JASON Doyle made the perfect start to his British campaign on Saturday night after winning the Peter Craven Memorial Trophy at Belle Vue’s National Speedway Stadium. 

The Robins skipper defeated Kenneth Bjerre, Max Fricke and Rory Schlein in the grand final to earn his second successive Peter Craven Trophy, and boost his confidence ahead of Swindon’s SGB Premiership opener against Belle Vue a week on Thursday. 

Bjerre and Fricke were seeded directly into the final after totalling 13 points from their five qualifying rides – Doyle and Schlein meanwhile had to fend off ex-Robin David Bellego and Grand Prix star Matej Zagar in the semi-final to book their spot in the final four.

Doyle admitted after his first success of 2019 that not having the number one bib on his back has helped massively in his preparation building up to this season, and he’s found a new mentality on the track which can encourage positive results.

“Every year you’re enthusiastic at the start of the season, but last year I had a target on my back which Tai (Woffinden, world champion) now has,” said Doyle.

“I couldn’t deal with it at the start of the year, I was trying to stay safe and had riders coming at me left, right and centre. I feel clear in the head this year.

“It’s a great way to start the year. It’s going to be a tough year, but I’m looking forward to it.

“I’ve got some really good people behind me this year and some good engines. It’s a long season, but we’ve got to stay injury free.

“I’ll be doing over 80 meetings, so I want to keep in one piece.”

The 33-year-old was also relieved to see work start on the Robins’ new track following a series of hold-ups throughout the winter.

Work on the new racing surface started two weeks, and progress is being made with just over a week left until the Robins are due to compete in their first meeting.

Delays have puzzled Doyle, but ultimately he was relieved to hear of work starting amid troubling times for British speedway – where several high-profile clubs have been shut down in the last year.

Doyle added: “I don’t know why they started so late in the year to get the track ready.

“I’m a Swindon rider, hopefully it will be ready for our first league match. It’s a good thing for Swindon Speedway to have a new track.

“You see so many time tracks get pulled down and don’t get built on again, it’s nice Swindon have done this.

“The management is good, we’ve got Rosco (Alun Rossiter) and Lee Kilby – it’s a fresh start and it will be good.”