The Speedway Bundesliga is the highest German league in speedway sports . It currently consists of five teams. There is also a 2nd Bundesliga as a substructure.
Two teams compete against each other on a race day. Similar to the modes of other team sports , a team with home rights now competes against a guest. Each of the five teams drives one race day against each other, with each team contesting two home and two away events. Whoever has home rights will be drawn before the season starts. Until 2008 there was another mode in which four teams faced each other on one race day.
A race day itself runs as follows: The squads of the teams may consist of a maximum of 13 drivers. Before the start of the races, five drivers are nominated for the event from the squads of the teams. A maximum of two drivers without a German passport are allowed to start. In addition, at least one German U-21 junior driver must be used. Before the season started, the racing drivers registered for the squad were declared as A, B or C drivers. In the team of five for one day of racing, a maximum of two drivers from each group are allowed to start. That means that z. B. two A-drivers, two B-drivers and one C-driver are nominated as long as a maximum of two foreigners and at least one U-21-driver start, but not three A-drivers, one B-driver and one C-driver. Drivers who take part in the Grand Prix of the Speedway Individual World Championship as permanent drivers are not allowed to start in the Bundesliga. This achieves greater equality of opportunity, since financially weak clubs cannot afford such drivers. In addition, there is no need to take the Speedway Grand Prix into account when planning the Bundesliga.
14 races, so-called heats, are completed per race day. Four drivers compete in a heat, two from the home team and two from the visiting team. This ensures that each driver drives at least once in a run with each of his teammates. As usual in speedwaysport, there are three running points for the winner, two running points for the second and one running point for the third. The last of a race comes out empty-handed. A team can therefore achieve a maximum of 5: 1 running points per heat (first and second place for the drivers). When all 14 heats have been completed, the teams' running points are added up. A maximum of 70:14 running points can be achieved per race day. This is the case if the drivers of a team take first and second place in each heat. Whoever has more running points in total is the winner of the race day and receives three so-called match points. The loser receives one match point. If, after adding up the running points, there is a tie, there is a 15 run, the jump-off, in which one driver per team takes part.
Determination of the German master
Once each team has completed its four days of racing, the final table of the Bundesliga preliminary round is fixed. Whoever has the most match points is in first place. If there is a tie, the ratio of the running points counts. The winning team of the preliminary round and the team placed second then carry out the final of the German championship . The final itself runs like a normal racing day. The first-placed team in the preliminary round has home rights.
Special features on a race day
To prevent a team from being superior on a race day, some special features have been introduced. If a team is eight or more running points behind, the losing team can use the “joker”. The running points of the selected driver, the joker, are doubled in one heat. The joker can only be used once per race day.
If the defeated team is six or more points behind, the "tactical reserve" can be used. A driver is exchanged for another nominated driver in a heat. Each driver can be the tactical reservist once per race day.
In 1971 , on the initiative of a few individuals, a city battle series with only four clubs was carried out:
MSC Ruhpolding
MSC Olching
MSC Hansa Bremen
MSC Rodenbach
A year later a complete league was organized, but it did not yet have the blessing of the Supreme Motorsport Commission (OMK). The first official Bundesliga year was 1973 . The 2nd Bundesliga was introduced in 1978, but was initially reserved for junior drivers only.
The Speedway Team Cup is the youth league in Germany. It was launched in 2012. In contrast to the 1st Bundesliga, 4 teams compete against each other on each race day. This means that one driver from each team starts each race. Another difference to the 1st Bundesliga is that a 250 cc driver drives for each team. On each day of the race, these four 250 cc drivers drive four races against each other.
