Ivan Mauger V Britain's Best
Part 6: John Louis and John Davis
By Tracy Holmes

There are another two riders some may be wondering about. Yes indeed, John Louis and John Davis. They were not on my list as I never considered either possible World Final winners who just missed that magical X-factor. And not for any lack of ability, drive, skill or attitude. I always considered them to be possible place-getters and for John 'Tiger' Louis, I was right.

Not getting involved with Speedway until his late 20's, coming from a MotoX background, he got very good, very quickly. Starting in September 1969, by the end of the 70s he had won three World Team Cup Gold Medals, was World Pairs Champion with Malcolm Simmons, British Champion and won the BLRC. He also took a Gold Medal at the 1973 Daily Mirror International Tournament. On the biggest stage of all, he made it to four World Finals.

1972. Wembley. 11 points to finish 5th.
1974. Gothenburg. 9 points to finish 4th.
1975. Wembley. 12 points to finish 3rd.
1976. Chorzow. 9 points to finish 6th.

He was more than good enough to ride in the next five. But failing to qualify each year was more down to the disastrous qualifying system rather than any lack of determination. And we won't forget that in 1973, he was prevented from riding in the last round because of a fuel infringement at the previous one. He was clearly innocent of any wrong doing but the FIM took a hard line and that year's World Final was like those of 1977-1981, missing one of its brightest stars.

I believe that John fulfilled his potential at Wembley in 1975. Beaten only by Peter Collins, Ole Olsen and Anders Michanek.

Scorechart; Ole Olsen 15. Anders Michanek 13. John Louis 12. Ivan Mauger 12. Peter Collins 10. Phil Crump 10. Malcolm Simmons 10. Viktor Trofimov 8.

In defeating Ivan Mauger for the Bronze Medal, he became only the second rider to beat the six times World Champion twice in the same World Final. The other? Jerzy Szczakiel in 1973.

Oh dear me, I can hear the uneducated bleat all the way from Kiwiland, "The only way he did that was because he was a Polish rider at a Polish World Final." Well, do they say the same for John Louis? "The only way he did that was because he was a British rider at a British World Final."

Not a chance. Would that have been utter Bollocks? Yes of course and it's the same for Szczakiel. Both riders mastered Mauger those days and thoroughly deserve their honoured places in Speedway history. Talking of his Wembley run-off success,

"The one thing that stands out for me was the start. I just knew he would come up to the tapes and then turn back again, he always did so to try and unsettle his opponent. But I was determined that he wasn't going to psyche me out and I was ready for it. I didn't take any notice of him and just stayed still at the start, waiting for the tapes to go up. I was totally focussed on what I had to do."

The following year at Chorzow, John went into the World Final under an injury cloud.

"The shoulder was still aching like hell but it was PC's day and he deserved it 100 per cent."

After being beaten by Mauger in round one, John was in the famous heat 7 with Collins and Malcolm Simmons. That injury may very well have played its part as to why he made no further impact after the first lap.

Scorechart; Peter Collins 14. Malcolm Simmons 13. Phil Crump 12. Ivan Mauger 11. Zenon Plech 11. John Louis 9. Doug Wyer 8. Egon Muller 8.

Imagine for a minute if he had started Speedway just a few years earlier. This may have been a completely different Tantalizing Tiger Tale.

"People say to me that I might have become World Champion if I'd started earlier but I look back on having a superb time, learning to ride motorcycles from a very young age and then turning to something else later on. Remember, Speedway wasn't run at Ipswich between 1965 and 1969, so I never had thoughts about becoming a Speedway rider then. Looking back, there were a lot of good riders around then and I think I achieved as much as I could. There's always that chance that one better start here or there could have made all the difference. But I enjoyed it."

Another piece of Speedway history that John can be hugely proud of, his son Chris took the Bronze Medal at the 1993 World Final.

Let's look now at John Davis. Winner of two World Team Cup Gold Medals. The Daily Express Spring Classic as well as the CZ Golden Helmet. And in the 1978 Internationale, he lost the triple run-off to Peter Collins and Malcolm Simmons. Also, he made it to three World Finals.

1977. Gothenburg. Reserve, did not ride.
1980. Gothenburg. 9 points to finish 6th.
1988. Vojens. 3 points to finish 12th.

Just like John Louis, JD was good enough to have been at every World Final from 1977 through to the mid 80s. And he too may have been more a victim of the rubbish qualifying system than lacking any necessary ambition. In saying that, Ivan Mauger made 14 consecutive Finals, doing whatever it took to overcome injury or unforeseen occurrence. True, it may be very unfair to compare Louis and Davis to 'The Big I' but that's what this series has been about.

The 1980 World Final was where JD showed his true class and he would have scored ten points but for problems in the last round. Heat 18, Mike Lee needed one point to secure the Gold Medal. JD had the lead with Lee in second place until it looked like an intentional move by JD, that allowed Lee to ride by. In a 2020 interview, JD said,

"Don Godden went mad. He thought I'd let Mike pass me. Godden had machined the engine bolts, like drilled them hollow, everything was super light. Three out of five engine bolts snapped where they were too tight and the whole bike was vibrating which caused the fuel to froth up and the bike started missing. It looks like I shut off going into the first corner of the last lap. I actually didn't, it was just the bike wouldn't keep going. The whole bike was vibrating like shit!"

So that cost JD double figures.

Scorechart; Mike Lee 14. Dave Jessup 12. Billy Sanders 12. Jan Andersson 11. Bruce Penhall 9. John Davis 9. Peter Collins 8. Chris Morton 8.

Somehow, JD missed out on qualifying over the next several years. In 1985, Kenny Carter won the British Final unbeaten. Second with 14 points, JD. Both were favourites to reach that year's World Final, to be staged at the Bradford 'hole in the ground' that made Norden look like the garden of Eden. But it was disaster in the last round. Richard Clark wrote this for 'Five-1';

"John was pulling on the Reading bib again by the time 1985 racing got underway. He enjoyed a good year too, although personal ambition was wrecked in one of his increasingly frequent clashes with Kenny Carter. This one came in heat 6 of the Intercontinental Final at Vetlanda. John got to the first turn in second place [ behind Shawn Moran ] but never came out of the corner as Carter reared and rammed sideways into JD, bringing down three riders in total. [ Andy Smith also involved ] Carter broke a leg, JD soldiered on aboard his second bike, too battered to make much impact. Another year, another opportunity gone."

Eventually he did make it for one last 'Hurrah' but the less said about his three points at Vojens in 1988, the better.

If the World Final was 'Wimbledon', the CZ Golden Helmet was the 'French Open'. THE biggest meeting Mauger never won. And if the genie out of the bottle offered JD a World Final Bronze Medal, at the cost of his Golden Helmet, I'm 100% sure what the answer would be!

'Tiger' and 'Mavis' were true Speedway 'Superstars' with the Silverware they so thoroughly deserved. Neither compared to Mauger when it came to 'winning' the World Final, but Louis did get his ultimate night of glory and Davis got his pot of Gold. Glittering rewards for their brilliant efforts, sliding over Speedway's racing rainbow.

This article was first published on 21st July 2024