Racing in the East

Motorcycle Speedway, Transnational Encounters, and ‘Provincial Heartlands’.

Read this research for free:

‘Pride of the East: Motorcycle Speedway, Transnational Encounters and Provincial Heartlands’, History: The Journal of the Historical Association, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-229X.13414

‘“The Russians are Coming!” Entangled Peripheries and Cold War Competition in Motorcycle Speedway’, History Workshop Journal, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/hwj/dbae011

‘Motorcycle Speedway: The Sport with an Illustrious Past Fighting for its Future’, History Workshop, 2024, https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/sport/motorcycle-speedway/

Touring Exhibition:

Racing in the East: Transnational Speedway in Cold War East Anglia

This temporary exhibition sheds light on one of motorcycle speedway’s interconnected “backwaters”. From rural East Anglia to Soviet Siberia, the sport fostered unconventional interactions. At the height of the Cold War, East Anglia relished its role in transnational speedway, as Scandinavian superstars graced stadiums in Norwich, Yarmouth, and Ipswich, and Eastern Bloc riders lit up the region’s tracks. King’s Lynn was the entry port for communist-built racing machines that dominated international competition. Based on research conducted by the University of East Anglia’s Centre of East Anglian Studies and the East Centre for the study of East and Central Europe and the former Soviet space, the exhibition underlines the region’s stature in international motorsport, highlights the extensive interactions between East Anglia and the wider world, and celebrates migrant riders and foreign machines that stood in the vanguard of continental interactions with the region.

Past Events:

Norwich Launch Weekend

Hungate Medieval Art, Princes Street, Norwich
24 & 25 August 2024
We welcomed over 400 visitors to the Norwich launch, which was covered on BBC Local Radio and featured in the Eastern Daily Press.

Ipswich Witches Speedway

Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich
29 August 2024

Hundreds of speedway fans had the opportunity to see the exhibition trackside prior to the Ipswich Witches v Birmingham Brummies Premiership fixture.

King’s Lynn Stars Speedway

2 September 2024, 6.30pm-9pm
Adrian Flux Arena
Saddlebow Road
King’s Lynn

Future Events:

The exhibition will be on display at several other locations during Autumn 2024 and Spring 2025, including:

Diss Heritage Transport Festival

22 September 2024, 10am-4pm
Diss Heritage Transport Festival
,
Diss,
Norfolk
Free Entry

The Speedway Show

2 November 2024, 9.30am-4pm
The Speedway Show

British Motor Museum
,
Gaydon,
Warwickshire