A summer's evening with nothing to do? Want to try something new? Maybe it is time to find your local Speedway track!
Fans of track cycling, 400m running and even Nordic sprint skiing will love Speedway. For me, it also takes me back to watching Formula 1 with Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna dueling it out on Sunday afternoon's in my childhood.
What? No brakes!
Speedway is motorcycle racing with a especially designed 500cc bike that has one gear and no brakes!
The bikes are powered by methanol and can reach up to 70 mph (100 kph) on the straights and then "power slide" or "broadside" around the corners - a technique designed to keep the speeds as high a possible.
A Match with Heats
Each Match in comprised of a series of "Heats" where four riders race four laps around an oval track as fast as possible. Points are dished out with 3 for the winner, 2 for second, 1 for third and 0 for last place and Heat can take as little as 1m30s.
Grand Prix
In Speedway Grand Prix (SGP) there are 16 competitors who duel it out in 20 Heats. The top eight on points then race two semifinals and a final to see who is crowned champion for that GP.
It is "every man for himself" and the rider who amasses the most points from the 11 SGPs across the season is crowned World Champion. Currently (2018) that is Britain's Tai Woffinden. Watch him win in style here.
The Leagues
In league racing two teams go head to head. Each team has 5 riders plus 2 reserves. The Heat is a team effort with two riders from each squad competing, if possible, to collect five points in each Heat by finishing first and second. There are 90 points on offer in each Match so the winner is effectively the first team to 46 points.
Who takes part?
The sport is popular in northern Europe and Australia with Poland's Ekstraliga considered the best in the world, followed by Sweden's Elitserien and the UK's Premiership.
The SGP has only the top riders in the world but these bikers from diverse countries such as Poland, Sweden, Denmark and Australia compete weekly in the national leagues, often dominate in more than one country. That means that you can watch top quality Speedway almost everyday of the week!
Premiership: Mondays and Thursdays
Elitserien: Tuesdays and Thursdays
Ekstraliga: Fridays and Sundays
Who to watch out for?
The races are fast and furious, but there's also plenty of time to relax between Heats.
In the national leagues players do not have names on the back of their shirts like football, but are distinguished by their team strips and that they have different colours on their helmets - red and blue for the home team; white and yellow for the visitors.
It's a good idea to have an idea of who to look out for and make sure you get a race card - the Match program - when you go to the arena. And check online - the Ekstraliga, for example, has a great app where you can guess who will win each Heat!
Top riders:
Tai Woffinden (UK)
Jason Doyle (AUS)
Fredrik Lindgren (SWE)
Bartosz Zmarzlik (POL)
Martin Vaculik (SLO)
Nikki Pedersen (DEN)
Current League Champions (2018)
Premiership: Poole Pirates
Elitserien: Eskilstuna Smederna
Ekstraliga: Fogo Unia Leszno
