Danny King is hoping to be the daddy on the track as well as off it.

The Huntingdon racer celebrated becoming a father for the second time recently when wife, Clara, gave birth to son, Casey.

And King also has important speedway matters ahead as he begins the World Championship qualifying programme today (Monday).

The 29-year-old travels to Abensberg in Germany for a quarter-final in which he needs to secure a top-seven finish to advance to the semi-final round.

King said: “I’m the last British rider standing in the qualifiers and I’m hoping I can have a good go at them.

“I’ve got through the quarter-final stage before, but never made it past the semi-finals so hopefully that can change this year.

“I’ve always dreamed of having a crack at the World Championship.”

King has endured a tough start to the domestic season where he races in the Elite League for Coventry and the Premier League for Ipswich. He is also riding through the pain of shoulder trouble after a couple of recent crashes.

He added: “I’ve been really inconsistent in the Elite League and I can’t work out why.

“I had some bike issues early on, but got those resolved and have still been too up and down for my liking.

“I’ve been scoring well in the Premier League, but the problem at Ipswich is that we haven’t fired as a team yet.”

Another Huntingdon-based rider, Kenneth Bjerre, eased through his quarter-final last weekend. The Dane scored 12 points at King’s Lynn, his former home track in British racing, to make comfortable progress.