moomin man 76

Can't see any benefit of having France and Italy in front of Finland, bearing in mind the scores in the first semi-final, plus Finland qualifying for the final two years ago.

Timo Lahti has a Swedish passport on account of him riding in Sweden for numerous years, but it makes him as Swedish as it makes me a Finn (my wife being Finnish). Rding on a Swedish licence is out of convenience too, as although he is a Finn, he counts as a Swede for team building purposes in the Elitserien. Sadly speedway in Finland is really struggling, withno meetings held this season, due to the well documented insurance nightmare. Otto Raak being picked at reserve is largely due to their being no one else left to ride, rather than his ability as a 16 year old up and coming rider.

The situation regarding insurance for speedway in Finland is getting beyond a joke now. The sport was already struggling and the insurance issue could potentially finish off the sport. The sums quoted are astronomical per bike. You can practice, but cannot take part in a competitive meeting without insurance. Sadly there will probably be no speedway meetings in Finland at all this year, as the planned pairs series has also been cancelled.

Otto Raak for Finland at Varkaus.

Good stream on Tapes Up production, but with the dust already flying, the track at Abensberg desperately needs some water.

Not sure if Timo Lahti is doing himself any favours riding as a Swede, when it comes to allocating wild cards.

The Finnish rider at Ludwiglust will be Otto Raak from Varkaus. Sadly there are no other Finnish U21 riders of the requisite standard.

Even with my own profound dislike of Chris Holder, it can't be denied that he was a deserved qualifier and the quality of racing was excellent. After attending in person the qualifiers at Glasgow in 2019 and 2021, I would be delighted to see the Facena family awarded with another qualifier in 2022.

I am in the stadium. There are two ambulances here. The delay is apparently due to the medical teams checking over both Brad Wilson Dean and Tero Aarnio. Both are meant to be going to hospital to be checked over.

Riders in Heat Eight at Glasgow trading places until Brad Wilson Dean locks up mid bend turn three/four lap two leaving Tero Aarnio nowhere to go. He takes a bad fall and leaves the track in the ambulance. At least he was able to walk into the ambulance. A lengthy delay ensues.

I'm not a Diamonds fan, but I donated the cost of an adult admission. We can't afford to lose more clubs. Here's hoping the appeal raises more money in the coming days. Every little helps.

Not surprised this one was called off. I was on a crazy long drive from North Cumbria to Heathrow and back; nipped in to see my parents in Willenhall at 4pm, when the heavens opened like a monsoon. I can't imagine Monmore fared any paper. As I wasn't there, my only surprise is that they tried to run the meeting!

This meeting has now been scrapped and will no longer be staged at Belle Vue.

On results from last season's SEC; Timo Lahti should be included this year, if the organisers are simply going to pick/nominate riders.

A tad sentimental here. A potentially good race has just been reinstalled, but it doesn't have SCB let alone FIM approval. The spectator facilities at Odsal are also sadly a decaying wreck (crumbling terracing) if my last visit a couple of years ago for rugby league is anything to go by. Odsal needs massive investment to bring it back into the modern age. One of the reasons for the return of the stock cars is that neither the city council, the RFL or Bradford Bulls are willing to fund that investment.