The Great Britain Speedway Team (also known as GB Speedway Team) is one of the most prominent teams competing in global Speedway today.
They have enjoyed immense success in international competition for several years.
They achieved World No.2 ranking in the recently introduced Speedway of Nations tournament, which replaced the previous Speedway World Cup, in 2018 and have won the Speedway World Team Cup four times since the tournament began. GB Speedway Team is captained by triple Speedway World Champion, Tai Woffinden.
The GB Speedway team frequently travel internationally to compete in a variety of worldwide tournaments, but require a great deal of flexibility and speed in order to travel successfully, as trips depend on their performance in each tournament
The Challenge
Due to the amount of travel that the GB Speedway Team do in order to compete in international tournaments, there is a high requirement for visa and travel documentation management. Aside from the riders themselves, there is also a large team of coaches, management and mechanical engineers who are also required to travel, all journeying from different countries and adding another layer of complexity to visa requirements.
The unpredictable nature of competing in worldwide sporting tournaments means that the GB Speedway Team often make travel arrangements on an ad-hoc basis, with most bookings having to meet tight deadlines. Riders’ busy schedules mean that the timing of travel is key and must be planned meticulously.
The Solution
Upon working with the GB Speedway Team, ATPI Sports Travel immediately assigned a dedicated visa and passport specialist to handle all of the team’s requirements – a decision that quickly proved essential to successful travel for the team.
In May 2019 the GB Speedway Team competed in Speedway of Nations, beginning the tournament in Manchester, UK. Getting the entirety of the team to the competition entailed organising ferry transport from Sweden, flights from Poland for mechanical engineers and also ensuring that the bikes travelled safely and securely by ferry.
After a successful performance in Manchester, the team qualified for the next leg of the tournament in Russia.
With little time between the two heats travel had to be arranged efficiently, with the team all requiring different visas in order to be able to travel, and flights to the specific destination limited in number. ATPI Sports Events liaised directly with the Russian Embassy to ensure that the correct visas were applied for, as well as maintaining communications with the team’s hotel in Russia to ensure all requirements were met.
The Result
“ATPI Sports Events has been exceptional at managing our travel in a calm way during a particularly stressful time. They have met every deadline we have given them – no matter how tight,” explains Rob Painter, Managing Director, Great Britain Speedway Team.
Painter continues; “Working with ATPI Sports Events feels like working with an extension of our own team. They ensure that all travel plans are firmly in place so that everything runs smoothly and we can focus on competing.”
The GB Speedway Team’s relationship with ATPI Sports Events has grown from strength to strength since they started working together. With ATPI Sports Events proving their expertise, the GB Speedway Team now feel confident in passing all travel over to a team of dedicated consultants.
“We recently secured an under-21s event in Manchester and were thankfully able to offload all travel management onto ATPI, which allowed us to focus on our upcoming trip to Russia,” Rob explains.
The GB Speedway Team’s relationship with ATPI Sports Events has grown from strength to strength since they started working together. With ATPI Sports Events proving their expertise, the GB Speedway Team now feel confident in passing all travel over to a team of dedicated consultants.
“We recently secured an under-21s event in Manchester and were thankfully able to offload all travel management onto ATPI, which allowed us to focus on our upcoming trip to Russia,” Rob explains.
The support that we have received from ATPI is unrivalled. Their expertise makes a huge difference to the team and we would recommend them to any sports team with complex travel requirements.
Rob Painter, Managing Director, Great Britain Speedway Team
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