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NEWS
Holder targets silver at Melbourne SGP
Australia's Chris Holder says he'll be gunning for a second-place championship finish at the looming QBE Insurance Australian SGPAussie icon Chris Holder insists "second place is up for grabs", as he bids to end 2016 with an FIM Speedway World Championship silver at the QBE Insurance Australian SGP in Melbourne on Saturday.
The Sydneysider heads to the Etihad Stadium placed fifth in the standings on 109 points – 14 behind injured compatriot Jason Doyle, who currently occupies second spot.
But with JD sitting out the event through injury, his 123-point total is a standing target for Tai Woffinden in third (115), Bartosz Zmarzlik in fourth (113) and Holder, who are all chasing medals, with Greg Hancock just three points short of securing gold on 134.
"There's a good chance I could walk away with a second or third – it's not out of reach," said Holder.
As the only Aussie in contention, Holder's first rostrum appearance since he won the world title in 2012 would be a great result for a partisan home crowd in Melbourne.
Asked if he feels any pressure to deliver the goods in Doyle's absence, Holder replied: "I wouldn't say there's extra pressure, only what I put on myself. There's a good chance I could walk away with a second or third – it's not out of reach.
"Doyley is 14 points from me, so even second place is up for grabs. It's going to be a big meeting. Hopefully I can pull something out and get on that podium. That would be a good finish to an overall pretty good year.
"It has been a pretty solid season. It was only two GPs in the middle in Prague and Cardiff where I lost a lot of points. The rest has been quite strong. It has definitely been something to build on for next year."
Holder's shot at silver comes partly as a result of Doyle's massive misfortune following the crash in Torun, which ended his season and left him with lung damage plus a shattered elbow and dislocated shoulder. Having had three years blighted by injury, few people are in a position to sympathise more than Holder.
"It's unreal what has happened, to be honest," he said.
"It's a massive shame. We were coming here with Doyley having a massive chance of lifting the world title. He and Greg were battling it out at the top. That would have been huge.
"But he has picked up these injuries and it has ended his season. It's pretty heartbreaking I would say. It puts a bit of a dampener on things.
"When it's not your fault, you're just in the wrong place at the wrong time and you get injured through no fault of your own, it's always tough to accept, and especially being in the position he was in.
"He was looking to take the title fight to Melbourne and it would have been unreal. But that's the way it goes. It's never good to see anybody get injured. Hopefully he'll be back soon and ready to go again.
"It's a tough one to take, but it will only make him stronger. He needs to look at it that way, come back hungrier next year and I'm sure he'll want to bounce back from what has happened."
Tickets for the QBE Insurance Australian SGP are still available online. Click here for bookings.
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Written byBikesales Staff
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