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Speedway, an introduction.

Speedway racing is not for everyone, I would say that for me it is the one of the best decisions I have ever taken, in allowing my self to be shepherded to my first Speedway meeting some forty years ago. The strange spectacle of  growling bikes being thrown into broadsides at such high speeds with little room to spare, the smell of the of the racing oil and the shouting fans, was at first shocking, but as the meeting between the two battling teams played out over thirteen incident packed races eventually drew to a last heat decider, I was hooked, and to my surprise not only was my throat sore from shouting but it felt at that moment that every second of each race had gripped me pushing my adrenalin levels to such a height that when my local team eventually won I felt euphoria, and do you know even after watching hundreds if not thousands of races I still get the same buzz from Speedway.

So why don’t you give Speedway a try, there are many tracks in Britain and you might just be amazed at how good this sport can be. Sky television now cover matches through out the season, usually Elite League battles between two top clubs. Each Speedway team has seven riders, and even though it is a team there is no way a rider can hide with a bad result because all points have to be earned, and individual points are added to make up the finishing score.

There are three leagues in the UK the Elite, the Premier and Conference league, even though the top stars race mainly in the Elite league, the Premier and Conference league racing is still brilliant and no quarter is asked or given to opponents.

The machines they ride don’t have brakes and only a fixed gear, they run on methanol, they are five hundred cubic capacity single cylinder four valve engines, and I believe they give about eighty brake horse power. With the acceleration of a formula one GP car, they certainly take some controlling and when they take the turns in an opposite lock or broad side shutting off the throttle very often means a visit to the safety fence. Obviously with no brakes on the Speedway bike the riders try to bale out if they get out of control. The safety fence around the perimeter of the track is for the fans safety more so than the riders. When I first started to watch this crazy sport many of the Speedway tracks had solid wood safety fences made out of railway sleepers, not at all forgiving when ridden into at sixty or seventy miles an hour. One track I visited on my travels had a concrete and steel safety fence on the perimeter of very steep banked bends.

These days there has been a move to improveSpeedway safety fences by using specially made air fences that greatly help to absorb the shock of a rider’s impact. The Elite league tracks have a rule making an air fence compulsory. Most tracks in the other divisions don’t use air fences because of cost. I look forward to the day that all tracks have to use air fences.

So what can you expect if you go to a Speedway meeting? You will see probably fifteen four rider races all consisting of four laps per heat. The Speedway track sizes vary, but the average is about three hundred meters and four laps will be completed in around sixty to seventy seconds. The track is ovals and very often on the inside of dog tracks or around the outside of rugby or even football pitches. The Speedway tracks are shale covered and specially prepared for each meeting. Two Speewday riders from each team race against each other for each heat and the scores are three points for a win two points for a second and one point for a third, with a zero for fourth place.

Well I have said enough, it's up to you now, all you need to do is find out your local Speedway track and go and give it a try. One more point is that Speedway is a family sport, and there is usually a very good atmosphere and not crowd violence like other unfortunate sports. Have a look at the Speedway Teams section to find your local track.