Meetings comprise four teams of five riders who are numbered 1 to 5. The reserves are programmed at No. 5, but there are no restrictions on who may ride in these positions.
Team A wears the red helmet colour, Team B wears the blue helmet colour, Team C wears the white helmet colour, whilst Team D wears the yellow/black helmet colour.
The heat format is determined as follows:
| Heat | Gate A | Gate B | Gate C | Gate D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1: | C4 | B1 | A4 | D2 |
| 2: | B2 | A3 | D1 | C3 |
| 3: | A2 | C1 | B4 | D3 |
| 4: | B3 | A1 | D4 | C2 |
| 5: | A5 | B5 | C5 | D5 |
| 6: | C1 | D4 | B2 | A4 |
| 7: | A3 | C2 | D3 | B1 |
| 8: | D1 | C4 | B3 | A2 |
| 9: | C3 | D2 | A1 | B4 |
| 10: | B4 | A4 | C2 | D1 |
| 11: | D2 | B3 | C1 | A3 |
| 12: | B1 | C3 | A2 | D4 |
| 13: | D3 | B2 | C4 | A1 |
| 14: | D5 | C5 | B5 | A5 |
| 15: | D4 | B4 | A3 | C4 |
| 16: | A4 | D3 | C3 | B3 |
| 17: | C2 | A2 | D2 | B2 |
| 18: | A1 | D1 | B1 | C1 |
| 19: | B5 | A5 | D5 | C5 |
| 20: Nom | C* | D* | A* | B* |
Riders take the starting gate positions indicated. Gate A is on the inside of the track, whilst Gate D is on the outside.
A reserve may have a maximum of five rides that can be taken at any time, plus an additional ride in Heat 20. They may not however, replace riders excluded for exceeding the two minute time allowance. All exclusions count towards the maximum number of rides.
No rider is required to take a minimum number of rides.
In Heats 6 to 19, a fourth-placed team that is one or more points behind the third-placed team, may substitute a programmed rider in their next heat with any other rider in the team. Each rider however, may only be used as a tactical substitute once. A substitute rider takes the helmet colour and starting gate position of the replaced rider.
Each team must nominate a rider for Heat 20.
Race points scored over all heats are used to determine the final placings. Where two or more teams are tied for a place, each team nominates a rider for a runoff.