Virtual Speedway is arguably one of the most realistic of all the Virtual Sports. The way the 
race has been devised makes it look very similar to any of the Speedway meetings you would find shown live on television.
Although perhaps not one of the biggest betting sports, Speedway is particularly suited to Virtual Sports as it is a race but it is a race with a generally small number of competitors (four). That cuts down on the options for winners a great deal but for the punter that means you have a one-in-four chance of picking the winner each time.
This is the third part in our series taking in each of the different Virtual Sports you can find at Betway before we move on to look at what is on offer at 10Bet. Let’s now take a look at how Virtual Speedway shapes up.
Virtual Speedway
Info
- Time Between Events – 3 Minutes
- Number of Runners – Always 4 in each race
- Tracks : 1 – High Beach Arena
- Race Length: 2 Lap Race
- Time Split– 1.40 mins race preview/betting window – 1.20 seconds for the race & results.
Bets Available
- Race Winner
- Each Way Bet (1/4 odds on first 2 places)
- Top 2 Finish
- Top 3 Finish
- Forecast
- Tricast
- Reverse Forecast
- Combination Forecast
- Combination Tricast
Highlights
Like all Betway Virtual Sports highlights packages, the Virtual Speedway highlights is very 
nicely done and has a touch of realism about the proceedings, such is the quality of the graphics in particular. The highlights begin with the betting phase, which is when you can place your bets on the race and this starts once the results from the last race have disappeared off the screen.
However, you can place bets on up to 14 races before they start by clicking on the different times for each of the races, so you don’t have to wait until a race is being processed before you bet. This is particularly useful if you want to place bets that cover a number of races (such as multiple selection bets like accumulators, trixies, patents etc).
The pre-race betting period is shorted in Speedway than in some other sports because the actual race is run over two-laps. You have approximately one minute and 40 seconds of pre-race betting time before the race starts and then the remainder of each three-minute race is the race itself, followed by the results summary.
In the pre-amble for the race, you are introduced to each of the four drivers (this cycles through and you can see the data on each driver a couple of times). The data consists of the driver’s name, his colour helmet, the race length (which is always 80m), the driver’s number, his odds and his form (which is a randomly selected number of finishes, rather than actual race form). Also shown are the start time of the race and the individual ID of the race.
After this has cycled through a couple of times, the race begins and with Speedway you get to see the entire race in full. It is here that the graphics of the slot really come into their own with mud thrown up from behind the bikes as they race off and the familiar, sideways sliding, method of taking the corners very much in evidence.
As the race progresses, there is a rundown of the positions in the race shown in the top left hand corner of the screen, which displays all four riders, together with a map of the circuit on the bottom right hand corner which shows you where the riders are on their lap.
There is also a commentary that follows the action on screen using the numbers of the riders as a reference rather than their name. This adds an element of realism, but it does get a little repetitive at times (as do the commentaries on most Virtual Sports to be fair), however the background noise of the crowd and the engine noises do add further to the realism.
Once the race has been run then the results screen is displayed showing the top two finishers in the race and the odds for the Forecast bet as well as the odds for the two winners. This information is overlaid over the photo-finish of the race.
After the results have been displayed for a little while, the next race then begins with the pre-race betting stage.
Who will Virtual Speedway betting appeal to?
There is no doubt in my mind that Virtual Speedway has been devised to appeal to those punters that enjoy regular wins when betting. Given that there are only four runners in each race, and generally, the range of odds between the competitors is small, you have a decent chance to pick a winner and win more often playing Virtual Speedway compared to other race games with more competitors or runners.
However, there is still a large random element built into each Virtual Speedway event, which means that the favourite or even the second favourite won’t win every time. As such, although there are only four riders, you can still find it tricky at times to land a winner. However, the chances are you’ll land more Speedway winners than you would greyhounds, cycling or horse racing, based on the number of competitors in each alone.
If you enjoy low wagering, small winnings but regular wins, then Virtual Speedway is the perfect choice for you, indeed out of all Virtual Sports, it is the one that is most suited to this particular form of punter.
What are my chances of winning at Virtual Speedway compared to other Virtual Sports?
As we have already outlined, given that there are just four riders in every Virtual Speedway event, your chances of landing a winner in these events are generally higher than the likes of Greyhounds (6 runners), motorsports (12 runners), horse racing (between 8 and 16 runners) and cycling (between 6 and 9 riders).
The down side of this is that you don’t get the spread of odds as you would find in other Virtual Sports games, so with Speedway your winnings tend to be smaller, but you are more likely to win more often.
