IPSWICH and Great Britain's Scott Nicholls believes a place in the World Championship's top eight is not beyond him as he prepares for the Latvian Grand Prix at Daugavpils on Saturday.

IPSWICH and Great Britain's Scott Nicholls believes a place in the World Championship's top eight is not beyond him as he prepares for the Latvian Grand Prix at Daugavpils on Saturday.

The 31-year-old five-times British Champion goes into the sixth round of the series 15th in the standings with just 17 points.

This has left him 21 adrift of the top eight spot he needs to gain automatic entry into next year's competition.

But having enjoyed an upturn in fortunes since his return to British racing with first Coventry and now Ipswich, Nicholls is determined to finish the SGP season on a high.

And should some of his World Championship rivals experience the bad luck which has plagued Nicholls' season so far, the Coventry asset is confident he can make a late surge up the standings.

He said: “The pressure is off in a certain way because I'm so far down the table, but I can still turn things around.

“We still have half the series left and there is no reason why I can't put in a few good results.

“Getting in the top eight will be a tall order. But if some of the boys up there have a disastrous second half, like my first half, then it looks more realistic.

“Obviously I'd like to make the top eight if I can but I'm not really thinking about that. All I'm focusing on now is enjoying each race as much as I can and getting as many points as I can.”