LEADER HOLDER: BACK TO BUSINESS IN WARSAW

Speedway GP World Championship leader Jack Holder insists it’s “back to business” after his first-ever Speedway GP win in Croatia, but the Aussie admits he was keen to enjoy the moment.

Holder goes into the Orlen FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Warsaw this Saturday leading the standings after topping the Boll FIM Speedway GP of Croatia podium on April 27.

It was an historic night for one of the sport’s most famous families as Holder followed his 2012 Speedway GP world title-winning brother Chris into the SGP winners’ club – making them the first sibling pair to both win a round.

Alongside his Speedway GP commitments, Holder races for Lublin in Poland and British side Sheffield, so there was never going to be much time in his busy schedule to drink in a famous win.

But riders only claim their first SGP victory once and Holder was keen to enjoy it, even if his attention must now turn to Saturday’s showdown in Warsaw.

He said: “The win was amazing, but that was two weeks ago. As hard as it is to put it to the back of your mind and just focus on the next GP and the next couple of races, that’s what you have to do. 

“But I know how it works and I know how quickly it can change. You have to embrace these moments because they don’t come that often. With the history that has been made, you have to celebrate it a little bit.

“I was lucky enough to have pretty much the whole week off until last Thursday at Sheffield. I was still pinching myself until that day. I was more nervous about going to Sheffield and racing again, thinking, ‘How am I going to go?’

“I ticked off a big box, winning a Speedway GP, but I just got back into the swing of things straight away. You can’t get ahead of yourself. Dad would be over here kicking my backside if I was carrying on like an idiot! I had to enjoy it a little bit, but now we’re back to business.”

Holder’s Croatia victory was the culmination of an impressive transformation, which began when he was handed the first reserve berth for the 2022 Speedway GP series, before being promoted into the full line-up following the suspension of Artem Laguta and Emil Sayfutdinov following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Sheffield star admits he put himself under pressure to prove himself after his late promotion two years ago. But he believes qualifying for the 2023 Speedway GP series at the FIM SGP Challenge in Glasgow in August 2022 truly made him feel he belonged on the sport’s biggest stage.

He said: “Sometimes it’s better to get in on your own merit. I was lucky enough that I was first reserve in 2022 and I got my go. I put everything into that year – maybe a little too much because I knew I had to prove myself. That was a lot of pressure.

“But then later that year, I qualified for 2023 at the FIM SGP Challenge. That was a massive relief. I knew I had done it myself and I didn’t have anyone saying, ‘He shouldn’t be in it.’

“When that box was ticked off and I was safe for the following year, I thought ‘Beautiful! Now I can enjoy it a bit.’ I also reached the semi-finals for the first time in Cardiff a week before that SGP Challenge, and then I started enjoying Speedway GP life after that.”