Kelvin Tatum is going around the world in a bid to win the long-track championship.

The Horsham racer was jetting out today to ride in the final Grand Prix of the season in New Zealand.

Tatum, who has won the world title on three previous occasions, has already notched two victories in the current series, in France and Britain.

He has also finished second and third, but a shock plunge down to 12th in the other meeting has left him with a mountain to climb next weekend.

Tatum admits it is a long shot as he heads for Pukekura Park, New Plymouth, on the West Coast of New Zealand's North Island.

"It should be a terrific occasion. There will be a lot of excitement surrounding the meeting. I'm going down there to do well and try to win, but the championship is out of my hands now."

Tatum goes into the final round 18 points behind German ace Robert Barth, who has won three times and been placed second and third so far in the series.

"I need to win in New Zealand and for Robert to have a disaster."

Even if he does not catch Barth, who is the current world title-holder, Tatum should at least finish as the championship runner-up. He is 17 points in front of another former champion, Gerd Riss, and ten more ahead of a third German, Matthias Kroger.

The meeting is being promoted by one-time Eastbourne Eagles rider and multi-world speedway and long-track champion Ivan Mauger.

It is the first time a world championship long-track Grand Prix has been staged in the Southern Hemisphere.

Tatum explained: "I think the FIM are keen to establish the event as a genuine world championship by staging one of the meetings outside of Europe."

The track should hold no fears for the Sussex star, who has ridden before at Christchurch and in Australia at Sydney, Brisbane and Bathurst.

"I'm sure it will be a super track. It is 900m long, which will make it one of the biggest tracks we ride, with an all-weather, sandy surface that is normally used for trotting races.

"We will be running speedway rear wheels instead of the normal long-track wheels, but otherwise the bikes will be the same as we usually ride."

Tatum's previous experiences of riding down under should give him an advantage over his main rivals.

"The last time I rode there, I won every meeting, admittedly not against the same opposition I will encounter this time, but I don't have any concerns about what I will find."

Tatum will face 12 more of the world's top riders, plus five wild card entries, one of them Oliver Allen, who is the only other English rider competing in next Saturday's meeting.

One thing is for sure. Tatum will be fired up after he was denied a possible way back into the title hunt after Barth survived a protest following the recent British Grand Prix at Tonbridge.

The German was fined for an irregularity but did not have points deducted from his score, the second time Tatum has been on the wrong end of an official ruling in the last three seasons which has dramatically affected the world-title race.

All Tatum can do now is try to win in New Zealand and go into the record books as the first Southern Hemisphere Grand Prix champion.