PAUL Starke is targeting an extended stay with Poole Pirates in a bid to further his career.

The 24-year-old appears to have banished last year’s curse of the second reserve position at Wimborne Road with a series of steady scores this year.

Having ratcheted up his Premier League average from 4.67 to 5.49 at Somerset Rebels, Starke cited his stint at Pirates as the catalyst behind his improved performances and would be keen to retain his place for 2016 should circumstances allow.

Starke told the Daily Echo: “Staying at Poole would be the ideal scenario for me. I am really grateful to Neil Middleditch, Matt Ford and everyone involved and hopefully, I can keep banging in the points to help bring home the silverware.

“It is a great club with a big history and I am really chuffed to be a part of it. I am 24 now so I need to put in the work to make a future for myself and there is no better environment to do that than here.

“Being on the bike more this year has helped and I have learned a lot just by being at Poole, asking a few small questions here and there and applying the answers to what I am doing.

“As a rider, you can only benefit from being round former world champions like Chris Holder and experienced campaigners like Davey Watt who are full of knowledge.” 

After a stonking start in the Elite Shield against King’s Lynn, Starke’s scores slumped during the first two months of the campaign but the Ledbury-born charger found his feet having made a few technical tweaks.

“I started with a bang but seemed to tail off so I changed my engines, for Poole and for Somerset, and it turned out to be the right decision," he added.

“It takes a while for me to get going sometimes which can happen when you don’t ride that often. I have a bit of consistency now and have taken some guest bookings to try and keep myself sharp. 

"I’m starting to work more on my fitness and, hopefully, that will help me to improve again.”