Australia through to SWC final
Australia has made it through to the final of the 2014 Speedway World Cup on August 2 after dominating he last chance qualifier in Poland on July 31Australian skipper Chris Holder admits he would love to become “a world champion with my mates” after leading his side through to the 2014 FIM Speedway World Cup (SWC) final in Poland on Saturday, August 2.
The Aussies won the race-off in Poland on July 31 on 43 points to secure the one remaining spot in the final alongside host Poland, Great Britain and Denmark.
Australia saw off a spirited challenge from Sweden, which finished on 32 points, ahead of America (26) -- with double world champion Greg Hancock scoring 21 of those points in a sensational six-ride maximum, which included a six-point win as ‘tactical joker’. The Czech Republic was fourth on 24.
But the night belonged to Holder and his compatriots, who are chasing Australia’s first SWC gold medal since 2002. Having won almost everything there is to win in world speedway, 2012 world champion Holder is desperate to add a SWC victory to his CV. And he admits doing it with Troy Batchelor, Darcy Ward and Jason Doyle – three riders he has grown up with – would make it even sweeter.
Holder said: "Winning the world championship was the best thing ever. That was such a cool feeling. The next best thing would be to win the team one and be a world champion. How good would that be?
“We’re keen as and we’re ready for it. If we can come and do a good job, there is no reason why we can’t be up there. We’re due one. We’ve had a few silvers. But it’s going to be tough. We’re happy we got to the final. We did it the hard way, but we’re here now and we’ll see what we can do.”
Holder took his place at Bydgoszcz after returning from a five-week layoff with a broken wrist and fractured neck. He pulled out of the opening qualifying round at King’s Lynn on July 26 as he didn’t want to risk his injury putting the Roos at a disadvantage.
In the final, Poland will compete in white, Great Britain yellow, Denmark red and Australia blue.
MONSTER ENERGY SWC RACE OFF SCORES
AUSTRALIA 43: 1 Darcy Ward 11, 2 Troy Batchelor 11, 3 Jason Doyle 10, 4 Chris Holder 11.
SWEDEN 32: 1 Tomas H Jonasson 11, 2 Kim Nilsson 4, 3 Oliver Berntzon 8, 4 Andreas Jonsson 9.
USA 26: 1 Gino Manzares 0, 2 Max Ruml 1, 3 Ricky Wells 4, 4 Greg Hancock 21.
CZECH REPUBLIC 24: 1 Vaclav Milik 9, 2 Eduard Krcmar 8, 3 Josef Franc 2, 4 Ales Dryml 5.
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