FORMER Pirates asset Jason Doyle roared to his maiden world title on a dream night at his home Grand Prix in Melbourne.

The Aussie star needed a maximum of eight points to secure the crown but went much further by winning the meeting, despite riding with a broken foot.

That completed a double celebration for ironman Doyle, who skippered Swindon to SGB Premiership success earlier this month.

He said: “The worst thing after the last round in Torun was the fact it was a three-week wait.

"My head has been trying to calculate everything and it’s been so stressful. But I’ve finally done it. I’ve done it with my family and friends here and they know more than anybody how much I wanted this.

“My wife Emily has put up with a lot of stick, especially since we got married, but I couldn’t have done it without her.

“My foot is killing. I’ve been riding with it broken for about four or five months and it has been tough physically and mentally. But it’s all worth it now.”

Patryk Dudek claimed the silver medal and British racer Tai Woffinden the bronze, while Poole asset Chris Holder faces an anxious wait to see if he will compete in next year’s series.

The Ringwood-based flier managed just three points at Etihad Stadium and finished 10th in the standings, two spots lower than required to seal his place for 2018.

Aside from the top three, the other automatic qualifiers are ex-Pirates skipper Maciej Janowski, Bartosz Zmarzlik, Emil Sayfutdinov, Matej Zagar and Freddie Lindgren.

Holder must rely on receiving one of four wild cards from the SGP Commission but is likely to face plenty of competition from the likes of Greg Hancock, Niels-Kristian Iversen, Nicki Pedersen and Peter Kildemand.

And Martin Vaculik, Vaclav Milik, Andzejs Lebedevs and world under-21 champion Maksym Drabik are among the other names who could be considered.

Pirates asset Brady Kurtz was handed two rides in Melbourne as a meeting reserve and impressed with an excellent opening effort in beating Janowski, Holder and Antonio Lindback.

However, Kurtz touched the tapes in his second outing and Rohan Tungate came in instead.

Former Poole star Davey Watt scored three points as he brought the curtain down on his glittering racing career.

Final standings: 1 Jason Doyle 161, 2 Patryk Dudek 143, 3 Tai Woffinden 131, 4 Maciej Janowski 122, 5 Bartosz Zmarzlik 121, 6 Emil Sayfutdinov 117, 7 Matej Zagar 107, 8 Fredrik Lindgren 107, 9 Martin Vaculik 99, 10 Chris Holder 85, 11 Piotr Pawlicki 81, 12 Antonio Lindback 77, 13 Peter Kildemand 60, 14 Greg Hancock 45, 15 Niels-Kristian Iversen 44, 16 Nicki Pedersen 8.

Australian Grand Prix positions and scores: 1 Jason Doyle 19, 2 Tai Woffinden 16, 3 Bartosz Zmarzlik 13, 4 Patryk Dudek 15, 5 Matej Zagar 10, 6 Martin Vaculik 9, 7 Maciej Janowski 9, 8 Emil Sayfutdinov 8, 9 Rohan Tungate 6, 10 Martin Smolinski 6, 11 Peter Kildemand 6, 12 Antonio Lindback 4, 13 Justin Sedgmen 4, 14 Brady Kurtz 3, 15 Chris Holder 3, 16 Davey Watt 3, 17 Sam Masters 2, 18 Piotr Pawlicki 2.