TAI FOOD ALERT
NEWSDESK T
AI WOFFINDEN has sensationally revealed Grand Prix stars will not eat food for THREE days to be as light as possible.
The three-time World Champion also admits that riders sacrifice safety body armour to cut down on weight in a bid for better results.
Tai Woffinden revealed in a podcast interview that some riders are endangering themselves and others in their pursuit of lightness. PHIL LANNING offers a flavour of the risks Woffy and other weight-watchers take…
Woffy, 33, made the shocking claims as he recovers from a shattered elbow sustained in the Gorzow SGP on June 29, which ended his season prematurely.
He also admitted on the British Speedway podcast that if he’d been wearing more armour it might have prevented that serious injury that ended his 2024 SGP series and ruled him out of British and Polish play-offs.
Sheffield star Woffinden said: “It’s what we do for a living. It probably would have helped if I’d had elbow pads on. But that’s a whole other story.
“It might sound stupid to some people but I took an insert out of my boots which protects your ankles. I took it out and threw it away and put two pairs of socks on.
“So I can go three sizes small with my boots, which means my steel shoe is three sizes smaller. So we saved a lot of weight there.
“My body armour is a back protector – nothing else. I took out my shoulder pads, elbow
EASTBOURNE Eagles could be racing for the last time when they take on Thurrock in a NORA-level challenge at Iwade on Sunday (September 22).
The warning comes from Eagles campaign co-leader Michael Gray, who admits that hopes of a return to Arlington Stadium, where the club last raced in 2021, have stalled.
Gray, who along with fellow co-leader David Graveling, operate as the Sussex Eagles Motorcycle Club, believes there is little point in continuing to organise Eagles meetings if there is no hope of a professional revival.
Eagles took 365 supporters to their first match since 2021, with Kent at Iwade in April, but despite the event being widely acclaimed as a major success, it failed to nudge the Arlington gates ajar.
Gray and Graveling then approached the Dugard family,
pads, they are extra weight.
“I don’t plan on crashing. If I crash I’ll deal with it. All these things that I do and other riders do, which probably takes away from the safety aspects, it’s just to be lighter.
“There’s no rider-and-bike combined weight limit. So the lighter you are, the faster you are going to be.
“You are racing guys in the Grand Prix who are 58 kilos. ‘Doyley’ (Jason Doyle) did a podcast and he spoke about it. Matej Zagar could have been World Champion but he was eight kilos heavier than everyone else. Not going to happen.
“I do think that’s something that should be looked at in the sport.
“I know one rider that doesn’t eat food for three days before a Grand Prix. He just does a liquid diet to be as light as possible on raceday. It’s just not safe.
“I have a spreadsheet on my computer of every single part of the bike and every part on my body, what it weighs, what we can take off it. My CTi knee brace, every year we’ve got lighter and lighter with them. They don’t even get painted, that’s extra weight. No one realises how deep it goes.
“It’s not just me. At the highest level a lot of the riders are doing it to their body. They are not strong, they are light.”
Woffinden wants GP bosses to look at the rider/bike weight ratio issue to attain some sort of fair rule, as happens in Formula One and horse racing.
ON World Champion Bartosz Zmarzlik’s domination of the sport, Woffinden added: “I
Arlington no-go who own the Sussex stadium, with a plan to stage five NORAstyle meetings in 2025 that included the purchase of a £41,000 (plus VAT) air-fence.
That was rejected, and a subsequent appeal for a recognised front person to take the reins as club promoter failed to bring the desired response.
“We have to acknowledge that at the moment we are unable to make progress and it feels like we are banging our heads against a wall,” Gray said.
“We cannot keep on doing the same thing. That will only end up killing the Eagles name.
“So, it looks like September 22 will be the farewell meeting, though we do want to make it a celebration of all things Eagles and an event the fans will want to be at.”
Edward Kennett’s return to lead the Eagles will certainly be a crowd-puller, with Nathan Ablitt, Henning Loof, Dayle Wood and Arran Butcher also in the line-up. The meeting starts at noon and will feature a second-half.
The Eagles’ general campaign will carry on, with plans for the launching of a widescale petition calling for a return of the sport in Sussex.
The Sussex Eagles will continue to back young riders Jason Edwards, Drew Kemp, Nathan Ablitt, Vinnie Foord and Jamie Etherington.
They are also staging an individual meeting, the Iwade Championship, at the Kent circuit on October 13. Further information on the Sussex Eagles Motorcycle Club’s website and Facebook pages.
don’t think he rides better than anybody else. He has a different style which looks cool.
“Okay, Doyley’s style is a bit different but he’s also just as quick. Well, he was until he crashed.
“Two completely different styles but both deliver the same amounts of speed. But you’re talking the whole package. But the weight ratio should be looked at.
“I’ve actually spoken about it to the FIM. I weigh 65 kilos, some guys are 58. I’m not saying everyone has to weigh 65.
“Some guys can add weight to the bikes. If they are smart they can use it as ballast, lower, further back, more grip on the back wheel, like they do in Formula One or rally.
“Then all the guys in the Championship can eat a bloody cheeseburger and go to the gym and lift some weights. Instead of eating salads and going on liquid diets. Like get strong, get fit, be healthy. When I was 63 kilos I looked hideous.”
Woffinden continues to recover from his injuries and admits he believes he could race in Poland, where tracks are generally wider and less technical than the UK, but any further crashes this season would put his career on the line.
He said: “It’s been ridiculous. I’ve had a lot of injuries over the years, from 2019 onwards really. Prior to that I didn’t have too many bad ones.
“It’s just been frustrating.
4 speedway star June 1, 2024
