Eric Thompson: This is the scent of excitement-let's have more

Competitors in the FIM Speedway Grand Prix Series. Photo / Supplied

It's the sounds and smells that really get the blood pumping at a solo speedway event - you can't beat the smell of oil and methanol being burned at a furious rate.

New Zealand has one of the best world solo speedway championship records. Since solo speedway became an International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) world championship in 1936, three New Zealand riders have won 12 world titles between them - Ivan Mauger, Ronnie Moore and Barry Briggs.

Nine Kiwis in all have made it to the world finals and while New Zealand hasn't produced a winning rider of late, Western Springs Speedway made up for it, turning on the style, entertainment and pizzazz for the opening round of the 2012 FIM Speedway Grand Prix.

The last time world championship solo speedway visited the Southern Hemisphere was in 2002, in Australia.

For Bill Buckley and his team to entice the series to New Zealand is a feat in itself, and Saturday's crowd at the packed stadium was treated to an afternoon's delight.

With little top solo speedway seen on these shores recently, it had been easy to forget the pace of a speedway event in itself, which is frenetic, let alone what happens on the track.

The heats roll around quickly - there's hardly time to go to the toilet.

What a lot of people don't realise is that the riders are hurling themselves - wheel to wheel most of the time - around a dirt track at close to 130 km/h with the front wheel pawing the air on bikes with no brakes.

Once that tape goes up, it's flat-out sideways racing for four laps, with no give or take. Solo speedway racing is not for the faint-hearted.

The icing on the cake was what the riders had to say about the track, the facility, the event and the country.

They all agreed it was one of the best venues they'd raced at, the track was fantastic and they want to come back.

For all those who missed out this year, this event should be back next year and is something not to be missed.

Solo speedway isn't so much the domain of the purest motorsport petrolhead, but for anyone who wants to watch full-on sport at the ragged edge of excitement.