Dust, Sweat and Gears - The British Grasstrack Championships 2022

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A dusty field in, Kent was the venue for the 70th running of the British Grasstrack Championships.
Grasstracking is one of the oldest types of motorcycle sports in the World with the first meetings having taken place in the early 1920s. It is similar to Speedway with races usually taking place over 4 laps from a standing start.
In the end, Mitch Godden and Paul Smith from Kent took retained their title in the 500cc Sidecar category and 20-year-old Exeter lad Henry Atkins took his 4th Championships on the 250cc solos.
In the modern era, it is generally similar to Speedway with races usually taking place over 4 laps from a standing start. Unlike Speedway, which has 4 riders per race, Grasstrack racing can have many riders in each heat and the circuit is normally longer allowing higher speeds. Grasstrack has three solo classes, 250 cc, 350 cc and 500 cc together with three sidecar classes; left-handed 500 cc and 1000 cc (turning left) and right-handed 1000 cc (turning right).
The British Grasstrack season usually starts in early spring around the Easter holidays and runs through the summer/autumn months.
Grasstrack racing motorcycles look quite similar to Speedway machines but there are different engine capacity limits for each class. In the UK there are classes for 250 cc (normally 2-stroke engines), 350 cc, and 500 cc bikes (usually 4-stroke engines). Unlike Speedway bikes which have no gears, Grasstrack bikes usually have a 2-speed gearbox.[1] Both Speedway and Grasstrack bikes have no brakes. The only other main difference is that speedway bikes have no rear suspension and are shorter in length, usually by around 10-12 inches.
Also, there is a class called Pre-75. These are bikes that have been made before 1975. The three classes in Pre-75, are 250, 350 and 500 cc.
As well as solo racing, sidecar racing is also quite popular and often very spectacular. There are mainly three recognised classes, 500 cc (using solo 4-stroke engines) and two 1000 cc classes (using stock road bike engines). Again, they all run on methanol, and the 500 cc class and the 1000cc Lefthand sidecar class run anti-clockwise around the oval track, and the 1000 cc class clockwise. The reason behind the difference in direction is often asked, the main reason being the origin of each class. The 500cc sidecars have been developed in mainland Europe, where drivers drive on the right of the road. The 1000cc sidecar has been developed in the UK where road users drive on the left. Therefore, the sidecar wheel is always found on the near side of the vehicle.
The fastest recorded oval lap record is held by UK's Kelvin Tatum MBE at Rastede (1000 m Grass/Sand surface) in Germany at an average speed of 144.31 km/h.