f-s-p

There's no life outside BSF, that's for sure!

Kaupunki Cup table 2009 Team..........M....+....... P Lahti II........6....121....44 Kauhajoki....6.....92.....29 Lahti I.........6.....90.....27 Haapajärvi...5....77.....26 Pori.............6....76.....19 Seinäjoki.....6.....74....19 I did it anyway, alltough had promised myself to wait for the official one. This includes one deducted point from Pori for appearing one rider short at Lahti and Haapajärvi getting a zero for not coming to a meeting at all. Also Haapajärvi had only one rider for the second Lahti meeting, so thats -1 point too. The problem that'll have to be solved, was that there's been riders riding in teams that they were not eligible for. An interpretion of the rules has been set, but that cannot be done throughout the whole series, because a list that would show the riders is not available. But I guess this is as good as it gets. The top 3 teams have ridden according to the rules, Seinäjoki has been the biggest mess in this.

1965 final was listed in many papers at the time that 3rd place was given to both Heikki Kaprali and Esko Koponen. I think some of my lists have been saying Koponen because of that. Now I found a clip from "Forssan Lehti" dated August 1st 1965 that says a countback was used and Kaprali came third after (apparently) winning Koponen in heat 7. I believe it's Ilkka (not "Mikka") Helminen that came 3rd in the -61 final. Later died following a track crash at Haapajärvi. Will check that later today... EDIT: Indeed Ilkka Helminen was the other rider involded in a crash at Haapajärvi longtrack meeting July 12th 1964. Taisto Marttila (aged 18) and Helminen (26) tangled together and crashed. Marttila died at the local hospital during the day and Helminen two days later in a hospital at Oulu. This info from Lasse K Laitinens book (sold out). I also found a list of the Finnish medalists by Lasse K Laitinen (a source that I find 100% reliable), that says Väyrynen was third in -78. Will dig in to that later, I wonder where Koivuoja came in to the play... Crowd figures for Finnish finals 1955-1965 according to the local papers at the time: 1955: 2173 (5k capacity but there was only 2 persons at the gate and people got tired of waiting and left). 1956: 1500 1957: 5000, packed 1958: 3000, packed 1959: 2000 1960: 750, rain 1961: 1055 1962: 1503 1963: 1000 1964: 1500 1965: 1500 and 1967: 1000 What a nice way of spending a sunny autumn day... Nobody knows. and I'm not even lying.

Just for the sake of it I'll say I would have thrown Bogdanovs out of the stadium if he had stepped on to the track with that racing jacket if I were in charge of the proceedings... Just like what would have happened to Lukas Dryml in his qualifier at Divisov. I mean you prepare for a season for 2-5 months, build 2-6 bikes each worth 5-8k in that time, build your schedule and then qualify to the GP challenge. Then you show up in a racing jacket that has another country's flag ducktaped over on it. It would have cost you 60 euro to get one with your own sponsors or your country's flag on it... And the swedes would have gotten the boot too...

And the get that place in the semi, he had to be the champion of his country the year before...

Last meeting on the calendar was ridden yesterday at Pori, final round of the Kaupunki Cup. I believe it's safe to say that Lahti II won this years Cup, but other than that it's impossible to say how the standings will finally take place. I still havent received the rider list for this league after I asked for it maybe ten days ago. We'll let that go, it doesn't stop me from doing the averages tomorrow morning... Kaupunki Cup 6/6 Pori, September 19th Lahti II 21 Joni Kitala 22N12 7 Aarni Heikkilä 33323 14 Lahti I 17 Kalle Kivistö 11130 6 Janne Nyman 23321 11 Haapajärvi 15 Niko Siltaniemi 33333 15 Juho Ruuska dNNNN 0 Pori 14 Jouni Viljanen 31232 11 Markku Larronmaa 10011 3 Kauhajoki 12 Teemu Mattila 12223 10 Jere Mattila 00101 2 Seinäjoki 11 Jarkko Palmi 22212 9 Reima Heikkilä 0110R 2 Erä erältä: 1. Viljanen, Palmi, Larronmaa, R.Heikkilä 67,46 2. Siltaniemi, Nyman, Kivistö, Ruuska d 65,76 3. Heikkilä, Kitala, Mattila, J.Mattila 65,82 4. Heikkilä, Kitala, Viljanen, Larronmaa 66,22 5. Siltaniemi, Palmi, R.Heikkilä 65,92 6. Nyman, Mattila, Kivistö, J.Mattila 67,61 7. Siltaniemi, Mattila, J.Mattila 65,99 8. Heikkilä, Palmi, R.Heikkilä 66,15 9. Nyman, Viljanen, Kivistö, Larronmaa 68,11 10. Kivistö, Nyman, Palmi, R.Heikkilä 68,29 11. Viljanen, Mattila, Larronmaa, J.Mattila 69,05 12. Siltaniemi, Heikkilä, Kitala 66,30 13. Heikkilä, Kitala, Nyman, Kivistö 67,66 14. Siltaniemi, Viljanen, Larronmaa 66,36 15. Mattila, Palmi, J.Mattila, R.Heikkilä R 70,31 Katsojia 96 Kaupunki Cup averages, at least 3 matches done: Rider......................M...H...P...1st...2nd...3rd...4th...d...avg Niko Siltaniemi........3...15...44......14...1...0...0...0...11,73 Aarni Heikkilä..........5...23...55......14...6...1...2...0...9,57 Janne Nyman...........3...15...35......8...4...3...0...0...9,33 Teemu Mattila..........4...18...37......6...8...3...0...1...8,22 Joni Kitala................5...22...43......7...9...4...0...2...7,82 Kalle Kivistö.............6...30...55......9...11...6...2...2...7,33 Jouni Viljanen...........5...24...44......5...11...7...0...1...7,33 Juho Ruuska.............4...16...22......2...5...6...1...2...5,50 Jarkko Palmi.............6...31...42......7...9...8...6...1...5,42 Jan Eric Korkeamäki..3...10...13......0...5...3...2...0...5,20 Jukka Nieminen.........5...25...24......2...4...10...8...1...3,84 Markku Larronmaa....4...20...14......1...1...9...8...1...2,80 Jere Mattila...............5...22...13......0...3...7...12...0...2,36 Reima Heikkilä..........6...24...13......0...2...9...12...1...2,17 Markku Autio............1....6...18.......6...0...0...0...0...12,00 Jari Mäkinen.............2....8...24.......8...0...0...0...0...12,00 Jani Eerikäinen.........1....5...11.......2...2...1...0...0...8,80 Petteri Koivunen.......2....10..22......2...4...3...1...0...8,80 Markku Weckman.....1.....5...9........1...2...2...0...0...7,20 Finnish season is now done.

I was gonna start going through these but then the VERY first clip I opened said that my TOP3 from -57 was wrong on two place's... Sort of lost interest. But the way I compiled my list was from newspaper clips of the era so I thought it would be naturally right straightaway. I was on the phone yesterday and I should be getting more of them later this month, maybe I'll get in the mood again and spend a few days going through them just like that. Anyway, thank you for your help and I'll get back to this later.

KAUKOO!!!

Official statement out now saying that Kaj Laukkanen is not going to the longtrack challenge due to an injury. There are a couple of rumours doing the rounds here in Finland... One is that it's all done and dusted for him and the other is not so much of a rumour but a fact that he did not travel to Berghaupten for the EC final that he was supposed to be a reserve in... Perhaps there was a somesort of a penalty coming towards his actions... I would not know but isn't speculation all that this sport is about!

Lahti brothers have withdrawn from the junior meeting. There's talk that Appe Mustonen might be going, but dont know if it's just talk or not. EDIT:Timo Lahti and Appe Mustonen are riding in this one.

I heard that they landed on top of a moose too on their way to that meeting. Second year running you've won! Grattis!

Extraliiga 8/8 Lahti September 13th A couple of good battles made it worth it, but there were two teams that turned up with only three riders (the other one managed to find a replacement) and the racing wasn't all that great through the field. The track could have been better, but they did two meetings today on it, first the KC and then the EL and it almost held up OK for the EL. But like I said, there were a few good heats and battles and if I only concentrate on them, I might walk away from this season feeling good about it. Jokerit 36 Niko Siltaniemi d232 7 Markku Autio 23121 9 Kalle Katajisto 32333 14 Joni Keskinen 3201 6 HaukatRoyals 28 Tomi Reima 3326^12 17 Joni Kitala 1120 4 Aarni Heikkilä 120 3 Janne Nyman 20110 4 Keittiöpiste 26 Teemu Lahti 1d231 7 Timo Lahti 3316^23 18 Jukka Nieminen 0100 1 Kotkat 25 Juha Hautamäki 23232 12 Reima Heikkilä 000 0 Appe Mustonen 2132^20 10 Jarkko Palmi 1110 3 Erä erältä: 1. Reima, Hautamäki, Lahti, Siltaniemi d 65,41 2. T.Lahti, Autio, Kitala, R.Heikkilä 65,13 3. Katajisto, Mustonen, Heikkilä, Nieminen 64,44 4. Keskinen, Nyman, Palmi 68,06 5. T.Lahti, Siltaniemi, Mustonen, Nyman 65,70 6. Hautamäki, Katajisto, Kitala 65,50 7. Reima, Keskinen, Nieminen, R.Heikkilä 66,81 8. Autio, Heikkilä, Palmi, Lahti d 67,57 9. Mustonen, Reima, Autio 66,53 10. Katajisto, Lahti, Nyman, R.Heikkilä 65,53 11. Siltaniemi, Kitala, Palmi, Nieminen 68,41 12. Reima^, Hautamäki, T.Lahti, Keskinen 65,31 13. T.Lahti^, Siltaniemi, Mustonen^, Heikkilä 66,19 14. Hautamäki, Autio, Nyman, Nieminen 65,50 15. Katajisto, T.Lahti, Reima, Palmi 64,75 16. Lahti, Mustonen, Keskinen, Kitala 67,13 17. T.Lahti, Hautamäki, Autio, Nyman 65,78 18. Katajisto, Reima, Lahti, Mustonen 65,06 Katsojia 165 80cc 7/7 Lahti. Vili Hautala allowed his Smederna teamm8 Partanen win this one. I think it gave Partanen silver medal in the series. I'll find that out later. Vili Hautala KauhjMK 3332 11 Vili Mattila KauhjMK 3322 10 Niilo Vuolas HjMK 2313 9 Jooa Partanen KMMK 2223 9 Jere Lehtonen PMK d233 8 Santtu Tapiola SsMK 3d12 6 Perttu Tommola SsMK 1221 6 Antti Vuolas HjMK d131 5 Erä erältä: 1. Hautala, N.Vuolas, Vuolas d 50,16 2. Mattila, Partanen, Tommola 52,22 3. Tapiola, Lehtonen d ei aikaa 4. Hautala, Partanen 49,18 5. Mattila, Lehtonen, Vuolas 51,78 6. N.Vuolas, Tommola, Tapiola d 50,60 7. Hautala, Mattila, Tapiola 50,31 8. Vuolas, Tommola 52,06 9. Lehtonen, Partanen, N.Vuolas 53,06 10. Lehtonen, Hautala, Tommola 51,00 11. N.Vuolas, Mattila 51,79 12. Partanen, Tapiola, Vuolas 50,50 Finaali: Partanen, Hautala, Mattila, N.Vuolas 50,62 Kaupunki Cup 5/6 at Lahti Let's just focus on the results, since they'll change later on regarding team points. Lahti II 22 Joni Kitala 33122 11 Aarni Heikkilä 21233 11 Lahti I 18 Jukka Nieminen 11302 7 Kalle Kivistö 32213 11 Haapajärvi 15 Niko Siltaniemi 33333 15 Kauhajoki 13 Jere Mattila 00002 2 Teemu Mattila 22331 11 Seinäjoki 11+3 Jarkko Palmi 22121 8+3 Reima Heikkilä 11010 3 Pori 11+2 Jouni Viljanen 13221 9 Markku Larronmaa 0011d 2 Erä erältä: 1. Kitala, Heikkilä, Viljanen, Larronmaa 67,25 2. Siltaniemi, Palmi, R.Heikkilä 66,40 3. Kivistö, Mattila, Nieminen, J.Mattila 67,75 4. Kitala, Mattila, Heikkilä, J.Mattila 68,65 5. Viljanen, Palmi, R.Heikkilä, Larronmaa 71,56 6. Siltaniemi, Kivistö, Nieminen 66,34 7. Nieminen, Kivistö, Palmi, R.Heikkilä 72,94 8. Mattila, Viljanen, Larronmaa, J.Mattila 70,47 9. Siltaniemi, Heikkilä, Kitala 65,68 10. Siltaniemi, Viljanen, Larronmaa 65,88 11. Heikkilä, Kitala, Kivistö, Nieminen 67,97 12. Mattila, Palmi, R.Heikkilä, J:Mattila 70,27 13. Siltaniemi, J.Mattila, Mattila 66,18 14. Heikkilä, Kitala, Palmi, R.Heikkilä 69,06 15. Kivistö, Nieminen, Viljanen, Larronmaa d 71,02 Katsojia 60

I think it's just for speed skating and "yleisöluistelu", where you just go and have fun on skates. IFK plays it's home bandy matches at Kallio, just checked from their site.

I feel confident in saying it was this one at Oulunkylä, the red square. I think it was 2000 or 2001, team world's final. I also feel that it will be very unlikely. But there was talk that a speed skating arena would be built somewhere in Helsinki in the very near future. It's been discussed for year's, but with the recession that hit us last spring it was suddenly all over the news that it migh get done since the expense was suddenly down about 30%.

No. KC and EL are two different leagues with different rules. If you had an average under 6,00 in the EL from last season, you could ride in KC this season. Don't even get me started on the EL averages. There's a bomb so big brewing at the moment underneath, that if the same would happen in Sweden for example, heads would roll. For real. If you were not listed for a team in the KC before the season, you can ride for any team during the season until you ride for the 3rd time for one of them. Then you become "listed" to the team you've represented for the third time and you're their rider for the rest of the season. Heikkilä has now done two for Lahti II and two for Seinäjoki. If he would not have been listed for Lahti II before the season, he could do the last two rounds for Kauhajoki if he wanted to. But HE was listed for Lahti II, so all his points he's done for Seinäjoki should now be excluded. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it! If we could just see the list of the riders for each team, the problem would be solved within 30 minutes and new list of standings could be made.

What ever has been written by me or any other regarding the scored rider points and team points in KC will have been not true. Situation regarding Reima Heikkilä at Kauhajoki has now cleared and the reason for his "exclusion" was, that he was listed as a Lahti II rider before the season. This said list has never been made public though and I have now asked for it. Anyway, there are at least three similar cases during the season, so a lot of rider points will be deducted before mid- November therefore causing the whole series getting a serious remake regarding team points. Very nice!

Does it really matter? I know teams should be named a few days in advance but you can always/should be able to make changes to the very last minute. Imagine this: Your whole team/two riders twisted their ankles or broke their index fingers on their way back from the dressing room just before the parade. Making them unable to to ride and two riders (eligible to ride and represent the said team) were at the pit's willing to take their place in the meeting. Would it be for the best interest towards anyone concerned to not give them a chance, but to disqualify the injured pair/team, give them a fine of 200 euros and kindly ask them to sit at the terraces for the meeting... I think that this was just a wrong interpretation of the VERY scarce set of rules for KC, or a simple case of people doing the interpretation without knowing/checking out the rules at all. Time will tell... I'd be happy to be proved wrong. EDIT: Pictures from U21 Suomi's weekend in Sweden will be updated in a day or two behind this link EDIT2: My pics wont get online until later in the week, but here are a couple of other galleries from the weekend Hallstavik and Gävle.

Good call!! The spreadsheet sent to me had two heats with six riders, one with five, one with one and two with two. Official "press release" also mentioned that Reima Heikkilä's points did not count for Seinäjoki's score and I have questioned that. Heikkilä was eligible to ride for Seinäjoki, no probs.

Kaupunki Cup 4/6 Kauhajoki 5.9.2009 Kauhajoki 18+3 Markku Autio 33333 15+3 Jere Mattila 00210 3 Lahti II 21 Janne Nyman 13132 10 Jani Eerikäinen 21323 11 Pori 18+2 Jouni Viljanen 32322 12+2 Markku Larronmaa 10131 6 Seinäjoki 8 Jarkko Palmi 2R112 6 Reima Heikkilä 02000 2 Haapajärvi 10 Juho Ruuska 23221 10 Lahti I 14 Jukka Nieminen 11011 4 Kalle Kivistö 32203 10 Erä erältä: 1. Autio, Eerikäinen, Nyman, Mattila 63,31 2. Viljanen, Palmi, Larronmaa, Heikkilä 65.96 3. Kivistö, Ruuska, Nieminen 65,59 4. Autio, Kivistö, Nieminen, Mattila 63,68 5. Nyman, Viljanen, Eerikäinen, Larronmaa 66,19 6. Ruuska, Heikkilä, Palmi 66,89 7. Viljanen, Ruuska, Larronmaa 66,31 8. Eerikäinen, Kivistö, Nyman, Nieminen 64,71 9. Autio, Mattila, Palmi, Heikkilä 63,92 10. Nyman, Eerikäinen, Palmi, Heikkilä 66,15 11. Autio, Ruuska, Mattila 62,88 12. Larronmaa, Viljanen, Nieminen, Kivistö 68,45 13. Kivistö, Palmi, Nieminen, Heikkilä 69,43 14. Autio, Viljanen, Larronmaa, Mattila 63,13 15. Eerikäinen, Nyman, Ruuska 65,16 Uusinta: Autio, Viljanen 64,56 Katsojia 60 Kaupunki Cup 5/6 Lahti 6.9.2009 Postponed due to rain. New date on sunday September 13th. Busy day that one at the Lahti track with KC, EL and 80cc all in one day.

Food was great, thats true. But the flames seemed a bit high in the grill... The same was with Katajisto in Eskilstuna. Flying first and then seemed to fade away. Hallstavik was just pure Timo Lahti show, he was untouchable! Mustonen did well in Hallstavik too and Teemu Lahti got 10+5 from his five heats. He was untroubled also. In Gävle Timo Lahti kept on going but Katajisto found his form for that one too. The last heat ever (supposedly) at Gävle was great speedway between Anton Rosen, KK and Timo Lahti. Entering the last bend you could have covered the three with a blanket and Katajisto diving under Lahti after gathering speed for two laps to challenge him right to the end. In the end KK was beaten by a half a wheel! EDIT: There was 80cc Suomen Cup last weekend too in Finland. Mika Loppi won again and has now ridden 29 heats in Finland this season and won them all. He'll move up to 500cc after the last 80cc heat of the season and I know that big things are expected from him... Hope he come's good.

Results from both meetings so far can be found from www.speedway.fi, right top corner. Timo Lahti was the best today at Hallstavik. More about the meetings later. If anyone needs a good cook for a bbq, forget about tarabanko!

YIIHAA!! We are online at Gröndal! Rain maight affect tonights proceedings, but results will be here later today. First heat should start at 7PM local.

One will fancy a cold one and the other probably a blonde one...

He wont leave the U21's and no one needs to step in as it has all the time been managed/coached by Jyri Palomäki and Teurnberg together.