Darcy Ward
| Darcy Ward | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nationality |  Australia | |
| Date of birth | 4 May 1992 | |
| Place of birth | Nanango, Queensland | |
| Website | www.darcywardracing.com | |
| Current club information | ||
| British league | Poole Pirates | |
| Polish league | Unibax Torun | |
| Swedish league | Dackarna | |
| Career history | ||
| Great Britain King's Lynn Stars Poole Pirates Poland Unibax Toruń Germany AC Landshut |
2009 2010- 2009 2009 | |
| Individual honours | ||
| Under-21 World Champion Australian Under-21 Champion Queensland Under-21 Champion NSW State Champion |
2009, 2010 2009, 2010, 2011 2009 2010 | |
| Team honours | ||
| Premier League winner Permier league KO Cup winner Premier Trophy |
2009 2009 2009 | |
Darcy Stephen Ward[1] (born 4 May 1992 in Nanango, Queensland) is an Australian motorcycle speedway rider who won the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Australian Under-21 Championships as well as the 2009 and 2010 World Under-21 Championships. He is currently riding for Poole Pirates in the British Elite League.
Career history
2009
In the 2009 season he rode for Unibax Toruń (Poland), King's Lynn Stars (Great Britain).[2] and AC Landshut (Germany).[3] Ward's first meeting in the Polish Ekstraliga was the Pomeranian-Kuyavian Derby between Toruń and Bydgoszcz at Polonia Stadium. In this match he scored seven points and one bonus (2,1*,0,1,3). Toruń won his meeting 51-39.[4] Unibax Toruń won regular season and after play-off qualify to the Ekstraliga Final. In the final meetings, Ward scoring 11 points and his team lost to Falubaz Zielona Góta 80:88. In total, Ward scoring 63 points, 11 bonus points in 53 heats (10 meetings) and was qualify on 34th place (Average 1.396).[5]
Ward won the 2009 World Under-21 Championship in Goričan, Croatia with 13 points. He also rode for Australia team at the Under-21 World Cup. In a Qualifying Round One he scored a maximum 15 points, but Australia finished third and were knocked out of the competition.
2011
In January 2011, Darcy became Australian Under-21 Champion for the third time and emulating Chris Holder and Leigh Adams in claiming a straight hat-trick of titles. In the 2011 season, starting in March, Ward will ride for Poole Pirates (Great Britain), Lejonen (Sweden) and Gdańsk (Poland). On Saturday, 27 August Ward made his FIM Speedway Grand Prix debut as a Wildcard in Toruń,[6] where he claimed 3rd place.[7] Largely due to his impressive performance at Toruń, Ward was subsequently nominated as the Wildcard for the season's final Grand Prix at Gorzów Wielkopolski on Saturday, 8 October.[8] Ward was classified as sixth in the Grand Prix after the meeting was abandoned due to bad weather and deteriorating track conditions after sixteen of the scheduled twenty-three races had been completed.[9] Ward's successful appearances led to him being offered a permanent place in the 2012 Grand Prix series,[10] however, Ward subsequently rejected the offer in favour of riding for Toruń in the Polish Ekstraliga.
Personal life
His father, Brian Ward, was also a speedway rider.[11]
In May 2012, Ward was charged with one count of sexual assault in the UK after an incident on 17 August 2011 where he allegedly sexually assaulted a drunken teenager in her hotel room after a race meeting in Dorset, England.[12] Darcy was cleared of the charge on 22 May 2012.[13]
On 13 February 2013 Ward appeared before Ipswich Magistrates Court, Queensland, to plead guilty to driving under the influence of liquor or a drug, failing to stop for the police, driving without a licence and driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle. Ward pleaded guilty and was fined £3275.68 and was disqualified from driving for two years.[14] Ward subsequently issued a public apology.[15]
Career detail
World Championships
- 2013 - 8th - 106pts - Won the Speedway Grand Prix of Denmark
Individual U-21 World Championship
Team U-21 World Championship (Under-21 World Cup)
Domestic competitions
- 2009 - 9th - 31pts
- 2010 - 3rd - 51pts
- 2011 - 2nd - 63pts + 3pts
Australian Under-21 Championship
- 2009 - Winner - 14pts
- 2010 - Winner - 11pts (3rd) - 1st in Final
- 2010 - Winner - 11pts (3rd) - 1st in Final
Team Polish Championship (Speedway Ekstraliga)
- 2009 - 2nd for Unibax Toruń (Average 1.396)
See also
References
- ↑ "Toruń - Bydgoszcz" (in Polish). SpeedwayEkstraliga.pl. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
- ↑ Świat Żużla, No 1 (77) 2009, pages 12-13 ISSN 1429-3285
- ↑ Świat Żużla, No 3 (79) 2009, page 19 ISSN 1429-3285
- ↑ "Jeden Emil to za mało - relacja z meczu Polonia Bydgoszcz - Unibax Toruń 39:51" (in Polish). SportoweFakty.pl. 2009-04-19. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
- ↑ Świat Żużla, No 4 (80) 2009, pages 4, 12-14 ISSN 1429-3285
- ↑ http://www.speedwaygp.com/news/article/566/wards-wild-night-in-torun
- ↑ http://speedwaygp.com/results/14
- ↑ http://www1.skysports.com/speedway/news/12268/7192763/Wild-card-Ward-set-for-Gorzow
- ↑ http://www.speedwaygp.com/results/17
- ↑ http://www.worldspeedway.com/artman/publish/article_17840.shtml
- ↑ "Darcy Ward: Mój ojciec był żużlowcem" (in Polish). SportoweFakty.pl. 2010-03-24. Retrieved 2010-03-24.
- ↑ "Queensland speedway star Darcy Ward 'assaulted drunk teenage girl with bottle and filmed it' court told". news.com.au. 2012-05-10. Retrieved 2012-05-10.
- ↑ Australian speedway rider Darcy Ward cleared of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Britain Fox Sports Australia, 23 May 2012
- ↑ http://www.qt.com.au/news/drunk-speedway-star-hightails-it-from-cops/1755067/
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/speedway/21546097
External links
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