AUSTRALIAN Jason Doyle is poised to be crowned 2017 world speedway champion on Saturday – six years after helping the now-defunct Newport Wasps lift the British Premier League Knockout Cup.

The 32-year-old will have home advantage and a 14-point lead over Poland’s Patryk Dudek at the final Grand Prix meeting of the season in Melbourne.

Doyle rode in both legs of Wasps’ 106-74 aggregate win over Glasgow in 2011, when the Hayley Stadium outfit finished fifth in the 14-strong table.

However, the club was beset with financial problems and when a last-minute takeover bid failed to materialise it folded in February 2012.

After the Wasps’ demise, Doyle went on to ride for Poole Pirates, Birmingham Brummies and Leicester Lions, plus teams in Denmark, Poland and Sweden, and is currently in his third spell with Premier League champions Swindon Robins.

If successful on Saturday, it will help Doyle rid the memory of the anguish he suffered in the 2016 GP campaign.

He was two points clear at the top of the standings when he broke his elbow, dislocated a shoulder and injured both lungs after crashing at the penultimate meeting of the season in Torun, Poland.

The injuries forced him to miss the season-ending GP in Melbourne, where American Greg Hancock secured his fourth world title – Doyle’s absence saw him finish fifth overall.