POOLE top gun Chris Holder admits he is banking on Australian Championship rival Troy Batchelor having a nightmare meeting in the competition's final round at Newcastle on Saturday.
POOLE top gun Chris Holder admits he is banking on Australian Championship rival Troy Batchelor having a nightmare meeting in the competition's final round at Newcastle on Saturday.
The Grand Prix newcomer trails his Lejonen team mate by four points after Batchelor won the opening two rounds ahead of Holder, Darcy Ward and Rory Schlein.
Holder would need to take victory at the Newcastle Showground and hope Batchelor fails to reach the rostrum if he is to have any hope of overhauling him.
Last year's GP Challenge runner-up knows the series is firmly in the Peterborough man's hands, but he refuses to give up and let the Queenslander take the title without a fight.
He said: “We've got another round to go at the weekend and hopefully, I can pull something out there. I just need him to drop down a few places and it should be pretty close.
“I'll just try to win the meeting - that's what I'll have to do at the weekend. Hopefully, it will work out and he won't get into the final.”
Holder has good memories of the Newcastle track, having won a championship round there in 2008, when he won all five meetings to clinch his first national title.
The 22-year-old also finished second there to Sam Masters in the Johnny Hoskins Plate on December 11. While Holder says this recent outing at the circuit should help his preparations, he admits he will need a special performance on a track where fortune favours the brave.
He said: “I've had some good results at Newcastle over the past few years and I raced there a month ago. I sort of know what to expect.
“The track is pretty wide open and even the younger boys who have been struggling in the last couple of rounds will be fast there.
“It's probably going to be the toughest out of the three rounds because it's not difficult to hold it flat out and just hang on.
“It's going to be hard, so I have to make sure I make some starts and get some fresh air. But it won't be easy to pass and there are some big rocks out on the track there.”
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