How to Play Speedway?
The race begins with four riders racing over four laps from a starting point. Each of them wears helmets of different colors. Generally, in team events, red and blue stands for home team riders, white and yellow/black stands for visiting riders. The starting area is divided into 4 equal parts/grids.
The riders from each team must take their position in their respective grid. Here the colors also denote the starting position in individual events. Red starts from gate 1, blue from gate 2, white from gate 3 and yellow/black from gate 4. The riders should be willing to get their bikes on their own without any outside help.
All the riders must be present at the start line within a reasonable period of time else they can be disqualified. The starting gate has two or more tapes across the start line. All the riders must take their position within 10cm from the starting point and never touch it after the green light is on. They are expected to remain stationery until the tapes are raised.
In any case, if a rider fails to comply, it is considered as a false start and the rider is penalised for it. The race begins by raising the start tape monitored by the match referee and the riders must proceed around the track in anticlockwise direction without both wheels illegally leaving the track boundaries.
How to Drive
A new rider should always take care of the following things.
Wheel’s Position
The rear wheel should be in the centre or back from the centre in its slot in order to adjust traction. If the wheel is set forward, it results in poor handling but the rider gets more traction. In order to make turns easier, the wheel has to be set right back but this results in more spin.
Riding Position
Many riders stand on the footrest with their right foot and put the left foot apart. This is a worst condition as there is much weight on the right foot and the arms get tired quickly. In order to make the handling easy, the right foot has to remain on right footrest and the pressure on the left foot can be increased or reduced through right thigh muscle which can be set across the front saddle. In this way, a rider can control and balance the bike through right foot.
Controlling the bike
The new rider can control his bike on the curves by putting off the throttle. While putting off the throttle, he has to take care of the speed with which he can control the bike on the curves. As soon as the straight path comes, he has to put on the throttle which swings and spins the rear wheel automatically.
Handling Over Slide
It is a condition where the rear wheel is too far out. This cannot be rectified by suddenly by closing the throttle. In this situation, it is better to push the bike down on its left side unless it is on the ground instead of going over the top or going around nearly 180 degrees and being thrown backwards.
Pass a Slow Rider
This is one of the most difficult situation one encounters. In this case, the rider needs to rush up in the inside but if the space is too small, cross the machine up to scrub off some speed and then simply follow that rider unless one can make an easy pass.
Making an Outside Pass
If a rider is about to make overtake a slow rider while exiting from a turn, he should make sure that he does not get squeezed into the fence. This situation can be avoided either by easing up on the throttle if there is time or to cross up the machine more before the front wheel enters the gap between the slow rider’s rear wheel and the fence, which will scrub off a little speed to avoid collision.
Once the rider is confident about having full control, get the body weight as far back as conditions permit. Then try to get the wheels as straight as possible while heading for the exit of the turn so that the maximum amount of traction is obtained during throttle opening.
Laying the bike down
If a rider has to stop or slow down the bike suddenly, laying down the bike is the best option. This situation can occur if a rider falls down and the rider behind him has to stop or slow down the bike suddenly.
