Dubbed the “Turbo Twins’ by European fans, best mates Darcy Ward and Chris Holder formed one of the most successful pairings in Speedway history when the duo raced for Poole (U.K.), Torun (Poland) and Piraterna (Sweden). It was always going to be an emotional reunion but it was a fitting result when Holder stormed to victory to claim the second annual Darcy Ward Cup at Mick Doohan Raceway, in Brisbane’s north.
Eighteen months on from the horrific accident which nearly claimed Ward’s life in Poland, the cream of Australian Speedway united again to ride for the 24-year-old, who is still adapting to life changing injuries. While the 2016 edition of the D-DUB #43 CUP was a somewhat sombre affair, given that it was Ward’s homecoming and his first public appearance post injury, the 2017 edition, with Ward now settled into life on the Gold Coast, was a celebration of his speedway legacy.
On a sweltering afternoon where Mark Webber and Dakar legend, Toby Price were just two of many faces in a capacity crowd, the long-suffering Brisbane faithful were treated to a level of racing usually reserved for Grand Prix venues. Joining Holder, the Melbourne SGP hero, were former three-time world champ, Jason Crump; current world and Australian U21 champion, Max Fricke; current and two-time world U16 champion, Matthew Gilmore; newly crowned Australian champion, Sam Masters and our elite European-based professionals.
The big hitters did not disappoint, with Holder, Crump, Fricke, Nick Morris and Rohan Tungate all coming out firing. Despite being five years into retirement, Crump had his race face on and looked the most likely contender to topple Holder. But it was the local star, Jake Allen who denied Holder a seven ride maximum. Allen emphatically beat Holder in their heat 19 showdown, but he was unable to repeat the heroics two heats later when they met again in the qualifying final, with Allen bowing out, finishing 5th overall with 12 points.
Holder had to pull out all the stops in the final. Tungate jumped to an early lead with Crump and Fricke in hot pursuit, but going into the second lap, Holder made his move around the outside and made it stick, pulling a bike length clear to lead Tungate, Crump and Fricke home. “It’s a bit of a sore spot racing for Darcy after all his injuries. We did everything together; lived together, travelled together, and ran amuck together. I don’t normally go that hard, but it was extra special tonight,” said Holder. In the support categories, Jacob Hook took out the 125cc final in his last outing on the junior bike, while Aussie champ, Jedd List claimed the 250cc final. Stephen Hope
2017 Darcy Ward Cup
1st Chris Holder, 2nd Rohan Tungate, 3rd Jason Crump, 4th Max Fricke
250cc
1st Jedd list, 2nd Declan Kennedy, 3rd Jacob Hook, 4th Cordell Rogerson
125cc
1st Jacob Hook, 2nd Cordell Rogerson, 3rd Flynn Nicol, 4th Bailey Viner
Images: Hope Photographic
