Chris Louis

Christopher Louis (born 9 July 1969)[1] is a former international Motorcycle speedway motorcycle rider from England, who primarily rode for the Ipswich Witches . He is the son of former Great Britain International John Louis.[2][3][4]

For those of a similar name, see Chris Lewis (disambiguation).

Chris Louis
Chris Louis. U-21 WC 1990, Lvov.
Born (1969-07-09) 9 July 1969
Ipswich, England
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
Great Britain
1988Hackney Kestrels
1989–2002, 2004–2008Ipswich Witches
Sweden
1994–1996Bysarna
Individual honours
1990World Under-21 Champion
1998, 2000British Champion
Team honours
2000European Club Champion
1998Elite League Champion
1998Elite League KO Cup Winner
1998Craven Shield Winner
1991Elite League Four Team Champion
1988National League Champion
1988National League KO Cup Winner

Career

Louis is former schoolboy grasstrack champion. He started his professional career at Hackney before moving to Ipswich in 1989 where he rode to the end of his riding career. He has missed a couple of seasons due to injury. He became the World Under-21 Champion after winning the 1990 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship.

Chris Louis made history in 1993 when he became the first son of a former World Finalist to also qualify for the World Final when he finished in third place in Pocking, Germany. Louis tied with former champion Hans Nielsen of Denmark in 11 points, only 1 point behind winner Sam Ermolenko of the United States. In a run-off to decide overall second place, Nielsen defeated Chris Louis who had to settle for third in his World Final debut.

Louis also qualified for the 1994 World Final in Vojens, Denmark but was unable to repeat his 1993 form and finished a disappointing 12th scoring only six points.

Chris Louis qualified for the new Speedway Grand Prix series which replaced the former World Final in 1995. He finished a career best 7th in the 1995 SGP with a best finish of third in 1995 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland. In 1996, he was extremely unfortunate not to be crowned the Premier League Riders Champion, after an engine failure denied him when he was leading on the last lap of the final.[5]

He continued to take part in the SGP series as a regular rider until 2000, with his best finishes being second placings in the 1998 Danish and Swedish GP's and the 1999 British GP. He rode in selected events in 2001 before making his last appearance as wild card in 2004.

During his career, Chris won trophies in the UK, Poland, Sweden and Germany, and in 1998 and 2000 he followed his father's footsteps by becoming British Speedway Champion (John Louis won in 1975). Chris Louis remained an ever present for Ipswich for 19 seasons, from 1989 to 2008, with the exception of missing the 2003 season with a back injury.[6]

Louis maintained his relationship with Ipswich becoming both their team manager and promoter but he stepped down as team manager in 2014.[7] He remains as promoter leading into the SGB Premiership 2023 season.[8]

Personal

Louis is married to Julie and the couple have two daughters: Hannah and Freya Louis.

World Final appearances

Speedway Grand Prix results
YearPositionPointsBest finishNotes
19957th773rd3rd Polish GP
19968th545thBest finish in German GP
19979th595thBest finish in Danish GP
19985th592nd2nd in Denmark and Sweden
199912th502nd2nd in British GP
200010th603rdBest finish in Czech Republic and Poland
200127th619thBest finish in German GP
200432nd4

References
  1. Oakes, P.(2004). British Speedway Who's Who. ISBN 0-948882-81-6
  2. Montague, Trevor (2004). The A-Z of Sport. Little, Brown. p. 523. ISBN 0-316-72645-1.
  3. "2008 Rider index" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  4. "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  5. "American ace survives late drama". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 21 October 1996. Retrieved 7 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "Louis mulls over speedway future". Ipswich Star. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  7. "UPDATED: Chris Louis explains why he stepped down as Ipswich Witches' team manager". Ipswich Star. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  8. "Positive vibes for Ipswich". British Speedway. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
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