HOLDER LEADS THE WAY

SHEFFIELD No.1 Jack Holder has a two-point lead at the halfway stage of the Australian Championship series after wins in the first two rounds.

The World No.5 completed a weekend double in Albury-Wodonga but is set for a close fight for the title with Jaimon Lidsey, who has 34 points to Holder’s 36.

Lidsey, who rode for Belle Vue last season, scored a pair of 15-point maximums in the qualifying races, defeating Holder when they met on both occasions to inflict his rival’s only defeats.

But the tables were turned when they got to the Final, with Holder rounding Lidsey on the first lap to win Round 1 whilst Rohan Tungate, of Oxford Spires in 2025, completed the podium ahead of King’s Lynn’s Ben Cook.

In Round 2, Holder was successful once again but this time Lidsey was relegated to the back behind Tungate and Cook, enabling Holder to turn a one-point deficit into a two-point series lead.

Tungate is third overall on 29 points, six behind Lidsey, with Cook next up on 25 ahead of his brother Zach on 22.

The series continues at Mildura on Wednesday (January 7) with the finale at Gillman on Friday January 9. Meetings can be viewed live on BSN (https://watch.britishspeedway.co.uk) .