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Speedway: Panthers new man Troy is in fine form Down Under
Peterborough Panthers' major winter capture Troy Batchelor is hot favourite to win a first Australian Championship crown after a wonderful weekend Down Under.
Peterborough Panthers' major winter capture Troy Batchelor is hot favourite to win a first Australian Championship crown after a wonderful weekend Down Under.
The 22 year-old has taken charge of his national series after roaring to victory in the opening two rounds of the three-meeting competition to start 2010 with a bang.
Batchelor, who joined the city club in an acrimonious full transfer from Swindon last month, proved too hot for his rivals to handle in the opener at Gillman on Saturday and followed up in fine style at Mildura 24 hours later to leave a host of top rivals trailing in his wake.
He tops the overall standings with a maximum available 40 points – four points clear of Poole star Chris Holder, who has claimed two second-place finishes – going into the series finale at Newcastle this Saturday.
A top-two finish there will guarantee Batchelor the title and his brilliant form comes as no surprise to his Panthers team manager Trevor Swales.
"This sort of form shows why we were so keen to sign him as a full Peterborough asset," said Swales. "It sounds like Troy has put in a couple of superb performances over the weekend.
"We felt he was a rider going places based on his performances in this country in the second half of last year and that now appears to be coming to fruition.
"These victories should be excellent for Troy's confidence. He is beating very high quality riders and we will all be chuffed to bits to welcome him back into this country as a national champion.
"Hopefully he can finish the job he has started so well and then I think the rest of the riders in our team had better watch out because Troy has made no secret of the fact he wants to be our number one next season."
Batchelor, who will begin the 2010 British campaign on a 7.01 average – the third highest in the Peterborough team behind Danish duo Niels Kristian Iversen and Kenneth Bjerre - dropped only one point from his five qualifying rides at Gillman to zoom straight into the grand final.
He reeled off a pair of heat victories either side of a heat 15 second place behind Coventry man Rory Schlein to complete a 14-point haul.
Batchelor then powered clear in the showpiece while fellow title hopefuls Holder and Darcy Ward (the teenage sensation who shattered the Showground track record in his only appearance at the city track) fought over second spot.
Holder eventually prevailed in that contest with Schlein watching on from the back.
And it was a similar story at Mildura yesterday where Batchelor was again in blistering form to come out on top.
The former King's Lynn and Swindon man suffered an unfortunate last place in heat 11 after being on the receiving end of a shove going into the opening bend, but victories in his other four races again earned qualification straight into the grand final.
And once there, Batchelor again did the business with the same four riders occupying the same finishing positions as 24 hours earlier – Holder in second, Ward in third and Schlein coming home at the rear.
The competition Down Under is fierce despite reigning world champion Jason Crump, veteran star Leigh Adams and Panthers legend Ryan Sullivan all electing not to compete in their national championship.
Australian Championship standings (after two rounds):
1 Troy Batchelor 40pts, 2 Chris Holder 36, 3 Darcy Ward 34, 4 Rory Schlein 32, 5 Ty Proctor 28, 6 Justin Sedgmen 25, 7 Cory Gathercole 24, 8 Jason Doyle 23, 9 Mark Lemon 21, 10 Josh Auty 19, 11 Cameron Woodward 19, 12 Sam Masters 18, 13 Alex Davies 16, 14 James Holder 7, 15 Robert Ksiezak 6, 16 Josh Grajczonek 5.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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