Australasian Dirt Bike — January 2018

166 | JANUARY 2018 http://www.adbmag.com.au

TITLE WRAP I SPEEDWAY GP

Masters and Piotr Pawlicki. It could
have all gone so wrong, but he pulled
it off and took the lead.
His team, wife Emily, his family,
friends and all of Etihad Stadium
held their breath as he held his
position at the front. When the fourth
lap came around, the crowd was at
fever pitch and Doyle crossed the
line, becoming the sixth Australian
to win the SGP championship and
the first on home soil.
The Novocastrian raised his hands
to the sky as the drone of air horns
filled the stadium. His team and
fellow riders made their way onto the
track and mobbed him as he returned
to the pits. As is customary in
speedway, he was hoisted into the air
three times, before the celebrations
well and truly began. And best of all,
Doyle could finally smile, after
holding off all night.
But the night wasn’t over yet. In
2016, Greg Hancock won the title
early in the night at Etihad before
retiringfromtheevent.Doylewasn’t
goingtodothatandwasdetermined
to finish strongly.
Bythetimethefinalrolledaround,
Doylehadonlydroppedtwopoints.
Asidefromtheworldtitlebeing

decided, it had been a relatively

uneventful night. All the races had

been more or less predictable and

despite a few minor crashes and false

starts it was very clean racing.

Doyle was the only Aussie to make

the semi, although reserve rider

Rohan Tungate deserves a mention

for missing out by two points, despite

only racing twice.

Former world champion Tai

Woffinden, world No. 2 Dudek and

Polish sensation Bartosz Zmarzlik

joined Doyle in the final, creating

somewhat of a superheat.

BATTLED

Dudek and Doyle battled intensely for

three laps in the most exciting race of

the night. Woffinden and Zmarzlik

were also right in the race. On lap

three, Doyle made a play for the lead

and made contact with Dudek. The

Dude tried to come back but

something went wrong and he pulled

up, conceding the race to Doyle who

went on to win the round.

And with that, it was party time. In

the pits after the race, you couldn’t get

near Doyle. Friends, family, fans and

media all queued up to speak to the

world champ. Emily stood off to the

side, smiling as her husband lapped

up the attention.

Doyle credits her with being a big

influence on his career. “She deserves

this trophy as much as me because she

has been to hell and back.” Incredibly,

Doyle’s foot is still broken. “I have to

go and get a bone graft when I get back

to Poland in three week’s time.”

An Australian seeking redemption,

winning the world title and the GP on

home soil; you couldn’t write a better

script. But great scripts don’t always

get bums on seats. We need to get

behind this event so it stays on our

shores for many years to come.

C’mon Australia, lets get behind

our Aussie champs!

Gotsomethingtosayaboutthisyarn?

[email protected]

Moreimagesandinfoatadbmag.com.au

That’s not a Kawasaki on the inside gate is it?

Patryk Dudek, Doyle and Tai Woffi nden

C’mon Australia, lets get

behind our Aussie champs!