Speedway: Jack Holder tells how Sheffield dealt with 'garbage' gate three to beat Belle Vue

Jack Holder admits he’s not a fan of gate three at Owlerton, and says it was tough on the Sheffield track against Belle Vue after the previous weekend’s stock car racing.

Aussie Holder was one of the big stars of the evening as the Tru7 Group Tigers beat the Aces in a dramatic superheat to secure a place in the semi finals of the Speedway Premiership KO Cup.

Holder agreed that the odds were stacked against them going off gates one and three in three of the final four races – despite choosing those positions for the superheat.

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And following a Stock Car event at the venue last weekend, the Grand Prix star says the track was much trickier on Thursday night.

"It's only our third meeting here and the track was a little bit different again - she was like concrete out there,” he said.

"It caught us off guard a little bit but we came home strong and managed to get it done.

"Gate three is garbage here but we managed to pop off those starts.

"We managed to get a bit of a streak going and then we'd have gate three and the tables had turned quite quickly.

"I was running out of good bits off gate one, they were all pretty much the same, so it was just a case of sitting up and hoping for the best.

"We managed to get off that start, have a look and he (Tai Woffinden) was there and we brought it home.”

He was pleased Tigers won what he described as a bit of a local derby, but added: "We'd rather get it done earlier on in the meeting but the fans would've loved the superheat.

"It's probably good to watch but it's not good for us with all the pressure on us!”

Sheffield are now due to face King’s Lynn in the Semi-Finals with both legs scheduled for the opening week of June.

In the meantime, the Tru7 Group Tigers face a quick return to Owlerton as they host Ipswich in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership on Monday (May 13, 7.30pm) in a repeat of last year’s Grand Final.

Premiership Knockout Cup quarter final, second leg

Sheffield 49: Tai Woffinden 13, Jack Holder 12+2, Chris Holder 9+1, Josh Pickering 7+1, Kyle Howarth 3, Jason Edwards 3, Dan Gilkes 2.

Belle Vue 41: Dan Bewley 10+1, Norick Blodorn 7, Jaimon Lidsey 6+2, Ben Cook 6, Brady Kurtz 4+1, Connor Mountain 4+1, Connor Bailey 4.

Aggregate scores tied (90-90). Sheffield beat Belle Vue 7-2 in Super Heat