Aussie Championship 2011

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Australian champion Chris Holder has lamented the calendar for next year’s Aussie Championship as “garbage.”

The Grand Prix star is determined to defend his crown in the five-round series, which gets underway at Parramatta on January 12.

The action switches to Kurri Kurri on January 15, before moving to Gillman on January 22. This is before the series climaxes at Broken Hill on January 26 and Mildura on January 29.

While Gillman and Mildura are familiar destinations for the biggest speedway competition staged in the world at that time of year, Holder is concerned some of the stops on the tour are not up to scratch.

He said: “Whoever is running the show out there hasn’t got a clue, and didn’t ask the riders what they want. They’ve tried to look after themselves and what they can get out of it, which is a shame.

“If I showed you the five rounds and where they are – it’s not speedway; it’s garbage. Obviously we’re not really impressed with it. But you’ve got to do it for Australian speedway.

“If you ask all the boys what we wanted, I think we could have come up with a good thing to do that would have appealed to a lot of riders. At the moment, we’re saying yes, no, or we’re only saying ‘yes’ because we have to do it.

“The Australian title is a prestigious thing for all of us Aussies. We want to be in it, but to go home after the season we’ve had and do five rounds all over Australia is not ideal.

“Parramatta is a sprint car track and they haven’t even raced speedway on it for 10 years or something like that. It’s a clay track with a concrete wall. The last time they ran at Broken Hill I don’t think I was even alive. There’s probably only two people that live out there.

“The three rounds we had going at Newcastle, Mildura and Gillman last year were perfect. Everybody was happy to do that. They’re three good tracks.

“They want to make it better, but this is killing it really. A lot of us aren’t really impressed with it.”

Before Holder contemplates fighting for his third Aussie title, he is determined to take a well-earned rest after completing his first season in the World Championship.

He said: “Obviously when I first go home I’ll put my feet up and do all the things I like doing.

“Then I’ll get back into it next year and get organised. I want to have a really good year in 2011. So I’ll make a couple of changes and I’m keen to get back into it.”

sgp

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2011 Australian Speedway Championships dates and venues mqld.org.au/index.php?id=12&tx_ttnews

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AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (AFTER ROUND ONE):

1 Chris Holder 20, 2 Dave Watt 18, 3 Jason Doyle 17, 4 Cory Gathercole 16, 5 Darcy Ward 15, 6 Rory Schlein 14, 7 Kozza Smith 13, 8 Justin Sedgmen 12, 9 Ty Proctor 11, 10 Richard Sweetman 10, 11 Sam Masters 9, 12 Taylor Poole 7, 13 Cameron Woodward 6, 14 Arlo Bugeja 4, 15 Mitchell Davey 3, 16 Brenton Barnfield 2.

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The 2011 series has received plenty of criticism with SGP hotshot Holder unhappy to see rounds being staged at Parramatta and Broken Hill, while World Under-21 champion Darcy Ward slammed MA for forcing riders to pay an entry fee of around £50.

But both men take their place in the five-round series and are joined by Poole team mate and last season’s World Championship reserve Davey Watt, who is desperate to earn an SGP qualification berth.

The competition starts in Parramatta on January 12, before visiting Kurri Kurri on January 15.

Gillman stages round three on January 22 and the action switches to Broken Hill on January 26, with the finale in Mildura on January 29.

FULL LINE-UP: [/u]

Jake Anderson, Ty Proctor, Brenton Barnfield, Justin Sedgmen, Mitchell Davey, Rory Schlein, Jason Doyle, Kozza Smith, Cory Gathercole, Richard Sweetman, Chris Holder, Darcy Ward, Sam Masters, Davey Watt, Taylor Poole, Cameron Woodward.

Reserves: Arlo Bugeja, Daine Stevens.

sgp

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HOLDER ON TOP

Grand Prix rider Chris Holder leads the Australian Championship after triumphing in round one of the series at Kurri Kurri.

The defending champion topped a podium of Poole assets as last season’s World Championship reserve Davey Watt bagged second and Jason Doyle won the B Final, before claiming third.

Swindon asset Cory Gathercole was fourth after scraping directly into the last four on countback with 11 points.

He pipped World Under-21 champion Darcy Ward, who suffered bike problems while leading heat three and was forced to retire. Both men finished with three wins and a second place.

But Ward’s failure to finish his opening ride put Gathercole through and the Lejonen and Gdansk man was unable to rescue his meeting in the B Final, as Doyle stormed clear from the tapes.

The afternoon belonged to Holder, though, and only Watt, who scored 13, managed to defeat last year’s FIM British SGP winner in the heats as the world No.8 topped the scorechart on 14.

Holder will bid to maintain his stellar start to the series at Gillman next Saturday, before the competition moves to Broken Hill on January 26. The championship then concludes at Mildura on January 29.

AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (AFTER ROUND ONE OF FOUR): 1 Chris Holder 20, 2 Dave Watt 18, 3 Jason Doyle 17, 4 Cory Gathercole 16, 5 Darcy Ward 15, 6 Rory Schlein 14, 7 Kozza Smith 13, 8 Justin Sedgmen 12, 9 Ty Proctor 11, 10 Richard Sweetman 10, 11 Sam Masters 9, 12 Taylor Poole 7, 13 Cameron Woodward 6, 14 Arlo Bugeja 4, 15 Mitchell Davey 3, 16 Brenton Barnfield 2.

KURRI KURRI HEAT SCORES: Chris Holder 14, Dave Watt 13, Cory Gathercole 11, Darcy Ward 11, Jason Doyle 11, Rory Schlein 9, Kozza Smith 8, Justin Sedgmen 8, Ty Proctor 8, Richard Sweetman 8, Sam Masters 6, Taylor Poole 5, Cameron Woodward 4, Arlo Bugeja 3, Mitchell Davey 1, Brenton Barnfield 0.

B Final: Doyle, Ward, Schlein, Smith.
A Final: Holder, Watt, Doyle, Gathercole.

sgp

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HOLDER BATTLES ON

Australian Championship leader Chris Holder is ready to race through the pain barrier at Broken Hill on Wednesday after crashing in round two of his national title series at Gillman.

The 23-year-old has undergone physiotherapy after falling hard when Kozza Smith lifted in heat 15 on Saturday night.

Holder got back up to win the re-run, before completing a 15-point maximum and winning the A Final ahead of Darcy Ward, Davey Watt and Cameron Woodward.

Holder admits that he is far from 100 percent fit ahead of his first ever visit to Broken Hill for round three.

He said: “I’ve done something to my left shoulder, my neck is pretty sore and my right wrist is hurt as well.

“I’ve been to the physio twice today, once in the morning and once in the afternoon to try and help it out a bit. It’s pretty sore. I can’t do too much and I’m pretty limited in movement.

“Hopefully I’ll wake up tomorrow and it will feel a bit better again, and it will be good enough to do a decent job tomorrow night.”

Holder, who is chasing his third Aussie title, was delighted to escape from Gillman with a five-point lead at the top of the championship after suffering such a battering.

He added: “After the crash, I couldn’t take my helmet off; I couldn’t put it on; I couldn’t put my goggles on, and I couldn’t lift my arm above my head. I had a pretty bad headache because I hit it pretty hard.

“It definitely was a struggle but I was hoping to get to the final and if I got there, my plan was to make a good start and stay out of trouble.

“I rode on the inside and it worked out well. I made a good start and just managed to get my head down and get out of there.

“I was far enough in front that they couldn’t put a decent challenge on me, so I was stoked with how it turned out.”

Holder, who is recuperating from the spill at SGP legend Leigh Adams’ home in Mildura, won all five rounds when he claimed his first Aussie Championship in 2008.

And having triumphed in the opening two meetings this year, Holder is determined to defy his injury and notch four out of four.

He said: “It was a good five rounds in 2008 and to win them all was a pretty good effort. It’s four now and I’m definitely going into them to win them all. I don’t want to be coming second.

“Obviously the injury has put us on the back foot for this round because I haven’t had many days to sort myself out. It’s going to be tough, but that’s normal, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow and taking off where I left off on Saturday.”

sgp

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Darcy Ward dominated the final round of the Australian Championships held on a Mildura track that presented plenty of problems for the riders including defending champion Chris Holder who despite two falls in this final round managed to retain his crown.

Neither Holder nor Davey Watt, the top two in the standings going into this final round managed to secure enough points for a place in the B final, unlike their new team-mate for 2011, Kyle Newman who scored 9 points including a race win over Cameron Woodward and Watt in heat 11 and then secured a place in the Grand Final with a late passing move, but a fall in the final cost him a rostrum place.

Ward was sharp in his heats, although like Watt and Holder he too came to grief on the problematic circuit but bounced back to win a re-started heat 14. Ward’s only defeat of the night came in heat 20 when Justin Sedgmen took the flag. Ward’s victory on the night, with an A final win took him on level championship points (63) with Davey Watt, Holder finishing 6 clear on 69, the rostrum positions being decided by Ward‘s match race victory over Watt.

C.Holder 20+20+20+9 =69;
D.Ward 15+18+10 =63+3;
D.Watt 18+17+18+10 =63+2;

the rest

R.Schlein 14+15+13+17 =59; C.Woodward 6+16+15+18 =55; C.Gathercole 16+13+12+12 =53; J.Sedgmen 12+10+14+15 =51;T.Proctor 11+14+11+14 =50;K.Smith 13+7+17+13 =50;S.Masters 9+12+13+7 =41;R.Sweetman 10+9+7+11 =37; K.Newman DNR+6+9+16 =31; J.Doyle 17+11+DNR+DNR =28; T.Poole 7+4+6+DNR =17; A.Bugeja 4+3+3+4 =14; M.Davey 3+2+4+2 =11; R.Medson DNR+DNR+DNR+6=6; B.Gates DNR+DNR+DNR+3=3; R.Sedgmen DNR+DNR+2+DNR =2.

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