Our next collection of tracks are from the British Premier League which is essentially the second division of British speedway. I realise that referring to the second tier as "Premier" is a complete contradiction in terms, as the word is defined as "first in status or importance." However in the wonderful world of speedway, most people seem happy to ignore such glaring contradictions!
As far as the tracks go, the sizes and shapes vary significantly (even more so than in the Elite League.) As well as the traditional tracks that sit inside a greyhound track, or around a football pitch, there has been a new generation of purpose built, stand alone tracks such as Newport, Somerset, Scunthorpe & Redcar.
While these tracks are sometimes seen as "a track in a field" as opposed to a conventional stadium, they offer more freedom in terms of track design and of course there is the potential to develop a proper stadium in due course. Somerset & Scunthorpe in particular have established an excellent reputation for the standard of racing they produce. It is interesting to see the shape of the Scunthorpe track, as the two corners are completely different, making for a very unusual circuit.
Track data from the British Speedway Track Directory
wow, never realised the shape of the Scunny circuit, no wonder the racing is always good there. Check how narrow the exit out of the last bend is at Derwent Park! I've seen some nasty looking spills at that very point on the track, the bends at Berwick are almost squared off and no wonder none of my rider friends like racing at Rye House, it's so tiny and obviously has very limited racing lines going by the dark pattern on the track.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly gives us new insight looking at the tracks from above, compared with our usual terrace level. There are quite a few quirks with some of the tracks where they appear to get narrower in strange places. The first corner at Edinburgh for instance seems narrower than the other corners for no obvious reason.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your observations about Rye House. On the one time I went there since it reopened, the racing was very dull as everyone hugged the inside line and it appeared that there was actually an adverse camber. The only overtaking happened when a visiting rider drifted slightly off line.
Although we all bemoan the lack of dirt on the tracks, I think the Torun GP last night proved once and for all that a speedway track also requires a certain amount of banking to produce good racing.