STARS skipper Lewis Kerr fell agonisingly short of making the final cut in Monday’s British Final in Manchester.

Kerr, who had notched an impressive 9+2 from four outings in a challenge match at the National Speedway Stadium on Thursday, finished on seven-points from five rides to miss out on the top six and a shot at the national title.

The meeting was won by former King’s Lynn man Rory Schlein ahead of Richard Lawson and Jason Crump.

Kerr made a dream start with a hard fought win over 2016 champion Danny King from the inside gate. King piled on the pressure but Kerr held an impressive line to take the win.

But the Stars skipper missed out in his second outing when he was left trailing at the start and couldn’t recover.

And he suffered a big blow in his third race when he was third but got filled in with wet shale and finished last again.

Kerr’s chances of making the latter stages were ended by a disappointing third place in his fourth outing behind the impressive Richie Worrall and young gun Tom Brennan.

He ended with a consolation win in Heat 17 to fall agonisingly short of the race-off – his two successive last places proved costly.

QUALIFYING SCORES: Rory Schlein 12, Richard Lawson 11, Richie Worrall 11, Jason Crump 11, Chris Harris 10, Steve Worrall 10, Drew Kemp 8, Danny King 8, Ben Barker 8, Lewis Kerr 7, Paul Starke 7, Josh Auty 5, Tom Brennan 5, Dan Thompson 3, Josh Bates 2, Joe Thompson 2, Ben Woodhull (res) 0.
SEMI-FINAL: Crump, S.Worrall, Harris, R.Worrall (fell).
FINAL: Schlein, Lawson, Crump, S.Worrall.