Authors
Richard Mills1; 1 University of East Anglia, UK Discussion
Drawing upon interviews, archival material, and fieldwork, this paper explores the ways in which the sport of motorcycle speedway, long dominated by the Anglo-Saxon world, faced increasing challenges from the continent during the Cold War era. Initially, Scandinavian riders emerged as serious contenders, followed by an influx of riders and machines from the Eastern Bloc. The sport’s ties with the communist world predated the end of the Second World War, but accelerated sharply during the 1950s. In that decade, a series of tours traversed the Iron Curtain. They took Swedish and British riders to Poland, and attracted movement in the opposite direction. This paper focuses on the dawn of Soviet speedway through the lens of the Union’s long-awaited – and previously aborted – 1964 tour of Great Britain. The Eastern Bloc’s entry into the sport would trigger a deepening of ties across the Iron Curtain, as well as a number of defections. On occasion, these interactions bucked Cold War trends, posing a challenge to western technology and expertise, and fuelling post-colonial anxieties in Britain. From today’s perspective, these early Cold War encounters might be viewed as the beginning of a long-term powershift in a sport that has thrived in the former socialist world while teetering on the brink of extinction in Britain. 
