'Bomber' will bounce back for another crack at the World Championships next year

The Peterborough Panthers skipper admitted: ‘I just wasn’t quick enough,’ in the last round of the event in Muhldorf, Germany.

Harris led by a single point going into the last of the six rounds, but knew he had lost his chance of his first world crown when he could only finish third in the last-chance race from which only the first two went into the Grand Final.

It left him watching as his former Coventry teammate Martin Smolinski took the points he needed to win his second title in six years.

Harris also dropped vital points in his third race when he stopped and revealed: “The carburettor on my bike came off. I don’t know why because two of my mechanics checked and made sure it was on tight before the race.

“Everything was double checked and treble checked and I don’t know if it was the force when I got hit with the roost from riders who were in front of me.

“Sometimes the force of the shale splits the rubbers and I was running fourth and the with the force of the shale hitting my arms, I could see why it could come off. My whole body is black and blue from being hit by the shale from other riders’ back wheels.

“Even if I hadn’t stopped I think I would have been in the Last Chance heat, in which I finished third so didn’t go into the Final. The big difference is I would have had a better choice of starting position, because I didn’t get any points from that race I had the last pick of gate.”

The Panthers’ crowd-pleaser has a quick chance to go for gold again this weekend – as Great Britain aim for victory in the FIM Long Track of Nations at Roden, Holland, on Sunday.

He will team up with Zach Wajtknecht, who was fourth overall on Sunday, Andrew Appleton and 48-year-old veteran Paul Hurry, who rode for the Panthers in their title-winning side in 1992, who will double up as team manager.

“Zach had a good last round and Andrew has had a good season so you must have a good chance of the gold,” he said.

But if the Brits do take top spot it will be small consolation for missing out on the world title.

Bomber added: “I’ve been fourth, third and second now in the last few years and I’ll be trying for that next step again next year.

“I definitely always go for the win, but a lot of people in the world haven’t achieved what they wanted to achieve and don’t live out their dream. A lot of people have never been second in the world, but I always want more and I want that gold so there is more to achieve.

“We are already in next year’s championship and as soon as the meeting finished on Sunday, my sponsor Shaun Harvey of Northeast Demolition UK Limited and the team, who were as disappointed as me, said they are already planning for next year and they are all going to be back. They are as hungry to win as I am.”

Harris won two of the six rounds, was second and also third, but missed out on the title because of two poor meetings, the first and the last.

He added: “The first one was bad and the last one as well. I started off rubbish and finished pretty bad so we have got to make a better start next year and then finish better.”