FORMER Pirates star Michael Lee believes Chris Holder and Darcy Ward are the hottest pairing on the planet – but fears the Turbo Twins may have to be split up for the good of speedway.

Lee watched Poole Castle Cover’s Aussie duo do a demolition job on his former club King’s Lynn in the Elite League play-off semi-final at Wimborne Road last month.

Holder and Ward both bagged maximums as Pirates hammered the Stars 63-27 on home shale, before seeing off Eastbourne in the grand final to claim the top-flight title.

GP star Holder and former world under-21 champion Ward will tonight be looking to take a giant step towards a memorable treble when they meet Belle Vue in the first leg of the Knockout Cup at Kirky Lane.

However, the return at Wimborne Road on Thursday could be the last time the Poole faithful get to see their heroes race together in the skull and crossbones jacket, with the Elite League’s one eight-point rider rule threatening to force at least one of the duo to race elsewhere next season.

‘Mike the Bike’, who rode for Pirates in the mid-eighties and is now a promoter at National League Mildenhall, told the Echo: “I can understand why Poole would want to keep them, but the rules are the rules and there are some weak clubs out there.

“They are both number ones without a doubt. Swindon have been terrible this year and if you want these clubs to survive in speedway, you have to make it competitive.

“If Darcy Ward went to Swindon, for instance, that could change the fans’ outlook down there. It would bring the crowds back for sure.

“For the good of speedway, one team can’t be that much stronger than others.

“But they have been at Poole for a while and grown up there and you could argue Poole deserve to keep them in return for bringing them on. You bring riders along, work hard with them and then you have to lose them and I don’t agree with that.

“It’s the same at Mildenhall. We know we will have to make changes next year and it’s so disappointing when you get a team that gels together so well, like Poole, and then have to rip it apart.

“The fans would be devastated because they are so popular, but I can see it from both sides.”

Lee admitted he was “blown away” by Pirates’ performance against the Stars in September, after watching the action live with Pirates legends Mark Loram and Craig Boyce and unsurprisingly highlighted Holder and Ward’s heat 13 heroics as the moment of the meeting.

Lee, who made 28 league and cup appearances for Poole between 1983 and 1984, added: “Darcy and Chris are incredible. They have to be the strongest pairing in the land, if not in world speedway. They work so well together and being good buddies, they read one another so well.

“I can’t compare them with too many from my era. I honestly haven’t seen anyone ride as well as a pair as those two do.

“Maybe you could go back to Chris Morton and Peter Collins at Belle Vue in the seventies, because they were an incredible pair round Belle Vue.

“But Darcy and Chris are way above that. If one isn’t performing, the other steps in and that encourages the other one along.

“I can’t see them losing in the cup. They have to be total favourites, although Rory Schlein and Chris Harris are going well. Personally, though, I don’t think the rest of the Belle Vue team is strong enough to beat Poole.”

• See tomorrow’s Echo for details on how you can get your hands on a free ‘Keep The Turbo Twins’ car sticker.