Speedway

Speedway

Links
Wikipedia

Fixtures

DateRGazde vs Oaspeti-
05/07 18:00 - Dackarna vs Piraterna View
05/07 18:00 - Smederna vs Indianerna View
05/07 18:00 - Rospiggarna vs Lejonen View
05/07 18:00 - Vargarna vs Vastervik View
05/14 18:00 - Vastervik vs Rospiggarna View
05/14 18:00 - Piraterna vs Smederna View
05/14 18:00 - Indianerna vs Dackarna View
05/21 18:00 - Indianerna vs Lejonen View
05/21 18:00 - Rospiggarna vs Dackarna View
05/21 18:00 - Smederna vs Vastervik View
05/21 18:00 - Vargarna vs Piraterna View
06/04 18:00 - Piraterna vs Rospiggarna View

Results

Date R Gazde vs Oaspeti -
10/08 14:18 - Falubaz Zielona Gora vs ROW Rybnik 58-32
10/07 14:22 - Stal Rzeszow vs Start Gniezno 57-32
10/05 18:21 - Sheffield vs Ipswich 56-34
10/03 18:26 - Ipswich vs Sheffield 54-36
09/29 16:51 - ROW Rybnik vs Falubaz Zielona Gora 37-47
09/28 18:23 - Sheffield vs Wolverhampton 39-21
09/26 17:00 1 Dackarna vs Vastervik 46-44
09/25 18:19 - Belle Vue vs Ipswich 51-39
09/24 17:15 1 Sparta Wroclaw vs Motor Lublin 35-55
09/24 14:00 50 Wlokniarz Czestochowa vs Apator Torun 46-44
09/21 18:23 - Ipswich vs Belle Vue 51-33
09/19 17:00 1 Vastervik vs Dackarna 43-47

Wikipedia - Motorcycle speedway

Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only one gear and have no brakes. Racing takes place on a flat oval track usually consisting of dirt, loosely packed shale, or crushed rock (mostly used in Australia and New Zealand). Competitors use this surface to slide their machines sideways, powersliding or broadsiding into the bends. On the straight sections of the track, the motorcycles reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour (110 km/h).

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 world champion. Speedway is popular in Central and Northern Europe and to a lesser extent in Australia and North America. A variant of track racing, speedway is administered internationally by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Domestic speedway events are regulated by FIM-affiliated national motor sport federations.

History

Col Stewart races his speedway motorcycle wearing a leather helmet. Photo taken around 1930.

The early history of speedway race meetings is a subject of much debate and controversy. There is evidence to show that meetings were held on small dirt tracks in Australia and the United States before World War I. On 13 November 1905 motorcycle racing was held at the Newcastle NSW Rugby Ground, a distance of approximately 440 yards.

American rider Don Johns was known to have used broadsiding before 1914. It was said that he would ride the entire race course wide open, throwing great showers of dirt into the air at each turn. By the early 1920s, Johns' style of cornering was followed in the United States,where it was called Short Track Racing, by riders such as Albert "Shrimp" Burns, Maldwyn "Floppy" Jones and Eddie Brinck.

Motorcycle Speedway can be traced back to the early 1920s. One track that staged speedway, amongst others, was at the West Maitland Showground, whose first speedway meeting was staged on 15 December 1923. This track had a motorcycle riding entrepreneur as its Secretary and his personal account has him inviting his friends and their associates to do a few laps one Sunday morning, the noise attracted the attention of the Showground committee and approval to race at the "Electric Light Festival" was won. Motorcycle racing under lights was a huge success and its promoter was New Zealand-born John S. Hoskins. These pioneers introduced the Speedway signatures of No Left Footpeg and the Steel Shoe, ironically fashioned from worn coal shovels, manufactured in this Steel region.

Following the success of Maitland, Speedway meetings were conducted at Newcastle Showground in 1924. These events were very successful and led to the construction of Newcastle Speedway off Darling Street, Hamilton. Johnnie Hoskins became the Secretary of Newcastle Speedway Ltd. The Newcastle Herald reports the Grand Opening on 14 November 1925 attracted an audience of 42,000 at that time it was approximately one-third of Newcastle's entire population.

Speedway riders, Sydney, 9 February 1946, by Ray Olsen, Pix Magazine photographer.

After Maitland, Newcastle Showground is the second oldest Motorcycle Speedway track in the world. However, its first recorded motorcycle race was much earlier in 1908. The first Australian Motorcycle Speedway Championship was held at Newcastle Showground in 1926. Ironically it was won by American rider Cec Brown. Visiting English and American racers were common, for they were highly paid showmen, often winning a year's salary in just one night. It was very successful, so Newcastle Showground held the championship again in 1927. Very fitting that Newcastle Showground held the first National Speedway Championship anywhere in the world.

In 1926 Johnnie Hoskins took his Speedway show to Sydney's Royal Showground. A very wet Sydney summer nearly sent Hoskins broke, so he took the show on the road to Perth, where one good season made him wealthy again. He and his riders decided to take the show to England, as the word had spread about this exciting sport. 14 April 1928, Johnnie Hoskins, 13 Australian Riders and their motorcycles sailed from Perth on the passenger ship Oronsay to introduce Speedway Solo motorcycle racing to England.

The first meeting in the United Kingdom took place at High Beech on 19 February 1928. There are, however, claims that meetings were held in 1927 at Camberley, Surrey and Droylsden, Lancashire. 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 Droylsden were held in an anti-clockwise direction, but it is generally accepted that the sport arrived in the United Kingdom 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. The first speedway meeting in the UK to feature bikes with no brakes and broadsiding round corners on loose dirt was the third meeting held at High Beech on 9 April 1928, where Colin Watson, Alf Medcalf and "Digger" Pugh demonstrated the art for the first time in the UK. Proto speedway was staged in Glasgow at the Olympic Stadium (Glasgow Nelson) on 9 April 1928 and the first fully professional meeting was staged at Celtic Park on 28 April 1928. The first meeting in Wales was staged at Cardiff White City on Boxing Day 1928.

In the 1928–1929 season at the Melbourne Exhibition Speedway, Australian Colin Stewart won the prestigious Silver Gauntlet, which required the rider to win the feature race 10 times in one season. He won it 12 times. He also achieved success at an international level, racing for Southampton Saints in 1929 and captained Glasgow in the Northern League in 1930 before moving to Wembley Lions in 1931, for whom he rode in just four matches, averaging 4.00 points per match. He also raced in the 1930 Scottish Championship which was won by Wembley Lions' Harry Whitfield.

The forerunner of the World Championship, the Star Riders' Championship, was inaugurated in Great Britain in 1929, but was split into two sections, as it was felt that the British riders were not yet the equal of the Australians and Americans. Frank Arthur won the Overseas Section and Roger Frogley the British. The following year the two sections were amalgamated and Vic Huxley proved to be the winner. Huxley was also runner-up three times and won the first British Match Race championship in 1931.

Speedway racing typically took place on purpose-built tracks, although in Australia bikes shared larger speedways with Sprintcars, Speedcars (Midgets) and saloons, with tracks traditionally ranging from 1/3-mile showground tracks, such as the now-closed 520 metres (570 yd) Claremont Speedway in Perth and the 509 metres (557 yd) Sydney Showground, to smaller, purpose-built 300 metres (330 yd) long motorcycle tracks, such as Gillman Speedway in Adelaide and Mildura's Olympic Park.