36 year old Jason Doyle was the last Australian to appear on the podium at the end of the SGP series when he won the championship in 2017. And whilst no one from that country was close to that this year, Doyle can go into the 2019 post-season as the most successful Aussie on the European circuit.
The nation's third place in the Speedway of Nations in July was mainly due to the former world champion. With Max Fricke and Jaimon Lidsey alongside him, it was Doyle who took 30 of the team's 41 points, whilst youngster Lidsey only scoring two points from his two rides in Russia.
In both Sweden, with Rospiggarna, and Poland, with Torun, the Australian found himself in teams that were under-performing and ended up struggling at the bottom of their respective tables. The Hallstavik team narrowly avoided being last by a final surge - but with there being no relegation in the Elitserien this year it was more a matter of pride for the team that hosts the Swedish SGP.
Doyle was the team's top rider with a heat average of 1.865. But when it comes to Australians in the league, both the Holder brothers were above him. It was older brother Chris Holder of Indianerna who earnt the title as the best Roo in Sweden with 1.904 P/H In fact, the Elitserien was the only league that Jason competed in where he was not the top Australian rider.
In the Ekstraliga it was a similar story as Torun were relegated to the Nice 1 with a truly awful season that saw them win just two matches. But the Australian was perhaps the only saving grace for the team. He finished the season as the sixth best rider in the league with a staggering heat average of 2.280. So despite the chaos around him, the 36 year old found his rhythm and continued to churn out points despite less than promising circumstances.
On the Speedway Grand Prix front the season did not start well for Doyle and he looked unlikely to be in the top eight and gain automatic qualification for next year. However, he rallied in the last three SGPs to score 36 points which, alongside the 12 he gained in the Czech SGP in June, saved his SGP status for 2020. He said afterwards, that this had been one of his key goals for the second half of the season.
The talented Aussie is one of the few riders who races in three different leagues. So as the only permanent SGP rider to race in Britain, he must had felt justified in his choice as he was able to add the UK national championship to his palmeres. He captained the Swindon Robins to an emphatic Premiership gold medal win. Whilst it was, of course, a great team performance no one would deny that Doyle has a leading role to play in the victory. He was the league's top scorer above countrymen Max Fricke and Troy Batchelor with a 2.262 heat average and also scored a paid maximum in the second leg of their final which saw the Robins take their first Premiership title on home shale.
Doyle's 2019 season in numbers:
Speedway GP - 7th place with 84 points
Speedway of Nations - 3rd place with Australia
Elitserien (SWE) - 12th best rider, 1.865 P/H
Ekstraliga (POL) - 6th best rider, 2.280 P/H
Premiership (GBR) - 1st placed rider, 2.262 P/H - League winner with Swindon
Metal League (DEN) - 2 matches for Esjberg Vikings, 2.333 P/H
