Ward gets second calling

Australian speedway sensation Darcy Ward has been rewarded for his astonishing World Championship debut in Torun with a wild card for the FIM Enea Gorzow Speedway Grand Prix of Poland on October 8.  The double World Under-21 champion dons the famous No.16 race jacket for the last SGP event of 2011 at Gorzow’s stunning Edward Jancarz Stadium.

Ward announced his arrival on the Grand Prix stage in style at Torun’s Marian Rose Motoarena on August 27 by collecting the bronze medal. If he had managed a faster start in the final, Ward undoubtedly had the speed to pick up a debut win as he chased meeting winner Andreas Jonsson and second-placed Jaroslaw Hampel furiously for four laps.

But the teenager will head to Gorzow in confident mood after that performance and has been in blistering form for his clubs. He bagged 17 paid 19 points for the Poole Pirates in their British Elite League play-off semi-final, first leg at King’s Lynn on Monday, and has topped the UK averages with a circa 9.91 figure, including bonuses. The Australian World Cup rider has also played a starring role at reserve in Polish First Division club Gdansk’s promotion push.

The Gorzow meeting will be the start of a huge weekend for Ward. He will also race in the last round of the World Under-21 Final at Polish track Gniezno on October 9, when the 19-year-old could become the first rider in the sport’s history to lift three world junior titles.  He will then lead Poole into an Elite League play-off final, second leg against Eastbourne or Lakeside on October 10, provided Pirates can overturn their three-point aggregate deficit in their semi-final home leg against King’s Lynn on Monday night.

Ward is joined in the field for the Gorzow SGP by track reserves Bartosz Zmarzlik and Kamil Pulczynski.  Like Ward, Zmarzlik is a World Under-21 finalist and the Gorzow youngster has shown huge potential this season. He has been allocated the No.17 race jacket.

Meanwhile, Torun reserve Pulczynski follows his brother into the SGP limelight after Emil Pulczynski was handed a track reserve spot for the Torun SGP. He wears No.18.

Swedish referee Krister Gardell will take charge of the action.