CHRIS Holder lifted the Elite League Riders' Championship title in front of a bumper crowd at Abbey Stadium.

The World Champion fought off Niels-Kristian Iversen and Chris Harris to top the rostrum having joined Iversen at the top of the score charts on 12 points.

Defending Champion Rory Schlein also made the final, but disaster struck as he first fell on the entrance to turn one after a tangle with Holder before again hitting the deck attempting to pass the eventual winner in the rerun, causing the final to be restarted for a third time.

Swindon man Troy Batchelor was a late withdrawal with flu, although he is hopeful of being ready for the Elite League Grand Final at Poole on Monday.

His absence left Danish duo Hans Andersen and Peter Kildemand as the Robins representatives, but both just missed out on the semi-final with 8 and 7 points respectively.

And after the meeting, Andersen admitted he did have one eye on Monday's Grand Final: "I wanted to win but I was never going to put myself at any risk of crashing and missing Monday.

"Monday is a lot more important than this, and I tested a few bits and pieces out so I know exactly what to do at Poole."


1st Chris Holder
2nd Niels-Kristian Iversen
3rd Chris Harris
4th Rory Schlein

Qualifying scores: Chris Holder 12, Niels-Kristian Iversen 12, Michael Jepsen Jensen 11, Chris Harris 11, Scott Nicholls 10, Rory Schlein 10, Mads Korneliussen 8, Hans Andersen 8, Ryan Fisher 7, Peter Kildemand 6, Sam Masters 6, Peter Karlsson 5, Joonas Kylmakorpi 5, Lewis Bridger 4, Freddie Lindgren 3, Danny King 2.

REPORT: RICH JONES