One week before he was due to captain Australia against Russia in the SGP World Cup, World champion Chris Holder has undergone surgery after suffering a fractured left hip, broken left shoulder and broken right heel at Coventry on Friday.
The Poole captain was involved in a high-speed spill in heat 15 of Pirates’ 43-41 defeat to the Bees on Friday, which was abandoned following his crash.
Holder was unsettled by Coventry’s Grzegorz Zengota and clipped team mate Darcy Ward’s back wheel on lap two, turn two as Poole chased the 5-1 they needed to snatch a victory at Brandon. Holder straightened up and ploughed into their air fence.
Scans have confirmed the 25-year-old has suffered a fractured hip and he will undergo more tests at University Hospital Coventry in the morning, when he will also have surgery to repair his right heel.
Poole team manager Neil Middleditch said: “The operation on the heel will take place in the morning. I’m not sure what they are going to do with the hip yet. They’ll have a look at the morning and decide what to do. The shoulder injury is the same sort of problem as Darcy had. He has some fractures in his hip and they’ll be looking at that in the morning.
“This is a massive blow for Chris Holder. It’s a great shame after a tremendous meeting. For it to end on such a sour note is heartbreaking. It was just an unfortunate speedway accident.
“He’s in good hands at Coventry hospital. They’ve been looking after him and they’ve been really good.”
Holder’s crash comes just a few weeks after Darcy Ward made his comeback from a broken shoulder blade. 21 year old Ward was in blinding form at his comeback race, the Danish Moldow GP, where he took his first Grand Prix win of his career.
Holder now faces a long recovery and will sit out the Monster Energy FIM Speedway World Cup, where he was due to skipper Australia into Event 1 against Poland, Russia and Latvia at Czestochowa on July 13. It is unclear how long he will be out of action.
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