Speedway stalwart responds to fan backlash after claims he ‘stamped’ on competitor

Speedway veteran Chris Harris has taken to social media to respond to fan criticism after footage from a race meeting appeared to show him stamping on another rider.

Harris was riding for the Glasgow Tigers in their meeting against the Plymouth Gladiators when he had a run in with Gladiators rider Ben Barker.

TV images from the race show the two involved in an altercation after a heat. The two come together and Barker falls off his bike. Harris then gets of his bike and makes a motion with his leg that fans have assumed is a stamp. This, Harris, says, was not the case, though.

“After the race, Ben [Barker] deliberately came round to confront me and threatened to put me in the fence,” Harris wrote in a Facebook post.

“He then made contact with me and came off, leaving both bikes tangled together.

“As I stepped off my bike, his bike was directly in the space where I needed to put my foot. I had nowhere to put it, so I was trying to free myself and kick the bike out of the way so I could get clear.

“I then went to step across the bike to untangle everything and help him up, but before I could, the mechanics intervened.

“The opinion: I stamped on him.

“The fact: I did not stamp on him.

“The TV footage only showed the incident from one camera angle, and I understand why that angle may give a completely different impression.

“The movement people are interpreting as a ‘stamp’ was me trying to get my foot down, free myself and move the bike that was in my way.

“It was a heated incident, absolutely, but I want to be completely clear: I did not stamp on him.”