SCOTT Nicholls fired a warning to long-time rival Chris Harris as he blasted to victory in the British semi-final at Sheffield last night.

The Swindon ace, a five-time British champion, dropped just one point from his five rides as he finished ahead of Ben Barker and Richard Hall, while Harris scraped into the top seven after a lacklustre meeting.

Danny King, Jordan Frampton and Ricky Ashworth were the other qualifiers for the final at Wolverhampton on June 6, with another seven riders to come from the second semi at Scunthorpe tonight, plus two wild cards.

Nicholls had a straightforward-looking opening heat and that task was made easier when Ashworth, on his home track, fell on the first bend and was excluded.

Neither King or Kyle Newman were able to catch the 33-year-old after he gated at the second attempt, although the former ran him close on the third lap.

Sticking up for the Premier League boys in heat six was Leicester’s Hall, who beat Nicholls into the first bend and stayed ahead, with James Wright in third.

Harris, who had earlier romped to victory in the opening race, suffered a shock spill on bend two of heat seven and therefore needed a good run in a tough heat 11 that included the likes of Nicholls and Barker.

But he did not get it. Harris, Barker and Josh Auty all got in each other’s way at the first bend which hugely benefited Nicholls, who was able to scoot away to victory.

Unbelievably, Harris was due to take nothing at all from the heat until Auty saw his race end prematurely due to engine failure on bend two of lap four.

Nicholls then qualified for the final with a race to spare as he saw off the Premier League trio of Ritchie Hawkins, Luke Bowen and Paul Cooper, before Harris won heat 15.

The Truro-born rider then snuck into the qualifying spots with a heat 19 triumph, and Nicholls then rounded off his evening with a heat 20 win, although ex-Robin Frampton gave him several scares along the way.

The second semi takes place at the Eddie Wright Raceway tonight with the same line-up as in the rained-off event a week ago.

That means no place for Swindon skipper Simon Stead, who has been troubled by rib injuries since the start of the season.

However, recent Robins signing Chris Schramm, yet to feature for his new club, is scheduled to compete in the meeting.

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