Watt backing Pirate Chris in GP quest (From Bournemouth Echo)

Watt backing Pirate Chris in GP quest

7:00am Friday 27th August 2010 in

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DAVEY Watt is backing “physically drained” Chris Holder to hold on to his coveted top-eight Grand Prix Series spot.

Holder heads for Gorican in Croatia tomorrow protecting sixth spot in the World Championship.

But the 22-year-old Aussie is bound to come under enormous pressure from the seven riders immediately below him.

They are all chasing a top-eight spot to automatically re-qualify for next year’s series.

Holder currently holds a 12-point advantage over ninth-placed Fredrik Lindgren, but only 15 points separate seven men.

Pirates’ star, however, worried fans during a 50-40 league defeat at Wolves on Monday after boss Neil Middleditch said Holder was “physically exhausted”.

Holder, who also rides alongside Watt for Lejonen in Sweden, sat out their 51-45 defeat at Dackarna on Tuesday.

The Aussie was back in action on Wednesday when he plundered paid 12 in Torun’s 55-35 home victory over Wroclaw in Poland.

Watt, who will race at Gorican, said: “Everyone is breathing down Chris’s neck, but he’s more than capable of climbing even higher.

“He deserves to be in the GP. He’s not there because he was given a wild card. He worked very hard last year to qualify.”

Watt added: “Chris had his phone off most of Tuesday, just trying to get away from it all.

“The problem is everyone wants a piece of you. When it’s going well, they want more and when it’s not so great, they want to know why.

“He just needs to have a little break, but it’s hard to get that during a speedway season.”