ZACH Wajtknecht's battling bid for a place in the FIM World U21 Championship final ended in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday.

The Swindon Robins reserve was one of four British riders competing in semi-finals around Europe for a spot in the showpiece and rode superbly in the Czech Republic, scoring 10 points.

That sent him into a run-off for a final place, but the 20 year old missed out on qualification as he finished behind Slovenian Nick Skorja, who claimed the prize, and home rider Filip Hajek in Liberec.

Great Britain will have two representatives in the final after newly-crowned British champion Robert Lambert and Dan Bewley both went through from their respective semi-finals to guarantee themselves a place in the three meeting mini-series.

Lambert, who also secured silver with Great Britain in this month's’s Speedway of Nations, came out on top in his semi-final in Poland. He dropped just one point in his programmed rides before getting the better of Bartosz Smektala in the run-off.

Bewley was one of three riders to finish on 13 points in Vetlanda, Sweden, and finished second overall behind Russia’s Gleb Chugunov in a three man run-off.

Former Swindon racer Nathan Greaves scored six points in the same meeting.