Crump and Holder to fly the Aussie flag

The 11-round 2011 Speedway World Championship begins this Saturday, April 30 in the sport’s heartland, Poland, with a crack field including 11 riders who have won grands prix at the highest level.

Once again, Jason Crump (pictured) and Chris Holder will be the flag bearers for Australia, with the former chasing a fourth world title to go with his successes in 2004, 2006 and 2009.

Crump has arguably been the best rider in the world for the past decade, recording 22 wins from 70 finals appearances as well as a host of heat wins totalling 258.

Since his breakout year in 2000, where he finished fourth in the championship, Crump has not finished outside the top three for 10 straight seasons – a feat unmatched by any of his rivals, including reigning world champion Tomasz Gollob and Danish supremo Nicki Pedersen.

Thed world championships for Crump have been surrounded by a host of podium finishes, most recently in the 2010 season, finishing third.

Crump’s recent Polish league form has been sublime, with the latest a stunning 17-point effort on April 25. Only Holder denied his compatriot a full house when he pipped him to the chequered flag in heat 11.

Crump will be joined by 10 other grand prix winners in this year’s field, which includes the mature guard like Gollob, American Greg Hancock, Rune Holta, Andreas Jonsson and Pedersen, as well as young lions like world No. 2 Jaroslaw Hampel, Chris Harris, Holder and the freakishly talented Russian Emil Sayfutdinov.

In his first full season at the highest level, Holder was a revelation in 2010, recording a win in Cardiff and becoming the fourth Australian to win a world speedway GP since the championship went multi-round in 1995. The others are Crump, Leigh Adams and Ryan Sullivan.

Holder also produced enough quality performances during the rest of the campaign secure the eighth and final automatic berth for the 2011 championship.

After recording Australian Solo Speedway Championship No. 3 in January, Holder has wasted no time transferring his form from the Australian track to the British, leading the Poole Pirates to third in the British Elite Speedway League.

This Saturday’s opening round will be held in Leszno, where Crump prevailed in 2010 ahead of Hampel and Sayfutdinov.