CHRIS Holder targeted a podium place in the 2015 Grand Prix and insisted he had plenty of time to make it happen.

The Pirates number one charged from 13th to sixth in the standings thanks to a stellar 18-point showing in Cardiff a fortnight ago.

And the Sydneysider will aim to continue his momentum when he lines up alongside Poole team-mate Maciej Janowski in tonight’s Latvian Grand Prix in Daugavpils (5pm BST).

He told the Daily Echo: “The start of the Grand Prix season didn’t go anywhere to plan due to a combination of the tracks being a bit tough and me not riding that great.

“I was in a pretty average position but I managed to bag a lot of points in Cardiff which gave me a bit of hope that I could make something of this season, whereas before I was thinking of just getting in the top eight.

“I want to be up on the podium come the end of the season. There are eight points between me and third and that’s one night’s work.

“I’m in a good position now but I have to make it count. If I follow up Cardiff with a bad one then I will be pretty disappointed.”

Tai Woffinden has a 12-point cushion over three-time champion Nicki Pedersen at the top of the leaderboard. And although Holder is 24 points down on the former Wolverhampton man, he believes the gap is surmountable.

Holder added: “We’re in July but we’ve only done four of the 12 Grands Prix. We can definitely peg it back but we need him to have a couple of rough GPs and if that happens we need to capitalise.

"But if we are making finals and scoring points then we will be up there somewhere.”