Event Reports

Visit to Sheffield Speedway - Thursday 23rd June 2016

Five of us (Steve, Justine, Chas, Bob and yours truly) met up at The Redbeck on Thursday evening for our trip to The Owlerton Stadium to watch The Sheffield Tigers take on Redcar Bears in the Speedway Premier League.

Setting off promptly at 6.15pm, we cut through Walton to join the M1 south, then taking the A61 direct to the track, an uninteresting ride, but this was more about the destination than the route.

After securing our bikes in the dedicated bike parking area (free, but two quid to park a car), we paid our £15 at the turnstile and found our spot to watch the racing.

Six more joined us, Clare who'd brought 'Mater et Pater' (as she calls them) and Ian with Terri and Helen, who both travelled in their respective cars (should still get points though for turning up).

Team photo (minus Ian & Family)

Racing began at 7.30pm and was pretty fast and furious with each race of 4 laps of the track lasting just over 60 seconds ... YES that's 15 seconds a lap!!!

At the Start

And all this on fixed gear, 500cc single cylinder bikes which run on methanol and can accelerate from 0-60mph in under 2 seconds (faster than an F1 car) .... oh yes I nearly forgot .... they don't have ANY BRAKES!!!!!

Four riders in each race (two from each team) with the winner taking 3 points, 2 for second, 1 for third and 0 for last, this is a team sport with the team accumulating most points over 15 races being declared the overall winners.

Going for it

Sheffield Tigers got off to a storming start with a 10 point lead after only a few races, even though one of their riders suffered a heavy crash after flipping his bike at the start ... he walked away though .... in a bit of a huff as he'd been disqualified.

The racing was quite exciting, cynics say there's no overtaking after the first corner but this simply wasn't true on Thursday.

Redcar riders made a valiant effort to reduce the points deficit but the early advantage that Sheffield had saw them as the winner at the end of the evening.

We all agreed it had been a really good night out, the weather had been perfect and we'd had our usual chat and banter in between the racing .... as well as us all enjoying an ice cream (Clare's fault .... she started it).

Clare photbombing Bob's Selfie

Racing all over by around 9.30pm and we made our way out and our journey home.

A great night out and one we should definitely add to our regular events list (at least once a year).

Martin Burgess
Rideout Coordinator (1 of 3)

Read more about Sheffield Speedway at their team website: www.sheffieldspeedway.co