CHRIS Harris prised back the British title he had relinquished to Scott Nicholls in 2008 as the old guard kept the young guns at bay for at least one more summer.

The 26-year-old Cornishman is always a firm favourite as a visiting rider to Poole.

And the Coventry rider produced a characteristic storming climax to last night’s meeting at Wimborne Road by cutting across Lee Richardson going into the first corner and going on to win the final in some comfort.

Edward Kennett completed a spectacular Bees one-two when he dived inside Richardson on the second bend to grab second place and the precious wild card into the British GP at Cardiff on June 27.

Tai Woffinden, who at 18 heads the next breed of British young guns hoping to yank the crown away from the grasp of two-times champion Harris and five-times winner Nicholls, was third after blasting outside Richardson on the pits bend at the same time as Kennett.

But you had to feel sorry for the Lakeside man, who’d dominated the meeting early on and had looked like he was going to lift his first senior national crown after 10 years of trying.

Hard as it is to believe, 30-year-old Richardson has not tasted senior glory, despite finishing second four times in the under-21 event.

He will feel he threw it away last night, especially as he had first choice of gate in the final after topping the qualifiers in impressive style, beaten only by Nicholls in heat 18 when it didn’t really matter that he finished second.

Richardson, who’d reeled off four straight wins before then, made a good gate off one.

But Harris, who’d battled hard from the back all night, was too cute for him, jetting out of trap three slightly in front, and then cutting off Richardson’s path to glory.

As Harris powered on, the Lakeside man, so brilliant for Hammers against Poole on the same track last week, was caught in no-man’s-land on the first and second bend.

Then he saw Kennett and Woffinden blast past at the same time on the pits bend, inside and out, as Richardson’s dream of a one-off return to the GP at the Millennium Stadium vanished as he trailed home at the back.

Kennett, a 22-year-old who seems to have been around a lot longer, has noticeably matured as a rider this season.

He’s added an extra thrust to his racing and deservedly held off Woffinden for runners-up spot, and the Cardiff GP slot.

Wolverhampton’s teenager had to battle hard to keep Richardson behind him and get on the podium, but surely it’s only a matter of time before Woffinden gets a GP wild card.

It might have been heartbreaking for Richardson, but Harris was still a more than deserving champion as his brilliant third-to-first burst to win heat three, and fourth-to-second heroics in race nine clearly demonstrated.

He produced most of the big moves, his fourth-to-first over the opening two laps in heat 14 being truly fantastic to haul in Lee Complin, James Wright and Joe Screen and take the chequered flag.

Harris blasted from fourth-to-first in race 20 as well, but was stunned by Kennett on the second lap, who squeezed outside him on the back straight to take the win.

A routine tapes-to-flag triumph in the semi-final, with Woffinden following him past early leader Nicholls to get through to the last four, bagged a final place.

Then Harris delivered after Richardson threw the title away with a poor start and hesitancy on the second corner.

Nicholls clearly lacked the cut and thrust of regularly British League action as he never really looked like equalling Barry Brigg’s record six British titles.

Teenager Lewis Bridger, so brilliant at Poole this year with Eastbourne, will see it as a big missed opportunity after bagging eight points from three rides and then disintegrating.

Luckless Daniel King was left rueing a costly tapes exclusion in heat eight as he missed out on the semis.

While a sluggish display from Screen, who took four rides to get going before ending with two gritty seconds, never ruined Pirates’ fans’ nights as another of speedway’s top events proved a big hit at Wimborne Road.