Dryml lines up in the Latvian GP at Daugavpils, a track he sampled for the first time in painful circumstances earlier this year.

The Panthers man has struggled to establish himself at the sport's top table since his surprising qualification but has high hopes of ending the season with a flourish.

Dryml said: "The first time I went to Daugavpils was for a Polish League meeting and I had quite a tough day.

"My flight to Latvia was late and I didn't get there until an hour before the meeting started. I was a bit stressed and then a home rider knocked me off in the first race which bent my bike.

"I had to use my spare machine for the rest of the meeting and it was a long time before I found the right set-up, but hopefully I will have it for the GP.

"All I hope to do in the GPs is have fun and score some points. It has been hard for me this year since I made the semi-final in the first event at Krsko."

Dryml feels he has been a victim of the draw for tonight's event. He has been handed two outside gates in his five heats – and it's not an unusual occurrence for a rider fighting to prove he is worthy of his place in the series.

Dryml added: "It is the fifth time I have been left with two outside gates and that makes it hard to score good points.

"But I cannot change the draw and have to get on with it as best I can. I came close to making the semi-finals at Malilla in the last round and I will try to do the same again.

"Normally eight points is enough to get into the semis so that is my target, but it is very hard because the GPs are full of the best riders in the world."

And Dryml, who returned to Panthers as part of their big revamp earlier this month, has not been helped by a niggling knee ligament injury.

He has been affected by the problem since a crash during a Swedish League meeting in mid-June. Dryml continued: "I had a big crash in Sweden and had to take three weeks off to let the ligaments heal.

"It had been getting better but then I had an accident when I was practising in Poland last weekend. My finger slipped off the clutch lever and I looped the bike, which I hadn't done since I was a junior.

"I came down on my bad knee and am struggling a little bit with it again now, but hopefully I will be okay."

World Championship standings: Nicki Pedersen 116pts, Jason Crump 99, Greg Hancock 89, Hans Andersen 84, Tomasz Gollob 82, Leigh Adams 80, Andreas Jonsson 61, Rune Holta 53, Freddie Lindgren 52, Niels Kristian Iversen 48, Scott Nicholls 45, Chris Harris 40, Bjarne Pedersen 38, Krzysztof Kasprzak 31, Lukas Dryml 25, Jarek Hampel 16, Kenneth Bjerre 11, Lubos Tomicek 8, Matej Zagar 7, Jonas Davidsson 7, Billy Forsberg 2, Nicolai Klindt 1, Sebastian Alden 0.