UPBEAT Kyle Newman hopes he has rediscovered his gating gloves as he bids to qualify for his maiden British final tonight.

The Pirates charger, fit again following an arm problem, believes a machinery tweak could aid his charge against the likes of defending champion Tai Woffinden and seven-time winner Scott Nicholls at King’s Lynn (7.30pm).

The Poole-born star, a reserve in the 2013 final, revealed his desire for progression in Norfolk would be fuelled by a motivation to achieve “bigger and better things”.

Newman told the Daily Echo: “My starts haven’t been good this year but we made a change after my second ride at Plymouth on Friday and I think we learned a few things.

“We tried something quite simple on the bike, which I didn’t think would make much difference, and it seemed to do the trick.

“I’d prefer to keep the change a secret but I began to make starts and gained extra speed after we had done it.

“We’ve done it on all the bikes now and, hopefully, that will prove the key to getting my starts back to where they were last year.

“I’m desperate to get to the British final because it can lead to bigger and better things.

“I’m in the World Cup squad now so I feel that it’s something I need to do if I want to get into that four-man squad. That’s the next step.

“I had a really good chance to qualify for the British final last year but then I picked up an injury and it’s been a similar situation this year, albeit to a less serious extent.

“But I’m able to compete and, hopefully, everything can come together for me.”

The 23-year-old feels he has been drawn in the trickier of the two semis but is confident he can make it through.

He added: “Admittedly, the shortage of fixtures in the past week or two has been nice for me because it has given me time to recover and get better.

“Ideally, you would like to be going into it fully fit and on the back of a good run of matches but you have to deal with these sort of challenges.

“It’s definitely the tougher of the two semi-finals. Anyone can go there and go well so I have to believe that I can do as well as anybody else.

“It’s just about getting it right on the night.”