Batchelor gets world speedway call-up
A long-term injury to Emil Sayfutdinov has opened the door for the Australian, who will join compatriots Darcy Ward and Chris Holder in the 12-round titleAustralian speedway star Troy Batchelor has been called up to compete in the 2014 Speedway Grand Prix (SGP).
After initially qualifying as first substitute, Batchelor replaces injured rider Emil Sayfutdinov in the championship, with the Russian’s management confirming he has not recovered from serious injuries sustained in a Polish league meeting in August last year.
The 26-year-old Batchelor, from Brisbane, will begin the SGP at Western Springs Stadium in Auckland on April 5 ranked as 15th, joining fellow Australians Darcy Ward (ranked seventh) and 2012 world champion Chris Holder (ranked 10th).
“Obviously it has been no secret that I’ve been pushing hard to get into the series for a little while now. I had a go at Torun when I covered for Tomasz Gollob on October 5 (2013) and it was amazing to race my first Grand Prix,” said Batchelor.
“Being in it is still so fresh. It’s amazing. If you told me this was going to happen two weeks ago, I would have said ‘no way!’ Who would have thought that Emil would have pulled out?
“It’s a great opportunity and one I’m going to take with both hands. I won’t be taking it lightly in any way.
“I was happy with being one of the reserves. To say I’m a full-time GP rider now is unbelievable. I’m looking forward to the challenge and I’ve been really busy all day with organising and phone calls. My life has been turned upside-down.”
Batchelor is happy with his recovery from the knee ligament damage sustained in round two of the 2014 Aussie championship at Undera (Vic) on January 8, which dashed his title hopes.
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REVISED 2014 FIM SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX LINE-UP (in ranking order)
1 Tai Woffinden (Great Britain)
33 Jaroslaw Hampel (Poland)
88 Niels-Kristian Iversen (Denmark)
45 Greg Hancock (USA)
5 Nicki Pedersen (Denmark)
55 Matej Zagar (Slovenia)
43 Darcy Ward (Australia)
507 Krzysztof Kasprzak (Poland)
66 Fredrik Lindgren (Sweden)
23 Chris Holder (Australia)
100 Andreas Jonsson (Sweden)
91 Kenneth Bjerre (Denmark)
84 Martin Smolinski (Germany)
37 Chris Harris (Great Britain)
75 Troy Batchelor (Australia)
16 WILDCARD
17 FIRST TRACK RESERVE
18 SECOND TRACK RESERVE
QUALIFIED SUBSTITUTE
19 Michael Jepsen Jensen (Denmark)
Should any more riders be required as substitutes during the 2014 season, the SGP Commission will nominate the rider.
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