Polish international Rune Holta says he has the experience to realise his World Championship medal dream after winning the FIM Scandinavian Speedway Grand Prix in Malilla, Sweden, today.
The Norwegian-born racer tore away from the tapes in the final to defeat world champion Jason Crump, new SGP series leader Tomasz Gollob and Swedish hero Freddie Lindgren.
Holta considered retiring from the Grand Prix series over the winter, after becoming frustrated at years of just scraping into the top eight.
But his 20-point haul at the G&B Arena has fired him up to fourth in the World Championship on 76 points.
This leaves him 14 adrift of Crump in third place. While the Aussie could take some catching, Holta is certain he has the experience now to win a spot on the series rostrum at Bydgoszcz on October 9.
The 36-year-old said: “My goal has always been a medal. But I’ll take it one meeting at a time. If I keep up the same form as I produced last year, it will be good.
“Top three would be a fantastic result for me. It looks good now. It’s all about experience and getting more experience.
“Maybe I’ve got there a little bit late because I haven’t done the British league like the rest of the guys. But now I’m starting to get the meetings I need to win something.
“I’m getting really focused and I know how to set up the bikes. I’m taking points at different tracks and it’s all coming to me now.”
Holta rides his Swedish Elitserien home meetings at the G&B Arena this season and has been almost unbeatable there for Dackarna. The Stavanger-born man admits this helped him to relax in Malilla.
But he admits a superb race track ensured he had to fight hard for his first SGP win since he claimed the FIM Swedish Grand Prix crown at Gothenburg's Ullevi Stadium in 2008.
He added: “It was a good night – a really good night. It’s my home track, but I’ve never actually had any good Grand Prix meetings here. My top score previously was five points, so I’m really pleased.
“The people at the club did a fantastic job with the meeting. The track was fair for everyone. All of the gates were good and it was up to the racer to do it on the track.
“It was a good meeting for everyone and I think the spectators would say the same.”
Holta added: “I really feel at home here. It’s a really good feeling to be on a track where you know where to go and which lines you can use if you’re behind.
“It’s a fantastic feeling to come here every other week, but it’s not just the track I like; it’s everything all around. It’s a fantastic club and I haven’t been in any better clubs than this.”
Meanwhile, Team Great Britain skipper Chris Harris reached the semi-finals on nine points, but finished last in a battle with the World Championship’s top three Gollob, Crump and Hampel. Tai Woffinden scored three points from his five heats.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (AFTER SIX ROUNDS): 1 Tomasz Gollob 107, 2 Jaroslaw Hampel 102, 3 Jason Crump 90, 4 Rune Holta 76, 5 Kenneth Bjerre 75, 6 Chris Holder 66, 7 Hans Andersen 61, 8 Andreas Jonsson 55, 9 Fredrik Lindgren 54, 10 Greg Hancock 53, 11 Nicki Pedersen 51, 12 Chris Harris 51, 13 Magnus Zetterstrom 46, 14 Emil Sayfutdinov 33, 15 Tai Woffinden 31, 16 Janusz Kolodziej 12, 17 Thomas H Jonasson 8, 18 Davey Watt 6, 19 Adrian Miedzinski 6, 20 Antonio Lindback, 21 Piotr Protasiewicz 5, 22 Scott Nicholls 4, 23 Matej Kus 3, 24 Leon Madsen 3, 25 Ludvig Lindgren 2, 26 Nicolai Klindt 1, 27 Linus Sundstrom 1.
FIM SCANDINAVIAN SGP POINTS: 1 Rune Holta 20, 2 Jason Crump 15, 3 Tomasz Gollob 17, 4 Fredrik Lindgren 11, 5 Greg Hancock 12, 6 Jaroslaw Hampel 10, 7 Kenneth Bjerre 9, 8 Chris Harris 9, 9 Thomas H Jonasson 8, 10 Andreas Jonsson 7, 11 Chris Holder 6, 12 Emil Sayfutdinov 6, 13 Hans Andersen 5, 14 Magnus Zetterstrom 3, 15 Tai Woffinden 3, 16 Ludvig Lindgren 2, 17 Linus Sundstrom 1, 18 Nicki Pedersen 0.
