Speedway Racing – An Adventurous Sport
Thursday, April 29th, 2010A popular car race in North Europe, Australia and North America, Speedway is administered internationally by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme. Events are regulated by FIM affiliated national motor sport federations.
Dating back, its Origin was in Maitland, Australia, in 1920s, there are now both domestic and international competitions in different number of countries including the Speedway World Cup whilst the highest overall scoring individual in the Grand Prix events is pronounced the world champion.
The first meeting in UK took place at High Beech in 1928. However, there are claims that meetings were held in 1927 at Camberley, Surrey and Droylsden, Lancashire. Its first meeting, as reported in the Maitland Mercury newspaper, took place on 15 December 1923 at the Maitland Showground in the Lower Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia.
If we talk about the nature of game, each track is of 260-400 meters long and four laps are completed approximately in one minute. Like Leigh Adams set a record time of 59 seconds on a 342 meters track and produced an average speed of 83 km/h. The speed on straight sections of the track reaches 110 km/h (70 mph) or more on longer tracks, but the limited speed on curves lowers the average.
At the start of a race it takes between one and two seconds for the motorcycle to reach the “curve speed” (somewhat lower than the average), which is roughly estimated to be the equivalent of 2.5 to 3 seconds to reach 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) (or 0 to 60 mph). The start of the race is an important aspect of the race overall. “Gating” correctly can help a rider gain an initial advantage over other riders but speed advantages can be made as a race progresses.
It is a courageous car race as well, those riders who are willing to take a risk and opt for finding the grippy parts of the track rather than the race line, are sometimes rewarded with extra speed allowing them to pass other riders either on the outside or the inside.
This sport uses a unique type of motorcycle, governed by the FIM’s “Track Racing Technical Rules”. In the past, bikes with upright engines were used (the name taken from the way the engine sits in the frame), but today most professional riders use lay down bikes as it is argued that they are easier to handle.
In this race bikes don’t use brakes the clutch is used as a release mechanism at the start of races. As FIM regulations state that the motorcycles must have no brakes, are powered by pure methanol, use only one gear and weigh a minimum of 77 kilograms. And By using engine and rear wheel sprockets the gear ratio can be adjusted as required for track conditions. The proper use of methanol allows for an increased compression ratio to the engine producing more power than other fuels and resulting in higher speeds approximately 130 kilometers per hour (81 mph) when cornering.
So in the nut shell, this race up its four laps of all out speed, control, the best thing is that all this happens just yards from where you’re standing and the stars of the show (the riders) are easily accessible to see and meet, so don’t forget your cameras, autograph books and pens