Ty Proctor looking to take next step

Gritty Aussie rider Ty Proctor is looking to take the next step up and force himself into his nation's speedway World Cup team.

Proctor was next in line last season as Australia were edged out by Great Britain in a pulsating semi-final at King's Lynn and then came up 11 points short of a qualifying place from the race-off in Vojens, Denmark.

But Proctor, now embarking on his third top-flight campaign in Britain, is hoping his form will sway team boss Craig Boyce to select him.

He said: "I'm in regular contact with Craig Boyce. As long as things start out well then I'm looking good to be a part of it again.

"We're just going to have to knuckle down at the start of the season, get a real good set-up and then me and Boycie will sit down, have a chat and see whether it's the right time for me to have a go at it."

Proctor's Australian championship campaign was largely derailed by the horrendous accident suffered in Adelaide by Monmore Green team-mate Joe Haines.

He said: "I was going to pull out of it due to what happened to Joe and me spending a lot of time in hospital with him.

"I didn't think it was the right mental preparation to go into the Australian finals. But I left it a bit late and it would have cost me more money to pull out.

"We just went with the flow and had a laugh and didn't really care about results. This year I didn't take back my best equipment, I just went with what I had.

"That wasn't up to scratch with the likes of Chris Holder, who sent back their best gear."

As an ambitious rider, Proctor knows the Aussie championships open the door to spots in the Grand Prix qualifying campaign.

But they're also expensive and he will consider the position next winter.

He said: "At the moment I'm looking more at what happens here and my leagues with Wolverhampton, Sweden, Poland and the World Cup.

"My set-up this year looks a lot more balanced - not a lot of meetings in one week, but enough to keep on a bike.

"That's really good."