CHRIS Holder slammed Grand Prix rival Nicki Pedersen for his part in the crash that provoked a furious reaction from ex-Pirate Greg Hancock.

Dackarna star Pedersen took away Hancock’s front wheel during a Swedish Elitserien meeting on Tuesday, with Piraterna’s Hancock moments later knocking the Dane off his bike with a wrestling-style clothesline.

Holder, who was part of the heat-15 line-up, was among those to play the peacemaker role as the ugly scene at Motala developed.

However, the Wimborne Road charger threw his support behind Hancock afterwards, admitting he would have reacted in the same manner.

In a frank interview with the Daily Echo, Holder said: “When I saw what happened I knew straight away that that wouldn’t be the end of it. It was a pretty brutal move on Nicki’s part and it didn’t really give Greg an option to shut off.

“It was a silly move which, unfortunately, Nicki seems to do more than anybody else and I think that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Greg answered for a lot of the riders that Nicki has upset over the years.

“Yes, he’s tough and you can have a tough race but there’s a line between tough and dangerous and that was uncalled for. I think Nicki got what he deserved. If it was me, I would have done the same thing as Greg.

“I was surprised and not surprised by his reaction because I didn’t know he could get that angry. But if it was anyone else I think the reaction probably would have been worse. I think it was one too many times and Greg has been on the receiving end on more than one occasion.

“Nicki’s not the only one that has ever done it but he seems to do it a lot more than anybody else. Somebody was going to retaliate and of all people it was Greg.”

Pedersen and Hancock will renew rivalries when the Grand Prix series returns to Cardiff on July 4 and while Holder expects there to be an edge to the action at the Millennium Stadium, he hopes there will be no further controversy between the pair.

Holder added: “It’s going to fire it up for Cardiff so we’ll see what happens. But everyone’s professional so nothing should really come of it.

“Everyone should race normally and, hopefully, Nicki will sit back in a few days and accept that he was a little bit too tough on Greg.”