AROUND 50 cyclists are set to take to the track this Sunday to compete to be named the first-ever Scottish National Speedway Champion.
Years of hard work will be coming to fruition over the weekend as Fife Cycle Speedway in Dunfermline will host the inaugural National Cycle Speedway Championships.
The "first of its kind" event will see tens of cyclists compete for the title, in what is expected to become a regular fixture in the cycling calendar at the track at Queen Anne High School.
Fife Cycle Speedway head coach Craig Masson has played a key role in establishing the championships and is looking ahead to the big day.
“It’s the inaugural one,” he said. “This is the first of its kind so it’s quite a big deal for us.
“After years of speaking with Scottish Cycling, we’ve managed to get a national championship in the Scottish cycling calendar.
“This recognises all the hard work done behind the scenes from all Scottish clubs.”
Speedway is a cycling discipline which sees a group of competitors cycling around a track with no brakes - it's a sport picking up popularity across Scotland.
Craig went on: “With the Fife club, that’s been going since 2017 and I’d like to say we’ve been at the forefront for promoting the sport properly.
“That’s been reflected in the success that we’ve had on the track – we’ve won three championships.
“Off the track, we’ve been working with Scottish Cycling and help encourage more riders not just to our club but to clubs across Scotland.
“Now, we’ve got the Borders club which only started last year and they’ve been fantastic and boosted numbers in Scotland.”
The championships will accommodate around 50 cyclists from a range of categories – including men’s, veterans, women’s and youth sections.
The finals are free to watch, with the Fife club encouraging as many as they can along to the track in the school grounds.
Craig added: “People can turn up and watch all of the action – that’s the beauty of cycle speedway, it’s all right in front of you.
“We’re hoping we can get a good crowd along so we can showcase the best parts of cycle speedway.
“We’re hoping that this will be part of the calendar going forward and that will help encourage more people to the sport and hopefully we’ll see cycle speedway become one of the main cycling disciplines in Scotland.”
The cycle speedway championships kick off this Sunday from 1pm.
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