Monday 27th August 2012, 10:19

FIM Fogo British SGP wild card Scott Nicholls says his injured shoulder didn’t hamper his performance as he missed out on the semi-finals in Cardiff on countback.

The Coventry star bagged seven points from five races, but was pipped into the last eight by Krzysztof Kasprzak before the Pole went on to claim the silver medal.

Nicholls acquitted himself well in a superb battling display, despite requiring constant physiotherapy on his shoulder in the pits to help him through the night.

The Team GB star is in action for Coventry in their home and away double header against Peterborough today. And despite enduring some discomfort between heats, he says it didn’t affect his efforts on the bike.

Nicholls said: “It was a bit painful after the races. During the races, it didn’t really affect me at all. There were a couple of moments when it was in the back of my mind, but I’m not using that as an excuse.

“I don’t think it really hampered my performance. I just had the massage to help me along. It definitely did help me carry on through the meeting.

“I had no Polish league on Sunday, which was quite handy. But I’ve got the double header with Peterborough. I hope I will be okay. I got a decent day’s rest on Sunday. I’ll just keep doing what I can do. Saturday was a tough one and we got through. I’m sure we won’t have any problems.”

Nicholls was gutted to miss out on the last eight, and particularly after heat 12 was stopped while he was storming clear at the front, when Jason Crump tumbled on turn four.

Tomasz Gollob and Emil Sayfutdinov relegated rider No.16 to third in the re-run and Nicholls was left cursing his luck.

He said: “It’s always disappointing to go out on countback. I felt pretty good. I was just a bit unlucky I suppose. I was leading heat 12 and then we had the restart, which meant I dropped points. That was the big telling point really. Had that race not been stopped, I would have been comfortable for the semi. I felt good. I felt on the pace. But that’s all hindsight now.”

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