FORMER Swindon Robin Darcy Ward hopes to see Jason Doyle seal FIM Speedway World Championship gold in Melbourne, but feared he had blown it by racing on with a broken foot.

The Queenslander is jetting to Etihad Stadium for the SGP series finale, where the Abbey Stadium skipper needs just eight points to be certain of speedway’s biggest prize.

Doyle’s quest for glory was in real jeopardy when he suffered a broken foot in a Polish Ekstraliga meeting at Torun on June 18.

But after undergoing surgery just 24 hours later, Doyle practiced four days after going under the knife and then finished fourth in the Kjærgaard Danish SGP in Horsens on June 24.

While he missed a few league meetings here and there, Doyle barely took a break from the shale as he continues to defy his injury.

Ward admits he would have taken some time off after Horsens and hailed his compatriot for battling on.

“I thought for a while he had made a mistake in not taking time off and riding all the leagues straight away after he broke his foot,” Ward told speedwaygp.com.

“I wondered if he had tired himself out and the foot was hurting. I thought not taking a break had cost him.

“I would have definitely had a two-week break after the Danish SGP and told everyone ‘look, I’ve got a broken foot – get off my back.’

“He didn’t do it and he soldiered on. He’s a real soldier. It was a crazy effort. Good on him. Not many people could have done it.

“He’s dedicated to all of his teams. I think I would have approached it differently.

“He rode all the leagues and still scored well. Towards the end when the World Championship was on the line, he might have eased off a little bit. And he has been open about that.

“He is riding with a mature racing head on him at the moment. He knows points are all it takes.”