What a fantastic effort from young Lukas Dryml to finish second in the World Under 21 Championship at Peterborough on Sunday, writes John Gaisford.

It has been the Cheetahs star's target all season and coming so close must have been heartbreaking.

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The poor lad didn't have the best of preparations, being laid up for weeks before coming back when clearly still not physically or race fit.

It only took one blip to take away the title chance and that happened in his first ride where he chose the wrong set-up.

After that, he was in brilliant form, and clearly the best rider on view, even though surprise package David Kujawa, who can't get a regular spot in a Polish team, saw off everybody.

After his heat 14 win, Dryml said: "I had to be a little bit hard. I had to go for broke, I had no choice.

"I had some very bad gates and although I have some fast bikes, they were not working well out of the starts.

"I'm a little disappointed at not winning, but also happy that I made the podium.

"Before the meeting I wanted nothing but first place, but after my first ride, I had to get something out of the meeting." He should be able to make up for it next year.

The meeting also threw up plenty of new talent, with Poland looking to have some first-rate youngsters.

The likes of Raphael Okoniewski, David Kujawa and Lukasz Romanek could be heading for the Elite League next year.

While Lukas was picking up the silver medal at Peterborough, there was no luck for brother Ales who failed to match the achievements of his brother who won the European Final last year. Ales finished on seven points in a strong line-up at Heusden-Zolder in Belgium that saw former Cheetah Bo Brhel pick up the title with 14 points.

**Result: 1 Brhel (Cze) 14; 2 Staszewski (Pol) 13: 3 Cegielski (Pol) 12+3; Kuzin (Rus) 12+2: Krznaric (Chr) 9; Povazhny (Rus) 8;Winiarz (Pol) 8;

Kugelmann (Ger) 7: Dryml (Cze) 7; Ferjan (Slo) 7; Nagy (Hun) 7; Pietrzyk (Pol) 6; Jedrzejak (Pol) 5; Santej (Slo) 3; Batelka (Cze) 1; Szegvari (Hun) 1.