CHRIS Holder will seek a second opinion on the exact nature of an injured arm this week after Polish medics ruled he had not suffered any broken bones in a horror spill during the Grand Prix of Poland.

Pirates’ star was told that he had sustained muscle damage after being hit by Greg Hancock’s footrest at high speed at Torun on Saturday.

The Aussie ace had fallen after hitting a hole on the inside of the third bend as he chased Rune Holta, Jason Crump and the American in heat 14.

Crump somehow missed stricken Holder as he lay helpless on the shale, but Hancock was unable to avoid making contact with Poole Castle Cover’s top rider.

At first it was feared Holder had broken his left arm above the elbow and that was what he was understood to have told his Pirates team-mates and pit crew Davey Watt and Darcy Ward.

But X-rays taken trackside appeared to confirm otherwise, although Holder will visit his doctor when he returns to England to undergo further X-rays and seek a second opinion on his injury.

The Pirate, who amassed six points from his opening three rides, finished ninth in the World Championship fifth round on his Polish League home track.

Amazingly, he only missed out on a semi-final place on count back to wild card Adrian Miedzinski, who also finished with six, but from his full quota of five outings.

Holder, who faces a race to be fit for Poole’s next fixture, at home to Coventry on June 30, sat out his Polish League encounter for Torun at Tarnow yesterday.

He will also sit out his Swedish League outing for Lejonen at Vargarna tomorrow.

Pirates riders have been banned by the club from speaking to the Echo, but a friend of Holder said: “Chris wants to check his injury out when he gets back to England.

“Hopefully, he’ll only be out for a couple of weeks, but he needs to see his doctor to get it checked out properly and then make a decision from there.

“He feels pretty good considering what happened. Hopefully, he won’t be out for too long.

“The X-rays in Poland showed there was nothing wrong. He will see the doctor to make sure.

“He thinks he’s only got muscle damage, but he’s not a doctor.”

Before his spill, Holder appeared to be cruising into the semi-finals and also looked capable of reaching his first GP final.

Crucially, he only slipped |back one place in the overall standings, from eighth to ninth, after being forced to withdraw early.

Holder’s Poole team-mate Artur Mroczka, first reserve in the meeting, took the Aussie’s place in heat 20.

But he fell and took out Magnus Zetterstrom at the same time.

The Pole was excluded, but his manager Maciej Simionkowski said although his man had taken a heavy knock to an ankle, he was okay.

• Pirates’ away clash at Peterborough on June 28, hastily brought forward so it could be televised by Sky, has been put back to its original date of July 8.