Doyle fourth in SGP opener

Slovak racer Martin Vaculik announced his Speedway Grand Prix return in sensational style after storming to victory in Slovenia on Saturday, April 29, winning the final ahead of Fredrik Lindgren, Patryk Dudek and Aussie Jason Doyle.

Australia's second rider, Chris Holder, was 12th in the 16-rider field.

Vaculik was elated with his first SGP win since he triumphed on his world championship debut in 2012, and he paid tribute to his loyal army of followers.

“I’m very happy. What can I say? I’m very pleased with this result and I’d like to say a big thank you to my tuner Ashley Holloway and my team – the guys did a tremendous job in Krsko and have done all season," Vaculik said. “I would like to say thank you to my family – they give me great support – and all my supporters and fans.

“Without these people, it wouldn’t be like this, so I am very happy and I’m just enjoying the moment right now.

“I’m not surprised I won here; I just did my best and everything worked well. I am very pleased about it. My results are down to a lot of things – a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Everything came together.

“I think gating was very, very important and if you made a good start, you had a big chance to win the heats. That was the key to success.”

Meanwhile, reigning world champion Greg Hancock was sixth, one spot behind Russian gun Emil Sayfutdinov who was also making his SGP return.

Next up on the SGP calendar is Warsaw in Poland on May 13.

The 12tha and final round of the 2017 SGP title will be held at Melbourne's Etihad Stadium on October 27. Click here to buy tickets.

2017 SPEEDWAY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (after round one of 12): 1 Fredrik Lindgren 16, 2 Martin Vaculik 16, 3 Patryk Dudek 13, 4 Jason Doyle 12, 5 Emil Sayfutdinov 12, 6 Greg Hancock 11, 7 Matej Zagar 10, 8 Niels-Kristian Iversen 9, 9 Tai Woffinden 8, 10 Piotr Pawlicki 7, 11 Bartosz Zmarzlik 6, 12 Chris Holder 6, 13 Maciej Janowski 6, 14 Nicki Pedersen 3, 15 Antonio Lindback 2, 16 Nick Skorja 1.