SWINDON Robins skipper Jason Doyle got his Speedway Grand Prix season off to a fine start as he claimed second place in Slovenia.

The Aussie finished behind former Robin number one Peter Kildemand who took the top spot at Krsko, with Poole Pirates’ Chris Holder coming home in third.

Doyle recovered from a slow start after picking up just one point from his first two rides in the opening race of the season.

However, a change in bike saw his fortunes turn around and Doyle, who finished fifth overall last season, picked up a win in heat 10 to put him back in the mix.

A victory over reigning world champion Tai Woffinden in heat 14 and a second in heat 18 booked Doyle’s place in the semi-finals.

Doyle went in the first semi-final and finished behind Peter Kildemand to secure his final spot but he found the Dane difficult to get past again in the last race of the evening and had to settle for second place, picking up 13 points in the process and leave him third in the overall standings.

“In my first two heats, I didn’t think I was even going to make the semis,” he said.

“I was struggling. I just tried to get some points. I thought I was going to go back to the van and have a good cry.

“But that’s speedway. One minute you’re down; the next minute you’re in the final.

“Speedway switches like that. You get on another bike and think you can beat the world.

“We just started building the points up, made the semi and I got second. I’m happy.”

Kildemand suffered heavy rib damage after a heavy crash in his home town of Esbjerg last month but picked up 15 points heading into the next round, the Grand Prix of Poland, on May 14.

He said: “This is the best start to the season you can get. It’s early days and I have to have my eye on the target and keep moving in the right direction.

“But I’m really happy right now. This is my first full season as an SGP rider. I won the first round and now I have the chance to lead the World Championship. It’s a very special feeling.

“Before the season, my target was chasing the medals and I would be happy just to be in third place when the season is over.

“For now, I’m top and I just need to try to enjoy it really. It’s early days and the season is long. We’ll do what we can do and it seems like what we are doing now is the right thing.”

He added: “Right now I feel really good! I had pain all night. With rib injuries, the doctor says you should take a month to one and a half months. The good thing was that on the track I didn’t feel it. Right now, I’m just happy.”

FIM SPEEDWAY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Peter Kildemand 15, 2 Chris Holder 14, 3 Jason Doyle 13, 4 Tai Woffinden 10, 5 Greg Hancock 10, 6 Nicki Pedersen 10, 7 Maciej Janowski 10, 8 Antonio Lindback 10, 9 Niels-Kristian Iversen 8, 10 Bartosz Zmarzlik 8, 11 Piotr Pawlicki 8, 12 Fredrik Lindgren 7, 13 Andreas Jonsson 6, 14 Matej Zagar 4, 15 Chris Harris 3, 16 Denis Stojs 1, 17 Nick Skorja 1.

KRSKO SCORES: 1 Peter Kildemand 15, 2 Jason Doyle 13, 3 Chris Holder 14, 4 Tai Woffinden 10, 5 Maciej Janowski 10, 6 Antonio Lindback 10, 7 Greg Hancock 10, 8 Nicki Pedersen 10, 9 Bartosz Zmarzlik 8, 10 Niels-Kristian Iversen 8, 11 Piotr Pawlicki 8, 12 Fredrik Lindgren 7, 13 Andreas Jonsson 6, 14 Matej Zagar 4, 15 Chris Harris 3, 16 Denis Stojs 1, 17 Nick Skorja 1, 18 Matic Ivacic 0.