PIRATES' wonder from Down Under Chris Holder is "blown away" after he won at Gillman yesterday to extend his Australian Championship lead.

The 20-year-old reigned supreme in the second round near Adelaide and is favourite to claim his first national senior crown.

Holder, who also won the opening meeting at Mildura on Saturday, dropped just one point from five rides for the second round in succession. Only former Pirate Jason Doyle could defeat him in heat 20.

But Holder rediscovered his winning touch for the A Final and romped home ahead of ex-Poole man Troy Batchelor, Brit Joe Screen and Doyle.

Despite this result, Holder is refusing to get carried away and he is determined to continue setting the pace.

He said: "I think I'm a few points in front but that can soon change on one really bad round. "I'm making pretty good starts at the moment, though, and if I keep doing that, I should be up the front somewhere.

"I made some quick gates all night at Gillman and I led all the way in almost all my races. "I was just gone in the final - I hooked up well and pulled away from Troy pretty quickly, so I was really happy with that."

Holder has claimed two of his three Aussie under-21 titles at the circuit in South Australia. Only Leigh Adams and Jason Crump could beat him there in the 2007 senior championship.

But as he prepares for Saturday's third round at Mount Gambier, Holder admits he is struggling to take in how well the series has gone so far.

He added: "I really want to ride every meeting well but it's blown me away that I've only dropped one point in each round."

  • Poole and Somerset promoter Mike Golding has announced that Swede Magnus Zetterstrom will not be racing for the Rebels next term.

The Highbridge team has moved quickly to sign Pirates asset Doyle as his replacement.