f-s-p

So that now USA will be against Slovenia, South-Africa and New-Zealand while Finns go against Germany, Latvia and Russia. Give me a break... EDIT: Just checked and I wasn't even all that far off! The good news is that this will now give the Finns a month more time to get their act together. Thats alot...

www.speedway-league.com

Nothing positive to note on the Finnish speedway front... I do know that the clubs are practically laughing at the proposition to move to the Danish league format. I've been told that two from last years six clubs wont put up a team next year if the changes take place. I know a third club that wont do it either. That leaves three of which one will do it if they need to and two that will probably enter the league but fail/fold at some point. The Kopparberg team that we had last year that looked better than any continental team in Europe is apparently gone now too. I remember writing something about a fallout between the "manager" and the club and the fallout became a reality when the Vaasa club recently said through their spokesman that they wont be tracking a team in next years league. When asked about "Kopparberg" he said thats a one mans team that has nothing to do with us. So read the post's starting from last November how great it looked. Now it's all gone. I've been promised a "red flag"-type of column/letter in a few weeks time to voice some of the opinions in the riders camp. That will surely turn some faces red... On the ice racing front I have no dates to give out but I do know that one more new bike has been bought! (iris123 loves to know this! ) hopefully the older bike has found a new owner already and we have a new rider for next season. They havent cancelled the 2006 Individual final at Oulu yet (December 29th).

Thats only half the money he's asking from Poland for the same (almost anyway) amount of meetings... Thats cheap!

Any ideas when the UEM calendar will be out or are they still drinking coctails at Larnaca...

Very good point's, but the people who complain about this the most will never leave the "Elite"-thread.

Why not Finland?!!!

”Leyland Cars” BLRC final 15.10.1977 Belle Vue, Manchester Ole Olsen 33333 15 Peter Collins 33323 14 Michael Lee 32233 13 Ivan Mauger 32223 12 Ilkka Teromaa 23132 11 Edward Jancarz 21321 9 Jim McMillan 13112 8 Bob Kilby 02311 7 Doug Wyer 10222 7 Phil Herne 1103R 5 Dave Jessup 20210 5 Chris Pusey 021R1 4 Gordon Kennett 11101 4 Ray Wilson 00012 3 Graham Drury 20000 2 Billy Sanders R1R00 1 Erä erältä: 1. Mauger, Drury, Herne, Sanders R 72,8 2. Olsen, Teromaa, Kennett, Pusey 71,2 3. Collins, Jancarz, McMillan, Kilby 71,6 4. Lee, Jessup, Wyer, Wilson 73,2 5. McMillan, Pusey, Herne, Jessup 72,4 6. Teromaa, Kilby, Sanders, Wilson 72,8 7. Collins, Mauger, Kennett, Wyer 72,6 8. Olsen, Lee, Jancarz, Drury 72,4 9. Collins, Lee, Teromaa, Herne 72,0 10. Jancarz, Wyer, Pusey, Sanders R 73,4 11. Olsen, Mauger, McMillan, Wilson 73,0 12. Kilby, Jessup, Kennett, Drury 73,2 13. Herne, Jancarz, Wilson, Kennett 72,2 14. Olsen, Collins, Jessup, Sanders 70,8 15. Lee, Mauger, Kilby, Pusey R 72,4 16. Teromaa, Wyer, McMillan, Drury 72,8 17. Olsen, Wyer, Kilby, Herne R 72,2 18. Lee, McMillan, Kennett, Sanders 72,6 19. Mauger, Teromaa, Jancarz, Jessup 72,4 20. Collins, Wilson, Pusey, Drury* * - no time listed.

The same goes with Mäkinen apparently. For what I've heard Mäkinen didn't exactly sell himself yesterday. Track conditions were against him and the track was new too... We will see... Very interesting winter ahead!

Finland to follow Denmark? The Finnish season was discussed last saturday at Tampere between the powers that be and the clubs that were present. Extraliiga didn't get a great review, but that was the fault of the clubs that wanted it to be ridden the way it was. This was well known even before the meeting. Updating this year's league format with the knowledge gathered wasn't an option however for next year. Yrjö Laukkanen as our #1 decleared that the Danish format is the way forward, teams have until December 15th to tell whether they take part or not. If not enough teams come forward (minimum 4) there wont be a league next year, but other competitions only. He had nothing to back his opinion, just a spreadsheet he had copied from the internet and the fact that he's been to a couple of the meetings. No feedback from Denmark on if it was good or not... A few dates were given and they will all still change because FIM and UEM havent declared their calendars yet. Haapajärvi got the Individual final, Forssa U21 final (held at Hyvinkää), Forssa longtrack, Vaasa Nordic longtrack (unless the danes want to keep it) and Kauhajoki got the pairs. Ice racing final will be at Seinäjoki. The U21 World's qualifier is at Pori, but the date is far from certain. I dont know how much say the SML has in it, but the people at Pori are desperate to postpone it with a week or two from the date by dutchgrasstrack on another thread. Then there was talk on how to get more Finnish riders in to the foreign leagues. Joni Keskinen has apparently been offered a contract to ride in the Polish 2nd division... The challenge match between Scotland and Finland was also mentioned and that Tero Aarnio looks good for a contract in the UK next season. Laukkanen has a vision for the future of Finnish speedway and the future looks great! But how will we get there and who's left to enjoy it...

Thanks. He said it was an OK performance and was improving as the meeting went on. We'll see what happens.

How was Mäkinen? Any thoughts...

2000 2002

Whats the difference between a Scotchman and a British man... They read forums and dig info on foreign riders in Scotland... MÄKINEN

Seinäjoki Speedway in clips here. Went through them quickly and have to say that Mustonen and Siltaniemi looked good.

There were people in Edinburgh to see him, shame he only showed them how to hit the fence. He will try again this weekend in Glasgow in the Ashfield Classic. I believe things look good for UK next season. Polish contract is a possibility, nothing certain yet, not even an offer on the table. Equipment wise he's set for next season, unless he hits the fence again. Masarna.nu has him as a certain starter for Örnarna in the Allsvenskan. This isn't news since he was lowering his average by retiring his heats late in the season this year. Every team in Finland is after him... Only problem is the money, which is a joke for a rider trying to gather money to buy better parts for his bikes and trying to establish himself in other leagues and countries.

Arent I the idiot! Cheers...

Cant find anything on the Scunthorpe site or here, has anyone got the results!? Please...

Go back for a few pages and check for Kaupunki Cup. Thats our 1st division. The reason why it's called Kaupunki Cup is because Challenge matches between cities have a license that cost's nothing compared to a league or division match. Riders were free to ride in any team they chose, this today and that tomorrow so I left the team names off the average list.

Pori has been given the OK to host the Scandinavian round of the U21. This will be confirmed next week, hopefully.

Jari Mäkinen

I wouldn't joke about that. Glad you said it!

Here's the review of the finnish riders from 2007. I tried to be as objective as I can (isn't always the case )... The riders are in the order in which they finished in the Extraliiga. Juha Hautamäki KEITTIÖPISTE/8/133/47/11,32 The current Finnish Champion and the #1 in averages. Rides in the Swedish Allsvenskan too. Really hard to say how good he would be in the UK but he can challenge anyone here on the Finnish track. Has said that he wont start racing in Britain until he thinks he’s good enough to just go and start scoring straight away. Will that ever happen, who knows. He’s not old yet and has improved a lot in the past few years. Has very good machinery Tero Aarnio KEITTIÖPISTE/7/75/31/9,68 Has talked about becoming a pro for ten years now. He’s good but not that good as someone said to me earlier this year. Has suffered a lot from mechanical problems and that’s about 60-40 his own fault. Got his engines sorted this summer and did well after disappointing start to the season. Will he ever really make it, who knows? Rene Lehtinen KOTKAT/6/67/28/9,57 There something lacking in his performances, since I never see him do anything spectacular. If anything he folds under pressure/is a bit soft as history shows. BUT he finished the Extraliiga as the 3rd in the averages so he has to do something right! His bikes are a bit iffy but he rarely has to stop a heat due to engine failures or other reasons. I think he has bigger plans for himself in longtrack rather than speedway. Tomi Reima KOPPARBERG/7/79/37/8,54 One of our old guard. Good bikes and a solid scorer. Isn’t afraid to ride man-to-man if necessary but I do believe that in the future there will be gaps he will not try to take the advantage of. Jyri Palomäki KOPPARBERG/7/68/33/8,24 See Reima Juha Mäkelä KEITTIÖPISTE/6/41/20/8,20 See Palomäki Teemu Lahti KEITTIÖPISTE/6/44/22/8,00 #2 Prospect for Finnish speedway. Decent bikes, a good gater and has improved his racing. Disappointing season in terms of number of meetings both In Finland and abroad but three national level podium finishes speaks of his talent and level of racing. Jari Mäkinen PAHOLAISET/8/88/48/7,33 #1 Finnish prospect. Has had a very busy season and plans for a busier next season. Dominated the U21 final but missed due to other commitments the other national finals. Good bikes that are only getting better for next season. Joni Keskinen KOTKAT/7/53/34/6,24 Rides well on certain tracks and worse if the conditions arent that good. Is a bit soft if things get tight and that can be seen on first bends regularly. His bikes are ok, if not better. Marko Suojanen PAHOLAISET/7/34/24/5,67 Fast today and 30RRR tomorrow. Has some problems with his machinery and that keeps him at his current level. Kalle Katajisto JOKERIT/3/21/16/5,25 #3 at the prospect list. Havent seen him enough to comment, especially since he’s ridden in the UK after the U21 final here. Good bikes, cant gate (still, I hear but isn't afraid to race) Aki-Pekka Mustonen PAHOLAISET/6/30/23/5,22 #4 prospect. Took big steps this season and started to take points instead of getting them on a silver platter. Bikes are if not crap not far from it but if he wants to he could move up on the prospect list next year. If he only would concentrate his efforts on one motorcycle discipline he could become good in that. Petri Koskela PAHOLAISET/8/47/37/5,08 Rides well at his hometrack. He’s fast when it’s hard and slick and hard to pass, but rarely makes a move himself no matter what the conditions. Jani Eerikäinen JOKERIT/4/19/16/4,75 Improved a lot this season but still isn’t all that good. Suffered a few injuries too. His machinery isn’t that great, but I believe his ambitions are not in speedway either. Timo Villanen KOPPARBERG/4/15/13/4,62 Younger of the brothers. His riding looks like speedway but he’s doing it on a moped. Petteri Koivunen KOTKAT/4/15/14/4,29 1st division standard Joni Kitala HAUKAT/3/16/15/4,27 Don’t know what will become of him. Had a wrist injury in 2005 and stayed away last year. Came back this season and started racing again. Rarely uses full throttle. 1st division standard Markku Autio JOKERIT/6/31/30/4,13 Better than his average shows, rides a factory standard JRM. Under the right training could improve a lot. Mikko Rahko KOPPARBERG/5/14/14/4,00 1st division standard Niko Siltaniemi HAUKAT/8/37/39/3,79 Improved his performance a lot during the season. Is currently on the same straight as Mustonen-Lahti pairing when the chequered flag is wawed. Mikko Koskinen KOTKAT/3/7/8/3,50 1st division standard Aarni Heikkilä HAUKAT/6/21/28/3,00 Has been trying hard but something hasn’t quite clicked yet, that’s why his average is so low. Bikes are OK. 1st division standard Kalle Kivistö HAUKAT/8/16/31/2,06 Looked great in 2006 but then faded as the season was ending. This season wasn’t able to challenge at all, instead kept fading… His bikes are fading too…1st division standard Janne Nyman HAUKAT/5/9/23/1,57 He can race but there’s something lacking. We’ll see next year. 1st division standard Juho Ruuska JOKERIT/6/6/28/0,86 1st division standard. Jan-Eric Korkeamäki JOKERIT/4/3/17/0,71 Gets lapped by Laukkanen at Seinäjoki. Olli Heikkilä JOKERIT/3/1/12/0,33 Gets lapped by Laukkanen at Seinäjoki. Kaj Laukkanen KOTKAT/2/27/9/12,00 you all know him. Vesa Hyyryläinen JOKERIT/1/2/2/4,00 No comment, 1st division rider Markku Weckman HAUKAT/2/4/7/2,29 No comment, 1st division rider Jukka Nieminen JOKERIT/1/2/4/2,00 No comment, 1st division rider Jonny Korpela JOKERIT/1/1/4/1,00 I think he just started speedway this season. Tero Villanen KOPPARBERG/2/1/5/0,80 1st division standard Jouni Viljanen PAHOLAISET/1/0/2/0,00 1st division standard Toni Stenberg KEITTIÖPISTE/1/0/1/0,00 1st division standard Jonne Perälä JOKERIT/1/0/4/0,00 1st division standard Questions could be answered...

You completely messed my chances to stir things up... I dont really like Holta, but where did he find that speed... Everytime he got his bike straight it absolutely catapulted.