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Speedway

By: Jennie Gow, Chessie Bent
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  • Summary

  • Speedway was a prime-time sport in the 1970s and 1980s. Its most successful riders were household names, and events would be held in venues as large as Wembley Stadium, attracting tens of thousands of spectators. In a time of only three terrestrial TV channels in the UK, you were guaranteed to find Speedway racing on one of them on a Saturday afternoon.

    At one point, London alone was home to 11 separate clubs. Today it has none.

    So what put this once-dominant sport on the slide? It’s especially puzzling given that one of its leading lights (and three-time World Champion), Tai Woffinden, is British. He’s hugely famous within speedway circles, but lacks the public recognition of his F1 equivalent Lewis Hamilton. Tai now chooses to race in Poland, where the sport is as popular and well-loved as it was in its UK glory days.

    Sports journalist and broadcaster, Jennie Gow, is best-known for her F1 coverage, but she believes that speedway is, in many ways, the superior spectator sport. Jennie hears from speedway riders, promoters, academics, writers, commentators, musicians, bosses and fans (and even a vicar for good measure) to ask if this exhilarating sport can roar back to greatness.

    A Listen Entertainment production for Audible Originals.

    This is an Audible Original Podcast. Free for members. You can download all 5 episodes to your Library now.

    ©2020 Audible, Ltd. (P)2020 Audible, Ltd.
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Episodes
  • Ep. 1: Start Your Engines
    Jan 23 2020

    Meet the people who will help us understand speedway’s rise and fall in popularity.

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    28 mins
  • Ep. 2: Kings of the One Fixed Gear
    Jan 23 2020

    Speedway rider Scott Nicholls tells us what life is like as a professional racer, and we visit Wolverhampton Wolves for a league meeting.

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    32 mins
  • Ep. 3: Big in Poland
    Jan 23 2020

    In Poland, speedway is still a major draw, and its biggest names are highly revered and rewarded. Can the UK scene learn anything from the Polish experience?

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    28 mins

What listeners say about Speedway

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thank you Amazon for putting Speedway out to every

As a fan from years ago who has struggled to understand why speedway has languished, I really enjoyed the treatment in this podcast that the sport deserves. Long live Speedway and may the podcasts help introduce many more to this absolutely thrilling sport.

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Not a fan but loved this

New respect for Jenny Gow, Great to learn more about her pure motorsport passion. As for the racing, i loved learning about the roots. A great listen.

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