Gritty Doyle fourth in Denmark

Just five days after he underwent surgery on a broken foot, Australian Doyle finished an extraordinary fourth in the Danish FIM Speedway Grand Prix on June 24, completing the final behind Maciej Janowski, Emil Sayfutdinov and Patryk Dudek.

Doyle now shares leadership in the title alongside Dudek after five rounds of 12. The pair sits atop the standings on 65pts, ahead of Janowski (58), Fredrik Lindgren (51), Tai Woffinden (48), Sayfutdinov (47), world champion Greg Hancock (45) and Martin Vaculik (45). Doyle's compatriot Chris Holder is 12th on 34pts.

Doyle broke three bones in his right foot in a domestic league incident in Poland on June 18, and then underwent surgery 24 hours later to stabilise the injury.

Posting on Facebook, Doyle wrote: “I am sorry to all concerned, but I wanted to keep a low profile of my injuries so I could concentrate on making the Horsens GP. I didn't want the media to blow this situation out of proportion.

“I broke three bones in my right foot when it went into the other rider’s front wheel. I have now got three plates and 14 screws in there to make the bones stronger so I can race tomorrow night."

FULL DANISH GP RESULTS HERE

Meanwhile, it was Janowski's second consecutive victory in Denmark, with the event held around the tight, 272-metre Horsens track. He said: “It was an amazing night. It doesn’t matter where you are, but this is the second time it has happened in Denmark. I’m so happy.

“This was a really tough night. It’s a very small track and there’s not enough room for everyone. You need to be smart and lucky also. Everything worked well for me today – my team, everything. I am happy.

“Points are the most important thing. That was a good kick going into the next half of the season.”

The SGP title now goes into recess while the 2017 Speedway World Cup is held. The next SGP round is at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on July 22, with the final round to be held at Melbourne's Etihad Stadium on Saturday, October 28.

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WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Jason Doyle 65, 2 Patryk Dudek 65, 3 Maciej Janowski 58, 4 Fredrik Lindgren 51, 5 Tai Woffinden 48, 6 Emil Sayfutdinov 47, 7 Greg Hancock 45, 8 Martin Vaculik 45, 9 Piotr Pawlicki 43, 10 Bartosz Zmarzlik 39, 11 Matej Zagar 36, 12 Chris Holder 34, 13 Niels-Kristian Iversen 31, 14 Antonio Lindback 29, 15 Vaclav Milik 13, 16 Peter Kildemand 12, 17 Nicki Pedersen 8, 18 Maksims Bogdanovs 8, 19 Kenneth Bjerre 7, 20 Przemyslaw Pawlicki 3, 21 Nick Skorja 1.

DANISH SGP SCORES: 1 Maciej Janowski 17, 2 Emil Sayfutdinov 14, 3 Patryk Dudek 14, 4 Jason Doyle 15, 5 Matej Zagar 11, 6 Tai Woffinden 11, 7 Antonio Lindback 8, 8 Fredrik Lindgren 8, 9 Kenneth Bjerre 7, 10 Greg Hancock 7, 11 Bartosz Zmarzlik 7, 12 Chris Holder 7, 13 Piotr Pawlicki 4, 14 Peter Kildemand 3, 15 Niels-Kristian Iversen 3, 16 Martin Vaculik 1, 17 Andreas Lyager Hansen DNR, 18 Frederik Jakobsen DNR.