THOMPSON REACHES EURO FINAL

GREAT Britain youngster Dan Thompson qualified for his first major European Final in Slovakia on Saturday afternoon.

Thompson scored ten points to finish in sixth place in the European Under-19 semi-final at Zarnovica, meaning he will now compete in the Final at Gorzow, Poland on August 19.

He started the meeting in fantastic form and put himself in the frame to qualify in the top eight by winning his first two heats, and then went on to add another four points to his score to comfortably make the cut with a race to spare.

GB’s other representative Ace Pijper had a tougher afternoon scoring three points, suffering a disqualification after going over the finishing line in first place, with the referee deciding that Pijper was the cause of a fall by Latvian rider Artjoms Jugno on the last corner.

This put an end to Pijper’s hopes of qualification, but the 16-year-old gained some valuable experience.

Poland’s Wiktor Przyjemski, who was controversially included as a late replacement for fellow countryman Jakub Krawczyk, won the semi-final with a 15-point maximum with Ukrainian Nazar Parnicki runner-up with 13, and Oskar Paluch, also of Poland, was third on 12.