What Is Speedway?
Popular in continental Europe and the UK, speedway is one of the most exhilarating motorsports you can watch 🗝 and bet on.
The motorcycle sport involves adrenaline junkies negotiating flat oval dirt tracks in an anti-clockwise direction on single-gear bikes, 🗝 which can go from nought to 60 mph in just 2.3 seconds. Riders take advantage of the dirt surface by 🗝 sliding their bikes sideways into the bends using a method known as broadsiding, helping them to maintain momentum and power 🗝 down the straight sections of the track.
Speedway Races
Speedway races (also known as heats) are four laps long, with two teams 🗝 of two riders competing for pole position. Some races feature six riders, but this is rare as most modern speedway 🗝 tracks are too narrow to accommodate the additional riders safely.
Home team riders wear red and blue helmets, while visiting riders 🗝 wear white and yellow/black helmets. The starting area is split into a grid of four equal sections, with riders from 🗝 each team taking their place in alternate grids.
Helmet colours determine where each rider starts on the grid. Red starts from 🗝 gate one, blue starts from gate two, white starts from gate three, and yellow/black starts from gate four. When the 🗝 race begins, the riders must complete four laps of the track without both wheels illegally leaving the track boundaries.
Speedway Scoring 🗝 System
Before you start betting on speedway events, it’s important to understand how the scoring system works. Speedway uses a 3-2-1-0 🗝 scoring method, which works as follows for each race:
First Place – 3 points
– 3 points Second Place – 2 points
– 🗝 2 points Third Place – 1 point
– 1 point Fourth Place – 0 points
These points accumulate over the meeting, with 🗝 riders scoring points towards individual or team placings. In the event of a tie, the race is declared a dead 🗝 heat. If it’s a tie for first place, both riders receive two points. A tie for second place earns each 🗝 rider one point, and riders don’t score any points if it’s a joint-last finish.
