My First Skid Speedway School

Ever fancied yourself as the next Greg Hancock, Tomasz Gollob or Jason Crump, but you're unsure how to get the opportunity to ride a speedway bike? My First Skid Speedway School is providing everyone with the opportunity to ride 90cc, 125cc,140cc, 250cc, 350cc and 500cc speedway bikes at tracks across the country including Scunthorpe and Leicester. Ok, so unless your starting at a very young age your very unlikely to ever be the next Greg Hancock, Tomasz Gollob or Jason Crump! But as an avid speedway fan in my mid 20's I fancied having a go myself. 

Being an ultimate beginner I went up to Wayne Carter's training sessions a couple of times in 2011 to have a blast around the mini track on a 125 and get to grips with the concept of riding a speedway bike. Even basic manoeuvres initially seem foreign on these feisty little machines. 2012 saw the opening of the My First Skid Speedway school run by Barry Bishop, Andy Meredith and Kate McAuley. Seeing the school advertised and hearing the feedback from a good friend I was impressed and booked myself in for a skid. For £85 you get the use of all the equipment required to ride a speedway bike including Kevlars, body armour, gloves, boots, steel shoe, helmet, goggles and the use of the available bikes and track for the day. If you have your own equipment and bike it's £60 for use of the track and training for the day. Both offerings I think represent great value, especially for the novices like myself with no equipment it makes it a lot easier to attend the schools rather than having to make an investment in the equipment. The majority of the kit is in great condition with Nicki Pedersen supporting the school and generously providing a lot of last seasons equipment, good on'ya Nicki.

On the day if your anything like me an emotional mixture of excitement and nervousness will greet you upon arrival to the track. Even though we are only having a laugh these are still very powerful and potentially dangerous machines. However the MFS team do a great job of welcoming everyone and ensuring everyone is kitted out, taught the basics and ultimately are happy before jumping on board a bike.

Upon getting out on track the nerves disappear and the fun begins. The MFS team ensure everyone gets sufficient track time and provide useful information on how to improve your technique and style to ultimately get the bike sliding by the end of the day.

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I would like to thank the MFS team for such an enjoyable day at Scunthorpe. I am certain I will be attending future sessions and recommend anyone that has ever thought about having a go at speedway to get yourself along to one. Happy Skidding