TROY Batchelor celebrated his first home maximum of the season – as Peterborough ended the year with an unbeaten home record.
The Readypower Panthers leapfrogged Belle Vue to finish sixth in the Elite League with a 54-36 victory over bottom-of-the-table Swindon.
It was Peterborough’s 14th win out of 14 as they became the only team to go through the entire campaign without being beaten in front of their own fans.
And Australian Batchelor, a revelation in his second season at the East of England Showground, led the way with a stunning unbeaten performance.
He was brilliant throughout and celebrated wildly after going over the line in Heat 15 after a nerve-wracking battle with Scott Nicholls to complete his maiden home league maximum of the season.
He said: “Finish on a high. The track was really nice today and I made some good starts which helps a lot.
“In the last race Scottie (Nicholls) came flying underneath me and there wasn’t much room there but I managed to get back under him. Home track advantage, I guess.
“It’s been a good year, we didn’t get into the play-offs which is what we wanted to do but that’s speedway and that’s sport.
“We all tried hard and put in 100% and at the end of the year you can walk away and say you did your best.”
Astonishingly the Panthers didn’t take the lead until Heat 9 but turned on the power in the run-in, picking up four maximums and six heat advantages over the last seven races.
Not having ridden for three weeks the squad struggled to get on the pace in the early heats as Michael Jepsen Jensen, Krzysztof Buczkowski and Richard Lawson – back after a dislocated shoulder – all finished at the back of the field in early races.
But Buczek then went unbeaten in his last three races, Jensen picked up another storming race win and Lawson teamed up with Linus Sundström to thwart Swindon’s double points-scoring tactical Simon Stead in Heat 14.
The win wound up a season in which Peterborough turned their home track into a fortress but poor away form cost them a place in the top four.
PETERBOROUGH 54: Troy Batchelor 14:1, Hans Andersen 8:3, Krzysztof Buczkowski 8:1, Linus Sundström 8, Kacper Gomolski 7, Michael J. Jensen 5, Richard Lawson 4:2.
SWINDON 36: Scott Nicholls 10, Simon Stead 9:1, Tyron Proctor 6:2, Nicolai Klindt 5, Kenny Ingalls 5, Mikkel B. Jensen 1, rider replacement for Grzegorz Zengota.