DETERMINED HOLDER HAS ADDED INCENTIVE

Aussie ace Jack Holder insists his Tehnix FIM Speedway GP of Croatia semi-final heartbreak “only adds fuel to the fire” ahead of the Orlen FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Warsaw on May 13.

Holder, who rides for his country in a test match with Poland in Rybnik tonight, picked up eight race points over his five heats and was tied for the last place in the semi-final with Freddie Lindgren and Max Fricke.

With all three boasting a win, two seconds, a third and a last, they could not be separated on count back. Holder beat Lindgren, Lindgren defeated Fricke and Fricke got the better of Holder, meaning even their head-to-head record couldn’t separate them.

This meant Lindgren progressed, purely because he had the best FIM ranking after finishing fourth in 2022, with Holder 12th and Fricke 13th.

Holder was gutted to have missed out by the finest of margins, but admits it only makes him even more motivated for the rest of the series as he heads to PGE Narodowy next week.

He said: “I am sure it only adds fuel to the fire. What goes around comes around and hopefully there will be a bit of luck on my side next time. Rules are rules. I just needed to be better in the heats.”

Heavy rain hit Donji Kraljevec in the half hour before the scheduled start time, with track staff working hard to brush clear the surface water and ensure racing got underway with only a minor delay.

The weather forced riders to adapt to conditions that were different from those they experienced in Qualifying Practice earlier that day.

Holder said: “The track was pretty tricky. I didn’t touch anything on the bike all night because I had plenty of speed. It was all about the start. The inside was very, very rutty and I was quite quick. Then some of the boys were in front of me, but I wanted to come out of there in one piece. It’s only the first GP.

“Conditions were bad early on. We just couldn’t see, and it wasn’t nice. We knew some gates were better than others, but we all had the same problem. A couple of boys went win, win and then went to the poor gates and were stone last. It’s just one of those things.

“It was the same for everyone, but it’s just very frustrating because it’s the World Championship – not a club day.”