Eastbourne skipper Davey Watt has set his sights on a Grand Prix place next year after passing his first test in style.

Watt, who leads full-strength Eagles at Ipswich tonight (7.30pm), won a tough quarter-final in the qualifying process which will give three riders a ticket to the 2010 GP series.

He beat Jarek Hampel in a race-off for first place after the pair had topped a quality field including Chris Harris, Freddie Lindgren, Niels-Kristian Iversen, Antonio Lindback and former Eagle Edward Kennett, who failed to qualify.

Watt and Hampel go head to head again tonight as No.1 riders for their respective Elite League clubs.

Although GP qualifiers are all about getting through, Watt was also delighted to be top of the podium after being robbed of the chance to qualify last season by problems with the flight to his semi-final at Motala in Sweden.

His last-minute stand-in Kenneth Bjerre qualified instead.

Now Watt is back on course after winning five out of six rides at Pocking in Germany on Sunday.

He said: “I knew I had my work cut out when I saw the line-up. It looked like the toughest of the quarter-finals. Winning the meeting shows I mean business.

“Not being in the GP is one of those things that, if I thought about it too much, would drive me insane.

“What-ifs and if-onlys will win me every race but you can’t change things now.

“The way I look at it, I’m not in the GPs because I didn’t qualify, not because my flight was cancelled.”

Eagles chase their first away league win of the season tonight against an Ipswich outfit who are bottom of the table but beat leaders Lakeside 46-44 at Foxhall on Good Friday.

Watt, whose side were pushed down to third by Coventry’s amazing 63-32 win at Poole last night, said: “We’re not trying to prove everyone wrong, we’re trying to prove to ourselves we can be a good team.”

Ipswich: Hampel, Risager, Kroner, King, Swiderski, Stachyra, Wilkinson.

Eagles: Watt, Norris, Bridger, Woodward, Dryml, Kling, Gustafsson.