Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Speedway Grand Prix: One Man’s Far-flung Summer Behind the Scenes

For one long hot mostly glorious summer, speedway author Jeff Scott travelled nearly 10,000 miles throughout Europe hitching lifts and using public transport to attend every Speedway Grand Prix meeting from trackside. Although back stage access is usually closely guarded from the prying eyes of the public with stringent security, Scott gained exclusive pre-meeting pits lane access at every SGP meeting of the 2018 season. He also watched all the action as well as met the fans, sponsors, riders, mechanics, track staff and many others involved in these meetings.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Speedway Grand Prix gives us a unique snapshot of the timeless appeal of Speedway as it also reveals something of what really goes on at the pinnacle of this thrilling sport in the SGPs. Scott’s unauthorised and unsupervised sideways look behind the scenes at the people, places, events and characters of contemporary World Championship Speedway reveals its many glories and pitfalls as never before. Travelling the highways, byways and pit lanes, Scott discovers some of what we are unable to see on our screens and challenges the usual often gung-ho reporting narratives and messaging.