MAX FRICKE admitted he was “absolutely thrilled” to take the lead of the Australian Championship with two rounds to go.
The Leicester star won the latest staging in Albury-Wodonga after taking victory in the final from Ryan Douglas, Ben Cook and Rohan Tungate.
It means that Fricke is now in pole position to pick up a FOURTH Aussie title.
The Lions ace and GP first reserve won the opening leg of the series at North Brisbane last Thursday and then took third place in the curtailed Kurri Kurri round on Sunday.
Fricke said: “Absolutely thrilled to take first place tonight at the 3rd round of the Australian Individual Championships. Currently leading the standings with a 2-point edge over Rohan Tungate. Two more rounds ahead, thanks for the support!”
Jack Holder and Jaimon Lidsey topped the scorecharts with 13 points in the qualifying races. But surprisingly both were eliminated in the semi-finals.
Douglas, Tungate and Ben Cook joined Fricke in the final. But Fricke’s victory and Tungate finishing last meant a change in the leaderboard.
Tungate, champion in 2018, arrived at Albury-Wodonga with a three-point lead, but it’s now Fricke who leads the way on 43 points with Tungate on 41.
Lidsey and reigning champ Jack Holder are still in the hunt back on 36 and 35 respectively.
The top four riders will be guaranteed places in this year’s Speedway GP qualification rounds.
That means it’s still vital for the chasing pack to make an impact; that includes the likes of Douglas in fifth on 29 and Chris Holder and Josh Pickering on 27.
AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (AFTER ROUND 3): 1 Max Fricke 43, 2 Rohan Tungate 41, 3 Jaimon Lidsey 36, 4 Jack Holder 35, 5 Ryan Douglas 29, 6 Josh Pickering 27, 7 Chris Holder 27, 8 Ben Cook 24, 9 Brady Kurtz 24, 10 Sam Masters 24, 11 Zach Cook 19, 12 James Pearson 15, 13 Keynan Rew 13, 14 Michael West 6, 15 Tate Zischke 5, 16 Fraser Bowes 4, 17 Jye Etheridge 4, 18 Jack Morrison 3.
ALBURY-WODONGA HEAT SCORES: 1 Jaimon Lidsey 13, 2 Jack Holder 13, 3 Max Fricke 12, 4 Ryan Douglas 10, 5 Rohan Tungate 10, 6 Sam Masters 9, 7 Chris Holder 9, 8 Ben Cook 8, 9 Josh Pickering 8, 10 Brady Kurtz 8, 11 Keynan Rew 6, 12 Zach Cook 6, 13 James Pearson 4, 14 Jack Morrison 3, 15 Michael West 1, 16 Fraser Bowes 0, 17 Aden Clare 0.
SEMI-FINAL 1: Tungate, Fricke, C Holder, Lidsey.
SEMI-FINAL 2: Douglas, B Cook, J Holder, Masters.
FINAL: Fricke, Douglas, B Cook, Tungate.
Words by Holeshot Media.
Images by Taylor Lanning.