VOL. 54 ISSUE 43 OCTOBER 31, 2017 P31
a hard pill to swallow now we've
just won a world title."
Doyle races two more meet-
ings Down Under before jetting
back to Europe where he will
undergo surgery to finally fix his
broken foot.
"I have to go and get a bone
graft when I go back to Poland in
three weeks time," he revealed.
"Not many people knew I was
riding with a shattered foot still.
I just needed to carry on and
get through the last couple of
meetings. This is hopefully a
simple fix. They're going to do a
bone graft on my foot to fix the
last broken bone. There are still
three bones that are broken in
the foot, but once I get off the
bike, it's going to heal a lot bet-
ter than while I'm riding all the
time.
"Injuries are part and parcel of
the sport, but you just don't want
to be having them every year. It
seems like every year I am end-
ing up in the hospital."
Doyle's 2016 title dream was
shattered by a season-ending
crash in Torun, which left him
with elbow, shoulder and lung
damage and denied him the
chance to claim gold at the Eti-
had Stadium 12 months ago.
While some will say Doyle
could have been a two-time
world champ by now, the man
himself isn't bitter about that lost
opportunity.
"This is all about a learning
curve," he said. "The first world
title slipped away through injury
and you can't be negative about
these things. What happened
happened in Torun in 2016. To-
night just sums up what a great
year we've had."
Polish racer Patryk Dudek
became the first rider to finish in
the World Championship's top
two in his debut season since
the SGP series was launched
in 1995, and he was delighted
to see his efforts pay off with a
place in the history books.
"I am ecstatic because I am
the first rider to get second
position in their first season. I
am very happy," he said. "This is
my work and I work hard all the
time. I am the second rider in
the world now."
World Championship bronze
medalist Tai Woffinden was
delighted with his fourth podium
place in five years, and it's an
impressive run he's keen to
maintain. "It was really good," he
said. "It was nice to get on the
podium here. We were chasing
a medal for the first half of the
meeting and I secured that going
into the semis. Then it was all
about trying to win the GP. I am
happy with the result. I got the
bronze and it's one of my worst
finishes in the last five years. If I
can stay like that for the rest of
my career, it will be pretty good."
World Champion Doyle is
joined in securing automatic
qualification for the 2018 World
Championship by Dudek, Woffin-
den, Maciej Janowski, Bartosz
Zmarzlik, Emil Sayfutdinov, Matej
Zagar and Fredrik Lindgren.
They will meet GP Challenge
qualifiers Przemyslaw Pawlicki,
Artem Laguta and Craig Cook.
The final four places in the 2018
competition will be taken by four
wildcard picks made by the SGP
Commission.
John Hipkiss
1. Jason Doyle
2. Tai Woffinden
3. Bartosz Zmarzlik
4. Patryk Dudek
5. Matej Zagar
Doyle capped off
the championship
with a win in his
home country.
