Jack Holder races to a 4th place finish at FIM SGP Round 5 in Sweden
In front of a packed house at Malilla’s Skrotfrag Arena, especially whipped up due to a weather delay, Monster Energy’s Jack Holder – currently the No. 3-ranked FIM World Speedway GP racer – battled back from a slow start (zero points in his first heat) to secure four-straight heat wins and a 2nd place finish in his semi to make the main event where he place 4th at the Swedish Speedway GP on Saturday.
The Australian Holder would secure 14 points in Sweden, putting him just one point back of 2nd place overall Robert Lambert of Great Britain, 69-68, through five (of 11) rounds of SGP racing.
“Yeah, that’s the way it goes sometimes,” said Holder. “I wasn’t looking pretty there at the start of the meet. With all the rain we’ve had the track was very, very tricky and my first heat could have gone either way. I started out last, was covered in shit, and then I went on and won the rest (heats). In the semi I thought I picked the right gate, but got second, then had the third (gate) pick for the final. Made a change (to the bike), but it just didn’t work. But yeah, another final. I’ll take that.”
Joining Holder in the semis for Monster Energy was Dan Bewley, who ran ‘er well – but wasn’t able to keep the heat race success going in his semi (4th).
“To be honest I had a descent night, some descent races, then, yeah, fourth in the semis is a pretty horrible place to finish,” said Bewley, who came away from Sweden with nine points and currently sits in 9th place overall in the SGP standings. “Felt like I rode pretty good, but that was it. All eyes now on Gorzow (Poland SGP). Got a few in between, so we’ll keep working away and try to get a bit better from the start.”
Tough night for Monster Energy’s local hero Freddie Lindgren who battled valiantly at Skrotfrag Arena, but was only able to come away with eight points. Lindgren, last year’s SGP runner-up, now sits just outside the top five overall (6th), one point back of Martin Vaculik, 53-52.
“I gave everything I had, battled hard, and did pull off a couple of really good moves riding the wall tonight, but I think it was my fourth outing (heat) when I finished last and that really cost me a lot today,” said Lindgren. “Today I just didn’t have it on my side.”
Monster Energy results, Malilla, Sweden
4th - Jack Holder
8th – Dan Bewley
9th – Freddie Lindgren
Overall Season Standings
3rd - Holder (68 points)
6th - Lindgren (52 points)
9th - Bewley (42 points)
Up next…
Round 6 2024 FIM Speedway GP heads to Gorzow’s (Poland) Edward Jancarz Stadium – home of the powerhouse Stal Gorzow of PGE Ekstraliga – on Saturday, June 29. All signs point to another massive EJ Stadium crowd for this one. For further information, including the season race schedule, racer bios and timely results, link to: www.fimspeedway.com