HOLDER GOLD IN CROATIA

SHEFFIELD No.1 Jack Holder roared to his first-ever Grand Prix victory as he took the win in Saturday’s season opener in Croatia.

Holder, who had been cruelly denied in a re-started Final at Warsaw last year, led the scorechart after the qualifiers and then rode perfect races in both the semi-final and Final at the Donji Kraljevec venue.

Ipswich star and fellow Australian Jason Doyle recovered from a crash early in the meeting to take second place ahead of Fredrik Lindgren, with defending World Champion Bartosz Zmarzlik fourth.

Holder said: “That’s a massive monkey off my back. I’ve been wanting this one for so long, but it definitely wasn’t easy.

“It was a pretty technical track out there, there were a few big, big holes but I was just trapping for fun and got to that chequered flag first.”

The result also makes the Holder brothers Jack and Chris the first sibling duo in Grand Prix history to both top the podium.

And the new World Championship leader is sure to receive a massive welcome back at Owlerton when Sheffield host Oxford in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership this Thursday (May 2).

Robert Lambert was the highest placed Great Britain rider as he won three of his first four races – but he missed out in the first semi-final, with Dan Bewley and Tai Woffinden failing to make the top eight.

Photo credit: TAYLOR LANNING