SWINDON Robins reserve Zach Wajtknecht missed out on a spot in the British Final after finishing 15th in the first semi-final held at Sheffield on Thursday night.

Despite winning his opening ride, Wajtknecht failed to score from his four remaining qualifying heats – meaning he ended the night on a disappointing three points.

The teenager, who missed large parts of last season through injury, defeated Nathan Greaves, Carl Wilkinson and Adam Roynon in his opening race.

A tough second heat saw him finish behind Dan Bewley, Robert Lambert and Grand Prix racer Craig Cook before another last place in heat 12 meant the Bristol-born Robin had to win his remaining two rides to stand any chance of qualification.

Josh Auty, Rory Schlein and Danny Ayres defeated Wajtknecht in his fourth ride, ending any hopes of the youngster making his first final appearance.

Stefan Nielsen then won heat 17 ahead of Charles Wright and Edward Kennett to round off Wajtknecht’s mixed evening.

Jason Garrity starred on the night with a full 15-point maximum while other qualifiers included Kyle Howarth, Josh Auty, Edward Kennet, Robert Lambert, Rory Schlein, Dan Bewley and Craig Cook.

Elsewhere Swindon asset and last year’s title winning skipper Jason Doyle will be in action at the opening round of the FIM World Speedway Championships this weekend in Warsaw.

More than 55,000 fans are expected to pack into Poland’s national stadium for the opening round of the series.

And Doyle is aiming to start his world championship defence in winning style after landing the Premiership Riders’ Championship at Poole on Wednesday.

He told speedwaygp.com: “After winning the world title I have taken it a bit too seriously.

“When you’re tense and getting pressure from clubs, you don’t enjoy it and it’s not meant to be that stressful.

“I was wondering what was going to happen if I had a bad one on Wednesday (at Poole) and then had to go to Warsaw with less confidence.”