Speedway Grand Prix

ADAMS: THIS IS IT

Australian legend Leigh Adams has confirmed 2010 will be his final season racing in Europe.

Speculation has been rife that the 38-year-old would call it a day at the end of this term after he retired from the Grand Prix last year.

Adams has pencilled in farewell meetings at British club Swindon on October 17 and Polish home Leszno on October 10 – the day after the Polish SGP at Bydgoszcz.

He will then move Down Under with wife Kylie, son Declyn and daughter Casey to start a new life in Mildura.

The ten-time Aussie champion told the Speedway Star: “This is it. What can you say, you’ve got to stop somewhere and it’s just the perfect time to do it.

“There are a number of factors; obviously family is the most important. We used to travel back and forth, take the kids in and out of school, into Aussie and then come back to Britain and it worked pretty well.

“But it has really just got hard, Dec’s at secondary school now and it’s a bit more difficult. That’s not the major factor; we can get along with that, it’s simply the time is right.

“I’m 39 this year and I’ve had 22 years of a great career in England. This year will be a little bit weird and I’m looking forward to it without the Grand Prix. It’s a really heavy schedule and I don’t know how long I’ve been in the GPs (14 years), but it takes its toll.”

Adams has lifted three Speedway World Cups with Australia, as well as winning eight SGP rounds and the World Under-21 title in 1992. He has also claimed three top flight league titles in Britain and the Polish Ekstraliga crown with Leszno in 2007.

But the reigning Elite League Riders champion will have to go down as one of the greatest racers never to win the World Championship.

He finished second to Nicki Pedersen in 2007 and took the bronze medal in 2005. Adams was 11th in the standings last year and admits he started to relax, knowing it was his final SGP season.

The Mildura-born star has no intention of easing off this term, though, and is determined to go out with a bang for Swindon and Leszno.

He added: “Last year, I felt as if I could put a lot into it, but, as it proved, I couldn’t. I just wasn’t up to the job and after the first couple, the results weren’t coming.

“Mentally, I knew it was my last year and I just went into relax mode. But I’m not prepared to do that in my league racing. I’m up for a big year. I’m really looking forward to not having the pressure of the Grand Prix or the logistics.

“It’s a hell of a job putting the team together and running it for a year. It’s not only for myself, it’s Kylie as well. So I’m just looking forward to the year, but at the end of it we’ll say goodbye.”

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