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Siltaniemi, Autio, Pulliainen? and Heikkilä are in Eskilstuna riding in the Jensen cup meeting that starts at 12. They'll have plenty of time to drive to Hallstavik after that...

The last I heard it's gonna be Kauko Nieminen and Joonas Kylmäkorpi with HA and NP. The latter two having to pay serious "get'in"money to hold their places...

A big meeting in Hallstavik tomorrow, Elektriska Open. Just heard about it myself from the very "wrong" source. A good lineup though! I am very surprised that Niko Siltaniemi did not get a place to ride in this one after his performance in the Finnish U21 meetings a few weeks ago. Still it's good to see hillopurkki making a comeback alltough I think NS would have shaken some serious feathers in this one given the chance. Startfält: Antonio Lindbäck Eric Andersson Jari Mäkinen Linus Sundström Linus Eklöf Kim Nilsson Timo Lahti Andreas Messing Kauko Nieminen Freddie Eriksson Henrik Karlsson David Hillborg Lars Daniel Gunnestad Anton Rosén Kenneth Hansen Andreas Westlund

This was in the Swedish papers some time ago, talk's about putting a gun to one's head and demanding to sign some loan papers for a ridicolous amount of money. Even the daughter was dragged in to it. TG himself said when interviewed that it's just some more rubbish thrown his way by people outside the family trying to mess him up and at the same time putting words in to their (wife and daughter) mouths.

On 10th of October there's an individual meeting at Hyvinkää, starts at 2 PM by yesterdays info. All the Finnish big guns will be there with a few Swede's to spice things up as I understood it. There was a sceduled practise at the re-launched Hyvinkää track yesterday and I'm told it was a huge success. A TV crew had been invited and they were gonna just come and take some shots for a quick insert. Didn't work out their way though, they were there for 3,5 hours. Loads of riders from 50cc micro to 500cc and I got the impression it was a success. The longtrack GP at Forssa in 2011 is in the hands of the local club. You would not believe the praise the challenge meeting has received from the "important ones" if I wrote it here. They (the club) are gonna keep their own feedback meeting in a few weeks and decide if they wanna step up even more in 2011, as it IS their call. EDIT:Refrasing my thoughts and "heards" regarding the Hyvinkää meeting to: riders coming back from Sweden, that are actually Finnish. Joni Keskinen and Aarni Heikkilä.

Finnish season is just about over. There's one more Jensen Cup meeting next saturday in Eskilstuna. Finland just might take the win in that one and clinch the whole series. They are currently joint #1 with Piraterna. 80cc riders will have their own Sweden - Finland match at the same track the following day. A week after that there's scheduled practise at the Hyvinkää track and according to my knowledge thats the final happening of the season. It's been a rather good one I think with loads to build on towards next year. I guess it's time to start stirring the Ice racing thread then, but not just yet. I'll write something in the coming couple of weeks to wrap things up.

Having gone through the results you can add Bernd Diener to the slightly unfortunate list. He was leading heat 7 by the proverbial mile when his engine blew up on the backstraight of lap... 4. Martin Smolinski DE 555555 30 Herbert Rudolph DE 553R54 22 Richard Hall GB 445422 21+5 Glenn Phillips GB 344343 21+R Aki-Pekka Mustonen FI 54533R 20 Matthias Kröger DE 254421 18 Jerome Lespinasse FR 32433 15+5 Sirg Schutzbach CH 4335R 15+4 Bernd Diener DE 23R54 14 Jannick de Jong NL 33221 11 Pasi Pulliainen FI 12240 9 Rene Lehtinen FI 41R11 7 Mark Stiekema NL 113R 5 Tom Perry GB 1R22 5 Daniel Rath DE 2RR2 4 Theo di Palma FR 021R 3 Richard Wolff CZ 0111 3 Gabriel Dubernard FR 0011 2 Erä erältä: 1. Mustonen, Lehtinen, Lespinasse, Kröger, Pulliainen, Wolff 120,76 2. Smolinski, Hall, de Jong, Rath, Stiekema, di Palma 119,64 3. Rudolph, Schutzbach, Phillips, Diener, Perry, Dubernard 119,04 4. Kröger, Phillips, Diener, di Palma, Wolff, Rath R 121,10 5. Smolinski, Hall, Schutzbach, Lespinasse, Lehtinen, Dubernard 119,48 6. Rudolph, Mustonen, de Jong, Pulliainen, Stiekema, Perry R 119,64 7. Hall, Lespinasse, Stiekema, Perry, Wolff, Diener R 121,79 8. Mustonen, Phillips, Schutzbach, de Jong, di Palma, Lehtinen R 120,51 9. Smolinski, Kröger, Rudolph, Pulliainen, Dubernard, Rath R 119,29 10. Schutzbach, Hall, Mustonen, Perry, Wolff, di Palma R 119,38 11. Smolinski, Kröger, Phillips, de Jong, Lehtinen, Rudolph R 119,76 12. Diener, Pulliainen, Lespinasse, Rath, Dubernard, Stiekema R 120,01 Semi 1: Smolinski, Diener, Lespinasse, Kröger, Lehtinen, Schutzbach R 121,07 Semi 2: Rudolph, Phillips, Mustonen, Hall, de Jong, Pulliainen 119,56 Uusinta: Lespinasse, Schutzbach 121,70 Finaali: Smolinski, Rudolph, Phillips, Hall, Kröger, Mustonen R 119,57 Uusinta: Hall, Phillips 121,82 Tuomari: Thierry Bouin, katsojia 2375. Probably a few galleries of pics will appear here by monday.

Happy now? What else can one do but ! Thats how life goes sometimes! Only saw this one after I posted the above. Of course everything is by the rules

Since the results are known I wont go in to them until tomorrow morning. A drink and the GP sounds a winner at this point. Good track, held up, everything ran smooth, weather was OK alltough there was serious showers predicted at 9PM but it was still dry when I left 9.30. Smolinski was untouchable, easy (looking) winner. Rudolph a clear 2nd with Hall and Phillips riding a rerun for third. Hall got the lead from the start in that one but Phillips did his best to challenge. I think it was lap one when they collided at the start of the front straight and the lap after Phillips got in front. Only to have his engine blown up a lap later. Schutzbach rode a rerun for the last place in next years GP against Lespinasse. Lespinasse took the lead with SS passing him entering lap two. He lead for two laps and then his engine blew up on the backstraight of lap 4. Didn't see it myself but I'm told there was stuff flying and bikes kicked afterwards. For the Finns Mustonen was as good as the results show. Dont think it was an EF why he retired in the final, someone said he'd taken a shower where it hurts the most or similar. Pulliainen had bike trouble in the start of the meeting after having ridden really well in practise. Lehtinen started well, then messed his start in his second (announcers comment) and suffered mechanical gremlins later on. Was outclassed in his semi. For the brits Perry was disappointed but somehow I got the impression that it was never gonna be his day today. Hall was good but Phillips really was put to the test a couple of times. Andrew Appleton was there also to scout out the place. With the organization that went on today, I think it's a given that you can change the TBA in next years LT calendar with Forssa, FINLAND! I didn't speak to everyone, but enough people did love the place. With around 1700 paying to get in, it was financially saved also, so come you can all come and see it done proper in 2011 also!

speedway.org is apparently doing live updates from this one every 3 heats. Weather is OK and one person even claims to have seen the sun.

Longtrack Challenge at Forssa tomorrow starts 5 PM local time. The track is in excellent condition I'm told today and the forecast of heavy rain during the meeting turned to nice but cloudy during last night. So it should be good. Draw: 1. Richard Wolff, Tsekki 2. Rene Lehtinen, Suomi 3. Pavel Ondrasik, Tsekki 4. Matthias Kröger, Saksa 5. Jerome Lespinasse, Ranska 6. Aki-Pekka Mustonen, Suomi 7. Daniel Rath, Saksa 8. Richard Hall, Iso-Britannia 9. Jannick de Jong, Hollanti 10. Theo di Palma, Ranska 11. Martin Smolinski, Saksa 12. Mark Stiekema, Hollanti 13. Glen Phillips, Iso-Britannia 14. Gabriel Dubenard, Ranska 15. Tom Perry, Iso-Britannia 16. Bernd Diener, Saksa 17. Sirg Schützbach, Saksa 18. Herbert Rudolph, Saksa 19. Pasi Pulliainen, Suomi 20. Tommi Ahlgren, Suomi It says on speedway.org that Pullainen will ride instead of Ondrasik. The theoretical chance of having qualified for the semis before heat 9 (practically with 20 points you'll be in the GP next year too) then goes to Tommi Ahlgren.

Dont think Timo is in any hurry yet. He's done/will get to 40+ meetings this season + training camps and a few tracks with an hours drive from home that he can practise at freely (not that he's had time). Also contracts and connections all over the place. Staying away one more season would only help him, in my opinion. Then he could laugh half the offers away when the time comes. Because even now, every team wants him in Europe.

Kaupunki Cup 1/6 Pori (PMK/FMS) 19.9.2010 Lahti 16 Jiri Nieminen 1322 8 Janne Nyman 2213 8 Forssa 15+3 Jani Eerikäinen 1021 4 Aarni Heikkilä 2333 11+3 Pori 15+2 Jouni Viljanen 032 5 Jere Lehtonen T1 1 Marko Suojanen 333 9+3 Seinäjoki 7+3 Jarkko Palmi 3112 7+3 Kauhajoki 7+2 Olli Heikkilä 1000 1 Jan-Eric Korkeamäki 2211 6+2 Erä erältä: 1. Suojanen, Nyman, Nieminen, Viljanen 68,79 2. Palmi, Korkeamäki, O.Heikkilä 70,02 3. Suojanen, Heikkilä, Eerikäinen 67,04 4. Nieminen, Nyman, Palmi 64,01 5. Viljanen, Korkeamäki, Lehtonen, O.Heikkilä 71,21 6. Heikkilä, Nieminen, Nyman, Eerikäinen 68,10 7. Heikkilä, Eerikäinen, Korkeamäki, O.Heikkilä 68,53 8. Suojanen, Viljanen, Palmi 71,66 9. Nyman, Nieminen, Korkeamäki, O.Heikkilä 69,22 10. Heikkilä, Palmi, Eerikäinen 68,80 Uusinta 1: Palmi, Korkeamäki 71,18 Uusinta 2: Heikkilä, Suojanen 66,91 Tuomari: Harri Heikkilä, katsojia 61. Kaupunki Cup averages by rider. Kuljettaja ------------ O --- E --- P --- 1. --- 2. --- 3. --- 4. --- d --- ka Marko Suojanen --- 3 --- 13 --- 36 --- 12 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 1 --- 11,08 Mika Loppi ----------- 4 --- 22 --- 56 --- 13 --- 8 --- 1 --- 0 --- 0 --- 10,18 Aarni Heikkilä ------- 4 --- 19 --- 47 --- 12 --- 5 --- 1 --- 1 --- 0 --- 9,89 Jani Eerikäinen ----- 5 --- 26 --- 58 --- 14 --- 6 --- 4 --- 2 --- 0 --- 8,92 Jiri Nieminen --------- 6 --- 31 --- 66 --- 10 --- 16 --- 3 --- 2 --- 0 --- 8,52 J-E Korkeamäki ----- 5 --- 27 --- 55 --- 8 --- 12 --- 7 --- 0 --- 0 --- 8,15 Janne Nyman ------- 3 --- 13 --- 23 --- 3 --- 6 --- 2 --- 2 --- 0 --- 7,08 Miikka Mäkelä ------- 3 --- 17 --- 30 --- 5 --- 6 --- 3 --- 2 --- 1 --- 7,06 Jarkko Palmi --------- 5 --- 25 --- 41 --- 6 --- 9 --- 7 --- 2 --- 1 --- 6,56 Jouni Viljanen ------- 6 --- 30 --- 37 --- 2 --- 9 --- 13 --- 4 --- 2 --- 4,93 Reima Heikkilä ----- 3 --- 17 --- 14 --- 1 --- 2 --- 7 --- 6 --- 1 --- 3,29 Olli Heikkilä ---------- 6 --- 31 --- 21 --- 0 --- 3 --- 14 --- 14 --- 0 --- 2,71 Rene Lehtinen ----- 1 --- 5 --- 14 --- 4 --- 1 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 11,20 Jani Pirttinen -------- 1 --- 5 --- 14 --- 4 --- 1 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 11,20 Petri Koskela -------- 1 --- 5 --- 13 --- 3 --- 2 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 10,40 Markku Weckman - 1 --- 6 --- 9 --- 0 --- 3 --- 3 --- 0 --- 0 --- 6,00 Hannu Hietamäki -- 1 --- 6 --- 7 --- 0 --- 2 --- 3 --- 1 --- 0 --- 4,67 Teemu Mattila ------ 1 --- 2 --- 2 --- 0 --- 1 --- 0 --- 0 --- 1 --- 4,00 Jere Lehtonen ------ 2 --- 7 --- 6 --- 1 --- 0 --- 3 --- 1 --- 2 --- 3,43 Markku Larronmaa - 2 --- 12 --- 10 --- 1 --- 1 --- 5 --- 4 --- 1 --- 3,33 Jukka Nieminen ---- 1 --- 5 --- 3 --- 0 --- 0 --- 3 --- 0 --- 2 --- 2,40 Reino Koivuluoma - 1 --- 3 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 2 --- 1 --- 0,00 Not gonna say anything about the standings, dont have the time to go through the results with the rulebook. EDIT2: Though I did do this since the movie on the tv is sh1te. It has nothing to do with the official final standings, but gives you a clue on whats been going on. Team M - + Forssa 6 - 115 Pori 6 - 110 Lahti 6 - 99 Seinäjoki II 4 - 78 Seinäjoki 6 - 73 Kauhajoki 6 - 73 Lahti II 1 - 9

Cheers. Will we see Protasiewicz riding in 2011?

Polish friends attention! I dont have the knowledge going back that far, but what was the situation going back some years showing (apparently) TG wiping out PP and giving him the title trough a runoff?

37th Pariajon SM-finaali Pori (PMK) 18.9.2010 Seinäjoen MK (Kotkat) 23 Kauko Nieminen 23222 11 Juha Hautamäki 32331 12 Rene Lehtinen Kauhajoen MK (Jokerit) 21 Niko Siltaniemi 02333 11 Joni Keskinen 1322 8 Markku Autio 2 2 Pirkan MM (Wasamat) 15 Aarni Heikkilä 21100 4 Jari Mäkinen 33R23 11 Porin MK (Paholaiset) 14 Marko Suojanen 3d301 7 Petri Koskela 23110 7 Salpausselän MK (Haukat) 10 Jiri Nieminen 12113 8 Janne Nyman 00002 2 Satakunnan UA (-) 7 Jouni Viljanen 111 3 Jere Lehtonen 02T11 4 Erä erältä: 1. Mäkinen, Heikkilä, Viljanen, Lehtonen 65,56 2. Suojanen, Koskela, J.Nieminen, Nyman 66,57 3. Hautamäki, Nieminen, Keskinen, Siltaniemi 63,63 4. Mäkinen, J.Nieminen, Heikkilä, Nyman 65,10 5. Koskela, Lehtonen, Viljanen, Suojanen d ei aikaa 6. Keskinen, Siltaniemi, Heikkilä, Mäkinen R 65,10 7. Nieminen, Hautamäki, J.Nieminen, Nyman 65,41 8. Siltaniemi, Keskinen, Viljanen, Lehtonen T 64,91 9. Suojanen, Mäkinen, Koskela, Heikkilä 65,63 10. Hautamäki, Nieminen, Lehtonen 64,84 11. Siltaniemi, Autio, J.Nieminen, Nyman 64,70 12. Hautamäki, Nieminen, Koskela, Suojanen 64,37 13. J.Nieminen, Nyman, Lehtonen 67,77 14. Siltaniemi, Keskinen, Suojanen, Koskela 65,51 15. Mäkinen, Nieminen, Hautamäki, Heikkilä 65,37 Tuomari: Matti Koivuoja, katsojia 330. Jari Mäkinen became only the second rider this season to beat Kauko Nieminen in Finland. Tero Aarnio broke that duck in the individual final earlier at Kauhajoki. Mäkinen winning the Kotkat pairing that had already secured the title had lifted some eyebrows and opinions had been voiced at the track, but thats speedway. Marko Suojanen had shed a chain while leading in heat 5. This was the last chance of the season for Juha Hautamäki to continue his winning streak that started back in 2005. He won double then (individual and league), league in 2006 (only! ), triple both 2007 and 2008, double again in 2009 (pairs and league) and now only pairs. Having scored 45% of the points Kotkat scored this season in the Extraliiga, I think it safe to say that if you want to win, get him. I have a feeling that this meeting will be talked about later on the year. And not about the racing or other more important matters, but who organised it and why.

If he's given the chance and the circumstances I'd say he'd love to come. Kaupunki Cup 6/6 Pori (PMK) 12.9.2010 Forssa 15 Aarni Heikkilä 3332 11 Jani Eerikäinen 1120 4 Seinäjoki I 4 Jarkko Palmi 2121 4 Pori 18 Jouni Viljanen 1221 6 Marko Suojanen 3333 12 Lahti 13 Jiri Nieminen 2103 6 Janne Nyman 0322 7 Kauhajoki 9 Jan-Eric Korkeamäki 2113 7 Olli Heikkilä 0002 2 Erä erältä: 1. Heikkilä, Palmi, Eerikäinen 68,67 2. Suojanen, Nieminen, Viljanen, Nyman 66,00 3. Suojanen, Viljanen, Palmi 65,66 4. Nyman, Korkeamäki, Nieminen, O.Heikkilä 69,17 5. Suojanen, Viljanen, Korkeamäki, O.Heikkilä 64,87 6. Heikkilä, Nyman, Eerikäinen, Nieminen 68,42 7. Nieminen, Nyman, Palmi 68,75 8. Heikkilä, Eerikäinen, Korkeamäki, O.Heikkilä 67,29 9. Suojanen, Heikkilä, Viljanen, Eerikäinen 64,58 10. Korkeamäki, O.Heikkilä 73,84 Tuomari: Harri Heikkilä, katsojia 43. 1/6 this coming sunday at the same track. I'm not commentating on the standings of the KC. Teams have been riding with one rider, no shows by teams and practically everything else you can think of.

Teemu's crash should appear here in a few days, I've forwarded the pics under Teemu's approval. It was a broken collarbone and extensive ligament damage and he's out for 3 months. He was operated this tuesday by someone better thah the guy who recently did Jason Crump and he should get back to full fitness before next season. Still a shame, but like he said himself, thats what happens when your rear chain locks up the rear wheel entering turn one at Eskilstuna... Pairs final this saturday at Pori, I'm told six teams are taking part.

Extraliiga avereages from 2010: Kuljettaja ---------------- Seura ------- O --- E --- P --- BP --- JP --- 1. --- 2. --- 3. --- 4. --- d --- ka --- ka _BP Juha Hautamäki ------- Kotkat ------ 8 --- 40 --- 109 --- 4 --- 6 --- 32 --- 8 --- 0 --- 1 --- 0 --- 10,90 --- 11,30 Jari Mäkinen ----------- Paholaiset - 4 --- 20 --- 47 --- 0 --- 4 --- 10 --- 8 --- 1 --- 0 --- 1 ------ 9,40 --- 9,40 Timo Lahti -------------- Haukat ----- 8 --- 40 --- 92 --- 4 --- 0 --- 22 --- 8 --- 7 --- 2 --- 0 ------ 9,20 --- 9,60 Tero Aarnio ------------ Jokerit ------ 5 --- 25 --- 50 --- 3 --- 4 --- 8 --- 12 --- 2 --- 1 --- 2 ------ 8,00 --- 8,48 Teemu Lahti ----------- Haukat ------ 6 --- 30 --- 58 --- 4 --- 3 --- 11 --- 8 --- 9 --- 1 --- 1 ------ 7,73 --- 8,27 Joni Keskinen -------- Jokerit ------- 8 --- 40 --- 70 --- 8 --- 5 --- 12 --- 14 --- 6 --- 7 --- 1 ----- 7,00 --- 7,80 Niko Siltaniemi ------ Jokerit -------- 8 --- 40 --- 67 --- 11 --- 0 --- 11 --- 10 --- 12 --- 4 --- 3 -- 6,70 --- 7,80 Tomi Reima ---------- Haukat ------- 8 --- 40 --- 64 --- 10 --- 0 --- 9 --- 12 --- 13 --- 5 --- 1 --- 6,40 --- 7,40 Pasi Pulliainen ------- Kotkat ------- 7 --- 34 --- 50 --- 5 --- 6 --- 6 --- 13 --- 6 --- 9 --- 0 -------- 5,88 --- 6,47 Markku Autio --------- Jokerit ------- 5 --- 16 --- 22 --- 5 --- 0 --- 3 --- 5 --- 2 --- 4 --- 2 --------- 5,50 --- 6,75 Rene Lehtinen ------- Kotkat ------- 4 --- 20 --- 27 --- 5 --- 0 --- 3 --- 6 --- 6 --- 5 --- 0 --------- 5,40 --- 6,40 Marko Suojanen ----- Paholaiset - 8 --- 37 --- 42 --- 2 --- 1 --- 3 --- 10 --- 13 --- 6 --- 5 ----- 4,54 --- 4,76 Mika Loppi ------------- Kotkat ------ 5 --- 20 --- 18 --- 6 --- 0 --- 1 --- 3 --- 9 --- 5 --- 2 -------- 3,60 --- 4,80 Petri Koskela --------- Paholaiset - 6 --- 26 --- 23 --- 4 --- 0 --- 2 --- 4 --- 9 --- 10 --- 1 ------- 3,54 --- 4,15 Aarni Heikkilä -------- Paholaiset -- 6 --- 25 --- 20 --- 4 --- 2 --- 1 --- 3 --- 8 --- 7 --- 3 -------- 3,20 --- 3,84 Joni Kitala ------------- Haukat ------ 6 --- 17 --- 8 --- 2 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 5 --- 8 --- 1 --------- 1,88 --- 2,35 Jiri Nieminen --------- Jokerit ------- 4 --- 12 --- 3 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 3 --- 7 --- 2 --------- 1,00 --- 1,00 Kauko Nieminen ------ Kotkat ------- 2 --- 10 --- 26 --- 4 --- 0 --- 6 --- 4 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 ------ 10,40 --- 12,00 Daniel Henderson ---- Jokerit ------ 1 --- 5 --- 10 --- 1 --- 0 --- 0 --- 5 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --------- 8,00 --- 8,80 Alexander Edberg --- Haukat ------ 2 --- 12 --- 23 --- 5 --- 0 --- 3 --- 5 --- 4 --- 0 --- 0 -------- 7,67 --- 9,33 Miikka Mäkelä -------- Kotkat ------- 1 --- 3 --- 3 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 1 --- 1 --- 1 --- 0 ----------- 4,00 --- 4,00 Marko Hyyryläinen -- Haukat ------ 2 --- 5 --- 5 --- 2 --- 0 --- 0 --- 2 --- 1 --- 2 --- 0 ----------- 4,00 --- 5,60 Jani Pirttinen --------- Kotkat ------- 2 --- 6 --- 5 --- 0 --- 0 --- 1 --- 0 --- 2 --- 3 --- 0 ------------ 3,33 --- 3,33 Janne Nyman -------- Paholaiset - 1 --- 5 --- 3 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 1 --- 1 --- 3 --- 0 ------------ 2,40 --- 2,40 Jani Eerikäinen ------- Paholaiset - 1 --- 5 --- 3 --- 1 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 3 --- 2 --- 0 ----------- 2,40 --- 3,20 Jere Lehtonen -------- Paholaiset - 2 --- 9 --- 5 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 5 --- 2 --- 2 ----------- 2,22 --- 2,22 Jouni Viljanen -------- Paholaiset -- 2 --- 10 --- 4 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 4 --- 6 --- 0 --------- 1,60 --- 1,60 Appe Mustonen ------ Kotkat ------- 1 --- 5 --- 2 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 2 --- 3 --- 0 ---------- 1,60 --- 1,60 Jarkko Palmi ---------- Kotkat ------- 2 --- 6 --- 1 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 1 --- 4 --- 1 ---------- 0,67 --- 0,67 Jan-Eric Korkeamäki --- Jokerit --- 1 --- 3 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 0 --- 3 --- 0 ---------- 0,00 --- 0,00 You needed to be in three matches for your team to get a medal after the season so riders with 2 or less meetings have been put to the bottom of the list. Jari Mäkinen is the biggest surprise in this, he's had a good season even with his below par U21 final. Done only half the matches though, think he's been sick a couple of times and now this Swedish meeting last weekend. Joni Keskinen has been good also and alltough Pasi Pulliainen only has an average below six I stand by comments earlier, he surprised everyone on the first half of the season when he averaged almost 7,6 from his meetings. Not so many foreigners this season in the EL: 2010: 30/2 = 28 finns... 2009: 29/8 = 21 2008: 34/6 = 28 ... and that naturally is a good thing. Considering the Daniel Henderson did only one meeting for Jokerit and Joni Kitala's decision to retire after the season made Haukat turn to Edberg for the last two meetings. There's a lot to build on for next season but also a lot is happening behind the scenes that I do not want to worry about until the time comes. There was a KC round and the final round of 80cc yesterday at Pori but I've not received the results yet. Finnish calendar looks like this for the remainder of the season: September 18th: Pairs at Pori September 19th: Kaupunki Cup at Pori September 25th: Longtrack Challenge at Forssa Possibly individual Kemppi speedway and a training day at Hyvinkää are still open. Until next weekend it is!

Tomi Paavola might be the next one coming back. He's the driving force at Hyvinkää now where they have built an 80cc track and the bigger track is developed to meet the current specs a bit better! Tomi "Silver Bullet" Reima called it a day yesterday at Seinäjoki. 18 years as a speedway rider was enough (for now) and he's retired. As a winner also since he beat Niko Siltaniemi in his last heat (and it was a good heat) and took the league honours with Haukat. Scored also his season best in his 9th meeting of the season. I believe he's not totally lost to the sport though and thats good. The meeting yesterday was good as mentioned earlier. I made many mistakes with the results but they are OK now since 12 today. The weather was a bit iffy so they went trough it all very quickly. 1 hour 25 minutes from the start of the parade until the chequered flag on the last heat. I was once again all over the place so I had missed some tactical changes and such... Hautamäki/Nieminen pairing was untouchable. A couple of times a rider might have challenged the pair until the start of the backstraight but then Nieminen would just sweep them aside and they'd be gone... Siltaniemi was really fast for Jokerit and Keskinen was good too. I think he's ridden his best season yet. Reima was the best he's been this season alltough he did one mistake and that cost Haukat a point in favour of Kotkat as Hautamäki passed him in the last bend in heat 13. The pass by Hautamäki was one of many by him this season and he's basically kept Kotkat in the game by himself having scored 45% of their points during the season. Kotkat had planned to keep a low profile this season but the surprise of the season in Pasi Pulliainen's performance changed their plans midway and suddenly Kauko Nieminen was in the team since he was available after his polish plans went down the drain. For the champions Teemu Lahti's injury was a shock but in the end it went well, they won. Alex Edberg brought his best game to Finland yet and with tm Virtanen's tactical skills they managed to hang on alltough they scored only 2 points from 4 heats from their #1 in the last two meetings of the season. Timo Lahti was on form in these last two and was team riding like a real pro at Seinäjoki. At one point he could have as well grabbed the handlebars of Hyyryläinen and push him forward as he was trying to block an opponent behind them. He was riding REALLY slow compared to his own speed in that one. Reima lost only one point to an opponent and for that he can look in to the mirror to see who to blame. Paholaiset didn't do that well since Jari Mäkinen and Aarni Heikkilä were away riding in Sweden. Mäkinen would probably stirred things up a little between the top teams as I think only Siltaniemi, Nieminen and Hautamäki would have been faster than him. But that was not to be and in the end Paholaiset were basically on track to make up the numbers. The new meeting format has a couple of minor details to adjust but it worked a treat and the man behind it deserves the credit for creating it, our #1 Petri Meritähti. Since the teams met each other 12 times during both halves of the season it's possible to sum it all up on a "traditional" sort of way. Here's how it would look: Kevät 2010 Haukat 34 – Kotkat 38 Haukat 38 – Jokerit 31 Haukat 46 – Paholaiset 26 Kotkat 42 – Paholaiset 30 Kotkat 41 – Jokerit 31 Paholaiset 33 – Jokerit 39 Syksy 2010 Kotkat 33 (71) – Haukat 39 (73) Kotkat 35 (76) – Jokerit 37 (68) Kotkat 52 (94) – Paholaiset 19 (49) Haukat 44 (82) – Jokerit 28 (59) Haukat 51 (97) – Paholaiset 21 (47) Jokerit 54 (72) – Paholaiset 18 (56) Joukkue O - V - T - B - + - P Haukat 8 - 5 - 1 - 3 - 253 - 13 Kotkat 8 - 4 - 2 - 2 - 253 - 10 Jokerit 8 - 3 - 3 - 1 - 233 - 7 Paholaiset 8 - 0 - 6 - 0 - 154 - 0 Averages need some fine tuning, they'll be online early next week. So the right team won, congratulations Vikke on a job well done!

I spoke with Jani Pirttinen today and actually saw him ride for the first time today. He was not at all bad for a guy thats's bought his first bike ever this season. Didn't ask but I think he's closer to 40 than he's 25. He has a history of motor racing since 1986 and it envolves mx, formula ford, rallying, the snow sleigh something stuff and others and even national championship medals have been won. It looked a bit wild at times but he did take a heat win for Kotkat in a meeting that was very tense and important for the top three teams. Way to go Tomek. Glad for him!

Extraliiga 8/8 Season finale was truly a finale! Great speedway on a track that was perfect (if you forget the mention worthy dust problem) for Finnish speedway. More details tomorrow as I want to watch the GP. Haukat 36 Marko Hyyryläinen 02’ 2+1 Timo Lahti 1312’3 10+1 Tomi Reima 2’3323 13+1 Alexander Edberg 32’21’12’ 11+3 Kotkat 34 Kauko Nieminen 2’3332’ 13+2 Juha Hautamäki 32’2’33 13+2 Rene Lehtinen 01102’ 4+1 Jani Pirttinen 103 4 Jokerit 27 Jiri Nieminen 001 1 Joni Keskinen 31330 10 Niko Siltaniemi 32’121 9+1 Markku Autio 2’2’300 7+2 Paholaiset 11 - Marko Suojanen 1121 5 Petri Koskela 10121 5 Jouni Viljanen 10000 1 Erä erältä: 1. Keskinen, Autio, Viljanen 65,65 2. Hautamäki, Nieminen, T.Lahti, Hyyryläinen 64,78 3. Edberg, Reima, Koskela, Viljanen 65,87 4. Siltaniemi, Autio, Pirttinen, Lehtinen 65,25 5. Nieminen, Hautamäki, Keskinen, J.Nieminen 64,65 6. T.Lahti, Hyyryläinen, Suojanen, Koskela 67,65 7. Nieminen, Hautamäki, Suojanen 64,60 8. Reima, Edberg, Lehtinen, Pirttinen 65,09 9. Keskinen, Edberg, T.Lahti, J.Nieminen 65,65 10. Autio, Siltaniemi, Koskela, Viljanen 66,00 11. Nieminen, Suojanen, Lehtinen 65,40 12. Reima, T.Lahti, Siltaniemi, Autio 65,47 13. Hautamäki, Reima, Edberg, Lehtinen 64,91 14. Keskinen, Koskela, J.Nieminen, Viljanen 66,22 15. Reima, Siltaniemi, Edberg, Autio 66,00 16. Pirttinen, Lehtinen, Koskela, Viljanen 67,44 17. T.Lahti, Edberg, Koskela, Viljanen 66,90 18. Hautamäki, Nieminen, Siltaniemi, Keskinen 65,25 Tuomari: Mika Laukkanen, katsojia 210. Final table Team - M – + - P Haukat 8 – 253 – 33 Kotkat 8 – 253 – 33 Jokerit 8 – 233 – 28 Paholaiset 8 – 154 – 18 Haukat is the champion through countback on meeting wins. They won the championship with tied points alltough I said they wouldn't. My mistake, second this week. Not my week and just to top it all I was called today by phone and asked to retire from my commentary. I'll think about that more when I can stop laughing to the whole matter. EDIT2: Teemu Lahti had his meeting with the knife postponed until this coming tuesday due to (you'll love this): a lack of tools and proper spare parts by the surgeon. I spoke with Teemu today and we certainly had a good laugh. Teemu was a bit tired though with some strong painkillers on for an 8th day and counting...

Sorry to spoil yuour party but Simon Gustavsson is third through countback. Alltough there should have been a rerun for third but wasn't according to this.

I find myself in disbelief when I think eight months back, but currently I think Mäkinen might actually shake some feathers (easily?) in the PL. Siltaniemi would cope also and Timo Lahti would impress.

Was supposed to (/could have happened) ride today if it was not for this: "Here we go, go..." and this: gone! Season finished with a broken collarbone that was operated this tuesday.