Chris
Harris began his racing career at the age of six and a half by competing in
grass-track events. His talent quickly became apparent when he began to win all
of the junior age groups in the South-West area.
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.
However,
it was on the individual front Harris was most successful. In the World
Under-21 Championship, he was won both his quarter and semi final
rounds,progressing to the final
in Sweden.
In the World
Final itself 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. In 2005, 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. [4]He
also represented Great
Britain in the World
Cup.[5]
2007
again saw Harris win the BBC South West Sports Personality of the Year and
also winner of the motorsport catogry.
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. [6][7]
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.[8]
Winning
the Grand Prix was considered to be the biggest event to happen in British
Speedway for several years.[9]
Chris Harris picked up
the first piece of silverware for 2008 in Sunday’s New Year Classic
at Newport.
Harris was a class
above the rest of the field scoring 14 points from his qualifying
rides, and also produced the goods in the Grand Final claiming victory
from Brent Werner, Leigh Lanham and Ritchie Hawkins.
Scorers: Chris Harris 14, Brent Werner 11, Ritchie Hawkins 10, Leigh
Lanham 9, Krysztof Stojanowski 8, Paul Fry 8, Phil Morris 7, Adam
Roynon 7, Lewis Bridger 6, Ricky Ashworth 4, Marek Mroz 3, Marcin
Kozdras 1
Grand Final
Result:
Harris, Werner Lanham, Hawkins
Chris Harris
WINS BBC Midlands 2007 Sports Personality of the Year Award
Coventry Bees' British speedway
champion Chris 'Bomber' Harris has been named as the BBC Midlands
Sports Personality of the Year.
Also The Coventree Bees won the team
award for securing three trophies at the awards ceremony hosted by
Nick Owen at the National Motorcycle Museum on Sunday 2nd Dec
Chris
Harris wins the BBC South West Sports Personality of the Year
Award
Cornwall's British Speedway Grand Prix
winner Chris Harris has walked away with the top prize at the 2007 BBC
South West Sports Awards.
The former Trelawney Tiger and Exeter
Falcons rider won the public vote for the BBC South West Sports
Personality of the Year.
He beat England rugby captain Phil
Vickery into second place with round-the-world yachtsman Sir Robin
Knox-Johnston in third.
Chris Harris, 2007
Sports Personality of the Year
Harris travelled especially from a
cancer fundraising event in Hertfordshire to collect his award at the
awards ceremony, which was held at Sandy Park, Exeter on Sunday 25
November 2007.
He was also named winner in the
motorsport category, beating three-time world touring car champion Andy
Priaulx.
HARRIS COLLECTS TOP AWARD
Wester Morning News
11:00 - 27 November 2007
Cornishman Chris
Harris crowned a memorable sporting year for himself when he picked up
the BBC South West Sports Personality of the Year on Sunday evening.
The Coventry and Great Britain speedway star beat England rugby captain
Phil Vickery into second place and round-the-world yachtsman Sir Robin
Knox-Johnston in third.
It was just reward for the Truro-born racer, who turns 25 tomorrow.
Harris has enjoyed a remarkable season, both with his club side and
individually, where he claimed not only the Individual British title,
but also the British Grand Prix in front of 40,000 people at Cardiff's
Millennium Stadium.
Having earlier
landed the honours in the Motorsport category, Harris then triumphed -
for the second time in his career - by landing the BBC's top prize ahead
of Vickery, Knox-Johnson, Mary King, Ian Holloway and Andy Caddick.
Speaking following the awards ceremony held at Exeter's Sandy Park
Stadium, Harris - who earlier in the day had driven down from a charity
fundraising event at Rye House - said: "I knew I was up for two
awards, so that's why I made the long journey to be here.
"To pick up the main award of the night is a real honour for me and
it caps what has been a fantastic year for me.
"I was probably more nervous sitting in the crowd here than I was
when I was racing in Cardiff. I've had a lot of success this year, both
on the team front and individually, but I think winning in Cardiff - in
my debut season in the Grand Prix - was probably the biggest highlight
as it was in front of 40,000 people."
Harris was just one of a number of winners selected by the BBC panel
following a superb 12 months of sporting action across the region.
HARRIS IS NOMINATED FOR TWO
BBC SPORTS PERSONALITY AWARDS
Former
Falcon and fans favourite Chris Harris is in the nominations for TWO !!
BBC Sports personality of the year awards, both the Midlands and the
South West.
Chris's
achiements this year British
Champion, British GP Champion, Vice-Captain of the EL Champions
Copventry, KOC Champions Coventry, Craven Shield Champions Coventr. No1
British Rider in the ELRC.
To vote for Chris in the South
West Awards ring
09015 225 302
To vote for Chris in The Midlands
Awards ring
09015 225 204
Chris
Harris was voted Rider of the Year as the Coventry Buildbase Bees brought
the curtain down on a vintage season with their presentation night.
Around
300 supporters and officials attended the function, which officially
completed the most successful campaign in the Coventry Buildbase Bees'
history, as they won all three major trophies.
Harris
won the top award, backed by the Nuneaton Speedway Supporters' Club, for
the second year in succession and also took the prize for most improved
average.
At
the Speedway Riders' Association awards ceremony Harris finishing second
to Leigh Adams in a poll of Elite League riders.
Chris Harris
sensationally won the British Grand Prix in front of a record crown at the
Millennium Stadium Cardiff.
The
Cornishman in last place going into the first bend passed 1stLeigh
Adams then reigning World Champion Jason Crump before chasing down clear
leader Greg Hancock. Harris threatened to go around Hancock as they
entered the final bend Hancock then tried to counter this move by moving
off-line to cover him only for Harris switched back and get his wheels in
line first to win the race to the chequered flag - sparking scenes of wild
celebration at Cardiff.
Harris had
been involved in some of the best moments all night in an action-packed
meeting as he held the joint-lead with 12 points at the end of the
qualifying races. He had survived a particularly scary incident when
Andreas Jonsson lost control just as Harris was rounding him, but the
Swede lost control before landing heavily on his shoulder.
In the
semi-final Harris had some good fortune, when Nicki Pedersen crash on turn
two and was excluded. At the second time of asking, and not for the 1st
time Harris was beaten from the start, he took his time and reeled
in Hampel and passed the Pole on the last lap - that was dramatic enough,
but what was to follow will go down as one of the greatest moments in
British speedway history.
This victory
now takes Harris to fifth position overall as the Grand Prix.
Chris
Harris had this to say:
"It's a
dream result. When I was on top of the rostrum I didn't know whether to
laugh, smile or cry, it's just an awesome feeling. Everyone wants to win
at Cardiff and I'm lucky enough to be the one to have done it. It's such a
long time since there's been a British winner and it's great to end that
record."
"I knew
that if I could make a good first couple of corners I'd hopefully be able
to get into a good position, and also if anyone else made a mistake I'd be
there, and it happened. Now we're hoping to keep things rolling for the
rest of the season!"
"Although
the track was not the best we have ridden on this season, I was
relatively happy with the track - I was probably helped out tonight by
my grass-tracking days and the experience of riding on rough tracks
like we had at St Austell and Exeter from time to time,"
explained Harris.
Harris is speedway's
Hamilton
The Sun
By VIC RIGBY July 02, 2007
CHRIS
HARRIS rode speedway’s greatest four laps to win the British
Grand Prix and become the sport’s own Lewis Hamilton.
Harris — like Hamilton, a GP rookie
this season — roared from last to first in the final as a
42,000 record crowd almost lifted the roof off the Millennium
Stadium.
GB World Cup boss Neil Middleditch
said: “That was the greatest four laps of speedway I’ve
seen.
CHRIS
HARRIS confirmed he is speedway's hottest new kid on the block
with a thrilling maiden Grand Prix win at the Millennium Stadium
on Saturday night.
Harris,
24, produced a trademark ride, coming from behind in the final
to overtake Leigh Adams and reigning world champion Jason Crump,
before sneaking past Greg Hancock on the last corner.
A SUPERB, jaw-dropping British Grand Prix was won by the local hero in
his rookie season at this level.
Just imagine the reaction if this was
Silverstone, if this was Lewis Hamilton. Instead it was
Cardiff’s superb Millennium Stadium, and beneath its
reverberating roof the star was 24-year-old Cornishman Chris
Harris, a motorsport hero for the people.
Quote
But so it proved as the tapes lifted at
the start with Harris left trailing in fourth as the quartet
jockeyed into the first bend. Out of the apex and into bend two
he still trailed but then his dogged maneuvering and eye for an
opening saw him reel in Adams and, eventually, Crump as they
began the final lap.
Hancock still looked to be in charge but incredibly, as Harris
feinted to go one way or the other, he found a line on the final
bend to challenge and pipped him by the narrowest of margins in
the charge to the chequered flag.
The place erupted – imagine a thousand angry wasps buzzing in
a sealed tin can, then add a chorus of thousands of air horns.
It was bedlam, it was brilliant.
Chris Harris gave England
their most exhilarating evening for seven years with a British
Grand Prix victory in front of a record 41,247 crowd at
Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
Slicing under Australians
Jason Crump and Leigh Adams on the second turn of the final, the
Coventry racer gave chase to Greg Hancock, capturing the lead
with an outside dash on the back straight of the final lap and
holding firm as the American challenged hard on the last corner.
By IVAN SPECK
- Last updated at 22:54pm on
1st July 2007
Daily Mail
Picture the scene. An Englishman in his
first year in the World Championship wins the British Grand Prix
amid scenes of searing patriotism.
Lewis Hamilton, right? Well, maybe,
come next Sunday at Silverstone.
But wait. The Englishman in question
wins with acts of daring, courage and breathtaking overtaking
manoeuvres, passing his rivals time and again to send the fans
into raptures.
THE ROOF nearly came off Cardiff's
Millennium Stadium as an extremely noisy British crowd hailed a
new hero in Chris Harris.
It was like a dream come true for the
bumper partisan crowd as the 24-year-old Cornishman stormed to
victory in the grand final of the supercharged British Grand
Prix - one of the best speedway GPs to be staged since the world
championship was re-vamped 12 years ago.
BRITISH
speedway star Chris Harris set the pace for Formula One
ace Lewis Hamilton yesterday ; by winning his home Grand
Prix in only his first season.
Wonderkid
Hamilton has stolen the sporting limelight with his
heroics lately, and will want to crown it with a win at
Silverstone next week.
And he
could do far worse than take a leaf out of Harris
book.
The
Coventry Bees ace produced the ride of a lifetime at the
Millennium Stadium last night to better his third place
in Poland and spark wild crowd celebrations.
The
24-year-old, who was racing in only his sixth GP, said
afterwards: It is awesome, it is just a dream.
