2017 FIM SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX WORLD CHAMPION
DOYLE'S DATE WITH DESTINY
A little over twelve months ago, Jason Doyle was lying in a hospital bed watching the final round of the 2016 FIM World Speedway Championship in Melbourne. Having led the field for most of the series his hopes were dashed when a bone crushing crash in the penultimate round in Torun ended his title aspirations. Fast forward to October 2017 and the picture is very different. In front of his home supporters as well as his friends and family, the 32-year-old finally achieved his ambition and won the final round in Melbourne to take the title by a margin of 19 points.
Some doubted that Doyle would be capable of challenging again for the biggest prize in Speedway but the tough Australian silenced his critics with a strong performance in the opening round in Slovenia. After the third round he took the lead in the overall classification, which he never relinquished and set a new record by reaching the Final in ten out of the twelve Grand Prix rounds. It was this consistency through the season that gave him an edge over his fellow racers.
Even another injury in Torun, where he crashed whilst riding for his Polish League club and suffered a broken foot, could not disrupt his flow. Amazingly, with a plate in his foot and suffering great pain, he returned just six days later to score a remarkable 15 points in Denmark. Poland’s Patryk Dudek marked a remarkable debut season in the silver medalist position, whist two-time champion Tai Woffinden took third place after a late season surge.
PALMARES
World title – 2017
