Chris Harris (speedway rider)

Chris Harris
Personal information
Nationality	England
Date of birth	28 November 1982 (1982-11-28) (age 28)
Place of birth	Truro, England
Nickname	Bomber
Website	Official website
Current club information
British league	Belle Vue Aces
Polish league	Ostrów Wlkp.
Swedish league	Västervik
Career history
Great Britain St Austell Gulls Exeter Falcons Trelawny Tigers Peterborough Panthers Coventry Bees Belle Vue Aces Poland Rybnik Ostrów Wlkp. Sweden Kaparna Västervik	1998 1999-2000 2001-2003 2003 2004-2010 2011- 2006-2007 2008- 2004 2007-
Speedway Grand Prix statistics
2009 Number	11
Starts	22[1]
Podiums	5 (1-2-2)
Finalist	5 time
Winner	1 times
Individual honours
British Champion British Grand Prix Winner	2007, 2009, 2010 2007
Team honours
Elite League Pairs Winner Elite League Champion Elite League KO Cup Winner Premier League Champion Craven Shield Winner Premier Trophy Winner Conference League Champion Conference League KO Cup	2008, 2010 2005, 2007, 2010 2006, 2007 2000 2007, 2008 2002 1998 1998

Christopher Calvin "Chris" Harris (born 28 November 1982) in Truro, Cornwall,^[2] nicknamed Bomber, is a Great Britain international speedway rider for the Belle Vue Aces in the United Kingdom.^[3]

Career history

Early career

Chris Harris began his racing career at the age of six and a half by competing in grasstrack events. His talent quickly became apparent when he began to win all of the junior age groups in the South-West area.^[4]

In 1998, aged 15, Harris progressed to speedway racing for the St. Austell Gulls at Amateur Conference League level. The Gulls won the Championship and the Knockout Cup.

On his 16th birthday, Harris signed for the Exeter Falcons, who competed in the Premier League, the middle tier of British speedway’s three-league structure. Harris then suffered the loss of his father who was not only his driver but also his mentor. He still achieved his first notable individual success later that year, when he became Great Britain Under-16 Champion. He was also selected to ride for Great Britain at both Under-19 and Under-21 level.

In 2000, Harris was able to build on his successful debut season and more than doubled his previous year’s points total, being unbeaten by an opponent in several matches. The Exeter Falcons team finished the season as Premier League Champions and reached two cup finals and one semi-final.

Harris moved clubs for the 2001 season, joining the Trelawny Tigers in Cornwall. He soon became their top scorer and qualified for the World Under-21 final as first reserve. He continued his form into 2002, being made club captain. Once again, he was top scorer for the club and under his captaincy Trelawny Tigers won the Premier Trophy.

Elite League progress & International debut

Taking advantage of new rules introduced to assist young British riders, Harris also took the step up to ride in the Elite League in 2002, with the Peterborough Panthers. He progressed well during his debut Elite League season, moving up into the main body of the team. Individually, he progressed to the Final of the British Speedway Championship and finished fourth in the World Under-21 Championship.

In 2003, Harris was once again able to ride for Trelawny Tigers in the Premier League and Peterborough Panthers in the Elite League. By the end of the season, he was an Elite League heat-leader. Off track, he was voted BBC South-West Sports Personality of the Year.^[5]

However, it was on the individual front Harris was most successful. In the World Under-21 Championship, he won both his quarter and semi final rounds, progressing to the final in Sweden where he finished runner-up, one point behind Jarosław Hampel.

His form during 2003 won Harris an invitation to take part as a reserve in the third round of the 2003 FIM Individual Speedway World Championship, the British Grand Prix, held at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

2004 saw Harris sign for the Coventry Bees. The following season, the Bees won the Elite League Championship, which meant Harris had won titles at all three levels of British speedway aged just twenty-two.^[6] He also represented Great Britain in the World Cup.^[7]

For the 2011 season, Harris moved on loan from Coventry to Belle Vue.

2007 British Grand Prix

In 2007 Harris became British Champion. Harris was selected to ride as a permanent wild card in the 2007 Speedway Grand Prix series, riding at number 15. In only his fifth full Grand Prix meeting he won the British Grand Prix at Cardiff.^[8][9] He was also a victim of an armed robbery, just two weeks before his maiden Grand Prix win when he was held up at gunpoint whilst out with his manager.^[10]

Winning the Grand Prix was considered to be the biggest event to happen in British Speedway for several years.^[11]

Off track, he was again voted BBC South-West Sports Personality of the Year.^[12] and was also voted BBC Midlands Sports Personality of the Year,^[13] beating Aston Villa footballer Gareth Barry into second place.

Speedway Grand Prix results

SGP Podium

1. Wrocław (12th May 2007) - 3rd place
2. Cardiff (30th June 2007) - 1st place
3. Copenhagen (5th June 2010) - 3rd place
4. Gorican (28th August 2010) - 2nd place
5. Terenzano (25th September 2010) - 2nd place
6. Bydgoszcz (9th October 2010) - 2nd place

See also

• List of Speedway Grand Prix riders

References

1. ^ Świat Żużla, No 2 (78) 2009, page 17, ISSN 1429-3285
2. ^ Oakes, P.(2004). British Speedway Who's Who. ISBN 0-948882-81-6
3. ^ Bamford, Robert (2007-03-01). Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2007. NPI Media Group. ISBN 0752442503. 
4. ^ Moore, Charles (26 June 2007). "My Sport: Chris Harris". London: The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml;jsessionid=UZT5FLZKSRGZ1QFIQMFSFF4AVCBQ0IV0?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/sport/2007/06/26/somysp126.xml. Retrieved 2007-12-02. 
5. ^ "South West Sports Personality 2003". BBC. 15 December 2003. http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/sport/2003/12/sport_awards_winners.shtml. Retrieved 2007-10-31. 
6. ^ Oakes, P (2006). Speedway Star Almanac. Pinegen Ltd. ISBN 0-9552376-1-0. 
7. ^ "Harris gets World Cup Call up". London: The Sun Newspaper. 16 July 2005. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/article135872.ece. Retrieved 2007-10-31. 
8. ^ Rigby, Vic (2 July 2007). "Harris is speedway's Hamilton". London: The Sun Newspaper. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/article241361.ece. Retrieved 2007-10-31. 
9. ^ Aizlewood, John (1 July 2007). "Harris speeds to glory". London: The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article2011190.ece. Retrieved 2007-10-31. 
10. ^ "Harris: My armed robbery terror". London: The Sun Newspaper. 23 June 2007. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/article238598.ece. Retrieved 2007-10-31. 
11. ^ "Pratt praise for champion Harris". BBC. 4 July 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/speedway/6258556.stm. Retrieved 2007-10-31. 
12. ^ "South West Sports Personality 2007". BBC. 26 November 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/speedway/7113013.stm. Retrieved 2007-12-02. 
13. ^ "BBC award for speedway champion". BBC. 3 December 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7123843.stm. Retrieved 2007-12-02. 

External links

• Chris Harris Official Website
• Coventry Motor Speedway Website

2011 Speedway Grand Prix riders
1	Gollob	2	Hampel	3	Crump	4	Holta	5	Hancock
6	Harris	7	Bjerre	8	Holder	9	Jonsson	10	Pedersen
11	Lindgren	12	Sayfutdinov	13	Laguta	14	Lindbäck	15	Kołodziej

Persondata
Name	Harris, Chris
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	28 November 1982
Place of birth	Truro, England
Date of death
Place of death