Saturday 14th July 2012, 10:39

Double World Under-21 champion Darcy Ward declared himself “ready to go” after shaking off a broken hand to make Australia’s FIM Monster Energy Speedway World Cup Final side.

The 20-year-old practised at Malilla’s G&B Arena on Friday and manager Mark Lemon gave the Dackarna star the nod to replace Troy Batchelor in the team and race on his Swedish home track.

Ward has not raced since he crashed in heat three of Torun’s Polish Ekstraliga encounter with Wroclaw at the Marian Rose Motoarena on June 17.

He immediately underwent surgery in Poland and Torun arranged the best available rehabilitation for the rider. While he wasn’t ready for Australia’s Event 2 victory at King’s Lynn on Monday, he was itching to take his spot at Malilla tonight and says his hand is fit for action.

He said: “The hand is pretty good – it’s still not 100 percent. It’s ready to go, though. I just feel like I’ve not really ridden the bike rather than any pain. I had a good practice session and enjoyed it.

“I’ve been in Poland for three weeks now – ever since I crashed pretty much. I’ve just been trying to do the best I could and get back as soon as I could. I really wanted to be a part of this Australia team for World Cup. We have a good team and our hopes are high.”

Ward knows hosts Sweden, featuring his Dackarna team mates Andreas Jonsson and Freddie Lindgren, will be a tough side to overcome. And the Queenslander suspects the track will suit the natives.

He said: “We don’t really know how the track will play out, but I’ll enjoy my day and get on with it. Two of the Swedes ride here for my team, so they’ll be making the track the best they can for them.

“They’re a good team and we want to do our job. We’ll just have a good meeting and stay safe.”

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