PREVIEW: City racers chasing national and world glory

Holder then switches his attention to trying to capture the World Under 21 Championship with the first of three rounds taking place in Poland on Sunday (July 23).

Harris is hopeful of glory in a pairs event which features the top two riders (with a couple of exceptions) from all 10 second-tier clubs.

Harris said: “I’m really looking forward to it and hopefully we can bring the trophy back.

“It would be great for the club, the fans and the whole city if we could win some silverware.

“Jack is riding brilliantly at the moment and hopefully I can do my bit to back him up.

“But you only have to look at the line-up so he how many good riders there are in this league.

“Some people said it was a backwards step for me to come into the SGB Championship, but I never saw it that way.”

Panthers feature in Group A along with Glasgow, Ipswich, Workington and Scunthorpe.

Group B is made up of Edinburgh, Newcastle, Sheffield, Redcar and Berwick with the two highest-scoring teams from each section advancing to the latter stages.

It’s a busy time for Holder who also has his sights set on World Under 21 Championship glory in his final attempt.

The 21 year-old competes in the three-round series for the last time this year and he is desperate to make up for a near-miss in 2016. Holder was pipped to overall bronze by British talent - and former Panthers rider Robert Lambert - 12 months ago in a run-off after they finished locked together in the standings.

“It’s my last chance to win it and I’ll do everything I can to make that happen,” said Aussie ace Holder. “I was gutted to come so close to a medal last year, but hopefully I make this year better.

“There are lots of good riders in it and the racing will be tough, but I’m looking to come out on top.

“Things have been going really well for me this year. Riding in two leagues has worked great, I’ve been scoring plenty of points and I’m feeling good.”

Holder’s countryman Max Fricke is the defending World Under 21 champion. He has been handed a wildcard after failing to qualify from the semi-final in Italy that was won by Holder.

The second and third rounds, at German track Gustrow and Czech venue Pardubice, follow in September.

World Under 21 Championship line-up: Kacper Woryna (Poland), Alex Woentin (Sweden), Jevgenijs Kostigovs (Latvia), Brady Kurtz (Australia), Robert Lambert (Great Britain), Bartosz Smektala (Poland), Lukas Fienhage (Germany), Rafal Karczmarz (Poland), Andreas Lyager (Denmark), Maksym Drabik (Poland), Max Fricke (Australia), Eduard Krcmar (Czech Republic), Patrick Hansen (Denmark), Dominik Kubera (Poland), Dimitri Berge (France), Jack Holder (Australia).