FIM SPEEDWAY: DOYLE CHASES ANOTHER WORLD TITLE

Aussie icon Jason Doyle admits he’s still chasing the rush of being FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Champion again as he prepares for the FIM Speedway GP of Croatia this Saturday.

Doyle went from Speedway GP debutant in 2015 to world number one in 2017, famously clinching the crown with an epic victory Down Under at the FIM Australian Speedway GP in Melbourne.

While the Newcastle-born racer has not won a Speedway GP round or featured on the World Championship rostrum since, his desire to regain the sport’s biggest prize still burns bright.

“I have been in the top 10 for the last nine years in Speedway GP,” he said. “Every rider in there wants to be World Champion and after winning it in 2017, I know it’s the drug of choice for us.

“We are always chasing it and maybe it will never happen again, but the reason why I am in the GPs and still want to be in the GPs is to chase the world title.”

Doyle reached the final in Croatia last year and gave himself every chance to win it with a jet-propelled start in the final. Disaster struck as he crashed on bend one, leaving him fourth on the night. That was the first of four final appearances in the opening five rounds last year. But having reached just one semi-final in the last five, Doyle was left eighth in the final Speedway GP World Championship standings.

“I am very disappointed with how the end of the season went,” he said. “We changed a few things, and it went the wrong way. 

“The weather plays a big part in your setups, and I guess we went the wrong way and did some silly things to try to rectify the problems. It just showed in the results that everything was going downhill.

“It’s going to be a new season and a lot of lessons were learned from last year, so I think we will be in the right place and hopefully it will be a lot more positive. We need to just carry on with what we know for this year. What happened last year is gone now and I don’t have to worry about it.”

Doyle is pleased to be joining forces with the team that helped him to eighth spot in 2023 and believes continuity will pay dividends.

He said: “I am keeping with the same tuner (Bert van Essen) for this year and the same mechanics and team around me. It makes it a lot easier for me to start the year with the same familiar faces and it ensures I’m in the right place in my head. I made the changes last year to get where we are now. There is a lot of trust, and a lot of effort has gone into this year. We are looking good.”