Motorcycle speedway

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Motorcycle speedway, or more often just Speedway is a motor racing sport that uses specially made motorcycles that have no brakes, run on methanol, use only one gear and must weigh a minimum of 80 kg. The only way to stop a speedway bike is to pull a cut-off switch which is tied around the riders' wrists so if they come off the bike the engine will deactivate. The high compression ratio of the speedway engine also can assist in slowing down a machine if the throttle is closed. Riders generally have to powerslide the bikes into the turns at about 80 mph (128 km/h) to get round the track. The track is an oval shape and normally covered in shale (or sometimes even ice) and the riders go round in an anti-clockwise direction. There is a fence on the outside in case a rider falls off which prevent rider and bike from crashing into the fans. In the British and Polish elite leagues airfences are mandatory and have saved lives and reduced injury significantly since their arrival.

An international individual speedway championship has taken various forms since its beginnings in the 1930's. The present FIM Speedway Grand Prix championship organised by Speedway Grand Prix (Benfield Sports) has taken place since 1995. SGP uses a different scoring system,based on overall final position. The rider who has gained the most points at the end of the tournament is declared the World Champion. Jason Crump (Australia) has just won his second World Championship, the first coming in 2004 (2006). The annual British Grand Prix is currently held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

Scoring in GP events changed 2005 with riders scoring 3-2-1-0 in their races and these points being carried forward to decide the winner of each GP. At the end of the series the highest scorer will become the world champion.

The Speedway World Cup event is also held each year, featuring teams from the major speedway countries, usually in a series of meetings over the space of a week in the summer. The current Champions are Denmark (2006)

Image:Speedway am Startband.jpg

Speedway is presently most popular in Central and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, United Kingdom and to a lesser extent these days Australia and New Zealand ; there are also over a dozen tracks operating in the United States with sites in upstate New York, Indiana and California. There are also 3 tracks operating in Canada on a regular basis.

Speedway is also raced on ice with specially adapted machines.

Famous speedway riders include Ove Fundin (5-time world champion), Ivan Mauger (6-time World Champion), Lionel Van Praag (Inaugural World Champion in 1936), Hans Nielsen (nicknamed "The Professor", 4-times World Champion), Tony Rickardsson (6-time World Champion),Tomasz Gollob, Jason Crump, and Nicki Pedersen, the 2003 World Champion. The last British World Champion was Mark Loram in 2000.

Domestic team events. Most European countries run their own domestic speedway leagues. A team speedway meeting usually features 15 heats but in a team oriented format, and each rider is scheduled to ride 4 or 5 times. In team races, there is a set order that riders will race in, although after the first 5 races, these orders are regularly adjusted. In the United Kingdom there are currently 3 levels of competition (Elite League, Premier League and Conference League and in Poland (Ekstraliga, Pierwsza Liga, Druga Liga). There are 2 leagues in Sweden. Poland is reputed to have the strongest league in the world, especially after lifting the limitation of number of foreign riders allowed per team.

Team races use traditional scoring (3-2-1-0), except in a 5-team event, where it is 4 for first and one point less for every place afterwards. In addition, a tactical rider - a substitute - is allowed for teams trailing by a certain margin to use. Or (in British speedway only)--a rider's score is doubled when nominated as a tactical ride.

1 Speed in Speedway
2 See also
3 Speedway Rider links
4 Speedway Track links
5 Miscellaneous Speedway Links
6 Austrailian Speedway Links
7 Forums links

[edit] Speed in Speedway

Image:Speedway start 1.jpg

It takes about a minute to complete four laps, each 250 to 400 metres long. For example, Leigh Adams set a record time of 59 seconds on a 342-metre track, which gives the average speed of 83 km/h (49 mph). As the limited speed on curves lowers the average, one may assume that the speed on straight sections of the track reaches 100 km/h (60 mph), or more on longer tracks. That is all achieved on a motorcycle without a gearbox.

At start, it takes between a second and two seconds for the motorcycle to reach the "curve speed" (somewhat lower than the average), which can be roughly estimated to be the equivalent of 2.5 to 3 seconds to reach 100 km/h (or "nought to sixty") The start of the race is the most important aspect of the race, where "gating" correctly can help get a metre or two in front of the other riders.

Needless to say there are many crashes, which helps add to the 'thrill' aspect of what in reality is an entertainment sport. Some of these accidents can be very spectacular, but some have led to both personal injury and death. Speedway riders can be termed 'adrenaline junkies' (huge amounts are created within the body when riding) which makes them seem almost super-human especially after a crash. Most will attempt to ride again as soon as possible (sometimes regardless of personal injury).