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.[5] In 1998, aged 15, he turned 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. Despite the death of his father, who was his driver and mentor, he 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.[6]
In 2000, Harris 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.[7] He soon became their top scorer and qualified for the 2001 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship 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 and international debut
Harris riding for Coventry in 2007
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 rode again 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.[8]
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.[9] He also represented Great Britain in the Speedway World Cup.[citation needed] Harris continued to ride for Coventry until 2011.
International success
Harris in 2007
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.[10] Winning the Grand Prix was considered to be the biggest event to happen in British Speedway for several years.[11]
Harris won the British Championship twice more in 2009 and 2010 and for the first time since 2004, Harris would not ride for Coventry after he moved on loan to Belle Vue Aces for the 2011 Elite League speedway season.[14] He continued to perform well in the 2011 World Championship including a 2nd-place finish in the Croatian Grand Prix. After another season with Coventry in 2012, he would join Birmingham Brummies for the 2013 season.[14] In 2014, he returned to Coventry until the end of the 2016 season.[14]
Despite Harris finishing his Grand Prix appearances he continued to impress in Britain. He finished his Grand Prix career with a record of 103 meetings, nine finals, one win and 608 points. He also decided to compete in both divisions of the British league for the first time in 2017, riding for Rye House Rockets and Peterborough.[14] He was part of the Peterborough team that won the SGB Championship Fours, which was held on 6 August 2017, at the East of England Arena.[15]
He continued to ride in both divisions and made debuts for Glasgow Tigers, Poole Pirates and Ipswich Witches in 2018 and Somerset Rebels and Berwick Bandits in 2019.[14] He won another fours championships, this time as part of the Somerset team that won the Fours, held on 23 June 2019, at the East of England Arena.[16]
