ROBINS skipper Troy Batchelor had one of his best Grand Prix nights when finishing third at the Latvian GP in Daugavpils on Saturday.

In a meeting abandoned after 20 races he was beaten only by former Robin and recently crowned Polish champion Maciej Janowski – claiming his first GP title with 12 points – and former world champion Nicki Pedersen, who tied with Batchelor on 11 points.

Both had three wins and two third places but the Dane got the runner-up spot, having won their head-to-head battle in race 16.

Janowski backed the FIM jury’s decision to abandon the meeting without running the semi-finals and final as the rain got harder and harder.

Pedersen is now just nine points adrift of world championship leader Tai Woffinden in second place after cutting the deficit by three. Woffinden struggled at times in Latvia and his eight points was just enough for a semi-final place, but having drawn the tough outside gate, the rain probably did him a favour as Pedersen looked much more in form and surely would have cut Woffinden’s series lead still further.

On Saturday the GP series moves to Malilla which is Pedersen’s home track in the Swedish League.

Batchelor will not be relishing his travel arrangements this weekend. From Malilla on Saturday he faces a 1,600km trip to ride for his Polish side with a 1.15pm tapes up the following day.

The trip to Manchester for the Robins match against Wolverhampton on the Monday will be easy!

Batchelor moved up to 12th in the standings but will need to maintain this form if he is to claim an automatic place in the 2016 series. He is nine points behind Swindon asset Jason Doyle who has the final eighth qualifying place at the moment.

Troy had endured a nightmare British GP in Cardiff, crashing out of the meeting with back and shoulder injuries.

So he was delighted to storm back to top form in Latvia.

“What a way to come back from Cardiff,” he said. “I went home in an ambulance and that wasn’t my night.

“Everything was going well in Cardiff before my crash. I feel I’m in the right place and it showed tonight. I had three good wins and some good speed.

"I tailed off a bit towards the end when the rain started coming. But it was a good GP."

2015 LATVIAN GP TOP SCORES: 1, Maciej Janowski 12; 2, Nicki Pedersen 11; 3, Troy Batchelor 11; 4, Chris Holder 10; 5, Greg Hancock 10; 6, Jason Doyle 8; 7, Tai Woffinden 8; 8, Peter Kildemand 8; 9, Niels-Kristian Iversen 8, 10 Michael Jepsen Jensen 7.

2015 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TOP STANDINGS: 1, Tai Woffinden 63; 2, Nicki Pedersen 54; 3, Greg Hancock 49; 4, Niels-Kristian Iversen 43; 5, Chris Holder 41; 6, Matej Zagar 40; 7, Maciej Janowski 38; 8, Jason Doyle 37; 9, Michael Jepsen Jensen 34; 10, Andreas Jonsson 33; 11, Jaroslaw Hampel 31; 12, Troy Batchelor 28.

Otherwise it’s been a quiet week for Batchelor and his Robins team-mates whose 14-day spell without a fixture ends when they travel to Wolverhampton on Monday (July 27) before tackling Poole away two days later. They then host Lakeside the following day before visiting the same team 24 hours later. That's a bonkers schedule of four matches in five days.

Belle Vue, one place behind Swindon in fifth, have lost several home matches due to Manchester’s rain and must still be favourites to take the final top-four place.

A win for the Robins at Wolves, at least a point at the Pirates and a home win on Thursday is vital to keep their season going.

Meanwhile injured Swindon reserve Lewis Rose has lost his Premier League place at Newcastle to Finnish rider Tero Aarnio, with the situation being reviewed once Rose is fit again.

Swindon's Darcy Ward made his Polish return on Sunday scoring 13 + 2 from six rides as his new club Fabulaz Zielons Gora beat Tai Woffinden’s Wroclaw 50-40.

Ward has ridden for Torun for many years but clearly the team did not want to make any changes following Ward’s return from his worldwide ban.