Track racing

Track racing is a motorcycle sport where teams or individuals race opponents around an oval track. There are differing variants, with each variant racing on a different surface type.

The most common variant is Speedway which has many professional domestic and international competitions in a number of countries.Administered internationally by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), the sport became popular in the 1920s and remains so today.

Track racing involves between 4 and 8 competitors riding around an oval track in an counter-clockwise direction over a set amount of laps - usually 4 - with points being awarded to all but the last finisher on a sliding scale.These points are accumulated over a number of heats, with the winner being the team or individual who has scored the most overall.

The machines used are customised motorcycles, these have no brakes and are fuelled with methanol. Speedway also uses motorcycles with no gears or rear suspension. The use of methanol provides an increased compression ratio to the engine resulting in higher speeds (approx 80mph when cornering) although the skill of Track Racing lies in the overall ability of the rider to control his motorcycle when cornering and thus avoid losing places through deceleration.This has resulted in powersliding or broadsiding being used as a technique in most variants of the sport to progress around the track.