FICTS Milano 2009

Director Bengt Löfgren went to Milan, Italy to recieve the "Mention de Honneur 2009" for Icy Riders. He had been invited to the annual FICTS sportsfilmfestival, a huge event supported by the IOC (International olympic commitee) and was very proud in recieving the prize.

International release!

Icy Riders was released on the international market last night and is now available world wide. We are very proud to present Zack Coffman and his motorcycle documentary company One World Studios Ltd based in Hollywood. The DVD is now available in the states and the promotion campaign has just started and can be found on Facebook and You Tube.

Sportfilmfestival nomination

Dear readers.
In the end of october FICTS, the most prestigous sportfilmfestival in the world, will be held in Milan, Italy. Icy Riders have passed several selection phases and become a nominee to the "guirlande de or". Here is a picture from the italian website.

Important announcement from Posa

Posa Serenius is breaking the news concerning the up coming season...Watch the video.

Posa update from Housebars Produktion on Vimeo.

Posa Serenius is breaking the news that he intend to ride another season in the world cup series. However his hand that was badly injured during the last competitions last season still is not 100%. Posa probably will have to face serious hand surgery.

Icy Riders music on iTunes.

Composer, Leif Jordansson who is the man behind the score to Icy Riders is announcing a release of the music at Playground Music Scandinavia the 28th of september. Leif is a very well respected composer who often work with us. We wish him the best of luck.

About FICTS-festival

In order to grasp the size of this sportfilm festival event we would like to share some of the press release we recieved today. It takes place in the center of Milan, Italy and there are many prestigeous guests from the sports world during the 4-day festival.

“Sport Movies & Tv 2009 - 27^th Milano International FICTS Festival”
is the World-wide Final of the 14 phases of the International Circuit of the “World FICTS Challenge” that take place in the 5 Continents (www.sportmoviestv.com). The International event dedicated to cinema and sport television, organized by FICTS (Fédération Internationale Cinéma Télévision Sportifs, joined with 102 Countries) recognized by IOC - International Olympic Committee, will take place from October 30^th to November 4^th 2009 to “Palazzo Giureconsulti” (Piazza Mercanti, 2). The “Pirelli Skyscraper” will accommodate the “Opening Ceremony” (October 30^th), “Palazzo Marino” (Piazza Scala, 2) the “Award Ceremony” (November 4^th).

The world-wide event of field includes 180 Projections (selected among 900 works coming from 55 Countries), 7 Meeting, 8 Encounters, 3 Workshops, 2 Exhibitions, 9 Side Events, 4 Press Conferences and 30 Awards with prestigious guests and the participation of 230 journalists that will fix a high media interest. 1000 champions on the screen, for 6 days in 7 points of projections at the same time to which will added the maxi screen in Piazza Duomo and the screen in the tube station of Milano (Italy). A complete view on the social values, agonistic, cultural aspects of sport.

Icy Riders nominated to best sports documentary 2009!

FICTS, the biggest and most prestigeous sport film festival in the world have nominated Icy Riders to the 2009 edition of "Guirlande de or". The final decision will be presented in september but we are very proud of having been choosen to be amonst the final contributions. The winner goes to Milan to collect the price.

Latest news from Posa.

IRW talked with Posa today on the phone and he had just come up from the water after a swim. The lake is obviously useful during the summer as well. When asked about the upcoming season Posa told us that the hand is being examined this week as it behaves strangely. Posa told us that as he folds the hand the fingers won´t place themselves in a correct manner. There seems to be some motorical problem that needs looking after and until then he will not give a decision wether he will continue racing or not. IRW will keep you posted. If anyone has forgotten how the hand looked like they can watch it here.

Also today Channel 8 showed a rerun on the talkshow here Posa is talking to Tommy Engstrand.

Channel 8 is a Swedish cablestation with focus on historical documentaries and longer interviews on different topics. Sports is one of them. In a show hosted by the well known Tommy Engstrand, Posa Serenius was invited to talk about his long and succesful career.

Back from Kosice, Slovakia.

Icy Riders was screened at the Cinemaxx-theatre in Kosice last week and it was translated into the slovakian language as well. An impressed Bengt Lofgren answered questions from the curious audience. The stay in kosice was a success and I look forward to go there next year also.

Down below some pics from the visit.

Festival programme

City symbol

Posa on the Cinemaxx screen

The Festival organizers.

Day 1: Race in the afternoon...

The WC-team championships was at stake and I was about to witness my first icespeedway heat. The tension was intense and the crowd was extatic. The noise from the roaring engines mixed with the fanatic audience was unforgettable. I took position by the stands at the end of the first curve. The race was on and I tried to film the heats as good as I could with my single DVcam. Worthless I remember thinking. Total rubbish! The bikes roared passed me and left a cloud of ice and snow behind them. I thought that was it. No more icespeedway shooting. I talked to Posa afterwards and confessed how poor my footage was. "-Never mind that, Posa said. What´s the big deal watching bikes going round and round lap after lap? Tag along on our journey into Siberia and look what happens in between the races instead."Spoken like a true master. I was dumbstruck. Of course he was right. I let go of the prestige and decided to accept the galant offer. Instead I filmed Posa while he ran off to shake hands with Sergei Kazakov and Alexander Moskovka, two former Soviet riders whom Posa instantly recogniced. Well, I thought. Siberia, here I come.

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Krasnogorsk..still in Krasnogorsk...

Day 1, Preparations

As we got in the transit van and headed for the track I remember thinking how my video camera would handle the cold. If the car engines didn´t start, what about a lithium battery and a tiny electronic ccd-chip? I was soon to find out. I had never seen a icespeedway track in my entire life and I must admit that the Krasnogorsk venue was impressive. The oval track was huge and the preparations had already begun as we arrived for the registration and examinination of the bikes. Posa told me that the Russian tracks are very hard and rough to handle. The Russians just sweep the track after every 4 heats as from the other European countries where they include plowing to make the track less bumpy. Posa promised me a good show. While he and his mechanics were preparing I went outside and shot some film awating the actual competition. I had to put me as well as my camera up for the test.

Preparations at Krasnogorsk, 2005.

Teaser no.1

To make the Scandinavian broadcasters curious about the idea on a Icespeedway documentary we had to try and try and try again. At times it felt hopeless and there were plenty of times when we dispared. When I edited the wanted the very first teaser I wanted it to be melancholic and visual. It is dated 2005 and the broadcasters had yet to be convinced.

The very first attempt to persuade the TV-networks..

Icy Riders archives

After the recording of the film ICY RIDERS ended we counted to nearly 200 hours of material. The film is 52 minutes and you don´t have to be an Einstein to realise the amount of left out scenes. We wish to give the readers some small and very short excerpts, no fancy stuff, from day one and forward. All with a complementary text. Picture it like a travel log. OK, so with that said I give you the very first pictures filmed on day one at Krasnogorsk in February 2005.

I was invited to the hotel by Posa. Lars Lönnberg, friend and initiator to the filmproject took me there. The room was cramped with battery chargers, tools and bike necessities. I had brought my sleeping bag, warm clothes and my videocam. I knew straight away this was gonna be a once in a lifetime-experience. Hotel Zenit is named after the classic camerabrand that is produced in Krasnogorsk. They hosted all the riders as it lies close to the track. Posa and his mechanics were sound asleep and outside it was freezing cold. At daybreak the Finnish, German, Dutch, Swedish and the Russian teams helped each other getting their vehicles started. This was my first encounter with what I later came to refer to as "the family-tradition". Everybody helping each other. As it was around -25 degrees Celsius (-13 degrees F) a lot of the engines were frozen solid. Posa and his fellow colleauges, Olsson and Ragge drew their straw to the stack when they helped the Finnish rider Antti Aakko. The Russians stuck to their own classic methods used to the cold as they are.

Round up 2009.

The last race for the season 2008 is behind us and we already long for the coming winter. It has been a pleasure this far to work with this blog. We wish to continue with material from our readers. Please send us stuff at info@icespeedwaymovie.com. We will be happy to publish it on our site. The more it spreads the merrier for the sport and it´s followers. Don´t hesitate sending videoclips, pics and shortstories.

Video from SM in Uppsala 2009

IRW made a small reportage with Posa before, during and after the individual Swedish Championships that took place in Uppsala, saturday. Enjoy!

Swedish version: Posa won his 20th individual Swedish Championship.

English version with subtitles.

Posa, undisputed champion 2009!

Posa in triumph at Uppsala, Studenternas IP after having won his 20th
Swedish individual iceracing championship.

The amazing Posa Serenius did it again. The taste of revenge is sweet and after the first heats at Studenternas in Uppsala there was no doubt who was going to be the winner. Posa was radiant eventhough his left hand was swollen, sore and heavily reduced in capacity. In fact he was so determined and focused on winning his 20th Swedish championship that he had put Russian champagne on ice back in his van. Stefan Svensson couldn´t make it and we missed out on the annual classic fight between the two. However, motorsport history was written once again and IRW bow their heads in admiration. Also we would like to thank all the spectators who came and talked to us about the film and gave us praise. It means more than a lot! 7000 showed up and we hope that Icy Riders contributed a bit to that number.

Uppsala tomorrow!

IRW will attend the Swedish championships tomorrow. You can meet both Bengt and Andreas by the grand stand at Studenternas. Please feel free to come and talk to us, ask questions about Icy Riders and such. We hope the weather Gods are watching and that the crowd will be huge! Here is the staringlist for tomorrows event...

1 Robert Gjersvold Strömsunds MC
2 Posa Serenius SMK Gävle
3 Ulf Ledström ÖMK Rundbana
4 Peter Koij SMK Gävle
5 Tobias Åström Bollnäs MK
6 Gösta Sundelin Njurunda MK
7 Per Bruhn SMK Gävle
8 Fredrik Johansson Linköpings MS
9 Magnus Lundgren Njurunda MK
10 Johan Lundkvist Jämtlands MK
11 Mats Svensson Bollnäs MK
12 Patrik Sohlberg ÖMK Rundbana
13 Torleif Burman Funbo MS
14 P-A Lindström Jämtlands MK
15 Lars Ringbert Strömsunds MC
16 Hans-Olov Olsén Strömsunds MC
Subs:
17 Leif Bertilsson SMK Hedemora
18 Roger Nordmark SMK Hedemora

Posa for # 20!

Posas left hand when in Assen.

Posa is off the hook as the national sportscommitee allow him to compete in the Swedish Championships in Uppsala on saturday. IRW didn´t expect anything else as the reprimand was on an international basis and only for 11 days for a missing medical application. It feels good that the Swedish commitee show some pondus as they actually are a part of the situation Posa was in. It is there duty to check all the drivers papers necessary. Posas hand seems ok for driving and the table is set for the legend to capture his 20th swedish championship title. IRW wish the arrangers great weather and lots of audience and above all, a great event!

German bike magazine writing to IRW...

A journalist at one of the biggest European biker magazines, PS Das Sport-Motorrad Magazin,

wrote to IRW after having seen the film and asked if he could come and try himself. The paper would do a kind of do-it-yourself reportage on icespeedway. IRW passed the question on to Bollnäs and Njurunda who both invited the German with open arms. Offering as well a place to stay and a bike to lend. Now that´s hospitality!

Posa has been given thumbs up!

Yesterday IRW talked to Posa Serenius about the Swedish championships in Uppsala the 28th of March. He had good news to share. The motor organisation have decided that Posa can participate in the race. With that said it´s up to the motor Gods and Posa himself. He said his hand is getting better by the hours. The only worry is whether the flexibility will recover fast enough. IRW keep their fingers crossed that the grand old man will ride at Studenternas next week.

Who is who?

From the left: Bertil Andersson, Posa Serenius, Sture "Stursken",
Bertil Dedring, Erik Stenlund, Yngve Nilsson, Agnar Stenlund, unknown.

The picture above has become very popular and works like a mascot for ICY RIDERS. Many readers ask for the people on it and its history. Originally we found it in Posas private photocollection and he could not quite remember when it was taken. After having investigated the matter during our European visit last couple of weeks we know as much that it is taken in 1984. Some say in Inzell, others somewhere in Sweden. If you can fill us in on the name of the guy in the red dress and the surname of "stursken" we would be very pleased.

Pics from Örebro yesterday.

Jocke Glimfjäll has provided pics from yesterdays iceracing event in Örebro. Just click on 18th of March in the calendar to the left. If there are others who have pics to share or stories to tell, please send it to us at IRW. Help us keep this site updated with continous good stuff.
The results from the A-finals,

E Kristov, RUS
A Klatovsky, TCH
Stellingverf, HOL
S Arkipov RUS

Hidden blog...

Some of the legendary Posas Pack outside Hotel de Jonge in Assen.

Icy Riders Weekly have got some remarks about the difficulties to find the blog. We totally agree and have decided to redesign the website shortly. Tonight there are races in Örebro and Icy Riders Weekly got a phonecall from Posa Serenius. He is there to help us promote the film ICY RIDERS. We love the appreciation and warm comments we get for the film. Also we would like to express our love to the fantastic Posas Pack! Without them the film would not have seen the light. Thanx guys!

The dark season...

Injured swedish icy riders! Tobias Åström,
Posa Serenius, Gösta Sundelin and Stefan Svensson in Assen.

The season of 2008/09 is to be remembered as one of the least successful ones. Everybody got hurt and the finals belonged to the outstanding Nikolai Krasnikov who now have 5 WC-titles in a row. Assen this year was a disatster for the Swedes. At the open race (Roelof Thijs Bokaal) on friday both swedes got their hands injured. Gösta Sundelin who had two straight 3-pointers ran into Tobias Åström. Stefan Svensson who was involved in a serious crash in Berlin (one of several) tried to do some laps during practice on friday morning but gave up. The pain was too great. Other riders who ended up hurt was Vitali Khomitsevich, Harald Simon (rode with both hands in plaster!!), Johnny Tuinstra (broken collarbone). We look forward to the closing events on swedish ice instead and no more injuries.

Icy Riders screening in Slovakia

The Slovakian filmfestival in Kosice has invited director Bengt Löfgren to screen the film about Posa Serenius and the world of Icespeedway. Tomorrow there will be Q&As and hopefully there are many curious people watching.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Swedish championship qualification racepics

On this site you will find pics from the successful qualification race for the Swedish championships, at Gustavsberg yesterday. It is a guy called Jocke who have shot them. The event was very successful and more than 2000 people came although there ws a snowstorm. Impressive! As always we thank the people at isracing.net for sharing.

Posa goes to Assen!

Posa at Hotel DeJonge signing one of the famous sweatshirts by "Plymen".

Breaking news! Posa Serenius is going to Assen to watch the races from the tribune. He will cross his fingers (at least the five on his right hand...) for his colleauges Stefan Svensson and P-A Lindstrom. After just now having talked to Posa on the phone Icy Riders Weekly also can report that his hand still is plastered but that the doctor gave a good prognosis for him to race in the Swedish championships in Uppsala. We all hope the doctors is correct. Finally we are sorry for not having shared the latest Swedish competition results. Due to us being abroad we found it much more easy to let the superb people at www.isracing.net handle the results.

Icy Riders in Berlin

Bengt and Markus Skabraut
Bengt and Günther Bauer
Bengt and ex. world champion Dragulin.
Bengt and Johnny Thuinstra
Bengt and russian legendary mechanic, Belanogov.

Icy Riders Weekly was in Berlin to promote the ICY RIDER DVD. Unfortunately for the first time in 32 years Posa was not competing. -Schade and -Tut mir Leid was often heard on the tribunes before the race started. Everybody asked about his hand condition and was hoping to see him next year. Some of course also asked about the medical issue that has been blown out of proportions back in Sweden. The races itself was performed in poor weather. The rain and wind and also some bad crashes slowed down the event. Also the Russians are more dominant than ever, something that in the end can kill all interest in the sport. Icy Riders weekly met some legends at the Horst-Dohm Stadion. One of them was Dragulin who sent his love to Posa. Stefan Svensson was injured yesterday and had to spend the night at the hospital. Nothing serious we hope.

ICY RIDERS WEEKLY hit the road...

Icy Riders weekly pack their trunks and head for Berlin and Assen WC-finals. It will be somewhat awkward not having Posa in the line-up but as we know him he will grind this one down and aim for the 20th individual Swedish championship. We hope his hand will recover and that the Swedish committee will be reasonable in this matter. After all it has been a storm in a waterglass.

Black day for Posa Serenius

Life ain´t easy being a legend called Posa Serenius at the moment. We spoke to him this morning as he drove to the hospital getting his injured hand looked after. Not only three hurt left hand fingers but also a major damage to the actual hand needs operation. Later during the day one could read a message from FIM saying that he was excluded from the rest of the WC-tournament due to a medical issue. Posa has a well known history of high blood pressure. He had to cancel a race in UFA two years because of this. He takes medicine ordinated by his doctor, the same medicine he has been taken for years. However a paper necessary was not delivered on time and therefor the FIM executives decided to give Posa a reprimand. People with ill will call for doping and accuse Posa of being a cheat. Total nonsense! Posa gave an interview in Allt om MC/race to Per Gustavsson where everything is made clear. You can read it here in Swedish. Assen and Berlin will have to face an event without Posa...It has never ever happened before. Posa however plays it cool and focus on this years great goal. To win his 20th individual Swedish championship. We keep our fingers crossed!

Russian wins Kartoffelrennen

Attendancy record and 1200 people had come to see Posa and the others compete for the Kartoffelrennen trophy at Billingen in Skövde last night. The oval track is very short and the tempo was intense. Unfortunately Posa had to stop after his first heat as he had a crash. Usualy nothing stops this grand old man but a splintered finger and another one in bad condition put a stop to the evening. Instead Stefan Svensson and Peter Koij had a good night and made it to the A-finals with the russian duo Archipov and Krisow. Krisow won after the second start as Peter Koij was disqualified. The weather conditions were perfect and we also had the pleasure to sell the Icy Riders DVD-edition for the first time. It is great fun to respond and listen to the people who really enjoy this sport.

Skövde, Kartoffelrennen tonight.

Photo: Frisco

After the dramatic finals in the Swedish championships for teams this weekend where Posa and his teammates from Gävle won with one point up to Funbo the time has come for an International open race called Kartoffelrennen. It takes place in Skövde. As Icy Riders weekly spoke to the arrangers last night there was some problems with the red tape concerning the Russian riders. But they were positive everything would settle today. Viola Brattberg, the lady in charge of the practicalities at the race acts translator as well as stand in mother for the Russian guests. She started studying Russian so she can follow the sport more closely. That´s interest for you! Fantastic.

Startinglist Kartoffelrennen 3 march 2009 kl 19.00 in Skövde at Billingens icetrack. 1. Stefan Svensson SWE 2. Renè Stellingwerf NL 3. Grzegorz Knapp POL 4. Kai Lehtinen FIN 5. Tommy Flyktman FIN 6. Stanislav Archipov RUS 7. Stefan Pletschacher GER 8. Per Bruhn SWE 9. Eduard Krisow RUS 10. Andreas Forsell SWE 11. Sven Holstein NL 12. Peter Koij SWE 13. Per-Anders Lindström SWE 14. Per-Olof Serenius SWE Qual.heat: 19. Fredrik Johansson SWE 20. Hans Weber GER 21. Jo Saetre NOR
22. Mark Uzzel

Gävle SMK Swedish champions.

Gävle SMK won the Team Championships 2009. The races was arranged by ÖMK Rundbana and the heats were broadcasted via webradio. The final score...
1. GÄVLE SMK 38p
2. Funbo 37p
3. ÖMK Rundbana 32p

Icy Riders weekly wish to congratulate Gävle to their succeses.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

More races!

It is an intense period for the icespeedway followers around the world right now. In Sweden the competitions seems to be ongoing almost every day and tonite the Swedish par-championship was settled at Lungre stadium in Östersund. These are the results from tonights race which some of you surely has been following on the isracing.net site where referee Tord Lundgren kept "Gaisarn" updated from his cellphone in between every 4 heats.
The teams were: Funbo MS, ÖMK Rundbana, SMK Gävle, Jämtlands MK, Bollnäs MK, Njurunda MK and Strömsunds MC.
The final score was,
Gävle 27
Posa 12
Koij 9
Bruhn 6

Övik 22+3
Stefan 17
Ledström 5

JMK 22+2
PA 15
Engenström 7

Strömsund 19
Olsen 12
Ringbert 5
Höglund 2

Bollnäs 14
Åström 10
Mats 4
Lindholm 0

Njurunda 13
Sundelin 12
Lundgren 1
Bertilsson U

Funbo 8
Nordmark 5
Palle 8

source: Tord Lundgren and "Gaisarn"

Leauge game: Morgongåva, Funbo

Tonight the race is on at the pitoresque and charming venue called Morgongåva. We would like to name it the most exotic track in Europe. It is short and narrow and the heats are therefor very intense. The leauge is already won by ÖMK Rundbana with Stefan Svensson in charge with SMK Gävle on runners up. That doesn´t stop the other teams from fighting for the 3rd place. Tonight it is Funbo, Strömsund,Finland and Njurunda who are competing. The final score...

Funbo
Aakko 12
Tommy 14
Palle 4
Nordmark 7
Robert 7

Strömsund
PA 11
Gjersvold 8
Olsén 7
Ringbert 4
Ekström 4

Njurunda
Gösta 6
Jarl 0
Saetre 3
Bertilsson 6
Lundgren 8

Finland
Lehtinen 11
Seppänen 2
Vilponen 3
Myrönen 1
Kankonen 2

Source: "Gaisarn"

Reviews ICY RIDERS!

The ice-races are taking place all over Sweden at the moment. People come to watch this fantastic sport and we are happy as can be to recieve such good feedback as we get for the film ICY RIDERS. Posa and his iceracing comradery seems to have reached into the very soul of the Swedish people. However Posa is truly worth all the appreciation and acknowledgement he can get. This we can read in TV-columns, editorials, blogs, chatrooms and all the other forums of the written word. Today in Gävle Dagblad we found an extra enthusiastic editorial from a signature called "Eppa". It is in Swedish but we choose to publish it anyway. *L*.

Tough as nails!

Got this from the great site www.isracing.net.

"Hi everyone. Everything is OK. Crash with Rene in Strömsund broke my left knee, and I have now about 40 stitches in leg. I would like to thank you all who help me on track, in ambulance, and in Östersunds hospital. I hope that we see next year with better luck."
Best regards, Kai Ilkka

A letter from a true icerider. No regrets and no excuses. Just a shrug and a hope for a better season next year. You cannot help but sometimes wonder ..-What planet are these guys from?

Swedish Leauge, Njurunda 22 feb.

© Copyright Georg Nordstrand

Topresults from the Swedish Leauge game in Njurunda yesterday night.

1) SMK Gävle 49,
Per-Olof Serenius, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2
Peter Koij 2, 2, 3, 3,
Per Bruhn 2, 3, 2, 3
Peter Jansson 1, -, 2, -
Fredrik Johansson 2, 3, 3, 3, 2

2) ÖMK Rundbana, Örnsköldsvik 48
Stefan Svensson 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
René Stellingwerf 3, 2, 3, 2
Ulf Ledström 3, 2, 2, 2
Hans Tjärnberg 3, 1, 1, 2
Patrik Sohlberg 3, 2, 2

3) Njurunda MK 22
Gösta Sundelin 1, 2, F, 1
Magnus Lundgren 1, 1, 1, 1
Jo Saetre 1, 1, 2, 1, 1
Leif Bertilsson 2, 1, 1, 1

Tord Lundgren, the passionate icespeedway follower from Njurunda, also contributor to our website, had a great evening watching his club end up in third place. More than 300 people attended the hard and intense game which was won by Gävle with only one point down to ÖMK rundbana. The temperature was -8C degrees below zero which mean perfect conditions for the icespeedway people. It is truly an exotic feeling watching the Swedish Leauge. Next race is even more exotic. Morgongåva is the place and the track is run by John Fredriksson, legendary former world class rider. To find the place, look at the great site, isracing.net under gästbok.

Ride on!

Posa, Stefan and the mechanics are on there way back from Siberia. Last update is that they probably drive around Haparanda in the very north of Sweden via Vasa, Finland. Then all the way down to Örnsköldsvik, to drop Stefan off and further down to Gävle. Quite a tour! Then there is a Swedish league game coming up this weekend. No rest for the wicked!

DVD news update

ICY RIDERS the DVD-edition is up for grabs at www.icespeedwaymovie.com. Now ou can buy your own copy via user friendly Pay Pal or simply by using your creditcard. The extramaterial is immense and longer than the film itself. The men behind the film will also come and visit the Swedish venues in Skövde, Örebro, Gustavsberg and Uppsala. There you will get the chance to talk and ask them about the making of ICY RIDERS.

Win a LADA in Saransk!

Mordovia is a little republic about 600 km east of Moscow. The capitol city is Saransk with 348 thousand inhabitants. They are crazy about ice speedway. Every year they hold an open competition where the winner wins a new car, a LADA. Here are the results of tonights races...

Krasnikov 15, Baseev 14, Bauer 12, Zacharov 11,
Aakko 10, Klabo 9,Luschnikov 8, Bogdanov 7,
Krysov 7, Svensson 6, Gavrilkin 6, Kononov 5,
Flyktman 4, Posa 2,Makarov 2, Holstein 2.

Franky Zorn is reported injured and we try to get an update as soon as possible.

Source: Karina Flyktman

SVT ratings ICY RIDERS

Yesterday night while Posa and his colleauges started their way back to Saransk, SVT, Swedish Television aired the documentary ICY RIDERS for the first time. The slot was Prime Time at 20.00 and the competition from the other networks was pure murder. However almost half a million (!!!) Swedish people sat and watched the adventures of the icespeedway community. 455.000 to be precise. Those are extremely good numbers for a documentary but even more fantastic as the topic was a narrow motorsport. We salute you who watched the programme and hope to see you on the racetracks throughout Europe this and following winters.

UFA day 2

Harald Simon and Johnny Tuinstra didn´t turn up at todays final race in UFA. You can hardly blame them either. The result were as follows..
A-finals Nikolai Krasnikov
Danil Ivanov
Dimitry Komisevich
B-finals
Vitaly Komisevich
Franky Zorn
Günther Bauer
Pavel Tjaika
C-finals Stefan Svensson, Antti Aakko, Tommy Flyktman, Ivan Ivanov /did not start (injury)
D-finals Jan Klatovsky, Posa Serenius, Markus Skabraut, Jari Lehtinen

WC-races in UFA, Russia day 1

Breaking news from the trusted Karina Flyktman. It has been great complications during the first day in UFA. Posa had a fall in the first heat and was disqualified. He had trouble getting things together after that. Some more zero-pointers followed before he had yet another crash with Klabo. UFA is a tough track. Harald Simon broke his arm in two places and Johnny Tuinstra broke his collarbone. Posa who didn´t get any points today will most likely be riding tomorrow as both Simon and Tuinstra are out. Ice speedway is indeed a tough business. Here are todays results.
D-finals
Antti Aakko
Tommy Flyktman
Jari Lehtinen
Harald Simon /not start
C-finals
Ivan Ivanov
Stefan Svensson
Klabo
Johnny Tuinstra
B-finals
Günther Bauer
Baseev
Dimitry Khomisevich
Pavel Tjaika stop
A-finals
Nikolai Krasnikov
Vitaly Khomisevich
Danil Ivanov
Franky Zorn

Travels with Posa

Normally any sportsman would give up and go back home if they were to be stopped in the russian customs for a couple of hours. Especially after having driving there by car. This is perfectly normal for Posa and the other ice speedway riders. Every season involve extreme travelling. Here is this years schedule in kilometres for Posa...

27 januari: Bollnäs-Trelleborg-Sanok, Poland.
Kilometres: 1500.

1 feb: Inzell, Tyskland.
Kilometres from Sanok: 600.

2 feb: Back home to Sweden.
Kilometres from Inzell, 1300.

3 feb: Ferry from Stockholm to Finland then by car to Moscow.
Kilometres: 1200.

14 feb: Ufa, Russia.
Kilometres from Moscow: 1300.

17 feb: Via Saransk, Russia back home to Sweden.
Kilometres home from Saransk via Ufa, 3000.

7 march: Berlin Wilmersdorff, Germany
Kilometres from home to Berlin: 1000.

14 march: Assen, Holland.
Kilometres from Berlin: 400.

Finally back home to finish off the season with leauge races and the Swedish championships. Add another 1250 kilometres.... All in all it adds up to 11550 kilometres in less than 50 days! All travels are approximetaly. And remember if you think this is extraordinary... Posa has been doing this for 32 years in a row!!

Source: Gävle Dagblad

Russia update...

Posa and his two mechanics went on a short trip to Togliatti after the races in Krasnogorsk. Posa have made friends all over Russia and even though he don´t speak russian he likes to discover new places. Stefan Svensson who drove so well there in the semis (4th place) has great problems with the front fork. Also the suspension is giving him a hard time. The main reasons to why he is only at 14th place. In a couple of days they will be in UFA for the second session of the WC-finals.

Russia vs Europe

The difference between riding icespeedway in Russia and Europe is that the Russians only sweep the track after every 4th lap. Thy don´t plow afterwards like they do in the rest of Europe. That leaves the riders with a very bumpy track. Therefor the riders who are more used to the slushy surface face serious challenge in Russia. Also the ice is considered very hard due to the cold. Here are some pictures from the races in Krasnogorsk last weekend. As usual, a big thanks to www.isracing.net.

Krasnogorsk Day 2

The finals show that Nikolai Krasnikov is the undisputable champion of ice speedway. He is from the same town as the legendary Kadyrov who was so dominant during the seventies, UFA. Here are the results of the second day in Krasnogorsk.

1. Krasnikov 50p
2. Bazeev 34p
3. D.Ivanov 36p
4. F. Zorn 36p

Posa ended up number 12 and Stefan Svensson as number 14.
The next races are in UFA. The homestead of Krasnikov.V.

V. Khomisevitch crashes day 1.

Krasnogorsk Day 1

Here are the results from day one in Krasnogorsk.

D-final
Tjaika,Svensson,Lehtinen fall, Tuinstra disq./fall.
C-final
Simon,Posa,Klabo,Antti stop.
B-final
Baseev,Bauer,Dimitry Khomitsevich,Ivan Ivanov.
A-final
Krasnikov,ZORN,Danil Ivanov,Vitaly Khomitsevich disq.

Posa is best of the Swedes on tenth place. Better luck tomorrow! Stefan Svensson had a really tough fight with the russian Tjaika in the D-final. The audience was extatic according to Lars Lönnberg, on place in Krasnogorsk. Also Franky Zorn seems very determined to give the Russians a fight for the goldmedal this year. Zorn who has had problems with the Russian conditions has now overcome that issue.

Source: Karina Flyktman

Let the races begin!

Krasnogorsk, Russia.
Not only is it the place that keeps one of the biggest film-archives in the world, it is also the place where the WC-championships in ice speedway start tomorrow. Stefan Svensson who made it really good lately in the semis at Togliatti is number 9 and Posa Serenius got number 13. You can follow the races on a russian site we recieved from the trusty and always reliable sources at www.isracing.net. Also it might be a good opportunity to improve your skills in the kiryllic alphabet.

SVT web

Today SVT, the Swedish television launched their ICY RIDERS website. Complete with our catchy trailer and all. Please feel free to visit the site.Posa himself together with his standard Russian team, Olsson and Ragge are safe and sound on place in Russia. We talked to Posa yesterday and there was "only" an hour and a half in the Russian customs this time. Icy Riders weekly will keep you posted from the races up coming weekend.

ICY RIDERS reportage world wide

Last week a reportage about the making of the film "ICY RIDERS" was broadcasted via satellite. It is a new motorsportshow presented by the FIM-organisation. We were very impressed by the quality of the show and as it was the premiere episode we feel extra privileged to have participated. The broadcasters who aired the show was,

1. Orange Sports, France and poland
2. Cable/Satellite Sportcomm / OTE, Greece
3. Cable/Satellite, Sports TV Portugal
4. Cable/Satellite ASPN - Sport Club 2
5. Cable/Satellite Slovenia/Czech
6. Cable/Satellite Setanta Sport UK and Ireland
7. Cable/Satellite Fox Sports Australia
8. Namibian Broadcasting Corporation
9. Namibia (Sub Saharan Africa)
10.Al Jazeera Sport, Middle-east/North Africa

We sure hope that more will follow.

Inzell and DVD-presales

The team WC races are over and the final result look like follows. World Team Cup Final 2009 in Inzell, Austria:

1. Russia 55
Nikolai Krasnikov 26
Jounir Bazeev 19
Daniil Ivanov 10

2. Austria 46
Harald Simon 1
Markus Skabraut 11
Franz Zorn 34

3. Germany 37
Günther Bauer 32
Stefan Pletschacher 5
Florian Fürst 0

4. Sweden 31
Posa Serenius 14
Stefan Svensson 17
Per-Anders Lindström dnr

source: www.isracing.net
For those who want to look at live footage from the races, please go to this link.
The interest for Icy Riders seems to be global. Everywhere from Russia to Australia there is people who like to own a copy! We are very excited and hope that we can contribute to the spreading of the sport. The website is very visited and it is in both English and Swedish.

WC-championship team: Inzell, Germany

Tomorrow Posa, Stefan Svensson and P-A Lindström will represent the swedish colors in this years edition of the national team world cup. the races take place in Inzell, Germany and we have been talking to Posa today and he tells us that he feels in great shape and that they are very confident for tomorrows races. The practice went very well and the swedish line-up are confident. Of course the Russians will be the favorites for the gold but the silver and bronze are an open affair. You can follow the results as they drop in on the outstanding site called isracing.net.

32nd Gothenburg International Filmfestival

ICY RIDERS roar into the cinemas with great success. It draws fabolus attention and of course the ordiary cineast finds unusual to the 52 minute documentary very exciting. The producer and director have been interviewed by media all day and today was also the official launch of the website from where you can order the upcoming DVD. Also it is a funny coincidence that Posa qualified to the 32nd world championship the year of the 32nd Gothenburg Filmfestival!

#32!

Posa the miracleman has done it again. Qualified to the WC-finals for the 32nd time in a row. It is totally unheard of and the 60-year old ice speedway legend, Per-Olof Serenius is still performing as the going gets tough. It was after tonights second day of racing in Sanok, Poland that he succeded in this remarkable performance. Someone please call the book of Guinness. We all give him a big hand. Next stop Russia.

Stuck in Biarritz

While Posa is in Sanok, Poland, trying to qualify to his 32rd consecutive WC-championship I am stuck in the Biarritz Filmfestival, France. A great storm hit the streets and all of the communication broke down. I watch the races from www.isracing.net. The opening of Icy Riders at Gothenburg Filmfestival yesterday went very well. Enthusiastic spectators applauding.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Tagliatti, Russia

The extremely sympathetic Swedish veteran rider Stefan Svensson came on 4th place after a standard selection of Russians! 50-years old and full of routine and skill he made it to the finals after the qualifies in Tagliatti this weekend. Stefan who is very well liked in Russia for his humoristic and optimistic manners obviously wasn´t too distracted by the 5 hour stop at the Russian border where they searched the whole van and gave the Swedish team a hard time. Congratulations Stefan! Results below...

Final standing after Heat 40:
1. Ivan Ivanov 29 Pkt.
2. Nikolai Krasnikov 28 Pkt.
3. Daniil Ivanov 27 Pkt.
4. Stefan Svensson 22 Pkt.
5. Harald Simon 20 Pkt.
6. Tommy Flyktman 17 Pkt.
7. Hans-Olov Olsén 15 Pkt.
8. Sven Holstein 14 Pkt.
9. Michail Zelepukin 13 Pkt.
10. Sergej Karachintsev 12 Pkt.
source: www.isracing.net

Stefan Svensson in 4th place!

Tagliatti, Russia.
Stefan Svensson came 4th after a russian troika! The sympathetic vetran Stefan Svensson is extremely well liked in Russia for his spontanious and always optimistic character. Not even a 5 hour stop in the russian customs got him out of balance. A very well deserved place for Stefan and we are looking forward to seeing him in the WC-finals. Congratulations!

These were the standings after the final 40th heat.
1. Ivan Ivanov 29 Pkt.
2. Nikolai Krasnikov 28 Pkt.
3. Daniil Ivanov 27 Pkt.
4. Stefan Svensson 22 Pkt.
5. Harald Simon 20 Pkt.

WC-teams nominations for Inzell, Germany

These are the teams that will be fighting for the world championship in 2009. This year the event take place in Inzell, Germany. A favorite place for Posa to ride. We wish the Swedish riders the best of luck.

Team WC 31/1-1/2 Inzell, Austria
Finland: 1 AAKKO Antti 2 LEHTINEN Kai 15 FLYKTMAN Tommy
Germany: 3 BAUER Günther 4 PLETSCHACHER Stefan 16 FÜRST Florian
Sweden: 5 SERENIUS Per-Olov 6 SVENSSON Stefan 17 LINDSTRÖM Per-Anders
Russia: 7 KRASNIKOV Nikolay 8 BAZEEV Younir 18 IVANOV Daniil
Austria: 9 SIMON Harald 10 SKABRAUT Markus 19 ZORN Franz
Czech Republic: 11 KLATOVSKÝ Antonín 12 KLATOVSKÝ Jan 20 DIVIŠ Andrej
The Netherlands: 13 TUINSTRA Johnny 14 STELLINGWERF René 21 HOLSTEIN Sven

source: www.isracing.net

Icy Riders goes India

Just like in a Wes Anderson movie..Icy Riders has taken the Darjeeling Limited tour and made it to the 3rd Bengaluuru International Filmfestival in India. It will be a great pleasure to hear what the Bollywood-fans have to say about, what in their eyes ,must be a very exotic film. The latest update on Posa is that he is preparing himself for the 33 consecutive WC-championships qualification race in Sanok, Poland. It is the third and last of the semifinals and right now the swedish riders Stefan Svensson and Hans-Olof Olsén are heading for the qualifications in Tagliatti, Russia. Posa reported that they had been held back by the Russian customs for over 5 hours. -It´s always the same story, he chuckled.

ICY RIDERS and Gothenburg International Filmfestival

The program to Gothenburg International Filmfestival has just been released and the ones who would like to see ICY RIDERS on the silver screen before it is broadcasted on Swedish Television the 15th of February have the opportunity to buy tickets via this link. There are three separate screenings.

Posa and Koij in Germany

This week Posa and his colleauge Peter Koij attended in a race outside Münich called Steingaden international. It is soon time for the semifinal-WC in Sanok, Poland and the ice riders all over Europe have busy days ahead. The results from the race in Steingaden is put together by Karina Flyktman.

1. Franky Zorn, Austria 15p
2. Günther Bauer, Germany 14p
3. Antti Aakko, Finland 13p
4. Harald Simon, Austria 11p
5. Markus Skabraut, Austria 10p
6. René Stellingverf, Holland 10p
7. Posa Serenius 8p
8. Peter Koij 8p

Russian WC qualify races

Mobile Blogging from here.

The winter is here and it is colder than in a long time. The swedish riders compete in the league and over in Russia they ride for the WC participations. No doubt that the competition is tougher than in the rest of Europe. Here are the top-5 results from the first Day(saturday).
1. Krasnikov 12p
2. I. Ivanov 12p
3. D.Ivanov 12p
4. J. Baseev 12p
5. V. Khomitsevich 11p

The results come from www.isracing.net and Karina Flyktman

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

SVT web-TV

It´s 2009 and the countdown for the film ICY RIDERS has started. Coming up first is the Gothenburg International Film Festival (23 Jan.-8 Feb) where it will be screened three times. With some luck and Gods speed Posa will make it home from Russia where he is racing at that time. After that it will be broadcasted on SVT on the 15th of February. On there web site you can watch some footage from the premiere screening in Hedemora last November.