Motorcycle speedway
An international individual speedway championship has taken various forms since its beginnings in the 1930's. The present FIM Speedway Grand Prix championship has taken place since 1995. SGP uses a different scoring system,based on overall final position.The rider who has gained the most points at the end of the tournament is declared the World Champion. Jason Crump (Australia) is the current champion. (2004-5). Speedway Grand Prix (Benfield Sports) organise the British Grand Prix held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
Scoring in GP events will change in 2005 with riders scoring 3-2-1-0 in their races and these points being carried forward to decide the winner of each GP. At the end of the series the highest scorer will become the world champion.
A World Cup event is also held each year,featuring teams from the major speedway countries, usually in a series of meetings over the space of a week in the summer.
Speedway is presently most popular in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, England, Wales, Scotland, New Zealand and to a lesser extent these days Australia; it has some popularity in the United States as well.
Famous speedway riders include Tony Rickardsson (5-time World Champion], Jason Crump (reigning World Champion), and Nicki Pedersen, 2003 World Champion.
Domestic team events. Most European countries run their own domestic speedway leagues. A team speedway meeting usually features 15 heats but in a team oriented format, and each rider is programmed to ride 4 or 5 times.In team races, there is a set order that riders will race in, although after the first 5 races, these orders are regularly adjusted.
Team races use traditional scoring (3-2-1-0), except in a 5-team event, where it is 4 for first and one less every place afterwards. In addition, a tactical ride is allowed for teams trailing by a certain margin to use (British speedway only). When a tactical is used, any points earned are doubled.
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