On the straight sections of the track, riders can reach speeds of around 70mph. The Speedway Control Bureau (SCB) and the British Speedway Promoters’ Association (BSPA) oversee the sport in the UK. As with many sports there is a dedicated art to perfecting the skills of a speedway rider as they learn to use the surface of the track to slide their bikes sideways by broadsliding or powersliding into and around the bends.
Speedway races take place at various venues around the UK in three leagues: the Elite League, the Premier League and the National League. The first races took place in the 1920s at High Beech, although unconfirmed reports claim that previous races were held at Surrey and Droylsden a year earlier. The races were originally tried in a clockwise direction but were altered to an anti-clockwise race after two Australian racers brought speedway to the UK with the plan to increase its popularity. Colin Watson, Digger Pugh and Alf Medcalf competed for the UK in the early days of the sport for the UK and new tracks were built all over England, Wales and Scotland as the sport gained momentum. Speedway races took a break for the Second World War and became popular once again post war and staked its place as a firm sporting favourite.
The UK now boasts an annual entry into the famous Speedway World Cup as well as having its own Speedway Grand Prix. The BSPA chooses five riders from Britain to take part in the Speedway World Cup every year and these entries will be based on the rider having a British passport and how well they have performed throughout the season. In order for teams to calculate their drivers’ averages, they create a list called Green Sheet Averages that consist of a list of Calculated Match Averages (CMA) and from these figures teams can determine who is performing well or underperforming. They gained their name from being traditionally printed out onto green coloured paper and the BSPA randomly check on the CMA.
Rivalries in the sport are just as common place as any other sport with teams throughout all the leagues creating local and national enemies. The Rye House Rockets are based in Hoddesdon and they compete in the Premier League with their junior team the Rye House Cobras featuring in the National League.
Rivalries between drivers have led to full-blown fist fights on the circuit in the past with the most recent feud spilling out into a fight after Russian rider Emil Sayfutdinov accused Brit Scott Nicholls of running him wide at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in June. Both continued to fight with their helmets still on and had to be dragged apart before receiving fines for their behaviour.
Speedway news UK - Speedway news can be enjoyed on the Hertfordshire Mercury website as can speedway videos and the different leagues all boast slightly different guidelines. All of this information and regular updates can be enjoyed on the website and for those looking for a speedway fix, check out a race at any one of the racing venues around the UK.
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The Hertforshire Mercury has everything you need to keep up to date with all the speedway news including exciting speedway videos to watch the action again and again.
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