SPEEDWAY: Hauzinger pins hopes on Elite League career (From Swindon Advertiser)

SPEEDWAY: Hauzinger pins hopes on Elite League career

9:07am Thursday 12th June 2008 in Sport By Gareth Moorhouse

AMBITIOUS Austrian Manuel Hauzinger is hoping to carve a career for himself in the Sky Sports Elite League as he prepares for his first taste of top-flight British action at Blunsdon tonight.

Hauzinger makes his eagerly-awaited Robins debut against Eastbourne Eagles, looking to display the kind of form which has seen him crowned national champion five times in the last six years.

The 25-year-old joins a team sitting pretty at the top of the table, and he is determined to succeed where Dutchman Theo Pijper failed.

Hauzinger hopes his performances from the reserve berth will make team boss Alun Rossiter sit up and take notice, earning him an extended stay in Wiltshire in the process.

He said: "I want to do well for Swindon, not just this season but in the future too.

"If things go well for me maybe Rosco will invite me back next year and I will get chance to become a regular Elite League rider.

"I have had some success in the Premier League before, but I know the Elite League is going to be much tougher.

"The riders are better, faster and it will be a big challenge for me for sure."

Having rejected offers to ride for Peterborough and Poole this season, Hauzinger believes he has made the right choice in moving to the Abbey Stadium.

His mechanic Malcolm Uzzell describes him as an "all-out racer", but Hauzinger insists he is more concerned with substance over style.

"I have been brought here to score some points from reserve and hopefully that's what I will do," he said.

"Last year I had a good year of gating, but you have to remember that speedway is a race over four laps.

"Even if I make a bad start I will be trying my hardest to make up the distance.

"I wanted to come back to England this summer so I got in contact with my owner at the Isle of Wight.

"I asked him if he knew anybody who was looking for a rider and he told me Swindon were interested.

"My mechanic knows Rosco, so he put me in touch and the rest happened very quickly."

With speedway no more than a minority sport in his native Austria, Hauzinger knows the chance to ride for one of Britain's top teams could prove lucrative for him in more ways than one.

"Speedway is not very big back home so getting sponsorship is very important," he said.

"I wanted to ride in England from the beginning but before it was not possible because the bike was not right.

"But now we are ready and if I do well here in England that should give me a better chance to ride for the top teams in Europe. I'm very excited about it."