Speedway -- What is it?
It will come as a surprise to most North American motor sport fans, who think of Stock Car and "Indy" car racing when they hear the word "Speedway", to learn that to the rest of the world, Speedway Racing is a very exciting form of dirt track motorcycle racing. This form of the sport has a large following in Europe, and at one time, was acknowledged to be the most popular spectator sport in Britain. A major race can draw 30 thousand spectators in Poland.
Several Americans ( and in the past, Canadians ) have moved to Europe and hired to race in the teams there. The current ( 1996 ) World Champion is Billy "The Bullet" Hammil ( American ). Billy is from California, the hottest place in North America for speedway. Several tracks there draw a crowd of 5 thousand every weekend. See the Track Page to find a track near you, or check out this NEW SITE - USA Speedway Videos - Raz Video for a video of the racing in California.
Speedway machines are like fuel drag bikes, stripped to the bare essentials. A light frame with minimal suspension, 500cc single cylinder, four valve, methanol fuel engine, no transmission, with just clutch and throttle to provide a lightweight but devastatingly powerful racing bike. You will notice that no mention is made of brakes. That is not an oversight -- these bikes do not have any brakes!!
Photo: a 1976 Jawa two valve
To slow the machine sufficiently to get around the corners of the 1/8 or 1/4 mile oval track, riders pitch them sideways and slide them into the corner using the rear wheel to scrub off speed while still providing the drive to power the bike forward and around the bend. With up to six riders competing in a race, on bikes with no brakes, which can reach high speeds, on a small oval dirt tracks, you will quickly understand why speedway is a spectacular form of motorcycle racing.
The 4 lap race is over in 70 seconds so there is no "pacing" by the riders. It's full out from start to finish with speeds near 140 KPH. Unlike most motor sports, the spectators get a full view of the entire track. The riders are closely grouped, and the spectators have no doubt who the leader is and who is moving up.
For more about world speedway, check out the World Speedway Home Page It has a great
Frequently Asked Questions page, by Kevin Meynell, including software!
Read about an organization that was formed to help support speedway in Canada!
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