Hi, it's quite strange, in the UK there are very few people who are "bikers" that actually watch speedway, it tends to be more of a family viewing thing, I've only ever been once, that was with a non "biker" person who asked me along. I enjoyed it, but have never been since!
I actually live in Poole, and can hear the Pirates on a Wednesday if the wind is in the right direction. But I haven't been to the stadium since the 70's
Terry
I loved the Speedway,used to watch the Glasgow Tigers at the White City,near Ibrox park in the late 60s early 70s,their big adversarys where the Coatbridge Monarchs,it was great stuff,70 MPH on bike with 500cc Jap sigle pot engines,running on Dope,and no brakes! The smell of the Castrol R40 engine oil,AAAAAHHHHHH can still smell it to-day.Magic,so it was,pure magic.
its for people that like to support teams and i have never been a team supporter i prefer to support idividuals riders/driver so it boring to me i have been a couple of time because of this i am not interested in football either
I used to go to Plymouth Devils when I was still in school..once I got a bike we used to go up to Exeter on Monday nights to watch the Exeter Falcons.
The first time I ever went I thought I'd stand by the railings on the corner seeing as no one else was there...when the bikes came by in the first race I soon found out why..there's a lot of flying grit ...Ian
Speedway used to be either the number one, or number two spectator sport in the UK (back in the 1930s or 1940s). I saw it once at Haringey, London (or maybe Walthamstow, London - can't remember), but it was pretty boring (I was too young at the time. Maybe ten years old).
However, things have changed and for me there is now something about the sport that's exciting. It's edgey and dangerous in a world where everything has to be safe. It's motorcycling on Viagra (and a couple of quick "laps" is all some of us can manage these days).
I'll probably get told off for mentioning Sump, but I've got what I think is a fairly good homage to British speedway with some history and great pictures, etc. Here's the link:
Hi All, in the uk speedway started in canterbury,my father in law was the track manager for a while, the track has long gone,and now under a housing estate, happy days,
Andrew, some would dispute that. I heard that speedway started at an informal meeting at High Beach, Essex - which is part of Epping Forest. Part of the track is still visible there too. But I suspect it's not clear exactly where it started. The only thing that people seem to agree on is that the Australians introduced it.