David John Watt (born 6 January 1978 in

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

) is a former international

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

rider from Australia. He won the Queensland state championship in 2005 and was a member of the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

team that finished second to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

in the 2011 World Cup Final.

Career summary

Watt started his British speedway career in 2001 when he signed for the

Isle of Wight Islanders The Isle of Wight Wightlink Warriors (formerly Islanders) are a British speedway team. They last competed in the 2019 National Development League and ride their home meetings at the Smallbrook Stadium. History Isle of Wight speedway began at ...

in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. He rode as a substitute reserve rider for the

Oxford Cheetahs The Oxford Cheetahs are a British speedway teamLawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. based at Oxford Stadium, in Oxford, England. They were founded in 1939 and are five times champions of Britain, in 1964, 1985, 1986, 1989 and ...

in 2001 and 2002 and was therefore a member of the Elite League title winning team in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

. The following year he signed for Premier League team

Newcastle Diamonds Newcastle Diamonds were a motorcycle speedway team that raced in the SGB Championship, every Sunday night during the season (March–October) from their home at the Newcastle Stadium on the Fossway, Byker. The Stadium, previously known as Broug ...

. In 2002 he gained a team berth at

King's Lynn Stars King's Lynn Stars are a motorcycle speedway team who compete in the SGB Premiership. The nickname "Stars" comes from the defunct Norwich Stars team. The team was founded in 1965 and has been running continually since then, except for 1996 when Kin ...

while also doubling up for his parent club the

Poole Pirates Poole Pirates (also known as Poole Speedway) are a motorcycle speedway team based in Poole, England, competing in the SGB Championship. The club have been the champions of the United Kingdom on ten occasions. Poole Speedway is promoted by l ...

, where he was part of the Pirates Elite League league winning team in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

. Watt rode for

Rye House Rockets The Rye House Rockets were a speedway team based at Rye House Stadium, Hoddesdon, England. They competed in various British speedway leagues from 1954 to 2018. History Rye House began life in 1934 hosting open meetings. Whilst at Hackney in 1 ...

in the Premier League in 2004 and also doubled-up with Poole, but after he suffered an injury early on in the season he was replaced by

Krzysztof Kasprzak Krzysztof Kasprzak (; born 18 July 1984 in Leszno, Poland) is an international speedway rider who became World Under-21 Champion in 2005 and won the silver medal during the 2014 Speedway Grand Prix. He also won five World team titles. He is a s ...

. After Watt had recovered from his injury he moved on loan to the

Eastbourne Eagles The Eastbourne Eagles were a British speedway team, based at Arlington Stadium, near Eastbourne, England, that raced in the SGB Championship. History Speedway was initially introduced to Eastbourne in 1929. During their first league season th ...

in the Elite League, where he remained until 2006 when he moved to

for a year. He returned to Eastbourne in 2007 and added 2 points to his

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by the end of the season he was voted Eastbourne's Rider of the Year. He also finished fourth in the

Elite League Riders Championship The Elite League Riders' Championship is a motorcycle speedway contest between the top riders (or two riders) with the highest average points total from each club competing in the Elite League in the UK. History The competition replaced the Pr ...

and won a bronze medal with

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at the

2007 Speedway World Cup The 2007 Speedway World Cup (SWC) was the 7th FIM Speedway World Cup season. The Final took place on July 21, 2007 in the Alfred Smoczyk Stadium in Leszno, Poland. The tournament was won by host team Poland (55 pts) and they beat defending champi ...

. Watt looked set to stay with Eastbourne in 2008 but after a change of management at the club he was left without a team place. Watt returned to Poole in 2008 and won the Elite League championship. Watt had ridden for

Masarna Avesta Masarna are a Swedish motorcycle speedway team based in Avesta (locality), Avesta, Sweden. The club was founded in 1937 as the ''Folkare Motorklubb'' but their first track was not built until 1948. Masarna joined the Swedish second division in 195 ...

in the Swedish Elitserien since 2006, but joined

Lejonen Lejonen (the Lions) is a motorcycle speedway club from Gislaved in Sweden, who compete in the Elitserien. Their home track is at the OnePartnerGroup Arena which is Sweden's oldest track still in use. The club are two times champions of Sweden. ...

in 2009 after Masarna were declared bankrupt and dropped out of the league. In

, he was a member of the GTŻ Grudziądz team in the Polish second division in 2006 before joining Polish Ekstraliga team Stal Rzeszów in 2007. Watt was made the captain of Stal Rzeszów for the 2008 season but the team were relegated. In 2009, Watt signed for

WTS Wrocław WTS is an acronym for: Military * War Training Service, formerly known as the Civilian Pilot Training Program * Women's Transport Service, part of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry * , a museum collection of historical technological defence systems ...

in the Ekstraliga. In April 2017, after being dropped by

SGB Premiership The Speedway Great Britain (SGB) Premiership is the top division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom, governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB) in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). It was int ...

team

, Watt announced his retirement from racing, although he stated that he would fulfil his obligations to Polish team Stal Rzeszów if required.Watt Announces Retirement
, speedwaygp.com, 26 April 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2017

World final appearances

Speedway World Cup

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Leszno Leszno (german: Lissa, 1800–1918 ''Lissa in Posen'') is a historic city in western Poland, within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the seventh-largest city in the province with an estimated population of 62,200, as of 2021. Previously, it ...

Alfred Smoczyk Stadium Alfred Smoczyk Stadium ( pl, Stadion im. Alfreda Smoczyka) is a stadium in Leszno, Poland. It is currently used for speedway matches and is the home stadium of Unia Leszno. The stadium has a capacity of 15,000 people. The stadium is located on ' ...

- 3rd - 29pts *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Vojens Vojens (german: Woyens) is a railway town in Denmark with a population of 7,475 (1 January 2022).Vojens Speedway Center The Vojens Speedway Center is a Motorcycle speedway track located in Vojens, Denmark. The track has been part-owned since its opening by Denmark's first three time Speedway World Champion Ole Olsen. Track The Speedway Center is a long track whi ...

- 4th - 21pts (3) *

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

- 2nd - 43pts (5) *

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Gorzów Wielkopolski Gorzów Wielkopolski (; german: Landsberg an der Warthe) often abbreviated to Gorzów Wlkp. or simply Gorzów, is a city in western Poland, on the Warta river. It is the second largest city in the Lubusz Voivodeship with 120,087 inhabitants (Decemb ...

Edward Jancarz Stadium Edward Jancarz Stadium ( pl, Stadion im. Edwarda Jancarza) is a 15,000-capacity multi-use stadium in Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland, and the home of motorcycle speedway club Stal Gorzów Wielkopolski. It is currently used mostly as a 329 m racetr ...

- 2nd - 45pts (3) *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Målilla Målilla () is a locality in Hultsfred Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 1,524 inhabitants in 2010. It is more commonly known as the temperature capital of Sweden due to records, both high and low, being set there. A Swedish record high te ...

G&B Stadium The Skrotfrag Arena is a 15,000-capacity multi-use stadium in Målilla, Sweden. The stadium is regularly used as the venue for the World Championship races; the Speedway Grand Prix of Scandinavia and the Speedway Grand Prix of Sweden (rounds of ...

- 2nd - 39pts (16)

Speedway Grand Prix results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watt, Davey Australian motorcycle racers 1978 births Living people Poole Pirates riders Eastbourne Eagles riders King's Lynn Stars riders Newcastle Diamonds riders Leicester Lions riders Oxford Cheetahs riders Australian speedway riders