DATE OF BIRTH: 6 January 1978, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
BRITISH CAREER: (2001) Isle of Wight; (2002) Newcastle; (2003) King’s Lynn, Poole; (2004) Rye House, Poole, Eastbourne; (2005) Eastbourne; (2006) Oxford; (2007) Eastbourne; (2008) Poole; (2009) Eastbourne; (2010-11) Poole.
MAJOR HONOUR: Queensland State Champion: 2005.
CLUB HONOURS: Young Shield winner: 2001 [Isle of Wight]; League Championship winner: 2003, 2004, 2008, 2011 [all Poole]; Elite Shield winner: 2009 [Eastbourne]; Knock-Out Cup winner: 2010, 2011 [both Poole].
2011 STARTING AVERAGE: 7.59 (EL).
ADDITIONAL INFO: Having first ridden a bike at just 3-years-of-age in 1981, Watt was already a vastly experienced motorcyclist when he initially appeared in British speedway with the Isle of Wight in 2001.
His official debut for the Islanders occurred in a Premier Trophy encounter at Swindon on 29 March, when he recorded a paid 5 points. He subsequently appeared for Newcastle and King’s Lynn, respectively, in the ensuing couple of seasons, whilst also riding for parent club Poole in the latter year.
A loan move to Rye House followed in 2004 and he also continued to ‘double-up’ with the Pirates, sharing a position with André Compton. However, he was released by the Dorset side in mid-June, when they re-signed Krzysztof Kasprzak.
A month later, the Aussie returned to a top-flight position, however, when he linked with Eastbourne to share a post alongside Andrew Moore. Watt was to move into the Elite League on a full-time basis with the Eagles in 2005, but spent a term with Oxford a year later, before resuming with the East Sussex club in 2007.
Following that, the Australian international played an integral role in Poole’s 2008 Elite League-winning side, forming a potent unit with the likes of Bjarne Pedersen, Chris Holder, Magnus Zetterström, Adam Skórnicki, Freddie Eriksson and Daniel Davidsson.
The popular rider, renowned for his fast starts, bravery, commitment and exciting riding style, was unable to be accommodated in 2009, though, and instead again linked with his former club, Eastbourne, on loan.
Late, in November, however, the Pirates were delighted to announce that the locally-based speedster would rejoin them as skipper in 2010. He proved an inspirational leader, as the Dorseteers dominated the regular Elite League programme to occupy top spot in the standings, with the Aussie maintaining an average of over 8 points a match.
And, having been called into the British Grand Prix as a replacement for the injured Emil Sayfutdinov at Cardiff on 10 July, he was to fill the Russian’s place in a further three of the final four rounds after the hard-charging rider from Salavat had taken another knock in the Scandinavian GP at Målilla, Sweden, on 14 August.
Watt overcame a hand injury whilst making a guest appearance for Coventry in a league fixture versus Peterborough at Brandon Stadium on 20 August. And although Poole eventually missed out on the League Championship after losing to Coventry in the Play-Off final, they did at least gain some consolation at Wimborne Road on 27 October, when they clinched an aggregate victory over Eastbourne to lift the Knock-Out Cup; it being Watt’s fourth piece of silverware with the Pirates, having previously won three league titles in their colours.
The Aussie was to conclude the campaign with 324.5 points to his name, having been the only rider to remain ever-present throughout the Pirates’ forty-two official matches; that yielded a real-time average of 8.01. And, during a club sponsors’ evening on 17 December, it was confirmed that Poole would again be led by Watt in 2011 after the Australian had endorsed terms.
The Pirates’ skipper sustained an ankle injury in the club’s opening meeting of the season, a challenge match at Eastbourne on 20 March, before he had even had a chance to complete four laps. Watt was taken for X-rays on the affected area after appearing to lay his machine down to avoid fallen Eastbourne rider Dawid Lampart at the start of his first race of the meeting.
The rider was pleased to learn that there were no broken bones and underwent a fitness test prior to the return match at Wimborne Road on 23 March with a view to declaring himself fit which, as things transpired, he did before going on to net a 9-point tally.
Watt was to average 8 points a match for the Pirates and overcame a late-season injury to lead the club to the Elite League Championship, courtesy of an aggregate victory over Eastbourne in the Play-Off final. Amazingly, it was the Australian’s fourth such success with the Dorset outfit. Shortly after, he was also on hand to collect the Knock-Out Cup after victory in the final against Belle Vue.
FIM Speedway Grand Prix Record: Grand Prix ridden: 4 – 83rd on SGP all-time list Grand Prix points: 19 – 75th on SGP all-time list Grand Prix races: 20 – 74th on SGP all-time list Grand Prix race wins: 3 – 72nd on SGP all-time list Grand Prix wins: 0 – n/a Grand Prix finals: 0 – n/a
FIM Speedway World Cup Record: SWC tournaments: 6 Events: 12 – 5th on Australia’s list; 27th on SWC all-time list Points: 73 – 6th on Australia’s list; 33rd on SWC all-time list Finals: 4 Gold medals: 0
WATT, David (Davey) John
