SWINDON Robins rider Troy Batchelor was left surprised after being crowned the best rider in the Elite League at King’s Lynn tonight.

The Aussie rider went into the meet on the back of a short break from riding but after getting through the early rounds with three wins out of a possible seven Batchelor came into his own.

Despite finishing level at the top of the rider standings at the end of the heats on twelve points with Belle Vue rider Matej Zagar and Leicester rider Jason Doyle, the Swindon rider was forced to ride in the semi-final on count-back, rather than automatically qualifying for the final.

That did not phase the young rider though and he stormed to victory, beating Maciej Janowski, Bjarne Pederson and Hans Andersen in the process.

Batchelor had a tough draw in the final after finding himself in gate one but the Australian attacked the first corner and after getting his front wheel in front he never looked like conceding the lead.

Batchelor becomes the first rider since Leigh Adams, in 2009, to win the prestigious trophy and now hopes he can carry that success into the Robins’ play-off encounter with Coventry on Monday.

“I just came here to see what happens,” said Batchelor.

“I had nine days off so I was a bit rusty to start with and I just thought I would use it as practice for the GPs.

“It went well, it is a cool track and I know it well so it all worked out.

“We all had 12 points going into the last race and I lost out and had to go to the semis and won there.

“It meant I scraped through to the final with third pick and I knew if I had gate two or three I could get it done but gate one and four were not the best tonight.

“I managed to get it done off one and get where I needed to be and just pulled away which is great.”

Batchelor will now head into the Speedway Grand Prix meet in Stockholm confident of doing well and will hope to carry this form into the play-offs.

“I am in one piece and I am going to Stockholm in one piece which I wanted to do and looking at the big picture, I’ve got the GP coming up and I really want to do well in that,” he added.

“I blew some cob webs out today and I feel pretty good on the bike so I am looking forward to going to Stockholm tomorrow.”