 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2022) |
 Swedish 2007 national championship | |
| Highest governing body | FIM |
|---|---|
| Characteristics | |
| Equipment | Speedway motorcycle |
| Venue | Frozen motorcycle speedway |
| Presence | |
| Olympic | No |
| World Championships | Yes |
| Paralympic | No |
Ice speedway is a developed form of motorcycle speedway racing, featuring racing on frozen surfaces. The sport uses bikes enhanced for the terrain. Participants can compete at international level.
The bikes race counterclockwise around oval tracks between 260 and 425 metres in length. The race structure and scoring are similar to that in speedway.
Ice speedway is an evolution of dirt speedway racing, which first started in 1923. Staten Lorenz of Michigan is generally credited with the invention of the sport, in 1975. The first ice speedway event was organized and promoted by a local motorcycle dealer in Huntsville, Alabama. The third ever event was hosted at the Kent State University hockey field house, which speedway rider Gary Densford was invited to attend by his friend Bob Hetrick. At this event, Hetrick finished first and Densford finished second. Densford went on to promote this new sport, forming the ICE (international Championship Events). [1] [2]
Later, in 1982, studded tires were made mandatory. Specially designed studs were used, the first design was the "Ice Getter", a single track of studs which increased traction on the ice but didn't significantly increase wear on the ice (important to consider for indoor racing). Later, a new design was used, the "Kold Kutter", had dual tracks of studs, which increased traction further but increased wear on the ice. The performance gains from the Kold Kutters was so significant, however, that supposedly some of the older racers decided to retire. Lastly, in 1991, the ICE mandated a new type of racing stud, the "Silver Rockets Racing Studs", which had the most traction and least ice wear out of any design so far. [2]
The bikes bear a passing resemblance to those used for speedway, but have a longer wheelbase and a more rigid frame. As with speedway, the bikes do not have brakes.
The sport is divided into classes for full-rubber and studded tyres. The studded tyre category involves competitors riding on bikes with spikes up to 3 centimetres in length screwed into each treadless tyre, each bike has between the 130 and 140 spikes on the front tyre and between the 170 and 190 on the rear (regulations on length and types of permissible studs are controlled by the sanctioning body). The use of these spikes in this discipline necessitate the addition of special protective guards (similar to mudguards) over the wheels which extend almost to the ice surface. The spiked tyres produce a tremendous amount of traction and this means two-speed gearboxes are also required.
The use of spikes on the tyres makes the sport more dangerous with fallen riders running the risk of being run over by other bikes. Ice speedway riders have often been described as both the bravest and craziest of all speedway riders.[ citation needed ]
In the studded tyre class there is no broadsiding around the bends due to the grip produced by the spikes digging into the ice. Instead, riders lean their bikes into the bends at an angle where the handlebars just skim the track surface. Speeds approach 80 mph (130 km/h) on the straights, and 60 mph (100 km/h) on the bends. The safety barrier usually consists of straw bales or banked-up snow and ice around the outer edge of the track.
Since the riding style required for studded ice racing is different from that used in the other track racing disciplines, riders from this sport rarely participate in speedway or its other variants and vice versa.
The majority of Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme sanctioned team and individual meetings are held in Russia, Sweden and Finland, but events are also held in the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, and occasionally other countries. Countries that dominated and won the majority of titles in Individual Ice Racing World Championship (held since 1966) and Team Ice Racing World Championship (held since 1979) were the USSR and since 1991—Russia. Canada's national touring series is sanctioned by the Canadian Motorcycle Association.
| World Championships (FIM) | Europe Championship (UEM) | |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | Individual (since 1966) | Individual Individual U-21 (since 2009) |
| Pair | — | — |
| Nations | Nations (since 1979) | — |
Being a winter sport, ice speedway is mostly popular in the northern/north-eastern half of Europe and North America. Notable drivers include Sweden's Per-Olof Serenius, multiple world champion and with 22 Swedish championships to his belt, [3] and Russia's Nikolai Krasnikov, septuple world champion (2005–2011). [4]
Motorcycle sport is a broad field that encompasses all sporting aspects of motorcycling. The disciplines are not all races or timed-speed events, as several disciplines test a competitor's various riding skills.
BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation.
Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start of the twentieth century and large national events were often given the title Grand Prix. The foundation of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme as the international governing body for motorcycle sport in 1949 provided the opportunity to coordinate rules and regulations in order that selected events could count towards official World Championships. It is the oldest established motorsport world championship.
Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only one gear and have no brakes. Racing takes place on a flat oval track usually consisting of dirt, loosely packed shale, or crushed rock. Competitors use this surface to slide their machines sideways, powersliding or broadsiding into the bends. On the straight sections of the track, the motorcycles reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour (110 km/h).
Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom.
Supermoto is a form of motorcycle racing held on race tracks that alternate between three kinds of track surfaces: the hard packed dirt of flat track, the irregular jumps and obstacles of motocross, and the paved tarmac of road racing. Supermoto was originally conceived by Gavin Trippe in 1979 as a segment of the TV show Wide World of Sports. It was something like an all-star game, in which the best riders from the three separate genres of motorcycle racing could temporarily leave their normal race class to come together and compete for the title of best all around racer. Today supermoto is a distinct genre of its own and riders in the other classes do not routinely cross over into supermoto.
The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme is the global governing/sanctioning body of motorcycle racing. It represents 116 national motorcycle federations that are divided into six regional continental unions.
Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling sports include artistic cycling, cycle polo, freestyle BMX and mountain bike trials. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is the world governing body for cycling and international competitive cycling events. The International Human Powered Vehicle Association is the governing body for human-powered vehicles that imposes far fewer restrictions on their design than does the UCI. The UltraMarathon Cycling Association is the governing body for many ultra-distance cycling races.
Ice racing is a form of racing that uses cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, or other motorized vehicles. Ice racing takes place on frozen lakes or rivers, or on groomed frozen lots. As cold weather is a requirement for natural ice, it is usually found at higher latitudes in Canada, the northern United States, and in northern Europe, although limited indoor events are held in warmer climates, typically on ice hockey rinks. Tracks in North America vary from 1/4 mile to several mile-long circuits.
Cycle speedway is a form of bicycle racing on short oval dirt tracks, usually outdoors, occasionally indoors, typically 70–90 metres long. Like motorcycle speedway, riders use machines without brakes or multiple gears but, unlike motor speedway, the object is not to slide bikes round the turns.
The Daytona 200 is an annual motorcycle road racing competition held in early spring at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The 200-mile (320 km) race was founded in 1937 when it was sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). The original course used the beach itself before moving to a paved closed circuit in 1961. The Daytona 200 reached its zenith of worldwide popularity in the 1970s when the race attracted the largest crowds of any AMA race along with some of the top rated international motorcycle racers.
The British Superbike Championship (BSB), currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, is the leading road racing superbike championship in the United Kingdom, and is still acknowledged to be the premier domestic superbike racing series in the world.
Motorcycle Grasstrack is a form of track racing which typically, in its current form, takes place on a flat track consisting of two straights and two bends usually constructed in a field. It is one of the oldest types of motorcycle sports in the UK with the first meetings having taken place in the 1920s.
The motorcycle sport of racing includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and land speed record trials.
Track racing is a form of motorcycle racing where teams or individuals race opponents around an unpaved oval track. There are differing variants, with each variant racing on a different surface type.
Sidecar Speedway is a motorcycle sport involving 4 crews of a rider and a passenger competing over 4 laps on an oval shale surface. Rules are governed by the national speedway federation and are not dissimilar to conventional speedway rules.
Long track is a version of track racing, that takes place on tracks ranging from 425 to 1,000 metres in length at high speeds. There are also subtle differences between longtrack and speedway such as the machinery used in longtrack bike is slightly larger and has a two-speed gearbox. Races usually consist of six riders although occasionally they have eight. Longtrack is very similar with another form of track racing, Grasstrack. The two sports use the same machinery and have a combined World Championship
A motorcycle tyre is the outer part of motorcycle wheel, attached to the rim, providing traction, resisting wear, absorbing surface irregularities, and allowing the motorcycle to turn via countersteering. The two tyres' contact patches are the motorcycle's connection to the ground, and so are fundamental to the motorcycle's suspension behaviour, and critically affect safety, braking, fuel economy, noise, and rider comfort.
Off-road tires are a category of vehicle tires that use deep tread to provide more traction on unpaved surfaces such as loose dirt, mud, sand, or gravel. Compared to ice or snow tires, they lack studs but contain deeper and wider grooves meant to help the tread sink into mud or gravel surfaces.
The following outline is provided as an overview of motorcycles and motorcycling:
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)International speedway competitions | ||
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| National Leagues | ||
| Ice speedway |
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