 As the latest season of Speedway Grand Prix gets underway, we can take a look at what makes it unique and why this is the sport you never knew you needed in your life. Firstly, the bikes. The lever you see on the handlebars is actually the clutch. A brake is not required. Quite remarkable considering they're powered by 500 cc engines on pure methanol fuel with a single fixed gear. They accelerate off the start line quicker than a Formula 1 car and can reach speeds of over 120 kilometres per hour. Riders wear a helmet, eye protection, a Kevlar race suit overprotected body armour and boots. The left of which has a steel shoe attached as that puts bends a lot of time in contact with the track surface when cornering. They race their bikes on a dirt oval track which aids spectacular sliding at every turn. The direction of travel is always anti-clockwise. Four riders can test each race which are four laps long. From starting take to finish line takes roughly a minute. This sport is quick in every sense of the word. The spectators are treated to plenty of action. 16 riders compete across 20 high-intensity heats with each racing five times. Only the eight were the most points collected from those racing semi-finals and the top two from each of those face off in the final to fight it out for the podium places. Between April and November there are 11 rounds of action across eight different countries. The 16 riders will compete for points throughout. The leader at the end crowned the Speedway World Champion for 2022.