PIRATES legend Gary Havelock is tipping “real deal” Chris Holder to follow in his world title-winning footsteps – if he wants it enough.

The 1992 global champion, a former Poole captain, believes the current club’s skipper possesses all the necessary skills to claim the top prize.

Havelock, currently recovering from his horror crash last month, has ridden alongside and against Holder during his distinguished career.

In an interview with the Daily Echo ahead of today’s European Grand Prix in Leszno, the 43-year-old insisted Holder just needed to back his own ability and have the will to win.

Pirates asset Havelock said: “The sign of a really good rider is somebody who improves every year and Chris is somebody like that.

“He has got everything you need to be a top speedway rider and one of his biggest assets is his gating – that is 90 per cent of speedway nowadays at any level.

“I think he can go all the way – there is absolutely no doubt about it.

“As you climb the speedway ladder, the higher you get, the wider the rungs become. The last couple are invariably the hardest to climb.

“Whether Chris does that or not is down to him because he certainly has all the attributes. The last part is down to him and how badly he wants it.

“When I was a small child, I laid in bed dreaming of what it would be like to be world champion. It was my destiny and nobody was going to stop me doing it.

“I have never really talked to Chris about it so I couldn’t tell you how he feels about it. But I am pretty sure every champion has had those sort of feelings. I think the sports psychologists of today call it ‘visualising’.”

Havelock, 22nd on Pirates’ all-time list of scorers, revealed he first discovered Holder’s quality the hard way.

“It was the first or second season I had dropped down and I was really flying in the Premier League and beating everyone,” recalled Havelock.

“I remember coming out in heat one and I think he was riding number two for Isle of Wight and he blew me away. I thought ‘I’ll keep an eye on him’ and I have kept my eye on his career the whole way through.

“Chris has beaten all of the GP riders at one stage or another, many times over probably, when they are racing around the world. The Grand Prix is just another race and it is about how you approach it.”