Panthers helped Harris get back to his best form

Harris has produced double-figures scores in all six of his SGB Championship outings for Panthers since arriving at the end of May.

And he was also in high-scoring form for his country last Saturday night when racking up 13 points to help Great Britain to Event One victory at King’s Lynn.

That earned Alun Rossiter’s side a direct passage into the final in Leszno, Poland, on Saturday where they will face the host nation, Event Two winners Sweden, and the team who triumph in the Race-Off tomorrow (Friday).

Harris, who also rides for Rye House in the SGB Premiership, said: “I had some good meetings and some bad ones earlier in the year, but things have been much steadier since joining Peterborough.

“It is a move which came at the right time for me and the club. I needed more time on the bike and having that has made me more consistent.

“It is great to be back in the GB team and getting straight through to the final is even better. Everyone in the team is riding well and I don’t see why we can’t win it.

“Poland will obviously be the favourites with home advantage, but we just need a bit of luck on the day.

“A lot of people will write us off, so that means we can just relax, enjoy it and have fun.”

Harris, back in the GB side after being overlooked last year, will become the all-time leading Great Britain appearance-maker in the World Cup on Saturday night.

It will be his 25th outing for his country in the competition – one more than was managed by the legendary Peter Collins.

Harris, who won a bronze medal with GB back in 2006, also broke another record in Event One when his 13-point haul made him the leading Great Britain scorer in the competition. He now has 241.5 points, eclipsing the previous highest total of 240 from the late Lee Richardson.

Great Britain (53pts) beat Australia (44), USA (15) and the Czech Republic (13) in Event One.

Harris will then attempt to claim domestic glory later this month when representing Panthers in the SGB Championship Pairs.

All 10 second-tier clubs are represented in the annual meeting at Somerset on Friday, July 21 - the night before the British SGP in Cardiff.

Harris teams up with man-of-the-moment Jack Holder for Panthers and they are likely to be among the favourites for victory.

SGB CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRS

Group A: Glasgow (Richard Lawson/Aaron Summers), Panthers (Chris Harris/Jack Holder), Ipswich (Danny King/Rory Schlein), Workington (Thomas Jorgensen/Ty Proctor), Scunthorpe (Michael Palm Toft/Lewis Kerr).

Group B: Edinburgh (Sam Masters/Erik Riss), Newcastle (Robert Lambert/Steve Worrall), Sheffield (Josh Grajczonek/Kyle Howarth), Redcar (Charles Wright/Ben Barker), Berwick (Nick Morris/David Howe).