Take that: Troy Batchelor is given the bumps by his teammates after his 15-point haul
Speedway: Troy Batchelor took centre stage as Swindon eased to a comfortable thirteen
point victory over a Lakeside septet who could only muster two heat wins all
evening.
Batchelor's flawless fifteen point maximum was acquired with breathtaking
speed, plenty of determination and bundles of composure.
However, it wasn't just Batchelor who boasted an unbeaten tally, Swindon captain Leigh Adams contributed a characteristically workmanlike performance on route to a paid
fifteen point haul.
Elsewhere, Mads Korneliussen looked set for a maximum of his own but was
cruelly denied by machinery gremlins just moments before the start of heat
nine.
The popular Dane's dash back to the pits led to a two minute exclusion
and consequently a fifteen metre starting handicap from which Korneliussen was
unable to collect his fourth race win of the night.
Leigh Adams romped to victory in the opener as he rode an intelligent first
corner to head the pack and was untroubled from that point on.
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James Wright
tried valiantly to engineer a route past Lakeside's Leigh Lanham but was
unable to gather enough speed to mount a serious challenge.
Seb Alden blasted to victory in the ensuing race to collect a second
successive points share before Korneliussen and McGowan handed Swindon the
lead with a well worked 5-1 in the third.
Both Swindon riders rode well to
repel the persistent pressure of Lakeside captain Adam Shields who flirted
with the Blunsdon dirt line as he hunted for a route past.
The Queensland firebrand, Troy Batchelor, demonstrated sensational speed in
race four as he eased away from former Swindon rider Joonas Davidsson whilst
Seb Alden struggled to stamp his authority at the rear.
Heat five brought the fourth 3-3 of the meeting as Mads Korneliussen rode a
barnstorming race to halt the charge of Swedish international Andreas Jonsson.
Meanwhile, Travis McGowan stalked Lakesides Leigh Lanham for the entirety of
the race but couldnt quite squeeze past the Brit.
The Robins shuffled their lead to six points with a well worked 4-2 from Adams
and Wright in heat six before a second successive Swindon 4-2 ensued via Troy
Batchelor and Theo Pijper in race seven.
Lakeside struck back with a tapes to flag 5-1 from Lanham and Kylmakorpi in
race eight which slashed the Robins advantage to four points.
Korneliussen and McGowan combined for a well worked heat advantage in race
nine before Adams and Wright registered Swindons fourth 4-2 of the evening
in race ten.
Batchelors impressive speed continued in heat eleven as he inflicted defeat
on Jonsson to ensure a points share and maintain Swindons eight point lead.
Mads Korneliussen was excluded for exceeding the two minutes time allowance in
race twelve and the Dane opted to start the race from fifteen metres back. The
flamboyant racer made light work of his handicap and was challenging Adam
Shields for the race win on the charge to the chequered flag.
Adams and Batchelor collected a comfortable 5-1 in heat thirteen before
Lakeside nominated Joonas Kylmakorpi for a tactical ride in race fourteen. The
Finnish rider could only muster second spot which resulted in a 4-4 points
share and moved Swindons tally along to 48 points, ten ahead of their
opponents.
The Australian duo of Adams and Batchelor once again reigned supreme in heat
fifteen and in doing so both ensured they concluded the night with maximums.
Leigh Adams said: "Troy really deserved his maximum this evening, he rode really well and was
super quick all night.
"It was a shame that Mads suffered that mechanical failure because he would
have collected a maximum too.
"It was pleasing that we killed the match off
before the last heat and didnt lose our concentration in the middle of the
meeting.
"Its getting to that time of year when machinery is starting to become a touch
tired.
"We'll make sure the boys spend some time in the workshop this week,
refreshing their equipment and changing parts where neccessary."
Man of the match Troy Batchelor said: "That's four man of the match awards for me which is even more than Leigh
Adams, I'm stoked!
"My bike was misfiring in the opening two rides but i managed to sort the
problem and I was even quicker from that point onwards.
"I need to start performing like this away from home, my last two few away
results have been disappointing but I'm confident they will improve.
Leigh Adams won't admit it, but, I was showing him the way round in heat
fifteen.
"He provided me with the slingshot in turn one and from that point on
Leigh couldn't catch me!"
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