CHRIS HARRIS admitted he was “over the moon” to make the top five from the SGP Qualifier at Ashfield.
The Allied Vehicles Tigers captain finished second in a last-gasp run-off to finish in the last qualifying position for the SGP Challenge in Terenzano.
German Kai Huckenbeck delivered a sensational performance with a 15-point maximum to win ahead of World No.5 Jack Holder and Anders Rowe.
Fredrik Jakobsen won the vital last qualification run-off with Harris taking the second place ahead of Maciej Janowski.
Harris said: “I’m obviously over the moon. I made hard work of it in the end.
“I started really well and lost points towards the end of the meeting. But it’s a nice feeling to get the last spot in the run-off.
“I was fuming when I came in from my last ride because I needed and second and after that it was a run-off.
“Gating was vital and towards the end I had the wrong gates at the wrong times. All-in-all we managed to get over the line in the end.
“I’ve got a huge SGP Challenge now in Terenzano to try and get back in the series. The dream is still on. Five starts and we could be there!”
Huckenbeck was the outstanding performer on the night with several incredible rides from the back.
He admitted: “I’ve never been here before. It was a bit tricky to be honest because the track has a lot of banking, I’ve never seen it like that.
“I’m a rider who likes to ride around the fence, the track suited me pretty well.”
World No.5 Holder was also very classy on the way to 12 points and won a run-off over Sheffield team-mate Rowe for the runner-up spot.
He said: “I was confident and you just need points, points, points. It was tricky to get off the starts, it was quite greasy. Just glad to get the job done.”
The shock merchant of the night was Rowe grabbing third place.
He said: “I came into the meeting with no expectations. I had a bad week. I just went out there with no pressure and have some fun, enjoy my racing again.”
FIM SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER.
RESULT: Kai Huckenbeck 15, Jack Holder 12 (after run-off), Anders Rowe 12, Frederik Jakobsen 11 (after run-off), Chris Harris 11 (all qualify for GP Challenge), Maciej Janowski 11, Victor Palovaara 9, Adam Ellis 7, Jonas Knudsen 6, Tom Brennan (res) 4, Piotr Pawlicki 4, Mario Hausl 4, Casper Henriksson 4, Lasse Fredriksen 3, Daniel Klima 3, Sven Cerjak 2, Antti Vuolas 1, Sam Hagon (res) 1.