CHRIS Holder’s world championship challenge took a dent in Prague after the Poole Pirates number one failed to make the semi-final.

Two scoreless rounds had Holder playing catch up and although a second place offered a glimmer of hope, he ended the night on five points.

Series leader Greg Hancock took full advantage, racking up an imperious 18 points from seven rides but the American had to make do with second as ex-Pirate Jason Doyle claimed his first Grand Prix win.

Like many others during the opening races, Holder found gate four tough in heat two and never challenged third-placed Matej Zagar with Bartosz Zmarzlik winning ahead of Peter Kildemand.

Holder was again beaten to the chase in heat eight with former Poole team-mate and Czech wildcard Vaclav Milik then consigned him to the back with an extra bit of pace on the second bend. Niels-Kristian Iversen took the chequered flag with Andreas Jonsson in second.

The Aussie opened his account in heat 11 courtesy of a strong gate with the inside line, taking second spot despite seeing the imperious Hancock sail around the outside early on.

After a competitive night throughout the field, that saw Holder move within two points of the top eight but his hopes were soon dashed.

Doyle steamed around Antonio Lindback, the Swede eventually fighting back to win with Holder unable to get near the front two despite comfortably holding off reigning world champion Tai Woffinden at the back in heat 14.

Holder’s final race of the night saw him go shoulder-to-shoulder with Nicki Pedersen on the inside gate, running wide before picking up drive and looking likely to move in front before the Dane ruthlessly shut the door.

Hancock leads the overall standings by eight and Holder by 12. Fellow frontrunner Woffinden could only pocket nine after being excluded in the semi-final.

Plucky Brit Chris Harris finished third on the rostrum. 

Czech Grand Prix: 1 Jason Doyle 17, 2 Greg Hancock 18, 3 Chris Harris 10, 4 Niels-Kristian Iversen 11, Bartosz Zmarzlik 13, Freddie Lindgren 11, Tai Woffinden 9, Nicki Pedersen 8, Andreas Jonsson 6, Piotr Pawlicki 6, Maciej Janowski 5, Antonio Lindback 5, Matej Zagar 5, Chris Holder 5, Vaclav Milik 3.

Overall standings after four rounds: 1 Hancock 56, 2 Woffinden 48, 3 Holder 44, 4 Doyle 42, 5 Janowski 41, Zmarzlik 38, 7 Lindback 35, 8 Kildemand 34, 9 Pedersen 32, 10 Lindgren 32, 11 Zagar 31, 12 Iversen 30, 13 Jonsson 28, 14 Pawlicki 23, 15 Harris 20.