One thing most fans will never fully
understand is the time, effort and logistics
involved in being a Speedway rider. The
ups and downs of racing in the toughest
leagues in the world and what it takes to
go out, score points on a regular basis.
Edinburgh captain Derek Sneddon invited Inside Speedway’s Scott
Frame on a special away day and granted us an exclusive insight
into what it is like to be involved with and captain one of the sports
top sides.
We joined him as he took a trip to Scunthorpe, a track Derek will
freely admit isn’t one of his favourites but it gave us a fantastic look
at what goes on behind the scenes and in the pits on race-day.
The meeting itself didn’t go well for Derek only scoring one point
from three rides and he also got replaced in his last ride but these
are the lows that Speedway riders have to deal with as he explains.
“It is difficult to put into words how that make you feel as an
individual. I know myself that it is a track that I have always
struggled at and I do have it down as my worst track. I honestly
went down there with a different approach that I have maybe went
with in the past. I went in with the attitude that I wanted a good
day, score points and have a good meeting but thats what happens
at times in this sport.
“It could have been so different. In heat 1 I made the gate and we
were on a 5-1 right up until the last bend and that really is how
tough this league is, one mistake and you get punished. My day
from then went from bad to worse. I never gated in my next two
and was pulled out my last one, which is fair enough. At that point
Jozsef Tabaka was doing really well and I wasn’t producing the
goods. I have nothing against the promotion for doing that, at the
end of the day thats there job and I wasn’t doing mine.
“Its so much harder when you are the captain. I am there to lead by
example and be able to give guys in the side advice but how can I do
that when I am out there having a nightmare, thats a different side
to it again but there is far more to being a captain than what you do
on the track.
“I have been around the sport a long time now and I am not a
guy to sit in a corner and feel sorry for myself when I have a bad
meeting like that. I have to discipline myself as a captain and take
the attitude, if I’m not doing the job how can I get the best out the
rest of the guys?
12 // SPEEDWAY365.COM
12 // SPEEDWAY365.COM
“Ok I might have been pulled out my race but how can I get the
best out of Jozsef who has been put in my place. There is no point
sitting with your hands in your head, you have to give yourself a
kick and try and help the side in other ways.
“I might be pulled out my last ride but as far as I was concerned
that meeting wasn’t finished and I still had a job to do in the pits
and I would like to think I played a part in us reducing the scoreline
like we did to get a point.
“I would say in Speedway that 80% of the races and race wins are
all about team bonding and how everyone gets on in the pits. If you
have a good team spirit that can bring extra points out of everyone.
It doesn’t matter if they are better riders than me or worse riders
than me, I feel I can inspire.
“I have been captain of Edinburgh before in 2008 when we won
the Premier League and I captained Newcastle as well. In each side
there were a lot better riders than myself and not once has any of
the guys made me feel inferior or no one has ever said why should
I be listening to you. My approach is to go to the better or more
experienced guys and give them encouragement and reassure them
that they are doing all the right things.
“I am there to make sure everyone has a smile on their face and that
they got out and give 100% for Edinburgh Speedway. The captain
in my eyes shouldn’t be like a dictator, I am there to try and get the
best from everyone and hopefully help the team win meetings.”
As we made the long journey north, Derek went on to speak of
other lows he has had within the sport. Its fair to say scoring one
point at Scunthorpe is not the end of the world for a rider but
ending a fellow professionals career might be close.
At the start of the 2012 season Edinburgh took on Redcar, a fixture
that turned out to be a fateful evening for one of British Speedways
favourite sons. Derek was involved in the accident that ended the
career of former World Champion Gary Havelock, an incident that
he still thinks about now.
“”Every winter everyone spends a lot of time and money trying to
get everything in place for the new season. To start a season by not
only wrecking a bike but in the process ending the career of one of
British Speedways best ever riders is devastating.
“It was through no fault of my own but mentally it is tough and it
plays on your brain. I was thinking for months, and still do, could I
have done anything different. Was there anything I could have done
to avoid that, truth is no there isn’t but it took me a fair length of
time to get over it.