POOLE Pirates talisman Chris Holder kicked off the Grand Prix series with a podium place and 14 points in Slovenia last night.

Holder racked up three heat wins, including a semi-final triumph over Tai Woffinden, Greg Hancock and Antonio Lindback.

Peter Kildemand took the chequered flag in the final but the Aussie ace’s third place was enough to put him second in the embryonic standings.

Holder told speedwaygp.com: “I’m really happy to get a lot of points. You’d rather be on top than behind and chasing the boys.

“To leave with some good points and in the top five feels good. I’m looking forward to the next one already and hopefully, I can build on it.

“To walk away on the podium and with a few points in the bag, I’m pretty relieved and that gives me more motivation to keep going.”

Former Poole rider Maciej Janowski also won three heats but finished last in his semi-final with Kildemand, Jason Doyle and Nicki Pedersen.

FIM SPEEDWAY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Peter Kildemand 15, 2 Jason Doyle 13, 3 Chris Holder 14, 4 Tai Woffinden 10, 5 Maciej Janowski 10, 6 Antonio Lindback 10, 7 Greg Hancock 10, 8 Nicki Pedersen 10, 9 Bartosz Zmarzlik 8, 10 Niels-Kristian Iversen 8, 11 Piotr Pawlicki 8, 12 Fredrik Lindgren 7, 13 Andreas Jonsson 6, 14 Matej Zagar 4, 15 Chris Harris 3, 16 Denis Stojs 1, 17 Nick Skorja 1, 18 Matic Ivacic 0.