Lake Bodom Comet

Any news on Kevin Doolan riding in the Finnish League in the near future?? Kittos!

Good to hear something about speedway activity in Romania and Bulgaria Any chance of giving us a bit more background info on the riders taking part, how many tracks are involved and the current championship standings?? Many thanks!!!

Any news of any riders who have had to withdraw from either semi-final??

Kiitos for the latest update F-S-P On your return can you confirm if the Kaupunki Cup is run as mini-league with whoever finishes top of the table winning the trophy? Or will there be a play-off final??

Any news of the Extraliiga round scheduled for Vaasa on 26,06,2007?? Kiitos

Maybe some speedway fans in Sweden aren't AJ fans but the point I was making was that the sport needs to attract people who aren't hardcore supporters....one's who may ocassionally watch it on TV or go to a Grand Prix if there is someone racing like AJ who has the potential to win the big events. I think he can definitely attract media interest outside speedway's own environment. If Tonio and Freddie Lindgren can win GPs like AJ then thats even healthier for Sweden!!! Publicity is the lifeblood of our sport, without it to attract new fans and youngsters who want to take up speedway there is no long term future When I was last in Sweden I looked in vain for any speedway magazines or yearbooks in the shops but found nothing. Iam sure there must be the market to support a magazine similar to Speedway Star which might further help to promote the sport. A few years ago there was a quality Swedish mag called SPEEDWAY MAGASINET which was a fabulous publication but I never saw it again after issue 1. There was stuff in the shops on motocross, supermoto, roadracing. etc but not rundbana!....and its the lack of mainstream awareness of speedway which is the cause of many of its problems. We have a great product but we need to sell it and make others aware of it!! Hopefully want you wrote about the interest of SVT in showung the play-offs will actually happen as the Elitserien looks very open this season. Also good luck to Smederna and their youngsters, I hope those great attendance figures you listed will return again soon in the very near future!! Just a further thought on why some Elitserien clubs have suffered from falling crowd numbers....maybe the weather has played a part. In GB there have been a lot of rain-offs and even when meetings have run they have often been in weather which was poor and hardly likely to tempt spectators into the stadium

Thanks Mikael and Ghostrider for your very interesting comments..... I think the point about there being no Elitserien on Swedish TV is a major factor in the problems facing Swedish clubs this year. Just why did the coverage stop? Was it a question of money?? Did the clubs want more cash for the TV coverage??? A new deal would seem to be vital if clubs are to attract new fans and re-awaken the interest of people who used to go!!! The need for clubs to get out into their community and promote the sport is just as essential as the TV deal and I can only agree with everything Mikael wrote. My team Workington are in a similar situation to Smederna. We used to get big crowds but now interest as dwindled to the hardcore speedway fans and the local council want to move us to an out of town stadium!!! The current track is within 10 minute walk of the town centre. At least the Workington management are now doing their utmost to make people aware of speedway and participating in local events such as carnivals and fun days to spread the word. Swedish speedway still has a lot of positives though and I don't think the situation is anywhere near as bad as the British Elite League which has big problems even with the Sky TV coverage. I think the biggest hope for Sweden is the potential for Andreas Jonsson to follow in the footsteps of Tony Rickardssson and bring the sport to the attention of non-regular speedway fans. The guy is very media friendly and after his Danish SGP victory in front of a hostile crowd surely the Swedish press may give speedway the sort of coverage it enjoyed in Rickardssons glory years.....

Sounds like depressing times for speedway fans in Goteborg ....and even if the new stadium is built will the fans travel to it?? Eskilstuna's decline in fortunes seem to have co-incided with the move out of the town to their new home at remote Grondal Only a few years ago the Elitserien was booming but now their are dark clouds on the horizon........ Then again its probably in a lot healthier state than the British Elite League and the increasing profile of Hammarby in Stockholm must be a definite plus for Swedish Speedway

We are planning to fly back from Schipol Amsterdam the day after the GP and have booked into the Marriott hotel at the stadium. Don't think there are any late night trains to Schipol on Saturday night

Any Kaparna fans got any news on the Blades prospects for the immediate future?? With defeat after defeat and spending the season in exile in front of ever dwindling crowds can they survive this season and rise again if the new stadium ever becomes reality??

Thats good news, lets hope it comes off and is successful. Which in turn might see a Finnish select team taking part in the summer speedway version of the Swedish League in the not too distant future.....

Kiitos F-S-P for such a comprehensive reply to all the questions!!!! Hopefully all that info will have wetted the appetite for some fellow forum members to take in a Finnish speedway meeting!! Its a shame there is no likelihood of any regular racing in Helsinki itself. I remember a Norwegain side competed in the Swedish Allsvenska League a couple of seasons ago. I wonder if any Finnish promoter has ever considered entering a Finland team in the Swedish set-up with maybe the home meetings being spread around the tracks in Finland. Might give some of the Finnish riders more opporunities of riding at a higher level on a more regular basis and they could still ride for their Finnish League teams at the same time with careful fixture planning?? Just a thought.....!

Can anyone help me obtain a copy of the SGP programme from the Swedish Gp @ Eskilstuna on 26,05,2007?? Will be happy to pay reasonable price for copy in good condition. Many thanks in advance to anyone who can assist!!!

Agree with Schumi, F-S-P's coverage of the Finnish scene is so good it often doesn't need any comment but rest assured your excellent updates are well read and appreciated! Could I just raise a few general questions about speedway in Finland?? What sort of admission fee do clubs charge for a typical League meeting? What are crowd figures like for these meetings? Are most of the riders basically amateur's, racing for the love of the sport? When you go to a meeting in Finland what sort of facilities are there for supporters at the tracks? Do they all have seating area's? Can you buy food and a drink? Do clubs have a track shop selling souvenirs? Do they always issue a programme?? Do they play Finnish Death Metal music between races!! Is there activity at Finnish tracks which don't stage league mmetings, for instance maybe practice sessions or individual club meetings? And finally any chance of a revival of a League club in Helsinki? Actually thats quite a few questions but Iam sure the answers would be of great interest to anyone planning to take in a Finnish meeting if they are visiting Suomi.... Over to you F-S-P!!! Kiitos

Kiitos F-S-P, I sent you an e-mail in reply!!!

Can anyone kindly provide me with a contact address for the Finnish magazine SPEEDWAY SANOMAT?? There doesn't seem to be a contact point on their website I would like to obtain copies!! Or if any Finnish fans have any old copies to swap I can offer Workington(Kauko Nieminen's team) programmes/souvenirs in exchange!! Kiitos

Does anyone have the points scores for Finland????

Yeh, a big, big thank you to Iris for the updates. Sorry your boys missed out....

Fantastic...............congratulations to all the Finnish team!!!!!!!!!

Have FINLAND made it through?????

Go Finland GO!!!!!!!!!!! This is a fabulous fightback, you can win this!!!! Kauko - tha whole of Workington is cheering you on boy!

This is exciting stuff but Kauko will be ice-cool to lead home the Finns!!

Come on FINLAND, you can still do it!!!!

Kiittos F-S-P, will keep my eye on the German forums. Anyone know what time the meeting starts????

Yeh, Kauko really is the Flying Finn at the moment(god - I sound like Tony Millard!!) and if he hits top form along with Kylmakorpi and Laukkanen I can see Suomi pulling off a shock win in this meeting Still searching for a link to updates from Abensberg if anyone can help?? Kiittos