Getting Started in Track Racing

What is Track Racing?

This is one of the oldest types of motorcycle sports in the UK with the first meetings having taken place in the 1920s. The two most popular forms of Track Racing are Grasstrack and Speedway. Grasstrack is a form of motorcycle racing which typically takes place on a flat oval track (two straights and two bends), with at least eight - often more - on bikes which have no brakes. Many famous Speedway riders started their racing careers in Grasstrack and the sport is still seen as one of the best stepping stones to speedway. The British Grasstrack season usually starts in early spring and runs through the summer month into the autumn. The pinnacle of the domestic Grasstrack season is the British Masters Championships.

What other forms of Track Racing are there?

Track Racing comes in many forms other than just Solo racing. The most popular and well-known sport within Track Racing is Speedway which is competed on a Regional, National and International level in the UK. Other Grasstrack sports include Sidecar which caters for three different classes such as the left- handed 500cc and 1000cc (turning left) and right-handed 1000cc (turning right). Other forms of Track Racing include disciplines such as Flat Track Racing, Sand Racing and Quad Grasstrack.  

Is There a Class for Me?

If you are aged  6 years old and above then there is a class for you, no matter whether you are male or female, with classes ranging from Grasstrack / Motocross bikes from a 50cc all the way up to 1000cc sidecars.  Schoolboy racing sees riders grouped together depending on their age, i.e.:

• Auto/Cadet, 6–8 years;
• Junior 9–12 years;
• Intermediate 13–17 years.

There are three separate Motocross classes for ages 7–15 years. For Youth Sidecars there is the 500cc Right Hand Sidecar class for riders / passengers aged 15 or above. Adult licences start from 16 years of age on bike from a 250cc two stroke upwards.

How is Speedway different to Grasstrack?  

Although Speedway and Grasstrack both share a number of common factors as a motorcycle sport, speedway bikes are specialist machines which use only one gear and have no brakes or suspension. Races are predominantly club focused events held in Stadiums on tracks consisting of dirt and loosely packed shale; they are much shorter - usually around 360 metres - with no more than four riders at a time and feature air bag safety fences around the outside.