The venue of these competitions, for the first time after a long break, will be the Bikernieki speedway track. The competitions are organised by the Latvian Federation of Motor Sports in cooperation with the organisers of the World Grand Prix – BSI Speedway. The general sponsor is Rietumu Bank.
The best riders of the world will struggle for the winning places and points for the overall standings in Riga. In total, 16 sportsmen from nine countries will participate – Australia, the USA, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Slovenia, Great Britain and Latvia. Among them, there are the current leaders in this sport – Tai Woffinden (Great Britain), Greg Hancock (the USA) and Darcy Ward (Australia).
Latvia will be represented by the best speedway rider of the country Andrzej Lebedev, who has a special invitation – the wildcard.
The competitions at the Bikernieki speedway track are not the first speedway world cup stage held in Latvia. Up to now the venue of the international races has been Daugavpils – a city in the eastern part of Latvia which is well known in the world of motor sports. However, the completion of the reconstruction of Riga Stadium has allowed competitions to be arranged for this, and other motorcycle sports, in the capital of Latvia.
This world cup stage of the Rietumu Bank Latvian FIM Speedway Grand Prix will be broadcasted in 160 countries. The event is expected to be attended by over 100 reporters from all parts of the world and a lot of fans of this sport from Europe, Scandinavia, Russia and other countries.
The competitions will start on 16 August at 18:40. Tickets can be acquired on the Biļešu serviss website.
Bikernieki was the first specialised complex for car and motorcycle sports in the former USSR. The design of the complex was completed in January 1965 and the main works which made it suitable for holding races were completed in June 1966. At that time the complex included two race circuits. In the 70s the complex was developed further – a field for motorcycle soccer appeared in 1974 and a speedway track in 1976. In the opinion of experts, the Bikernieki complex was the best in the USSR both regarding the quality of its track and infrastructure, and regarding the level of competition organisation. In total in 1966-91 twenty-nine stages of the USSR championships for racing cars and thirteen for standard cars were held there; it had seven stages of the Friendship Cup of socialist countries (1968, 1984-1986, 1988-1990) and five more international competitions in 1988-1991. Speedway is one of the motorcycle sports. Its competitions take place on a flat oval track 260 m to 400 m long, usually consisting of dirt. The number of participants is from 4 to 6 in each ride. Owing to its dynamics, speed and spectacularity, speedway is one of the most popular motorcycle sports in the world – spectators can always see the entire track and the position of all the riders on it. Eleonora Gailisha Mass Media and Public Relations
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