"Remembering John 'Tiger' Louis: A Speedway Legend" Rest In Peace!!
Date: NaT

Welcome back to my channel. I bring to you a sad story. A former British motorcycle speedway champion has died at the age of 82. Known as John "Tiger" Louis, because of his distinctive leathers, he was born in Ipswich and joined the Ipswich Witches in 1970. John Charles Louis (14 June 1941 – April 2024) was an English international motorcycle speedway rider. He was the father of Great Britain International Chris Louis. He earned 54 international caps for the England national speedway team and four caps for the Great Britain team. He later managed the England national team from 1994 to 1998. John Charles Louis was born in Ipswich on 14 June 1941. He 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. He won the British League Division Two Riders Championship, held at Hackney Wick Stadium on 2 October 1971. 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. 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). The following year, he was the 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. Louis won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 20 October 1979. In 1981, Louis joined Halifax, spending two seasons at The Shay before signing for a season at King's Lynn in 1983. Paying tribute to Louis, the club described him as "a legend" and said he was "a man this town will never forget". During his career he finished third at Wembley stadium in one of his four appearances in the world championship finals Following his retirement from speedway racing he became a promoter at Foxhall stadium - home of the Witches - before retiring from the role in 2019. Last month Louis and his son Chris, a former rider who is now involved in running the team, were inducted into British Speedway's Hall of Fame which "recognizes outstanding contributions to the sport over an extensive period of time". Please subscribe, like, share and follow for more content. If you would like to support my channel please send it to CashAPP:Director327 thank you for your gift, it is greatly appreciated. Thank you for Watching!!