IF TROY Batchelor can even come close to emulating what mentor Leigh Adams achieved in a Swindon Robins race suit, he will be a happy man.

The young Aussie faces the daunting task of wearing the iconic number one jacket at Blunsdon this season as well as occupying the same pit bay used be the Swindon legend before he retired at the end of 2010.

Adams notched up close to 6,500 points from 547 meetings over 14 seasons at the Abbey Stadium, before suffering a spinal injury in practice for an off-road race in his homeland weeks after retiring, which left him having to learn to walk again.

Although Batchelor is hoping to carry on his close friend’s work and will look to his fellow countryman for inspiration, he is wary of listening to the inevitable comparisons between himself and the former world number two.

“I am stepping into his pit bay which is something I chose to do,” he said.

“It is a lot to live up to, and I am not Leigh Adams and I never will be Leigh Adams. If I can achieve anything close to what he did I will be happy,”

“Being number one is something I have been striving for for the last two seasons, and I am happy it has finally happened.”

“It is something new for me, and going from the outside gate in heat one is going to be tough, but I think it will bring me on as a rider.

“I love a challenge and I always need something new to keep me motivated, and being number one is that for me this year.

“Me and Leigh rode together here in 2008, and at that time we were in the same teams in Sweden and Poland too, so he is someone I have known for a long time and have looked up to.

“We rode together for a good five years I think, and had a lot of flights together and hung around in airports talking about all sorts of things. He is a proper businessman and I learnt a lot from that.”

The 24-year-old Australian endured an eventful winter after suffering a motocross accident of his own, suffering two broken vertebrae in his back, having already been unceremoniously left out of parent club Peterborough Panthers’ team.

The Queenslander fully expected to return to Peterborough after two successful seasons at the East of England Showground, but when the Panthers announced their team on their website, Batchelor’s name was a surprise omission.

“I was a little shocked when their team was announced because I fully expected to be riding there, and I had not had a phone call or anything like that to tell me they were going in a different direction,” he said.

“I was loyal to them last winter when they did not know whether or not they would have a team, and I said I would only ride in Britain if it was for them, so I was disappointed with the way they treated me.

“Fortunately Rosco called me soon after, and after thinking it over for a little bit I decided to come back here to Swindon.”