John Louis (speedway rider): Difference between revisions

John Louis
Born	14 June 1941 (age 83); Ipswich, England
Nickname	Tiger
Nationality	British (English)
Career history
1970–1980	Ipswich Witches
1970	Newport Wasps
1970	West Ham Hammers
1971	Oxford Cheetahs
1971	Wembley Lions
1981–1982	Halifax Dukes
1983–1984	King's Lynn Stars
Individual honours
1971	British League Div II Riders' Champion
1975	British Champion
1976	Southern Riders' Champion
1979	British League Riders' Champion
1971, 1978, 1979	Second City Trophy
1972, 1979	Star of Anglia
1974	Superama
1975	Pride of the East
1975, 1978	Golden Sovereign
1975	Golden Gauntlets
Team honours
1970, 1971	British League Div II KO Cup winner
1972, 1974, 1975	World Team Cup Winner
1975, 1976	British League Champion
1976, 1978	British League KO Cup winner
1976	World Pairs Champion
1976, 1977	British League Pairs Champion
1976	Spring Gold Cup

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Revision as of 20:48, 16 May 2023

John "Tiger" Louis (born 14 June 1941)^[1] is a former England international motorcycle speedway rider^[2] who rode for Ipswich, Newport, West Ham, Oxford, Wembley, Halifax and King's Lynn during his career. He is the father of Great Britain International Chris Louis.^[3]

Career history

Ipswich born Louis started his motorcycling career in scrambling and was tempted to have a go at speedway when Ipswich re-opened in 1969. He made his debut in 1970 and by the following year topped the national Second Division averages. In 1972 Ipswich gained admission to the top flight by purchasing West Ham's licence and Louis spearheaded the Witches team, making his World Final debut at London's Wembley Stadium in 1972, finishing in 5th place.

Louis finished fourth at the 1974 World Final at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden and improved to third in the 1975 World Final at Wembley - becoming the first British rider to stand on the World Championship podium since Peter Craven in 1962. Louis was part of the Great Britain Speedway World Team Cup winning team of 1972 and England's 1974 and 1975 winning teams.

John Louis was World Pairs Champion in 1976 with Malcolm Simmons and finished sixth in his last World Final appearance in Poland. He also captained Ipswich to the British League title in 1975 and 1976 and the British League Pairs Championship with Billy Sanders during 1976 and 1977.^[4] Louis was also the British Champion in 1975 (Chris Louis would win the British Championship in 1998 and 2000 making them the first father-son to do so).

He was British League Division Two Riders Champion in 1971 and British League Riders Champion in 1979. In 1981 Louis joined Halifax, spending two seasons at The Shay before signing for a season at King's Lynn in 1983. He retired from riding in 1984 and is now the promoter of the Ipswich Witches.

He retired as the promoter of Ipswich in 2019.

World Final Appearances

Individual World Championship

1972 – London, Wembley Stadium – 5th – 11pts
1974 – Gothenburg, Ullevi – 4th – 9pts
1975 – London, Wembley Stadium – 3rd – 12pts + 3pts
1976 – Chorzów, Silesian Stadium – 6th – 9pts

World Pairs Championship

1975 – Wrocław, Olympic Stadium (with Peter Collins) – 4th – 20pts (13)
1976 – Eskilstuna, Eskilstuna Motorstadion (with Malcolm Simmons) – Winner – 27pts (17)

World Team Cup

1972* – Olching, Olching Speedwaybahn (with Ivan Mauger / Ray Wilson / Terry Betts) Winner – 36pts (9)
1974 – Chorzów, Silesian Stadium (with Peter Collins / Malcolm Simmons / Dave Jessup) Winner – 42pts (12)
1975 – Norden, Motodrom Halbemond (with Malcolm Simmons / Martin Ashby / Peter Collins) – Winner – 41pts (8)

* 1972 for Great Britain. All others for England.

References

^ Oakes, P.(2004). British Speedway Who's Who. ISBN 0-948882-81-6
^ Lawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. ISBN 978-0-244-72538-9
^ Montague, Trevor (2004). The A-Z of Sport. Little, Brown. p. 524. ISBN 0-316-72645-1.
^ "Speedway". Daily Mirror. 20 October 1976. Retrieved 16 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.

External links

John Louis – Celebrating 40 years in speedway

[1] Oakes, P.(2004). British Speedway Who's Who. ISBN 0-948882-81-6

[2] Lawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. ISBN 978-0-244-72538-9

[3] Montague, Trevor (2004). The A-Z of Sport. Little, Brown. p. 524. ISBN 0-316-72645-1.

[4] "Speedway". Daily Mirror. 20 October 1976. Retrieved 16 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 | birth_place = [[Ipswich]], England
-| years1 = 1970–80
+| years1 = 1970–1980
 | career1 = [[Ipswich Witches]]
 | years2 = 1970
@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 | years5 = 1971
 | career5 = [[Wembley Lions (speedway)|Wembley Lions]]
-| years6 = 1981–82
+| years6 = 1981–1982
 | career6 = [[Halifax Dukes]]
-| years7 = 1983–84
+| years7 = 1983–1984
 | career7 = [[King's Lynn Stars]]
 | indivyear1 = 1971
@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
 Ipswich born Louis started his motorcycling career in [[Motocross|scrambling]] and was tempted to have a go at speedway when Ipswich re-opened in 1969. He made his debut in 1970 and by the following year topped the national Second Division averages. In 1972 Ipswich gained admission to the top flight by purchasing West Ham's licence and Louis spearheaded the Witches team, making his [[Speedway World Championship|World Final]] debut at London's [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]] in [[1972 Individual Speedway World Championship|1972]], finishing in 5th place.
-Louis finished fourth at the [[1974 Individual Speedway World Championship|1974 World Final]] at the [[Ullevi|Ullevi Stadium]] in [[Gothenburg]], [[Sweden]] and improved to third in the [[1975 Individual Speedway World Championship|1975 World Final]] at Wembley - becoming the first British rider to stand on the World Championship podium since [[Peter Craven]] in 1962.  Louis was part of the Great Britain [[Speedway World Team Cup]] winning team of [[1972 Speedway World Team Cup|1972]] and [[England national speedway team|England's]] [[1974 Speedway World Team Cup|1974]] and [[1975 Speedway World Team Cup|1975]] winning teams.
+Louis finished fourth at the [[1974 Individual Speedway World Championship|1974 World Final]] at the [[Ullevi|Ullevi Stadium]] in [[Gothenburg]], [[Sweden]] and improved to third in the [[1975 Individual Speedway World Championship|1975 World Final]] at Wembley - becoming the first British rider to stand on the World Championship podium since [[Peter Craven]] in 1962. Louis was part of the Great Britain [[Speedway World Team Cup]] winning team of [[1972 Speedway World Team Cup|1972]] and [[England national speedway team|England's]] [[1974 Speedway World Team Cup|1974]] and [[1975 Speedway World Team Cup|1975]] winning teams.
-John Louis was [[Speedway World Pairs Championship|World Pairs Champion]] in [[1976 Speedway World Pairs Championship|1976]] with [[Malcolm Simmons]] and finished sixth in his last [[1976 Individual Speedway World Championship|World Final]] appearance in [[Poland]]. He also captained Ipswich to the [[British League]] title in [[1975 British League season|1975]] and [[1976 British League season|1976]]. Louis was also the [[British Speedway Championship|British Champion]] in 1975 (Chris Louis would win the British Championship in 1998 and 2000 making them the first father-son to do so).
+John Louis was [[Speedway World Pairs Championship|World Pairs Champion]] in [[1976 Speedway World Pairs Championship|1976]] with [[Malcolm Simmons]] and finished sixth in his last [[1976 Individual Speedway World Championship|World Final]] appearance in Poland. He also captained Ipswich to the [[British League]] title in [[1975 British League season|1975]] and [[1976 British League season|1976]] and the [[British League Pairs Championship]] with [[Billy Sanders]] during 1976 and 1977.<ref>{{cite news |title=Speedway |work=Daily Mirror  |date=20 October 1976 |access-date=16 May 2023 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19761020/226/0031 | via = [[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Louis was also the [[British Speedway Championship|British Champion]] in 1975 (Chris Louis would win the British Championship in 1998 and 2000 making them the first father-son to do so).
 He was [[Speedway Premier League Riders Championship|British League Division Two Riders Champion]] in 1971 and [[British League Riders' Championship|British League Riders Champion]] in 1979. In 1981 Louis joined Halifax, spending two seasons at [[The Shay]] before signing for a season at King's Lynn in 1983. He retired from riding in 1984 and is now the promoter of the Ipswich Witches.