IN
THE
WIND
P46
DOYLE TAKES MAIDEN SPEEDWAY VICTORY
E
lated Australian ace Jason
Doyle stormed to his first-
ever FIM Speedway Grand Prix
victory at the Mitas Czech SGP
in Prague, June 25, and admit-
ted, "it's a monkey off my back."
Doyle topped the Marketa
Stadium podium after surging
past new World Championship
leader Greg Hancock in the
Czech capital's 20th annual
SGP event. Great Britain star
Chris Harris stormed to third
place ahead of Niels-Kristian
Iversen on his first SGP final
appearance since he finished
fourth at the Danish SGP in Co-
penhagen over four years ago.
This was the night Doyle
joined the SGP winners' circle
and the Newcastle-born racer
was elated to have finally tasted
victory after so many close
brushes with glory. He said,
"I can't believe what has hap-
pened. On the last lap when
I was out in front, I was just
thinking 'come on! Keep going!'
Everyone tells you that when
you're going to win something,
you can hear the engine ticking
over nicely. In the final, the bike
rode perfectly. It's one of those
moments I'll never forget.
"I knew I wouldn't be able to
out-trap Greg off [turn] one. He's
just one of those class acts. I
went wide and tried to pick up the
dirt. I had enough speed to cut
back and when the bike hooked
up and I had the speed to pull
past Greg, I couldn't believe it."
Doyle is now fourth in the
World Championship with 42
points going into the blockbuster
Adrian Flux British FIM Speed-
way Grand Prix at Cardiff's Princi-
pality Stadium on July 9.
Hancock now leads the World
Championship with 56 points,
putting him eight ahead of near-
est rival Tai Woffinden. CN
1. Jason Doyle
2. Greg Hancock
3. Chris Harris
4. Niels-Kristian Iversen
5. Bartosz Zmarzlik
Jason Doyle and
Greg Hancock
fought to the
finish at the Czech
Speedway GP.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
JOHN
HIPKISS
