Friday 3rd August 2012, 12:28

Australian champion Chris Holder admits there was “no chance" he could have ridden in his last heat at Gorican after taking a heavy blow to the ribs on Saturday.

The Poole skipper first injured the ribs when he crashed hard in Pirates’ meeting with Wolverhampton on July 25, so it was very unfortunate that he landed on them again when his chain came off in heat 14 of the FIM Fogo Croatian SGP.

Holder was excluded from that race, but still had six points to his name, meaning he could have pushed for a semi-final berth in heat 20.

But the Sydneysider wisely opted to call it a night. He returns to action for Polish club Torun on Sunday and admits he didn’t want to put himself or his rivals at risk by racing on hurt.

He said: “It wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t had the crash on the Wednesday. It wouldn’t have been a problem. I’d have just got up and been in the next race.

“But because of the crash at Poole, I was already hurt. When the chain came off, I just landed straight on my chest. There was no chance I could have ridden. It took me an hour or so to start breathing properly again.

“I probably would have been worse off if I had tried to race in the last one, and not just for myself, but for everyone else. If you’re not fit enough to hang on to your own bike, you’re a risk to everyone else.

“It’s the Grand Prix and it’s tough. You’re going to get pushed around and I was in no shape to go out there and be pushed around.

“So I thought I’d just knock it on the head for the night. I didn’t lose too many points and there is still a long way to go. I’ll be hoping to make a few up next time.”

Holder lines up in the FIM Fogo Italian SGP on August 11, determined to close the 13-point gap between him and series leader Greg Hancock. With five rounds left to race, the 24-year-old knows he can still make an assault on top spot.

He said: “There is plenty of time and the points are really close. Greg is still out in front, but you only need a couple of good meetings and you’re going to be up there.

“I’ve just got to concentrate on my own thing, score as many points as I can in Italy and get back on track.”

Holder sat out Australia’s 53-39 test match victory over Team Great Britain at Poole on Wednesday. The Roos coped admirably in his absence, although the SGP star admits he may have been able to don his kevlars for his country, despite opting to take a week off.

“I could have probably ridden on Wednesday,” he said. “But I had already told Lemo I wasn’t going to do it over the weekend. I just thought it would be best if I had a week off and I didn’t do Sweden on Tuesday either. I’ll be ready to start again in Poland on Sunday.”

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