On the other side of the world, huddled around the family PC is team Holder.
Namely Chris's mum Karen, dad Mick and younger brother Jack, an accomplished young speedway rider and league player in his own right. It's around 3am Sunday morning, it's a bit chilly and the streaming footage is in Polish. It's not buffering properly and driving the Holders nuts. As with many Australians, the Holders are watching Chris as he heads out on to a rain soaked stadium in Sweden.
"It was like a chocolate soup out there." said Mick Holder. "We were trying to get a grasp of what was going on really. The conditions looked bad but the footage wasn't much better. [laughs]" Mick continued.
As Chris heads out to ride in what would be an historic night in international speedway, mum Karen wears a permanent track of her own in the floor, as she nervously paces about watching the footage.
Chris put the bad luck of round one in Poland behind him in sensational fashion in Sweden over the weekend. Like many things in life, luck can change in the blink of an eye. The count back system that worked against Chris Holder last round, worked in his favour this time in Sweden.
But I want to be clear, that's where the luck side of this story ends.
Holder was fast. He was smooth and more importantly, smart. The fans and his competition got to witness an ever-developing maturity in Chris' riding over the weekend in Sweden and the season thus far. On at least two occasions, faced with a split second decision, Chris opted to back off a little or slightly change lines in order to secure points, rather than attack, with the potential of falling. Quite a few riders did crash out on the slippery and ice-like shale.
Two important points here. The riders should be commended for riding out there. The track builders also deserve special mention, as the 'drop-in' track held itself together almost flawlessly. The weather sent down everything it could to get this round postponed or cancelled. But for Holder, there was to be no cancellation only victory. Sixteen heats are required to be run out of a possible 20 heats for a result.
As the riders hit the shale for the start of racing they must have been feeling somewhat concerned with what lay before them. Speedway riders are tough.
Chris' first heat of the night was heat four. At the tape he was off the blue gate. Chris showed great speed as he tucked in behind Freddy Lindgren for the whole 4 laps. With more speed than the leader, he tried many times to pass Freddy and was clearly frustrated not to make the pass. And what most impressed me with Chris in his opening heat was he's decision to play it safe for 2 important heat points.
You have to understand something here, making split second decisions on a bike with no brakes on a perfect track is difficult at the best of times. These guys were virtually riding on chocolate milkshake of ice.
In heat six, Chris was off the inside gate and led from start to finish. He's starts are on fire so far this season. There would be plenty of guys out there in speedway right now that would love to own his reaction time at the tape.
Chris was clearly pumped on the win tapped his left leg and thumped down on his bars as if to say 'come on' we need the heat wins.
For Chris Holder and Greg Hancock, their battle in heat eleven would prove to be more that just a regular heat. If fact, it would determine the overall gold medal placing. Chris again showed his speed off the tapes, Hancock however work tirelessly to hunt down his mate in the lead. Holder seemed to adapt to the conditions much better than many of the other riders. And in the end his tenacious style secured him the win.
So in the end it came down to Hancock and Holder for a round win via the countback system. Chris wasn't to be denied this time around. In Poland, on countback Chris missed out on a semi final berth. Just two weeks later the opposite. Beating Greg Hancock in heat eleven allowed the gold medal win to fall with Chris.
It would be a safe bet that questions were being asked on the rideability of the track. But, to all the riders credit the show went on. Despite the sloppiness and constant heavy rain there were some great battles. With only around 1 metre of decent track to ride within, there was always going to be some tight tussles.
Chris said on the win: "You've got to have luck. You can't just win without any. Fortunately it worked out well for me this time. The last round in Leszno I got done on countback, so I'm stoked".
"I had all the gates and I just made some good decisions with the bike. I had a lot of speed, but I used my head."
There is no doubt that a few riders have made a statement already this year. A Rampant Chris Holder is one of them. A few days of rest in Spain will be the order of the day for CH before heading back to the UK to ride for Poole and his other European clubs.
Mick Holder concludes: "Last season took a lot of Chris but he is doing all the right things so far this year. We are really proud of course, all our boys are doing well, they are different in many ways but at the core they are all great kids".
"We were all amazed to see him ride in those conditions and really happy to see him get his second GP win."
Despite some reports of the GP in Sweden being a lottery, the fact remains, to get the win Chris had to work extremely hard for his ten points and to get himself in the position that ultimately meant he secured the win. That can't be taken away ever.
Put the 28th of May in your sporting diary and catch all the action as CH takes on the world's best at the third round in Prague in the toughest two-wheeled game out there.
