HOLDER WINS IN MELBOURNE

Riding his 43rd Grand Prix since his last GP victory Chris Holder won the Melbourne Grand Prix to end his season on a high note.

Back on home territory and with his great chum Darcy Ward (who is famous for his #43 riding number) on hand Holder produced some of his best racing to score 11 points from his five qualifying rides. It included what was to become a highly controversial win in heat 9 over the newly crowned world champion Greg Hancock, who had tied up the title with a win in his first ride.

Hancock held a handsome lead in that 9th race but Holder reeled him in and passed him on the final lap after Hancock had drifted wide. After declaring the result referee Krister Gardell then amended it under the FIM Sporting conduct rule 070.10.13 which states “A rider, who, having started in a heat does not make an honest attempt to ride to the best of their ability, as judged by the referee, shall be guilty of an offence, which may entail disqualification from the heat or a penalty.”

Following the decision, Hancock elected to withdraw from the remainder of the meeting. The FIM Jury opted to take no further action.
Holder collected a further win in heat 16 to take his score to 11 but then suffered an engine failure in his final qualifying ride which effectively denied him the chance to claim a series medal. But a comprehensive win in a re-started final saw Holder bank the 5th GP victory of his career and become only the second rider to win an Australian GP round.

Last season's world champion Tai Woffinden finished second on the night and that was enough to secure the silver for the series with Poland's Bartosz Zmarzlik picking up two bronze medals on the day.

AUSTRALIAN FIM SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX, Melbourne
Chris Holder 17 (1st), Tai Woffinden 15 (2nd), Bartosz Zmarzlik 15 (3rd), Antonio Lindback 14 (4th), Niels-Kristian Iversen 12, Matej Zagar 11, Michael Jepsen Jensen 10, Piotr Pawlicki 8, Andreas Jonsson 6, Fredrik Lindgren 6, Greg Hancock 5, Maciej Janowski 5, Peter Kildemand 4, Chris Harris 4, Jack Holder 2, Brady Kurtz 2, Sam Masters 2, Max Fricke 0.

FINAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (After round 11 of 11)
Greg Hancock 139, Tai Woffinden 130, Bartosz Zmarzlik 128, Chris Holder 126, Jason Doyle 123, Piotr Pawlicki 99, Antonio Lindback 93, Niels-Kristian Iversen 91, Matej Zagar 90, Maciej Janowski 90, Fredrik Lindgren 88, Peter Kildemand 68, Nicki Pedersen 62, Andreas Jonsson 52, Chris Harris 40, Michael Jepsen Jensen 31, Patryk Dudek 8, Martin Smolinski 8, Pawel Przedpelski 8, Danny King 7. Krzysztof Kasprzak 7, Anders Thomsen 5, Kim Nilsson 5, Peter Ljung 4, Vaclav Milik 3, Tobias Kroner 2, Brady Kurtz 2, Sam Masters 2, Jack Holder 2, Denis Stojs 1, Nick Skorja 1, Daniel Kaczmarek 1, Jacob Thorssell 1, Kacper Woryna 1, Matic Ivacic 0, Oskar Bober 0, Max Fricke 0.