauer had strained his knee in Ufa last week which might explain why he wasn't used in all the heats.The Russians as expected romped away with it.Unfortunately i mucked up all my settings on the computer,so have spent a fair few hours trying to get it back to normal instead of following the weekends action.

Thats your opinion Didn't mention Kev because i wasn't sure his database was going to be on the net.Thought that was more his personal thing

Isn't there one on the Hull web-site.Just needs more people to put things on there.Or Frigbo is undertaking the same sort of thing year by year.Not sure where he is up to yet though.Nor if he started in 1965 or at the very beginning.Plus the Polish guy(who is often asking questions about riders here) seemed to be doing a comprehensive data base of all riders as well

What about South America?After all the Argentine championships were just held. I thought maybe Equador

Christian Hefenbrock & Tobi Kroner are the 2 German nominated riders for the European Championship quali in Stralsund,01.05.

I was going to say,it would be farcial if they stop him from riding in Russia because of a health problem,then don't even check him in Assen and let him ride.Surely the Fim have to have the same procedures in all their World Championship meetings.Lets hope it doesn't end up that he has to see the season out in the pits

Had no problem,but it just cut out and i missed the last 2 heats.