PIRATES chief Matt Ford is backing new recruit Vaclav Milik to prove his class with Poole and insists: He could reach the top.

Ford was speaking as he announced that the Czech Republic prospect had become the sixth rider to sign for Pirates for the 2014 campaign.

Milik, who was understood to have attracted attention from a rival Elite League outfit, has been secured on an assessed four-point average.

The 20-year-old, who rides in the Czech and Polish leagues, showed a glimpse of his ability when scoring five points in the GP Challenge at Poole last season.

Ford rates the emerging talent highly enough to predict that he could one day become the greatest speedway rider is his country’s history.

And the Poole promoter is confident he will show what he can do when he makes the move into British racing with Pirates.

Ford told the Daily Echo: “He has improved very quickly in the past 18 months or so and is somebody I feel can step forward and play an important role for Poole.

“He rides in Poland and in the Czech league for Pardubice. I made enquiries about bringing him in for 2013 and that proved unsuccessful but I am pleased that he will have his debut British season with the Pirates next year.

“His improvement in the past 18 months has been very clear. He is still very young. I know it is going to take him time to adjust to the smaller British tracks and certainly in the first part of the season, we need to be a little bit patient with him.

“But Maciej Janowski said to me last season to look out for him because he was improving very quickly and he liked his style. I spoke to him when he came across for the Grand Prix Challenge and we had already had some conversations prior to that.

“It did look like he would probably be going to another Elite League club who were tracking another Czech Republic rider at the time but I am pleased that he has come to our club and I genuinely think he has the ability to become the best Czech Republic rider of all time.”

Ford added: “He wasn’t perhaps an overnight sensation like our own Darcy Ward and he is a little bit of a slow burner. But he has got true ability and this lad could go on to reach the very top of the sport.”

The signing of Milik leaves Pirates with 7.50 team-building points to recruit their final rider.

Milik is seeking a mechanic for the 2014 Elite League season. For further information, contact Poole Speedway on 01202 681145.