MCN talks to speedway star Chris 'Bomber' Harris

He might only be in his first full season of Speedway GP racing but Coventry Bees speedway star Chris ‘Bomber’ Harris finished a sensational third in this weekend’s round at Wroclaw, Poland.

MCN spoke to the 24-year-old this morning as he was unloading the van from to get his first-hand view of what it was like to be in the thick of battle, fighting the world’s top speedway stars.

MCN: Two third places in your first couple of races must have had you a bit concerned?

Harris: Yeah, I had a bit of a steady start really in my first two heats. Practice had gone okay so we kept the bike set-up exactly the same for the start of the then evening.

I’d walked the track with my crew chief just before racing started and our thinking was that even though the weather conditions had changed a little from practice the day before, the surface was still quite greasy.

MCN: So what happened?

Harris: In the deeper dirt the engine wasn’t quite pulling as strong as it had done in practice so we took the decision to up the gearing and change the carb jetting.

That made all the difference and I was able to win the next three races.

MCN: What went through your mind after the first win when you beat Runa Holta, Tomasz Gollob and Jarolaw Hampel – the latter two being Polish superstars and mega crowd favourites!

Harris: GP speedway is all new to me so I’m just taking each race as it comes. To be honest, even though I took the first win, I never thought I’d win three on the trot.

MCN: You had to line up against Greg Hancock, Hans Andersen and Leigh Adams, three pretty huge names in GP speedway in your semi and you still got through?

Harris: Things were going well for me so I thought, ‘if luck stays my way, why can’t I do something here?’ I had nothing to lose in the semi.

I didn’t make a great start and had to come from the back. I got Leigh on the first lap and then went by Greg on the final lap. I was trying outside and inside. Whatever it took.

MCN: How did it feel going into your first-ever Speedway GP final – especially against people like Niki Pedersen, Andersen and defending World Champion Jason Crump?

Harris: I was pretty focussed. I’ve got good guys around me and they helped me keep that focus. I’d already done way more than I expected so I just went out to enjoy the race.

I didn’t make a brilliant start again but still managed to keep third place, even with Crump trying everything to find a way by me.

MCN: So what’s next?

Harris: The next round is Eskilstuna in Sweden on May 26. I’m at Coventry tonight against Oxford then I’m in riding form my Swedish team Vastervik on Tuesday.

I’ve got nothing then until Friday when I’m riding for Coventry again. Saturday night I’m at Eastbourne, Sunday in Poland riding for Rybnik, then Monday I’m in Coventry.

I’m back out to Sweden for Vastervik the next night and I’ll stay out there for the GP at the weekend. It’s pretty hectic but nothing unusual in this business.

See GP speedway star, Chris Harris, showing Leon Haslam and Karl Harris how to ride speedway – coming soon to motorcyclenews.com