The Boy Is Good

I know this is going to sound a bit like the guy who took one look at 17 year old Pele and muttered something about him being 'quite useful' but I predict that 19 year old Australian Darcy Ward will be World Speedway Champion within the next five years.

Last night at the fantastic Marian Rose MotoArena in Toruń, Poland we saw riding and racing of the highest quality as the 2011 World Championships reached round 8. Darcy, as he is known in our household, has been a sensation this year for Poole Pirates and he leads the Elite League averages as his team leads the league once again. The old adage about youth having no fear was proved in Heat 12 where he sensationally beat three riders who have far more experience than he does, he then repeated the winning formula in Heat 13, not bad for a Wild Card entrant riding in his first ever Grand Prix meeting.

Things got even better than that has he qualified for the semi-finals, won the first semi final and then finished third in the final at the end of what was a sensational evening for him. Just to show that life off the race track isn't as exotic as the races themselves he then had to borrow Poole and fellow Aussie team mate Chris Holder's van to drive from Poland all the way across Germany to Denmark for today's Under-21 World Title Final in Denmark, he has won this title for the past two years.

Down at Poole Stadium (aka The Place of Pace) he is something of a crowd favourite, not least because of his ability of a bike but also, for the ladies, because of his good looks. He also rides for Torun in Poland (last night he was racing at his 'home' track in Poland) and in Sweden. The only thing that might stopping becoming one of the all-time greats in the sport is probably fatigue!

Speedway is a lot like I remember football when I first started being taken by my parents back in the early 1960's, people of all ages, men, women, children, parents, grandparents going together, food and drink available throughout the meeting and at affordable prices. A family ticket at Poole costs £36 for two adults and four children (under 16), it's only £16 per adult and the excitement is fantastic, even if you do embarrass your wife and daughter by standing up and shouting at your own personal favourite as he wins his first race since the old King died.

The only downside is that the sport can't take place in the rain so if it does start raining during a race that's it - the end, the upside is that you get all your money back by way of entry to the meeting when its re-run.