Jason Doyle
Born |
Newcastle, New South Wales | 6 October 1985
---|---|
Nationality | Australia |
Website |
www |
Current club information | |
British league | Swindon Robins |
Polish league | Zielona Góra |
Swedish league | Rospiggarna |
Danish league | Region Varde |
Career history | |
UK: | |
Premier League: | |
2005–2006 | Isle of Wight Islanders |
2008, 2012–2013 | Somerset Rebels |
2011 | Newport Wasps |
Elite League: | |
2006–2007, 2010–2011 | Poole Pirates |
2012, 2016 | Swindon Robins |
2013 | Birmingham Brummies |
2014–2015 | Leicester Lions |
Poland: | |
2008 | Kolejarz Rawicz |
2009–2010 | Start Gniezno |
2011 | Polonia Piła |
2016 | Zielona Góra |
Sweden: | |
2009 | Gasarna Avesta |
2015 | Dackarna |
Denmark: | |
2015–2016 | Region Varde |
Individual honours | |
2013 | Master of Speedway (GER) |
2015 | South Australian Champion |
2015 | Australian Champion |
2015 | Elite League Riders Champion |
2016 | Grand Prix of Czech Republic |
2016 | Grand Prix of Poland II |
2016 | Grand Prix of Germany |
2016 | Grand Prix of Scandinavia |
Team honours | |
2008 | Premier League KO Cup |
2010 | Elite League KO Cup |
2012 | Premier League Cup |
2013 | Premier League Pairs |
2013 | Premier League |
Jason Kevin Doyle (born 6 October 1985) is an Australian motorcycle speedway rider.[1] He won the 2015 Australian Solo Championship. He has also won the South Australian Championship in 2014, and the Elite League Riders' Championship and the Master of Speedway meeting in Germany in 2015.
Doyle is a member of the Australia national speedway team and represented his country in the Speedway World Cup. He is also the 2016 Czech Republic Grand Prix winner, taking his maiden victory on 26th June 2016, at Prague's Markéta Stadium. He became only the third rider in history to win three Grand Prix in a row when he won in Gorzow, Teterow and Stockholm before breaking his elbow, dislocating his shoulder and injuring both his lungs after crashing in his first ride in the penultimate Grand Prix of the season in Torun, Poland. He was two points clear at the top of the standings at the time of his crash and officially withdrew from the season-ending Melbourne SGP on October 7.
Career
UK and Europe
Born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Doyle made his British speedway debut in March 2005 for Premier League team the Isle of Wight Islanders. In 2006, Doyle remained with the Isle of Wight and signed for the Poole Pirates as their number 8 before moving up to the Elite League full-time with Poole in 2007. He moved to Premier League team the Somerset Rebels in 2008 after failing to secure a team place at Poole, although he still remained a Poole asset.[2] During the 2008 season Doyle finished as runner up in the Premier League Pairs Championship with Emil Kramer and represented Australia at Under-23 Test level. He also won the Premier League Knockout Cup with Somerset.[3]
Doyle missed the 2009 season after tearing the rotator cuff in his shoulder, but returned in 2010 for the Poole Pirates. In 2012 Doyle led the Rebels to League Cup victory and the team narrowly missed on winning the Premier League; He was voted Rider of the Year by the club's supporters.[4]
In the 2013 season Doyle signed for the Birmingham Brummies, who reached the Elite League play-off final, losing to Poole Pirates. He also led the Somerset Rebels to the Premier League title.[5] In December 2013 he signed for Leicester Lions for the 2014 season. Doyle fell foul of work permit rules and was initially denied a visa that would allow him to ride in the UK in 2014;[6] The situation was resolved before the start of the 2014 season although he was only permitted to ride in one league, so was released by Somerset.[7][8] He stayed with Lions in 2015 before returning to parent club Swindon Robins for 2016.
In 2013, Doyle won the Master of Speedway title in Bockhorn, Germany. Doyle has also raced in Poland and Sweden. In Sweden Doyle moved from Vastervik to Dakarna while in Poland he has left Lodz to join Torun.
Australia
Doyle narrowly missed winning his first Australian Championship when he finished only 2 points behind Chris Holder over the three rounds of the 2014 Championship. In the "A" Final of the last round at the Gillman Speedway in Adelaide, Doyle fell and was excluded from the re-run and with Holder finishing second he was able to win his 5th national crown. Going into the round Doyle and Holder had been tied on 38 points after the first two rounds with Doyle winning the opening round in Kurri Kurri and Holder the second round at Undera Park.
On 28 December, 2014 Doyle won the 2014/15 South Australian Championship at Gillman defeating Rohan Tungate, Justin Sedgmen and Dakota North in the final. Doyle became the first rider from NSW to win the SA title since Aub Lawson won the 3-Lap Championship in 1949.[9] Doyle's win also makes it 8 SA Championships in succession not won by a South Australian rider.
On 10 January 2015 Doyle won the final round of the Australian Solo Championship at Kurri Kurri, also winning the title.[10]
International
Doyle has represented the Australian team at the Speedway World Cup, finishing 3rd with the team in 2013 in the Czech Republic and again in 2014 in Poland. Many judges believed he came of age in the 2014 Final at the Polonia Bydgoszcz Stadium, winning four of his six rides (including a win over reigning World Champion Tai Woffinden) and being the second highest scorer on the night with 13 behind Denmark's triple World Champion Nicki Pedersen who scored 17.
With his second Place at the 2014 Speedway Grand Prix Challenge on 20 September in Lonigo, Italy, Doyle qualified for the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix World Championship Series, joining Australian team mates Chris Holder (the 2012 World Champion) and Wild Card rider Troy Batchelor in the Speedway Grand Prix. Doyle had a mixed year in 2015, finishing the series in 5th spot with a best finish of 2nd in the penultimate round of Poland III. He finished off the year qualifying for the final at home in Australia, but a crash in the first turn with American Greg Hancock resulted in a short stay in hospital after suffering neck and chest injuries.
On 25 June 2016, Doyle won his first ever SGP when he took out the Speedway Grand Prix of Czech Republic at the Markéta Stadium in Prague.[11] After finishing in 6th place in the next round in Britain he returned to the podium with second in Sweden before winning the next three Grand Prix in Poland II, Germany and Scandinavia to be in 1st place, 5 points ahead of three time champion Greg Hancock after 9 of the 11 rounds.[12] Doyle's 3 SGP wins in a row was the first time a rider had taken a hat-trick since fellow Aussie Jason Crump had won 3 in a row on his way to winning the 2006 championship but a crash in his first ride at the 3rd Polish round in which he dislocated his shoulder and broke his elbow put paid to his 2016 championship hopes.
World Championship Appearances
Speedway World Cup
- 2013 – Prague, Marketa Stadium – 3rd – 33pts (5)
- 2014 – Bydgoszcz, Polonia BydgoszcStadium – 3rd – 36pts (13)
- 2015 – Vojens, Vojens Speedway Center – 4th – 26pts (8)
- 2016 – Manchester, National Speedway Stadium – 4th – 22pts (7)
Speedway Grand Prix
Year | Position | Points | Best Finish | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | 5th | 114 | Second | Debut SGP season. Finished 2nd in Poland III |
2016 | 5th | 123 | Winner (x4) | Won in Czech Republic, Poland II, Germany and Scandinavia. |
References
- ↑ Bamford, Robert (2008). Methanol Press Speedway Yearbook 2008. Methanol Press. ISBN 978-0-9553103-5-5.
- ↑ "Doyle:I'm no Zorro". Bournemouth Daily Echo. 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
- ↑ "Rebels party on after cup triumph". Burnham & Highbridge Weekly News. 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
- ↑ "Jason Doyle named Somerset Rebels Rider of the Year", Bridgwater Mercury, 7 November 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2014
- ↑ "Hunter duo create speedway history", Maitland Mercury, 1 November 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2014
- ↑ "Speedway: Leicester's Jason Doyle denied a work permit", Daily Star, 27 January 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2014
- ↑ "Speedway: Somerset Rebels without Jason Doyle for 2014", BBC, 5 February 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2014
- ↑ "Speedway: Leicester Lions rider Jason Doyle finally granted visa approval", Leicester Mercury, 22 March 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2014
- ↑ Doyle Wins SA Solo Title
- ↑ Hartshorn, Michael (2015) "Jason Doyle claims Aussie title as Hunter riders dominate final round at Kurri Kurri Speedway", Maitland Mercury, 10 January 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015
- ↑ "Czech Republic Grand Prix Result". SGP.
- ↑ Speedway Grand Prix