Finnish News

[TwoMinuteWarning]

Thanks for the info!

[Gray]

If Gray is reading this, maybe you could find me results with heat times and possibly pictures for use in the Finnish track racing magazine?

in this table you can see heats time: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AgvhoilfPzDcdDVaQXZ3aU90M2tnZmtFS3dVd0lHeXc&hl=en

[Gray]

more fotos from Chervonograd 31/07: http://motosport.ua/content/page/1/1960.html

[f-s-p]

in this table you can see heats time: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AgvhoilfPzDcdDVaQXZ3aU90M2tnZmtFS3dVd0lHeXc&hl=en

more fotos from Chervonograd 31/07: http://motosport.ua/content/page/1/1960.html

A big thank you for all these. I'll link the pics to Niko Siltaniemi's website later. Thats at www.nikosiltaniemi.fi

[Gray]

A big thank you for all these. I'll link the pics to Niko Siltaniemi's website later. Thats at www.nikosiltaniemi.fi

In previous page you can see more links for fotos from Chervonograd

[f-s-p]

Finnish final this saturday at Kauhajoki. Finland has been under some pretty bad weather this week with thunder and LOAD's of rain and other weather phenomenons I dont know the English word for. Tree's been falling and water has been knee high on the street's at times.

 

And the point naturally was, that hopefully all this has been playing in to the hands of Finnish speedway and the track at Kauhajoki is currently soaked. Saturday is supposed to be nice and warm, so to have enough moisture deep in the track is mandatory. Niko Siltaniemi will ride after his spill last weekend in Ukraine. There's some ligament damage in his ankle but he was given all clear to ride by the doctors. Timo Lahti is on duty today, Nieminen has a meeting on friday and then we will know is everyone coming.

 

I'm REALLY hoping it to be a good one and the track to act accordingly.

 

As mentioned previously, no Rene Lehtinen (injured), Kalle Katajisto (UK), Joonas Kylmäkorpi (has not ridden in this for years) or Aki-Pekka Mustonen (not interested, as did not sign up at all). Meeting will start at 3 PM (local) and hopefully the results will be at www.speedwaysanomat.fi at around 6 PM (local).

[f-s-p]

What a final!!!

 

Aarnio was good, Mäkinen at his best in conditions not for him, Nieminen made a move to remember in the final and Siltaniemi took bronze. Timo Lahti was not at his best and the general idea is that the talented youngster is getting a bit tired of the travelling.

 

The track was not the disaster I feared and people will remember the great racing served by the riders rather than the few deep grooves that appeared.

 

Tero Aarnio KMMK 33233 14

Kauko Nieminen SeMK 33323 14

Jari Mäkinen PirMM 22333 13

Teemu Lahti KMMK 21332 11

Juha Hautamäki SeMK 33221 11

Niko Siltaniemi HjMK R2232 9

Markku Autio KauhjMK 32112 9

Joni Keskinen SeMK 20123 8

Tomi Reima HMK 13102 7

Timo Lahti KMMK 01321 7

Pasi Pulliainen VRT 12111 6

Mika Loppi SeMK 202R1 5

Janne Nyman SsMK 10010 2

Jiri Nieminen KauhjMK 11000 2

Jani Eerikäinen KarMK d101N 2

Aarni Heikkilä FMS RNNNN 0

 

Erä erältä:

Karsinta: Nyman, J.Nieminen, Palmi

1. Nieminen, Mäkinen, Nyman, Heikkilä R 59,54

2. Autio, Keskinen, Pulliainen, Siltaniemi R 60,70

3. Hautamäki, Lahti, Reima, T.Lahti 60,34

4. Aarnio, Loppi, J.Nieminen, Eerikäinen d 60,90

5. Reima, Autio, J.Nieminen, Palmi 61,07

6. Hautamäki, Pulliainen, Eerikäinen, Nyman 60,28

7. Aarnio, Mäkinen, T.Lahti, Keskinen60,84

8. Nieminen, Siltaniemi, Lahti, Loppi 60,04

9. T.Lahti, Loppi, Pulliainen, Palmi 59,76

10. Lahti, Aarnio, Autio, Nyman 60,63

11. Mäkinen, Siltaniemi, Reima, Eerikäinen 60,67

12. Nieminen, Hautamäki, Keskinen, J.Nieminen 60,52

13. Lahti, Keskinen, Eerikäinen, Palmi 61,88

14. Siltaniemi, T.Lahti, Nyman, J.Nieminen 60,95

15. Mäkinen, Hautamäki, Autio, Loppi R 60,93

16. Aarnio, Nieminen, Pulliainen, Reima 60,26

17. Aarnio, Siltaniemi, Hautamäki, Palmi 60,78

18. Keskinen, Reima, Loppi, Nyman 62,65

19. Mäkinen, Lahti, Pulliainen, J.Nieminen 61,80

20. Nieminen, Autio, T.Lahti 61,82

Semifinaali: Siltaniemi, Hautamäki, Mäkinen, Lahti d 61,52

Finaali: Nieminen, Aarnio, Siltaniemi, Hautamäki F 60,61

Tuomari: Mika Laukkanen, katsojia 395.

[Timo]

***Pictures from Kauhajoki***

[f-s-p]

***Pictures from Kauhajoki***

Time to edit this post a bit...

 

Comments from yesterday.

 

Wow!

 

Last two heats left everyone gasping their breaths. In the semi Lahti was excluded on the first try. It was a 50-50 call for an all4back but the ref decided Lahti had to go. It was tight in the first corner but Timo should receive some photographic evidence soon that Lahti hit a groove and lost it by himself. Second try saw Mäkinen hit the front but Siltaniemi found something special on the second bend and came pass Mäkinen from the outside. Kelvin Tatum should have been there as the second lap started with all three riders close enough each other to be covered by a blanket. Siltaniemi kept his speed through the corner and was leading as the last lap started. In the first bend he hit a groove and lifted a bit with Mäkinen following and he lifted heavily enough for Hautamäki to come through from the inside.

 

The final saw Aarnio hitting the front with Nieminen 3rd on the backstraight. Hautamäki was in the middle and it looked like he was passed from two sides as Aarnio went in to the second bend outside of him and Nieminen came from beneath him. Aarnio was fast and Nieminen really had to dig deep to find a way past him. At the end of lap two Nieminen made a move which Aarnio managed to block on the front straight. entering the last bend on lap four Nieminen took the inside line, went really close and squeezed himself through on the exit. It was spectacular! Aarnio had the choice to block or keep the throttle open, maybe next time he'll block. I know we kept coming back to the subject all night where we were, that was something special and worth seeing...

 

From the riders, Nieminen was good but made it a bit hard for himself. Aarnio was not my favourite to win but was really good and clear 2nd on the day. Siltaniemi had a tough start to the meeting, hurt his ankle a week ago (his dad said it was a concern during the meeting), lost his number 2 engine during the week and even had to retire from his first ride after two laps. Managed to get in to the semi through countback but then took everything that was on offer. Hautamäki was lucky to make the final but unlucky as his bike lost drive on the end of lap three and he fell handing 3rd place to Siltaniemi. Mäkinen surprised everyone with an effort seen from him usually only on slick tracks. He was fast and fought hard every heat he was on. Timo Lahti was a disappointment, but his brother kept the team on the spotlight riding really well and was the only rider to beat Aarnio in the preliminary heats.

 

Riders willingly missing the Finnish Championship was a subject of conversation afterwards and will probably keep being for the remainder of the year. Maybe something will change, maybe not.

 

The track developed deep grooves on both bends but most of the riders seemed to cope OK or not worrying about them at all. Loads of material also, but no ruts or anything like that. Finnish speedway has changed during the past five years and now we have about a dozen riders entering bends on full throttle no matter what the conditions are. The federation training group deserves the credit from that. Next step is to get 20 more riders in to the sport...

Edited August 8, 2010 by f-s-p

[f-s-p]

Finnish final on youtube:

 

 

 

 

Other vids from the sidepanel at youtube.

Edited August 8, 2010 by f-s-p

[Sprog1]

Time to edit this post a bit...

 

Comments from yesterday.

 

Wow!

 

Last two heats left everyone gasping their breaths. In the semi Lahti was excluded on the first try. It was a 50-50 call for an all4back but the ref decided Lahti had to go. It was tight in the first corner but Timo should receive some photographic evidence soon that Lahti hit a groove and lost it by himself. Second try saw Mäkinen hit the front but Siltaniemi found something special on the second bend and came pass Mäkinen from the outside. Kelvin Tatum should have been there as the second lap started with all three riders close enough each other to be covered by a blanket. Siltaniemi kept his speed through the corner and was leading as the last lap started. In the first bend he hit a groove and lifted a bit with Mäkinen following and he lifted heavily enough for Hautamäki to come through from the inside.

 

The final saw Aarnio hitting the front with Nieminen 3rd on the backstraight. Hautamäki was in the middle and it looked like he was passed from two sides as Aarnio went in to the second bend outside of him and Nieminen came from beneath him. Aarnio was fast and Nieminen really had to dig deep to find a way past him. At the end of lap two Nieminen made a move which Aarnio managed to block on the front straight. entering the last bend on lap four Nieminen took the inside line, went really close and squeezed himself through on the exit. It was spectacular! Aarnio had the choice to block or keep the throttle open, maybe next time he'll block. I know we kept coming back to the subject all night where we were, that was something special and worth seeing...

 

From the riders, Nieminen was good but made it a bit hard for himself. Aarnio was not my favourite to win but was really good and clear 2nd on the day. Siltaniemi had a tough start to the meeting, hurt his ankle a week ago (his dad said it was a concern during the meeting), lost his number 2 engine during the week and even had to retire from his first ride after two laps. Managed to get in to the semi through countback but then took everything that was on offer. Hautamäki was lucky to make the final but unlucky as his bike lost drive on the end of lap three and he fell handing 3rd place to Siltaniemi. Mäkinen surprised everyone with an effort seen from him usually only on slick tracks. He was fast and fought hard every heat he was on. Timo Lahti was a disappointment, but his brother kept the team on the spotlight riding really well and was the only rider to beat Aarnio in the preliminary heats.

 

Riders willingly missing the Finnish Championship was a subject of conversation afterwards and will probably keep being for the remainder of the year. Maybe something will change, maybe not.

 

The track developed deep grooves on both bends but most of the riders seemed to cope OK or not worrying about them at all. Loads of material also, but no ruts or anything like that. Finnish speedway has changed during the past five years and now we have about a dozen riders entering bends on full throttle no matter what the conditions are. The federation training group deserves the credit from that. Next step is to get 20 more riders in to the sport...

 

Thanks for taking the trouble to do that report. It is much appreciated. Hope speedway continues to grow in Finland.

Congratualtions to Kakke on his second Finnish Championship. One of the nicest guys in speedway.

[Bream]

Continue to grow? It has been going down last years. Finnish speedway has a real work to do that there will be 16 riders for the championship meeting in few years.. At the moment it is a dying sport. Only really active tracks are in Pori, Kauhajoki, Seinäjoki, Lahti and Kuusankoski?

 

And is there a good reason why Finnish Pairs Finals are riden on tuesday and not on a weekend?

[f-s-p]

Continue to grow? It has been going down last years. Finnish speedway has a real work to do that there will be 16 riders for the championship meeting in few years.. At the moment it is a dying sport. Only really active tracks are in Pori, Kauhajoki, Seinäjoki, Lahti and Kuusankoski?

 

And is there a good reason why Finnish Pairs Finals are riden on tuesday and not on a weekend?

To grow might be a bit misleading since riders are down in numbers but the standard of racing has improved greatly and international results in juniors speak for just that. Thats down to the two individuals willing to spend their time and sometimes money to help the youngsters, aka Palomäki and Teurnberg.

 

The pairs final, why not? I know they believe they'll get a better crowd during the week. Also I think that the cost of the meeting license plays a part here, but cant find the price of it from the federation site (not gonna spend all day either).

[Bream]

Mayby they get more locals. That is ok for me. But for people who lives in the other parts of the country. It is very difficult to come to see the meeting because of the work and stuff.

[Bream]

Ok.. the Finnish Pairs Final is canceled. That is the latest news from teamlaine.com. Any idea why?

 

And yeap, at the moment we have about 12 good riders at the moment. Almost all of them are still gettin better. But that sport would stay alive we would need a lot more riders. And at the moment it doesnt look good. Only 1 or 2 guys from mini-speedway per year to the big bikes. That is not enough to fill in the lines when some of us quits speedway per year.

[f-s-p]

Ok.. the Finnish Pairs Final is canceled. That is the latest news from teamlaine.com. Any idea why?

 

And yeap, at the moment we have about 12 good riders at the moment. Almost all of them are still gettin better. But that sport would stay alive we would need a lot more riders. And at the moment it doesnt look good. Only 1 or 2 guys from mini-speedway per year to the big bikes. That is not enough to fill in the lines when some of us quits speedway per year.

It was cancelled by the organizing club but is most likely organized at a later date on a different track. Daft behind the scene politics might be the #1 reason but I dont wanna go there...

 

I was at Hyvinkää yesterday where they were having a practise camp in an effort to put the track back on the speedway map. Pasi Pulliainen and Jari Mäkinen had a few heats totally forgetting that is was just practise. The plan is to get a team from Hyvinkää for next year and it's more than just a rumour now since it was told to me face to face by someone who generally gets behind his word.

[Bream]

I hope they get speedway back to Hyvinkää. And the track in to good condition. Few years back I remember that one rider busted his engine because track was so soft that bottom of the engine was against the track. And lowest bolts from the JRM engine were gone after the meeting..

[f-s-p]

Extraliiga at Lahti rained off today. Individual Kemppi speedway tomorrow at the same track for the 33rd time!

[Bream]

..and Kemppi has been canceled. Too few riders and storm alert for tomorrow to the area.

[f-s-p]

..and Kemppi has been canceled. Too few riders and storm alert for tomorrow to the area.

Here's hoping that it's just a postponment rather than a cancellation. The weather has been a bit crazy in Finland lately after almost a record warm summer. Cities have been swimming in water and radical waeather phenomenons have taken human lives too.. That has not happened befoer according to my memory.

 

That does not explain the possible rider shortage, but in my view the organizers might look to other meeting formats at times rather than the same that has been doen since grandpa first attended a meeting in Australia back before the grear wiener sausage war...

 

Extraliiga next tuesday at Pori is the next one.