DARCY Ward has hit out at critics who claim he is having too much fun off his bike and not preparing properly for meetings.

Ward, 18, scorched to a scintillating 10 paid 11-point tally in Poole Castle Cover’s comfortable 56-33 home Elite League win over Lakeside last night.

Then, talking during a candid interview about his call-up into Australia’s senior World Team Cup side, the world under-21 individual champion said: “People give me a hard time for having fun.

“But I just like to have fun and when it comes to business, I just do what I have to do.

“I think that’s the right way to look at it. We are young and we have to have fun.”

The teenager, who is believed to have been getting flack from fans of his Polish club Torun, added: “I would never go out the night before a meeting.

“But if I was racing on Sunday, I would go out on Friday.

“The fans see me and if I get points, great. If I have a bad meeting I get slated.”

Ward, who scored two points from five rides in Torun’s 58-32 defeat at Zielona Gora on Sunday, is delighted to be named in Australia’s five-man side for event two of the World Team Cup.

They line up against Great Britain, Sweden and Finland at King’s Lynn on July 26, and Ward said: “Last year I was meant to be in Australia’s team, but I broke my ankle.

“Hopefully I won’t get injured and will be able to take my place in the team this time.

“I don’t know how GB, Sweden and Finland will go, but it’ll be tough for us to beat them, although we’re pretty pumped up for it.”

Australia will be skippered by Pirates captain Davey Watt.

Poole spearhead Chris Holder, Troy Batchelor and Rory Schlein are also on board after experienced duo Jason Crump, who is undergoing an operation on his arm, and Leigh Adams decided not to line up for their country.

Ward said: “This year will be hard. Crumpie and Leigh aren’t racing it. It will be tough.

“We’re young and out to get first, so we’ll give it our best shot.

“We are a fairly young team and everyone knows us Aussie boys are different because we have fun and no-one else does.

“We work hard and we play hard, so we should be alright.”

King’s Lynn was Ward’s Premier League club before his big-money winter move to top-tier Poole, but he said: “It’s not my favourite track.

“I can’t gate at King’s Lynn. But hopefully it’s changed a bit and my gating will be alright.

“I certainly know my way around there. But it (a World Team Cup meeting) will be harder than against the Premier League boys.

“I was at Boston two years ago in the Conference League. Now I’m in the World Team Cup. It’s mind-boggling.

“Chris has only been racing in Britain four years and he has just won the British GP at Cardiff.

“So I’m pretty pleased to be riding for Australia, and my thanks go to Boycey (Craig Boyce) for picking me.

“Now I just want to do well in it.

“Chris winning at Cardiff was great and now I want to win it as well.

“Being in the pits at every GP, helping him, I just look at what he’s achieved and think wow.

“It was emotional on Saturday night and now I would like to achieve something like it.

“It’s a long career, but definitely in the next three or four years I’d love to do the same.

“Cardiff is the best GP to win and then, hopefully, the World Championship after that.”

Looking ahead to his first visit to Gdansk for this Saturday’s first leg of the world under-21 final, Ward said: “The final will be hard going over three rounds for the first time.

“Last year, I just had to have a second in my last race to win it (in the one-off final).

“I’m aiming for top two in Gdansk. Top two in each round is what I want. That’s what you want to do to win it overall.

“You can’t afford to have a fifth. It’s all about consistency.”

Ward added: “I’d love to win the world under-21 title two years in a row (to emulate Emil Sayfutdinov). That would be special.

“This year I’ve been struggling with exhausts in the under-21s, but I don’t really know why.

“They run it like an FIM Grand Prix qualifier, with new exhausts, but in the GP they don’t run with them.

“I’m pretty sure we have to run new exhausts in the World Team Cup as well.”