TROY Batchelor is relishing the prospect of racing in front of his home crowds in Australia next year when the FIM Speedway Grand Prix series heads Down Under next year.

Batchelor, handed a wildcard into the 2015 series, is in line to race in a Grand Prix in his homeland for the first time in Melbourne next October (24th) at the Etihad Stadium.

The 2014 Robins captain, who was born in Brisbane, but lives in Adelaide during the British off-season, told speedwaygp.com: "We’ve raced in other countries and World Cups with Australian fans there and it’s always great. Imagine what it would be like with 30,000 of them – it would be mental.

“To race in front of my home crowd and friends and family in an Aussie Grand Prix would be amazing. It’s going to be a great GP I think.

“They’ve got the same track guys who do all the indoor ones in Europe. They’re flying over and getting the track ready, so it will be ace. We’re in the best stadium in Australia and I think it’s going to be a great event. They’ve got the five-year contract there, so hopefully everything works out for them.

“Pretty much everybody in the Grand Prix at some point manages to get a home Grand Prix. The Polish riders get three at home and the Swedes get two. Everyone else gets one, so I’m not really sure what it’s going to feel like.

“You don’t want to let it work against you, though. You want to use them to pump you up and put that into your racing.”

He added: “The Aussie fans will travel. You’ll see fans from the other side of Australia. A lot of guys will be flying there, but they’ll have a three-hour flight just to get to Melbourne. Australia is massive – it’s a six-hour flight from one side to the other. But there will be fans flocking in from everywhere for sure.”