Super Mouse II Speedway Rider The Basics

Name: Simon Cartwright                        Age: 21 years                 Height: 5' 10''

Team: Sheffield Tigers                                             Where: Owlerton Stadium Sheffield

Job: Full time apprentice for the family furniture business "Robert Thompson's Craftsman"

Contacts:  Simon:  www.stc-racing.co.uk           Team: www.sheffieldspeedway.com

 Simon picked up his first sponsor in 1998 MAG in Yorkshire buying him a new set of leathers for the 1999 season. Simon said "our window cleaner is a life member and invited me along to their annual bonfire night. I took along my bike and talked about speedway. They were good enough to vote to support me by buying a new set of leathers." Simon has the MAG Sport logo stitched onto the front area of his leathers

Simon said " I've had a lot of help from dad" Ian Cartwright who captained the Halifax Dukes for many years, and on a number of occasions rode for his country, "who has adopted the quietly encouraging approach and my mechanic Derek Wilson".Simon races in 45 plus events per year with each meeting generally consisting of between 13 to 18 races (heats) in the team event and special invitation rides that come in from all over the world.

The Bikes: have a capacity of 500cc and are single cylinder air cooled units running a compression ratio of around 14.1, fuelled by Methanol and pump out around 70bhp with immense amounts of torque.

The Brakes: there is no brakes or gears, the rider fits a gear ratio to suit the track conditions and simply works with the throttle and clutch.

Riding Technique: you get around the bends by broad sliding the bike to scrub off speed, this is the aspect of speedway that requires the most mastery.

The Tracks: generally they are shale based and between 300-400 metres long, most tracks in Continental Europe and Australia are at the larger end of the scale. Most tracks in the UK are under 300 metres and in North America they prefer small 200 metres type tracks which provide tight elbow to elbow racing.

It's a great sport for all the family to enjoy and well worth experiencing the occasion first hand. For all things Speedway and Grasstrack racing and everything you will need to know about the sport try the  Speedway and Grasstrack 2000 Website