FORMER Robin Scott Nicholls won the Bob Kilby Memorial meeting when the Swindon speedway racing season officially opened on Thursday.

Belle Vue ace Nicholls is usually the last rider to appear in the pits. He’s never late, but hanging around never appeals to him.

However, he did hang around a bit in his opening ride when he could finish only third behind Freddie Lindgren on a smooth Blunsdon racing strip.

Four straight wins followed which saw Nicholls finish the night on 13 points, although he was fortunate in Heat 11 when Nick Morris was leading until forced to pull out with engine problems.

Another former Robin Hans Andersen, got a flying gate in Heat 20 to beat Lindgren, with both joining Nicholls on 13 points.

In the run-off, Nicholls was untroubled to lead home Andersen and Lindgren in that order.

The Swindon riders had a mixed evening. Morris scored nine points including a fine win in his last race when, after exceeding the time limit, he had to concede 15 metres to his rivals but had rounded the field by the end of lap two to take the three points.

Captain Troy Batchelor gained two wins in his score of 11 points but still looks a little race rusty. Reserves Lewis Rose and Charles Wright had a tough night sharing three points between them.

SCORES: Scott Nicholls 13, Hans Andersen 13, Freddie Lindgren 13, Troy Batchelor 11, Chris Harris 11, Nick Morris 9, Justin Sedgmen 9, Josh Grajczonek 8, Max Fricke 7, Sam Masters 7, Brady Kurtz 5, Bjarne Pedersen 4, Sam Simota 4, Steve Worrall 3, Charles Wright 2, Lewis Rose 1.

Swindon’s Polish duo, Greg Zengota and Adrian Miedzinski, were in action on the same night in the Polish Golden Helmet which counts towards 2016 Grand Prix qualification. Miedzinski’s meeting in Pila was called off after Heat Four while despite scoring nine points in Krosno, Zengota was eliminated.

Batchelor, meanwhile, had been on standby to deputise for Chris Holder at the first leg of the European Pairs Speedway Championship held at Torun, Poland over the weekend, but in the end the Poole racer was fit to ride alongside Swindon asset Jason Doyle.

The meeting was won by Denmark’s Nicki Pedersen and Nils Kristian Iversen with the Polish and Australian pairs in second and third place respectively.

The British authorities short-sightedly chose not to send a team, leaving team manager Alun Rossiter less than happy.

How can the lowly British team expect to improve if they shun taking on major competition?

Rosco’s frustration was further reinforced when last weekend U19 and U21 sides representing Denmark, Sweden and host country Poland each met twice in a three-team tournament. Further meetings between the sides follow later in the year.

Swindon begin their Elite League season with the double header on Thursday against Poole, including 2012 world champion Holder.

After a morning meeting at Poole, who have been champions in three of the last four seasons, home fans will see the full Swindon side for the first time at the afternoon clash.

Long time supporters will be saddened to see that New Zealand’s Ivan Mauger, six-times world speedway champion and holder of nine other world team, pairs and long track gold medals, is being treated for aphasia, a communication disorder.

The 75-year-old is perhaps the greatest speedway rider ever.