ROBINS skipper Troy Batchelor says he can head into the new season with a huge weight off his shoulders following the resolution to the sport’s visa problems.

Batchelor’s preparation for the new campaign was rife with trouble, with the Australian one of more than 20 Elite League riders to have their visas revoked after the Home Office discovered that the sport’s employment of non-EU athletes did not comply with their rules.

Thankfully that situation has now been resolved and those riders affected are free to race in the 2015 season, which gets under way next week.

Batchelor admits his winter was far from easy and is just happy to have put the issue to bed.

“It’s been tough, the biggest thing was not knowing,” said Batchelor.

“We had problems and we didn’t know if we had to get a new visa. One minute we didn’t and then another we did, and then it was a case of ‘if you leave England, you can’t come back’.

“There were just so many complications, day by day we’d get new information and not really know what the go was.

“I never really doubted that it wouldn’t be ready for the start of the season but it was always going to be a push. In the last couple of weeks everything has been sorted and I’ve got my new visa now, so we’re all go and I can focus on the main things, which is racing and the teams.”

Had the problem not been resolved it would have forced Batchelor to give up racing in Britain, something which he would have been extremely reluctant to do.

“That would have been frustrating because I have planned everything around England and Poland,” said Batchelor. “I wanted to stay, I live here and pay my tax here, so without a visa it would changed my whole life - I’d have to move to another country.

“For me, England is a high priority to race so I didn’t want to not race here.”

The problem has heavily hampered Batchelor’s planning for the new season and he is still playing catch-up in terms of track time.

“It set me back in regards to practicing and testing,” said Batchelor. “I was hoping to practice at the end of February and the first couple of weeks in March but I couldn’t leave the country.

“It wasn’t until about two weeks ago that I got my first spin on the track.”