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Motorcycle speedway, normally referred to as Speedway, is a motorcycle sport that involves between 4 and 6 riders competing over 4 laps.

A variant of Track racing, Speedway is administered internationally by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM).

Contents 1 Nature of the sport 2 History 3 Speed in Speedway 4 Rules 4.1 Tracks 4.2 Motorcycles 4.3 Races 4.4 Scoring 5 Competitions 5.1 World Championship 5.2 Domestic Team Events 6 Notes 7 See also

Speedway racing takes place on a flat oval track usually consisting of dirt or loosely packed shale, the official definition being "a track with a top surface in granite, shale, brick granules or similar unbound material rolled in on the base ground".^[1] Competitors use this surface to slide their machines sideways (powersliding or broadsiding) into the bends using the rear wheel to scrub-off speed while still providing the drive to power the bike forward and around the bend.

Originating in New South Wales, Australia in the 1920s, there are now both domestic and international competitions in a number of countries including the Speedway World Cup whilst the highest overall scoring individual in the Speedway Grand Prix events is pronounced the Speedway world champion.

FIM regulations state that the motorcycles used must have no brakes, run on methanol, use only one gear and weigh a minimum of 77 kg.^[2] Races consist of between 4 and 6 riders competing over 4 laps.

The use of methanol provides an increased compression ratio to the engine resulting in higher speeds (approx 80mph when cornering) although the skill of Speedway lies in the overall ability of the rider to control his motorcycle when cornering and thus avoid losing places through deceleration.

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.

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 air-fences are mandatory and have saved lives and reduced injury significantly since their arrival.

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.

The first Speedway meeting is said to have been held on 15 December 1923 at West Maitland, New South Wales, Australia, though there is now much evidence to suggest that there were earlier meetings both in the USA and Australia. The first meeting in the UK is generally acknowledged to have taken place at High Beech on 19 February 1928. There are, however, also claims to have held meetings in 1927 from Camberley in Surrey and Droylesden in Manchester. Despite being described as 'the first British Dirt Track meeting' at the time, the meeting at Camberley on 7 May 1927 differed in that the races were held in a clockwise direction. Races at Droylesden were held in an anti-clockwise direction and this meeting appears to have a strong claim to be the first Speedway meeting in the UK, but it is generally accepted that the sport properly arrived in the UK when Australians Billy Galloway and Keith McKay arrived with the intention of introducing Speedway to the Northern Hemisphere. Both featured in the 1928 High Beech meeting.

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).

All tracks using for professional Speedway racing are regulated by the FIM who lay out the rules concerning construction, size and safety requirements.^[3]

Tracks must be between 260 and 450 metres in length, this is measured at a distance of 1 metre from the inner boundary. Start lines must either be in the centre of a straight or no closer than 35 metres from a corner entrance. Additional rules govern the placement of warning systems such as lights and also the construction of the starting mechanism.

The track itself must be made up of 4 layers of grading, and must be levelled at intervals in each event.

There is a minimum track width of 10 metres, but no maximum. The minimum width is to give each rider adequate space to safely navigate the track at all points. There is no stated maximum due to the potential for tracks to be used for other sports or for other track racing sports including Speedway Sidecar racing.

Safety requirements include the use of suspended wire fences, air fences or wooden fences (for temporary tracks). Neutral zones are also added for temporary tracks, giving safe run-off areas for riders without the potential to injure spectators.

The sport of Speedway uses a unique type of motorcycle, governed by the FIM's "Track Racing Technical Rules".^[2]

Machines used must:

• Weigh greater than 77 kg
• Use a four-stroke single cylinder engine
• Have guards fitted over moving engine parts where reasonable
• Use an additional chain guard to prevent a hand or finger/s being cut by a chain
• Have a peg (Dutch Peg) fitted to prevent a broken chain flailing and injuring a rider or a fellow competitor
• Use shatter resistant plastics where reasonable
• Be fitted with a dirt deflector
• Be fuelled by methanol

Machines used cannot:

• Use a Supercharger in any form
• Be constructed in any part from Titanium
• Use uncoated ceramic parts
• Use telemetry during a race except for timing purposes
• Use any electronic components to control the engine
• Use brakes of any form

In addition all motorcycles must have a safety cut out device fitted, this is defined as a switch that "must cut off the circuit of the electrical supply by the simple action of pulling a lanyard or a non-elastic string (with a maximum length of 30cm) attached to the rider´s right wrist."^[2]

As Speedway bikes do not use brakes, the clutch is used as a release mechanism for starts.

Riders must be able to get their bikes to the start line under their own power (that is, without any external assistance and not by pushing the machine) and line up in parallel. A starting gate consisting of a tape is erected across the start line, riders must situate themselves not more than 10cm from this and not touch it at any time. These are collectively known as Tape infringements and can result in a false start being recorded and the rider disqualified. Likewise a rider who is not at the start line within a reasonable period of time is also liable to be disqualified.

The race is started with the raising or lowering of the tape depending on the individual mechanism used, riders then must proceed around the track in an anti-clockwise direction without illegally leaving the riding area.

Marked by white lines or barriers on the inside and outside of the track, any rider who crosses this boundary with both wheels will be disqualified unless they only did so in the interest of safety or were forced to by another competitor.

Once a race is underway, no rider can receive outside assistance (including push-starts) from others. Historically, pushers were allowed at the start of the race. A white line at the 30 metre mark used to designate the extent to which a push was allowed; due to safety concerns, assistance is now illegal.

The winner is the rider that completes all of the required laps first.

Speedway operates a sliding scale for scoring (known as the 3-2-1-0 method), with points awarded to all but the final placed competitor. These points accumulate over the competition, with riders points either counting towards individual or team placings. In the event of a tie, another heat is run between those on level points.

Scoring for Heats with 4 riders
Place	Points
1st	3
2nd	2
3rd	1
4th	0

The sport also produces Calculated Match Averages (CMAs or averages) for every rider, these are calculated from the following:

CMAs scale from 3.00 to 12.00, any rider scoring above or below these values will be awarded the maximum. These averages are used in leagues such as the British Elite League to identify heat-leaders for the purposes of choosing which riders to enter for each race.

At the start of a season, a rider retains their last recorded CMA (or assessed CMA if they have never previously established one) until they have competed in six home and six away matches. A new CMA is then issued that comes into effect seven days later. These are subsequently updated on the 15th of every month from May onwards, and come into effect on the 1st of the next month.

These CMA's are used in most professional leagues and are altered or weighted depending on the league the rider gained the CMA in. A rider that has no recorded average will receive an indicative CMA for the start of the season that is assessed on their prior experience in the sport.

Main articles: Speedway World Championship and Speedway World Cup

An international individual speedway championship has taken various forms since its beginnings in the 1930s. 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.

World Speedway Champions include Ivan Mauger (6-time World Champion), Ove Fundin (5-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), Jason Crump, and Nicki Pedersen, the 2003 World Champion. The last British World Champion was Mark Loram in 2000.

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).

See also: Speedway in the United Kingdom

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. However they have to beat an opponent to have their score doubled. You have to be 10 points behind to use a tactical ride although if 8 points behind you may use a tactical substitute where a chosen rider starts 15m back.

1. ^ Appendix 070: General Rules for Track Racing. Track Racing Appendices page 5. Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (2007). Retrieved on February 3, 2007.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Track Racing Technical Rules. Track Racing Appendices. Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (2007). Retrieved on February 3, 2007.
3. ^ Standards for Track Racing Circuits (STRC). Track Racing Appendices. Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (2007). Retrieved on February 3, 2007.

• Track racing
• Grasstrack
• Auto Race
• Dirt track racing