A wrong sprocket choice cost Oxford Cheetahs ace Lukas Dryml gold in the

World Under 21 final at Peterborough.

It came in his opening race where he finished last and ultimately that cost him

the title as he fought back in magnificent style.

The track was a lot slicker than he found in the Elite League clash on Thursday and it caught him out.

Nevertheless, he picked up the silver medal behind Poland's David Kujawa in a fiercely contested championship.

Dryml said: "In that first ride, I chose the wrong sprocket, but I was still battling to get through. I would have been happy with a point but I was trying too hard and got into trouble."

He went from the outside gate, which was to prove the best of the meeting, but after missing the break, he moved through to third and was challenging for second when it all got congested, allowing Jarek Hampel through into third. Coming out in heat eight, off gate two this time, he was second away and although passing bronze medallist Raphael Okoniewski, he couldn't catch

Romanek.

Heat 11 was made or break for Dryml, who was wearing a brace to protect his damaged knee. This time he made a superb start and there was no catching him as he became the 11th different heat winner of the day.

There was a big task ahead of him in heat 14, where he went off gate three that had failed to provide a winner all meeting. However, despite missing the break, he steamed past David Ruud to put himself back into contention for gold.

Heat 17 was the last chance saloon and he knew it as he took on David Howe, champion David Kujawa and Kryzs Kasprzak to cement his runners-spot. The unluckiest rider of the meeting was Polish-based Chris Slabon, riding under the Canadian flag. He was in contention to win the meeting when he suffered

an early puncture in his final ride.

Order of finish: 1 Kujawa 12 pts; 2 Dryml 11; 3 (after run-off) Okoniewski,. Slabon, Stread 10; Zagar, Howe, Ruud 8; Romanek, Hampel, Eriksson 7; Hansen, Chromik 6; Kasprzak, Chrzanowski 4; Fencl 2.