PIRATES stars Chris Holder and Dakota North experienced a difficult night in Aussie colours at the second round of the Best Pairs Cup in Germany.
On a Güstrow track that heavily favoured fast gaters, Holder managed just six points from five rides.
North fared better as he racked up nine points from six rides, which included two heat wins.
Saturday's meeting was abandoned after 21 heats due to rain with brothers Grigory and Artem Laguta securing victory for Russia. No semi-final or final took place.
The final round of the Best Pairs Cup is due to be held in Esbjerg, Denmark on Saturday, May 9.
Holder had been part of the Aussie side that had won last year's event.
RESULTS
RUSSIA 24: Grigory Laguta (0-2*-1*-2*-1*-3) 9+4, Artem Laguta (3-3-2-3-2-2*) 15+1.
DENMARK 21: Nicki Pedersen (0-3-2*) 5+1, Niels-Kristian Iversen (2-2*-3-2-3-3) 15+1, Mikkel Bech (0-1*-0) 1+1.
POLAND 19: Jarek Hampel (2*-1-0) 3+1, Piotr Pawlicki (3-3-1-3-1*-2) 13+1, Bartosz Zmarzlik (0-2-1*) 3+1.
GERMANY 19: Martin Smolinski (1*-0) 1+1, Kai Huckenbeck (2-1-3-1*-3-1) 11+1, Tobias Busch (2*-2-0-3) 7+1.
SWEDEN 17: Andreas Jonsson (0-3-3-3-3-1) 13, Thomas H Jonasson (1-2*-1-0-0) 4+1, Peter Ljung 0 (0).
AUSTRALIA 15: Chris Holder (1-0-1-3-1) 6, Dakota North (3-1-0-2*-0-3) 9+1, Rohan Tungate (0) 0.
UNITED STATES 11: Greg Hancock (1-2-2-1-2-0) 8, Gino Manzares (0-0-0-0-1*-2) 3+1.
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