POOLE Pirates charger Brady Kurtz admits his latest trip to Lonigo is being made in hope rather than expectation.

The Aussie rookie, 19, returns to the Italian track where he scored 10 in last year's World Under-21 Final first leg for tonight's Grand Prix Challenge semi-final (8pm BST).

And despite not being one of the favourites in a field that contains the likes of Bartosz Zmarzlik, Michael Jepsen Jensen and Freddie Lindgren, the Wimborne Road newcomer would love to pinch a place in the top seven.

"I am not really expecting to go through but I will be pumped if I do," said Kurtz.

"There is no reason why I cannot do it if I put my mind to it. I really like the surface in Lonigo, I normally do well on that kind of track and go there with no pressure on my shoulders.

"I have only been there once but I enjoyed it, I just found it a nice track that suited me and hopefully, it will be similar to last time.

"When you look at the names in there, I don't have to deal with big expectations so it will be nice to turn up and see how it goes. The biggest thing will be to set the bar for next year."

Line-up: (top seven qualify) Max Fricke, Freddie Lindgren, Michael Jepsen Jensen, Martin Smolinski, Craig Cook, Nico Covatti, Bartosz Zmarzlik, Daniel Gappmaier, Patryk Dudek, Tomas H Jonasson, Paco Castagna, Tomasz Jedrzejak, Mikkel Bech, Brady Kurtz, Robert Lambert, Sergei Lokachev.