2015 Ice Speedway Gladiators

[customhouseregular]

OK...I know this is not Speedway as we know it, but I was intrigued to hear a round of next year's World Championship series is being held in Kazhakstan. Hardly a hotbed of Motor Sport I would have thought.

Back in the 60's top Speedway riders excelled at Ice Speedway also...Knutsson, Fundin, Kadyrov and Samorodov for example. I wonder how many of today's GP/SEC stars could be successful on the ice?.

[iris123]

Grigori Laguta used to ride and used to be good,so there is one.Freddie Lindgrens father used to be good,so he is a possible,though i am not sure he ever tried it.Others would be just speculating,but world champ Daniil Ivanov is also a very good speedway rider,so we know it is possible to do both even in this day and age

[customhouseregular]

I wonder how the phenomonal Nikolai Krasnikov would fare on the shale. He is still quite young in spite of his 8 world titles.

[iris123]

Indeed.Still active on MotoX i think.But his political career is probably more important now than trying a new motorsport career i'd guess

[customhouseregular]

Well, he has nothing to prove I guess...how does one top 8 consecutive world titles?.

[customhouseregular]

Sayfutdinov, Woffinden, Pedersen and Kildemand together on the 400m. Inzell ice track. With some intensive training and practice that could be quite spectacular. I would love to see that...most unlikely though.

[britmet]

OK...I know this is not Speedway as we know it, but I was intrigued to hear a round of next year's World Championship series is being held in Kazhakstan. Hardly a hotbed of Motor Sport I would have thought.

.

Indeed no hotbed, but it did stage national Ice Race Championships in the '90s,

see http://www.speedwaychampions.com/ice-champions.php

.

[mickthemuppet]

Sayfutdinov, Woffinden, Pedersen and Kildemand together on the 400m. Inzell ice track. With some intensive training and practice that could be quite spectacular. I would love to see that...most unlikely though.

How about Jason Garrity. He would be a natural because half the time he looks like he is riding on ice

[customhouseregular]

How about Jason Garrity. He would be a natural because half the time he looks like he is riding on ice

Nice one!

[Conkers]

Khazakstan staged the 1989 Ice Speedway Individual Final which was won by the late Nikolai Nitschenko, and Kazakstan also staged a round of the 1994 Ice Speedway Grand Prix series. On both occasions the meetings were held in the Medeo Stadium, which I understand will be the venus this year.

A team from Khazakstan rode in the 1994 Team final consisting of Stanislav Kusnetsov, Vladimir Cheblakov and Nikolai Popov. If I remember correctly, they were Russians who rode on Kazakstan licences, as after the break up of the Soviet Union, Russian riders started to migrate to where they could get licences.

 

I do have a provisional fixture list for the forthcoming season:

 

Individual:

Challenge Meeting: TBC Halstavik, Sweden

R1/2 Jan 31/Feb 1 Krasnagorsk, Russia

R3/4 Feb 7/8 Togliatti Russia

R5/6 Feb 15/16 Alma Ata, Khazakstan

R7/8 Mar 7/8 Assen, Netherlands

R9/10 Mar 14/15 Inzell, Germany

 

Team Final

Feb 28/Mar 1 Berlin, Germany

 

European

Feb 21/22 Lukhovitsy, Russia

 

This will be confirmed as soon as I know it, and I will post a Russian Fixture list when I know it.

 

[Jacqueline]

 

Individual:

Challenge Meeting: TBC Halstavik, Sweden

R1/2 Jan 31/Feb 1 Krasnagorsk, Russia

R3/4 Feb 7/8 Togliatti Russia

R5/6 Feb 15/16 Alma Ata, Khazakstan

R7/8 Mar 7/8 Assen, Netherlands

R9/10 Mar 14/15 Inzell, Germany

 

Team Final

Feb 28/Mar 1 Berlin, Germany

 

European

Feb 21/22 Lukhovitsy, Russia

 

Have spoken with Stefan Pletschacher and Susanne Hüttinger, both told me that the Challenge should be held 17.01.15 in St. Johann/A

 

 

[f-s-p]

Individual:

Challenge Meeting: TBC Halstavik, Sweden

R1/2 Jan 31/Feb 1 Krasnagorsk, Russia

R3/4 Feb 7/8 Togliatti Russia

R5/6 Feb 15/16 Alma Ata, Khazakstan

R7/8 Mar 7/8 Assen, Netherlands

R9/10 Mar 14/15 Inzell, Germany

 

Team Final

Feb 28/Mar 1 Berlin, Germany

 

European

Feb 21/22 Lukhovitsy, Russia

 

Have spoken with Stefan Pletschacher and Susanne Hüttinger, both told me that the Challenge should be held 17.01.15 in St. Johann/A

 

I thought Hallstavik will stage a quali, not the challenge. Actually I still think they will stage it.

[P T Preece]

Do we know when the fixture list comes out?

[customhouseregular]

Khazakstan staged the 1989 Ice Speedway Individual Final which was won by the late Nikolai Nitschenko, and Kazakstan also staged a round of the 1994 Ice Speedway Grand Prix series. On both occasions the meetings were held in the Medeo Stadium, which I understand will be the venus this year.

A team from Khazakstan rode in the 1994 Team final consisting of Stanislav Kusnetsov, Vladimir Cheblakov and Nikolai Popov. If I remember correctly, they were Russians who rode on Kazakstan licences, as after the break up of the Soviet Union, Russian riders started to migrate to where they could get licences.

 

I do have a provisional fixture list for the forthcoming season:

 

Individual:

Challenge Meeting: TBC Halstavik, Sweden

R1/2 Jan 31/Feb 1 Krasnagorsk, Russia

R3/4 Feb 7/8 Togliatti Russia

R5/6 Feb 15/16 Alma Ata, Khazakstan

R7/8 Mar 7/8 Assen, Netherlands

R9/10 Mar 14/15 Inzell, Germany

 

Team Final

Feb 28/Mar 1 Berlin, Germany

 

European

Feb 21/22 Lukhovitsy, Russia

 

This will be confirmed as soon as I know it, and I will post a Russian Fixture list when I know it.

 

Many thanks for this information. seems my knowledge of Kazakhstan needs updating!. Seriously though, I do wish I could see the rounds live.

[Bavarian]

The riders Conkers has mentioned above (Cheblakov, Kuznetsov, Popov, plus Nail Galiakberov) who rode for Kazakhstan in the FIM ice racing world team championship, may have originally been of Russian nationally or ancestry, rather than being Kazakh natives, but they were all locals at Alma Ata (now: Almaty)and they had become citizens of Kazahkstan after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Otherwise they would not have been able to represent Kazakhstan in the World Team Championship, because the racing license is irrelevant in determining which country a rider can represent in FIM world team events. He needs to hold the respective country's passport to be eligible to ride for that country's national team.

 

Kazakhstan were in four consecutive ice racing world team championship finals (1994-1997)and have a pretty good record. They won a couple of bronze medals (Frankfurt 1995 and Izhevsk 1996), and finished fourth in the 1994 final in Karlstad and fourth again in the 1997 final in Berlin.

 

Kazakhstan has even already hosted an individual ice racing Grand Prix before. That was staged at Almaty in February of 1994. Alexander Balashov was victorious on the Saturday and on the Sunday.

[iris123]

What has happened or is happening with the mooted meeting in China?Thought reps from across the Russian border met with Castagna + co last season with the idea of hosting a meeting?

[customhouseregular]

The riders Conkers has mentioned above (Cheblakov, Kuznetsov, Popov, plus Nail Galiakberov) who rode for Kazakhstan in the FIM ice racing world team championship, may have originally been of Russian nationally or ancestry, rather than being Kazakh natives, but they were all locals at Alma Ata (now: Almaty)and they had become citizens of Kazahkstan after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Otherwise they would not have been able to represent Kazakhstan in the World Team Championship, because the racing license is irrelevant in determining which country a rider can represent in FIM world team events. He needs to hold the respective country's passport to be eligible to ride for that country's national team.

 

Kazakhstan were in four consecutive ice racing world team championship finals (1994-1997)and have a pretty good record. They won a couple of bronze medals (Frankfurt 1995 and Izhevsk 1996), and finished fourth in the 1994 final in Karlstad and fourth again in the 1997 final in Berlin.

 

Kazakhstan has even already hosted an individual ice racing Grand Prix before. That was staged at Almaty in February of 1994. Alexander Balashov was victorious on the Saturday and on the Sunday.

I thought I was quite knowledgeable on the subject...seems I was wrong. Thanks for the information.

[Conkers]

What has happened or is happening with the mooted meeting in China?Thought reps from across the Russian border met with Castagna + co last season with the idea of hosting a meeting?

 

 

If you are in Berlin Doug, perhaps we could ask him

(I'm Planning for Berlin, Assen and Inzell this season!)

[Bavarian]

What has happened or is happening with the mooted meeting in China?Thought reps from across the Russian border met with Castagna + co last season with the idea of hosting a meeting?

All we hear about ice racing in China is rumours, no hard facts. Apparently they had a demonstration ice racing meeting some ten years ago in Harbin on the local 400m ice rink, with Russian riders from Blagoveshensk and even the two Swedes Serenius and Svensson. The plan then was to train Chinese moto-cross riders to become ice racers, but this has not progressed.

Now they have targeted another Chinese town, very close to the Russian border, near Blagoveshensk on the river Amur. I guess it is the Russians that are helping the Chinese to get ice racing started, just like they did in the 1960's when introducing ice racing in Mongolia.

It seems that someone is still working on the project of introducing ice speedway racing to China. The FIM seems keen on the idea of getting China on board. Believign rumours, 2016 could be the year of the inaugural Ice Racing Grand Prix in China.

[eric i]

Anyone been to assen? If so what did you think of it? Any advice to someone going there to see ice speedway for the first time?