Red hot Doyle inspires Aussies

Australian maximum man Jason Doyle has guided his country into today's (July 30) 2016 FIM Speedway World Cup (SWC) Final in Manchester.

Doyle stormed to victory over Russia’s Emil Sayfutdinov and Danish star Niels-Kristian Iversen in heat 20 to complete a phenomenal 15-point maximum as the Aussies won the SWC Race Off.

Australia saw off a late charge from Denmark, which finished on 41 points, followed by Russia (32) and the USA (9). Australia will now join Great Britain, Poland and defending champion Sweden in the title decider at the National Speedway Stadium.

Doyle was absolutely flawless all night, producing starts and pulling out leads that made him a cut above a world-class field. But even after four wins, he admits the pressure of knowing he needed to beat Iversen in race 20 to see his country into the final was a real test of nerve.

He said: “To get a maximum in world cup speedway was an awesome feeling. Heat 20 was not the race I wanted to have to win. The pressure was immense.

“Going into that race, I really didn’t know what to think. I had four riders, Darcy Ward and everyone on my back, helping to push me through. I really wanted to do it for the boys. That feeling when we won and went through to the Final, I’ll never forget it.

“I knew I had to make a really good start off gate one. Having Emil off two and Niels off three, I knew it was going to have to be the race of my life.

“In GPs, you just have to worry about yourself. If you have a bad ride, you beat yourself up about it. I had five guys I really wanted to do it for and the feeling was amazing to go over the finish line and make the World Cup Final.”

Doyle expects a huge challenge from the Poles, Swedes and Brits in the final and insists Australia won’t underestimate any of its rivals.

He said: “In the press this week, a reporter quoted me as saying Great Britain is a weak team. But there is not one weak team in the Final and there isn’t one weak rider in the British team.

“We have three teams we’ll have to ride our backsides off to beat. It’s going to be very difficult and there will be a lot of fans backing the Brits. Everyone rides at their best when they have so much support.”

Australia were forced to draft in under-21 reserve Brady Kurtz midway through the meeting when Max Fricke crashed hard in heat four, sustaining an elbow injury. Kurtz collected six points from four rides and could race in the final if Fricke isn’t passed fit.

Doyle was delighted to see the Australian champion take his chance to shine as the nation’s young guns proved their class alongside SGP heavyweights Doyle and Chris Holder.

He said: “The pressure on these young kids is immense. It’s one of those moments where we need to push them through and not bury them. We want to help these young kids because they are the Aussie future.

“Max is a great prospect and Brady is too. This is what we need in the Australian camp. Hats off to Sam Masters; for him to score 12, it shows he’s up for the challenge. Brady came in after the second heat and did a really good job.

“We have a lot of young kids coming through in Australia. They see these meetings on TV and really want to be here. Once you see SWC and SGP speedway, it’s amazing.”

Australia won the first two SWCs in 2001 and 2002, but since then the event has been dominated Poland (six wins), Denmark (four) and Sweden (three).

MONSTER ENERGY SWC RACE OFF SCORES
AUSTRALIA 44: 1 Sam Masters 12, 2 Max Fricke 2, 3 Jason Doyle 15, 4 Chris Holder 9, 5 Brady Kurtz 6.
DENMARK 41: 1 Niels-Kristian Iversen 16, 2 Leon Madsen 7, 3 Michael Jepsen Jensen 11, 4 Kenneth Bjerre 7, 5 Mikkel B Andersen DNR.
RUSSIA 32: 1 Grigorii Laguta 7, 2 Emil Sayfutdinov 16, 3 Andrei Kudriashov 4, 4 Artem Laguta 5, 5 Viktor Kulakov DNR.
USA 9: 1 Luke Becker 0, 2 Billy Janniro 3

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