CHRIS Holder revealed he had to dig deep and ride through the pain barrier before sealing victory in the Australian Championship second round at Gillman.

Pirates’ star was thrown over his handlebars and landed heavily on his head and left shoulder as he and Kozza Smith hit the fence hard.

But Holder survived the nasty spill during Saturday’s meeting in Adelaide without breaking any bones, although he admitted he felt lucky to escape serious injury.

Despite being in agony, Holder bravely returned to the track to beat Sam Masters and Cameron Woodward in the re-run.

Then Poole Castle Cover’s spearhead shrugged off the pain to complete a classy 15-point maximum before beating Pirates colleagues Darcy Ward and Davey Watt in the A final, with Woodward fourth.

Holder, who takes a five-point overall lead into Wednesday’s third round at Broken Hill, said: “I hurt my shoulder, neck and hand pretty badly, but they gave me a bit of time in the ambulance to get checked over, which helped.

“I only went out in the re-run because there were three riders. I thought I’d ride round for the point, but ended up going outside both on the same corner and won it.

“I was in so much pain I couldn’t even lift up my goggles. I couldn’t hold up my left arm and shoulder either.”

Holder, chasing a third national title, added: “I was lucky not to break anything. It was a pretty big crash.”

Asked if he would be fit in time to line up at Broken Hill, Holder said yesterday: “I honestly don’t know. At the moment the pain is just terrible.

“I can’t lift my hand to drive the car. Right now I’m not feeling too good.

“But I have a couple of days, so hopefully each day it’ll get better.”

Holder wasn’t the only rider in the wars at Gillman.

Jason Doyle, the 2010 Pirate seemingly still in the running for a team place this year, sustained suspected broken ribs in the second of two crashes.

Holder has a maximum 40 points overall. Watt, who finished third in Gillman, is second with 35. Gillman runner-up Ward is third with 33.