IT was the best race of my Pirates career.

Miracle man Chris Holder had the final say last night – both on and off the track.

After scorching to the most mesmeric heat-15 victory seen in these parts for many a year, Holder was asked whether he had produced the best lap of his time in Dorset.

“Yeah, definitely,” he responded. “And I reckon it was probably my best race at Poole.”

Speaking with endearing understatement, the Australian added: “It went all right!”

Modest about his rich talent and not a man to usually exaggerate, Holder’s assessment was spot on.

And when considering the amount of sensational performances the Australian speedway superstar has served up in the skull and crossbones, his judgement carried even more weight.

After witnessing a truly epic final-race decider, nobody among an ecstatic Wimborne Road faithful would have disagreed with their skipper’s verdict.

You would have done well to find a fan that was not lost for words.

One sponsor behind the press box leapt from his seat and screamed: “One of the best rides ever!”

Even for a fan-base blessed with quality on a regular basis, this was something remarkable.

Having rattled off six wins to bring themselves from the brink of defeat to within range of an odds-defying comeback, Pirates’ Turbo Twins arrived at the tapes.

Amid noise and tension normally reserved for grand finals, the riders were roared on as they rocketed from the traps.

With Darcy Ward taking care of business at the front, Holder found himself in the unlikely position of last going into the final circuit.

But despite having the mammoth task of catching – and then passing – King’s Lynn heroes Niels Kristian Iversen and Maciej Janowski, Holder dug deep to produce something breathtaking.

Sweeping round Iversen on the opening turn, he then catapulted himself past Janowski at ferocious speed.

With the unselfish Ward having astutely slowed the Stars duo, Holder then fired past his colleague on the line to spark delirious scenes among the home faithful.

What had been a tense, thrilling, edge-of-the-seat atmosphere made way for a triumphant party as Pirates somehow produced an escape Harry Houdini would have been proud of.

Because until Holder’s intervention, the Elite League leaders had looked set to surrender their record-breaking unbeaten run in sloppy fashion.

Dominated by an impressive Stars outfit throughout the first half of the meeting, things looked gloomy for the champions.

Imperious during their record-breaking run, Pirates found themselves on the back foot more than at any other stage in 2012.

Stars got off to a fine start and won five on the spin to stamp their authority.

Such was the nature of King’s Lynn’s fine early work, the home crowd witnessed the rare sight of both Ward and Holder failing to take the chequered flag in their opening races.

Iversen and then Janowski were the men to get the better of the Turbo Twins in heats one and three respectively.

Sandwiched between those notable Stars successes, former Pirates man Mateusz Szczepaniak turned on the style.

Poole’s long-running unbeaten record looked in serious danger when Stars extended their lead to 15-9 after four races after referee Christina Turnbull had awarded the visitors a controversial 5-1.

As Mads Korneliussen pulled clear, early leader Todd Kurtz was deemed to have unseated Kevin Wolbert and with outgoing Pirates favourite Adrian Miedzinski at the back, Stars accepted the maximum.

Pirates were really looking out of sorts and Holder failed to turn the tide as Iversen racked up his second win.

With Pirates badly in need of some inspiration, Ward provided it by storming past Korneliussen to break Poole’s duck.

But it merely provided a temporary halt to the Stars surge as 39-year-old veteran Joe Screen rolled back the years to lead a 5-1 alongside Janowski in an exemplary piece of team riding.

Just when Pirates could have been forgiven for thinking it couldn’t get any worse, Wolbert sensationally swooped from the back to beat Kling and Kurtz in a second consecutive maximum behind Daniel Nermark.

Unable to match the gating of their rivals, Pirates found it an extremely costly problem as they were cut adrift at 31-17.

The unexpected sight of Holder donning the tactical ride colours for heat nine is one nobody in the stadium would have predicted. But, assisted by the quick-gating Andersson, Holder piloted a match-turning 8-1.

Ward saw off Janowski before Miedzinski dished out a first defeat to Iversen as Lindgren helped him reduce the deficit to 37-32.

Honours were even as Holder cruised home in heat 12 but Ward and Miedzinski edged ever closer to the Stars with a timely 4-2.

Lindgren then arrived with a tapes-to-flag win and once Andersson had recovered from a nightmare first bend to take third, Pirates trailed by just a point.

That set the scene perfectly for Holder and Ward to produce yet another magical moment |as Pirates came from nowhere |to make it 16 in a row in fant-|astic fashion.

• Poole’s search for Miedzinski’s replacement took another twist last night when Ford confirmed that both Antonio Lindback and Przemyslaw Pawlicki had rejected moves to Poole. Full story in tomorrow’s Echo.