CHRIS Holder will be bidding not to repeat Troy Batchelor’s spectacular final-round collapse last year in the Australian Championship.

Pirates’ star romped to victory in the third round at Broken Hill yesterday to take his overall points tally to the maximum 60.

With a healthy seven-point lead over Poole skipper Davey Watt going into Saturday’s crunch meeting at Mildura, Holder only needs to finish sixth to secure his third national crown.

But he’s told the Echo you only have to look back on Batchelor’s unfortunate experience at Newcastle 12 months ago not to take anything for granted.

Batchelor led Holder by four points going into the final round of the 2010 championship and knew a top-three finish would guarantee him the overall title.

But he failed to reach the A final, and Holder – who lost all five of his races against Batchelor in the series – took advantage by sweeping to victory at Newcastle and overall success by one point.

Watt finished second to Holder at Broken Hill yesterday, with Kozza Smith third and Rory Schlein fourth.

Poole’s Darcy Ward suffered an engine failure in his fifth ride and, with only seven points, missed out on the B final.

Pirates new boy Kyle Newman got six, while injured Jason Doyle, a 2010 Poole rider, sat out the meeting through injury.

Details, qualifiers: Watt 13, Holder 13, Smith 12, J Sedgmen 12, Woodward 10, Schlein 9, Masters 9, Gathercole 8, Proctor 7, Ward 7, Newman 6, Sweetman 5, Poole 4, Davey 2, Bugeja 2, R Sedgmen 0. Res: Medson 2. A final: Holder, Watt, Smith, Schlein. B final: Schlein, Woodward, J Sedgmen, Masters.

Overall standings: Holder 60, Watt 53, Schlein 45, Ward 43, Gathercole 41, Smith 37, Woodward 37, J Sedgmen 36, Proctor 36, Masters 33, Doyle 29, Sweetman 26, Poole 17, Newman 15, Bugeja 10, Davey 9, Barnfield 2, R Sedgmen 2.