LEMON: DOYLE HITTING FORM

Australian team manager Mark Lemon believes Jason Doyle is racing into form after starring in his country’s Monster Energy FIM Speedway of Nations Semi-Final 2 win last Saturday.

The Leszno and Dackarna star stormed to a massive 23 points from a possible 24 as Australia topped the score chart in Daugavpils on 35.

They finished ahead of Latvia and France, who join them at the Monster Energy SON Final in Manchester on October 16 and 17, along with hosts Great Britain, Poland, Sweden and Denmark.

SGP 2022 qualifier Max Fricke raced to 12 points for his country on Saturday, but Doyle stole the show and Lemon was glad to see him pile up the points ahead of the eWinner Torun SGP of Poland double-header on October 1 and 2.

JD heads to the Marian Rose Motoarena placed ninth in the SGP World Championship on 74 points – 21 short of Maciej Janowski, who holds the sixth and final automatic qualification place for 2022.

Doyle has never needed a wild card to take his place in the SGP series and even with a sizeable gap to close on the top six, Lemon is backing the Norwich-based star to maintain his Daugavpils form in Torun.

He said: “Doyley is a pretty proud man when it comes to records. I don’t think he will want to go to Torun requesting a wild card.

“It’s probably a very tall order for him to make the top six. But it is do-able if Jason goes out, makes two finals and a couple of riders have bad ones.

“Since Vojens, Jason has tested everything and you may have seen the scores he has been producing of late. I think he has found something now.

“It’s going to be a big ask for him to make that top six, but I’m sure if he puts in a solid performance at both rounds, it will be very difficult for the organisers not to recognise a former world champion with a wild card if needed.

“But I don’t think Jason is thinking about wild cards for one moment. He’s just thinking about putting in the best performance he can on track.”

Fricke won last year’s round seven in Torun and Lemon would love to see his stars have a big weekend at the Motoarena. He said: “As Australian team manager, I would be absolutely delighted if that was the case. It gives them a bit more confidence going into the Speedway of Nations.”

While Australia will be among the favourites to win gold at the National Speedway Stadium, Lemon admits winning one of the most open Finals for years will be no easy task.

“It’s one of the most open tracks,” he said. “You can’t bank on anything. You can’t defend. At that place, you have to attack, so it’s going to be super exciting. I know that track very well with my Belle Vue connection. In a world championship event, I don’t think you can expect anything less than fireworks and full-blooded racing.

“We will have to be at our best to claim the gold, but we go in there with the same ambitions, drive and desire as every other nation. We just have to go through the process and deliver what the boys can do.

“While our boys are working hard to bring home the gold medals, I am also very grateful to our sponsors CBS Bins in Adelaide, as well as ATPI Sports Events for all their travel assistance and also Sport Australia.”