Bringing Motorcycle Speedway back to Canberra
In the 1980s, the Canberra Bulls were an important part of Canberra’s motorsports scene. Since the mid-1980s closure of the Tralee stadium, while Australian riders have held the World Solo, Under-21, Teams and Sidecars Championships, motorcycle speedway has been seen only very rarely, in the form of long track racing at EPIC. The re-formed Canberra Bulls Speedway Club is seeking the re-establishment of the sport in the ACT. As a stadium sport, we need to identify existing, spectator-friendly, venues where the sport can take place, or identify a green-fields venue and attract sufficient funding to develop it to a viable stadium.
Our vision is to become the engine room of Australian motorcycle speedway. To do this, we have to focus on developing young riders, as we did so successfully in the 1980s, when several of the Canberra Bulls reached professional and semi-professional standards, and some used the skills they developed through their membership of our club to run businesses supplying and maintaining speedway equipment.
The benefits to the ACT therefore include the provision of a wide range of sporting and engineering skills in a nurturing environment to young Canberrans – particularly perhaps those at greatest risk - in their difficult teenage years. Risk-taking amongst juveniles is a very well-known phenomenon, and channelling those behaviours into more constructive forms of risk-taking can be extremely therapeutic. For example, in contrast to many other sports, there is no known performance-enhancing drug or procedure for speedway racing, and there are considerable disincentives for young competitors in speedway to engage in these types of behaviours, including significant loss of performance. In addition, learning how to maintain and race a speedway bike can lead to a range of rewarding professions, even for those who eventually choose not to aim for the elite competition end of the sport.
We would like eventually to bring the cream of the world’s speedway riders to Canberra. Canberra could become the focal point of Australian speedway simply because of its status as the National Capital. It is many years since international riders raced in Canberra, but with Australian riders now so successful on the world stage, riders in other countries are keen to discover our secrets. We are also well located to attract the best of the Victorian, South Australian and Queensland riders, as well as ACT/NSW stars. Providing that we can develop a suitable facility in Canberra, we will have no problem attracting top-class speedway to Canberra, and with it all those economic benefits that accrue to the community as a result of increased visitor numbers, television and tourism visibility.
