Lukas Dryml defied the odds with a superlative performance in Slovenia at the weekend to reach next year's Grand Prix.

The Oxford Cheetahs star booked his place by finishing fourth.

Lukas rode despite shoulder trouble and a hand injury picked up last Monday, and the good news is he is expected to be part of a full-strength Cheetahs team to face Coventry in tomorrow night's finale at Oxford Stadium.

There was a right old ding-dong after the Grand Prix when British hope Scott Nicholls slammed Denmark's Nicki Pedersen for rough riding at the Skorsko Stadium. Both had to be restrained by meeting officials.

Nicholls said: "That's not the first time it's happened. I've let it go in the past but there comes a time when you have had enough."

However, Pedersen offered some words of advice to Great Britain's golden boy.

He said: "Now Scott is a Grand Prix rider, he must learn how hard it is. I have been taken off five or six times this season and not said a word. You have to race hard in the Grand Prix, it's just racing."

Meanwhile, GB team boss Neil Middleditch has praised Nicholls after seeing him qualify for next year's GP series by finishing third.

Middleditch said: "Scotty is a tremendous talent and his qualification for the GP is more than justfied. "He has worked hard all year."