The OCBC Cycle Speedway Championships returned to the Singapore Sports Hub this weekend for an action-packed day of racing, after a two-year hiatus during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The event saw a total of 24 teams participating in three categories: the Club, Corporate and Women’s Championships. This year’s Speedway Championships also marked the debut of the Women’s Championship, which was originally set for 2020 but delayed due to the pandemic.
Allied World Racing, Singapore Cycling Federation and NDS were crowned the winners in their respective Speedway Championship categories.
The OCBC Cycle Speedway Championships’ race format features teams of four riders, split into two pairs, riding a total of 10 laps around the one-kilometre Stadium Drive circuit. Two cyclists rode the first five laps before handing over to their teammates for the remaining five laps.
The times of all four riders were then averaged for the winning time.
Club Championships
The return of the OCBC Cycle Speedway Championships began with the Club Championship, which started the day’s events at 6:30 AM.
The race saw an exhilirating finish, as Allied World Racing cruised to a convincing victory against second-placed ANZA Racing. Allied World Racing clocked a time of 18:44.107, with ANZA Racing coming in with a timing of 18:49.347, and 2nd runners up CyclingTraining.cc clocking a time of 18:50.363.
Corporate Championships
The second category to the line was the Corporate Championships, which included teams from organisations such as GSK, the Singapore Civil Defence Force, OCBC Bank and eventual winners, the Singapore Cycling Federation (SCF).
The SCF team clinched the win from second-placed OCBC Bank. The newly-formed SCF team put on a commanding performance, clocking a time of 19:56.607.
The team from OCBC Bank finished in second place with a time of 20:00.883. Shimano took third place with a finishing time of 20:01.547.
Women’s Championships
The final event of the day was the inaugural OCBC Cycle Speedway Women’s Championship, which saw the NDS team emerging as champions.
The first ever Women’s Championship final was a closely contested race as three teams battled it out for the title in the finale. In a tactical race that came down to the final two laps, the NDS team outsmarted their opponents and finished with their riders in first and second positions in a time of 23:26.937, beating out the teams from ANZA and Pedal Bellas Team 1.
Runners-up ANZARacingW clocked a time of 23:30.217, while Pedal Bellas Team 1 secured third place with a time of 23:46.310.
OCBC Cycle 2022 continues with the City Ride, as well as the Virtual Rides and the Spin Ride by CRU, which are ongoing for participants from today till 6 June 2022.
