Les Owen

[Midland Red]

Passed away 16 years ago today. RIP Les.

[steve roberts]

Was always remembered at Cowley when involved in a crash with Arne Pander.

However thta's part of speedway and a character lost tragically when stepping in front of a train if I recall?

RIP

[BOBBATH]

Yes R.I.P. Les- I recall seeing  Les ride in 65,66,67- I recall him beating Martin Ashby in a Midland Riders Championship Qualifying Round  at Long Eaton in 1966-had to check my programs. When did he have that terrible accident which both finished his career and gave him longstanding brain issues?Well "muscles" we all remember you. Maybe today there would have been better medical treatment for your health issues. Any other memories of Les -we can't be allowed to forget him.

[Sidney the robin]

Les Owen rode from 1957- 1973 for the  Coventry Bees a real stalwart for the club which is nearly unheard of these days.I read that Les and Col Smith both used to turn up at the Brandon stadium and try to get a few laps in until the great Charles Ochiltree chucked them out.Mr Ochiltree told them both if they went through the right channels ( i.e.) the training school they would both be considered the rest is history.I know when you think of Coventry you think of the great Booey boy blue and rightly so and in later years Olsen/ Knudsen but LesOwen, Roger Hill, Ron Mountford, always make me remember that brilliant Coventry race jacket RIP Les.

[steve roberts]

3 hours ago, BOBBATH said:

Yes R.I.P. Les- I recall seeing  Les ride in 65,66,67- I recall him beating Martin Ashby in a Midland Riders Championship Qualifying Round  at Long Eaton in 1966-had to check my programs. When did he have that terrible accident which both finished his career and gave him longstanding brain issues?Well "muscles" we all remember you. Maybe today there would have been better medical treatment for your health issues. Any other memories of Les -we can't be allowed to forget him.

I think it was in 1973 involving John Harrhy?

[Sidney the robin]

1 hour ago, steve roberts said:

I think it was in 1973 involving John Harrhy?

Coventry v Cradley midland cup 16/05/73.   John Harrhy and Les Owen were involved in a horrific crash in which Harrhy was excluded.This crash gave Les Owen life threatening injuries and Harrhy ended up with a broken neck in which resulted in Coventry running R/R for Harrhy in most of the remaining fixtures of that season.

[steve roberts]

4 hours ago, Sidney the robin said:

Les Owen rode from 1957- 1973 for the  Coventry Bees a real stalwart for the club which is nearly unheard of these days.I read that Les and Col Smith both used to turn up at the Brandon stadium and try to get a few laps in until the great Charles Ochiltree chucked them out.Mr Ochiltree told them both if they went through the right channels ( i.e.) the training school they would both be considered the rest is history.I know when you think of Coventry you think of the great Booey boy blue and rightly so and in later years Olsen/ Knudsen but LesOwen, Roger Hill, Ron Mountford, always make me remember that brilliant Coventry race jacket RIP Les.

Yes, Sid, the 'Stars' are all very well but speedway wouldn't have exisited without the middle order men. Classic example at Cowley was Rick Timmo...a good servant to Oxford.

[E I Addio]

1 hour ago, Sidney the robin said:

Coventry v Cradley midland cup 16/05/73.   John Harrhy and Les Owen were involved in a horrific crash in which Harrhy was excluded.This crash gave Les Owen life threatening injuries and Harrhy ended up with a broken neck in which resulted in Coventry running R/R for Harrhy in most of the remaining fixtures of that season.

Wasn’t Les Owens entire career plagued by injury? I think he lost the sight of one eye in a workshop accident, and I believe he had one leg a bit shorter than the other as a result of a track crash. I think he was one of those riders like Paul Hurry who spent more time on the injury list than he did on the track . Is that correct Sid ?

Did John Harrhy race again after that crash?

[Sidney the robin]

26 minutes ago, E I Addio said:

Wasn’t Les Owens entire career plagued by injury? I think he lost the sight of one eye in a workshop accident, and I believe he had one leg a bit shorter than the other as a result of a track crash. I think he was one of those riders like Paul Hurry who spent more time on the injury list than he did on the track . Is that correct Sid ?

Did John Harrhy race again after that crash?

I did not know that about Les Owen Addio the eye injury !!! he did get 3 England caps and in the early 60s especialy1961 was going really well before breaking his collarbone badly.Harrhy had three more seasons at Brandon 1974/75/76 and one season at Stoke in 1978 after his serious injury.

Edited January 16, 2020 by Sidney the robin

[Gambo]

47 minutes ago, E I Addio said:

Wasn’t Les Owens entire career plagued by injury? I think he lost the sight of one eye in a workshop accident, and I believe he had one leg a bit shorter than the other as a result of a track crash. I think he was one of those riders like Paul Hurry who spent more time on the injury list than he did on the track . Is that correct Sid ?

Did John Harrhy race again after that crash?

It was Ron Mountford who lost the sight in one eye.

[E I Addio]

1 hour ago, Gambo said:

It was Ron Mountford who lost the sight in one eye.

Yes thanks for that correction. I had forgotten about Ron Mountford. Now I come to think about it, was Ron Mountford, rather than Les Owen that seemed to be regularly getting injured , or were they both somewhat injury prone ?

[Sidney the robin]

18 minutes ago, E I Addio said:

Yes thanks for that correction. I had forgotten about Ron Mountford. Now I come to think about it, was Ron Mountford, rather than Les Owen that seemed to be regularly getting injured , or were they both somewhat injury prone ?

Could not be bothered to go through both rider's race record's before 1965 Addio  but here are a few interesting facts Les Owen 1965-73    - rode in  235 matches.   Ron Mountford 1965-72  - rode in 158  matches  so your hunch on Mountford was right averaging less than twenty meeting's a year.

Edited January 16, 2020 by Sidney the robin

[E I Addio]

8 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said:

Could not be bothered to go through both rider's race record's before 1965 Addio  but here are a few interesting facts Les Owen 1965-73    - rode in  235 matches.   Ron Mountford 1965-72  - rode in 158  matches  so your hunch on Mountford was right averaging less than twenty meeting's a year.

Thanks Sid.

[Sidney the robin]

No problem Addio, funny thing is i had forgotten just how good a rider Ron Mountford was .My uncle who first took me to speedway had his favourites and  his favourite bee from the late 60s was Col Cottrell.I could not quite understand that as Boy Blue was the man and he has to be one of the most exciting riders i have ever seen ride.

 

Edited January 16, 2020 by Sidney the robin

[Dave Jones]

51 minutes ago, E I Addio said:

Yes thanks for that correction. I had forgotten about Ron Mountford. Now I come to think about it, was Ron Mountford, rather than Les Owen that seemed to be regularly getting injured , or were they both somewhat injury prone ?

Tough as nails was Ron. I remember seeing him racing with a plaster cast on his lower leg , didn't slow him down though.

I had a few dealings with him after he retired, via  his garage business, and  always  found him a great guy to chat with. When the ESO engine hit the UK in the mid 60's Ron was always keen to tell everyone how many more races he could get out of the engine before any servicing was required in comparison to the old JAP motors.

[E I Addio]

Thanks. I love when these old memories come back. I am not sure if I ever saw Ron Mountford ride but I knew of him. Coventry in those days  seemed to have a very stable team back then, keeping the same riders year on year. 

While we have Coventry under the spotlight,  what memories do fans have of Tony Lomas and Ken McKinlay. Tony Lomas was a tester for Triumphs in Meriden. I only saw him a couple of times but if I recall correctly he was an all round motorcyclist, who came to speedway a bit later than most and if my memory is right he was a road racer before that. As for Hurri-Ken McKinlay I loved watching him at West Ham. Probably the best tactician and team rider I can remember, on a par with Leigh Adams. What was he like at Coventry ?

[Chadster]

Ron Mountford suffered a bad leg break early on in the 1968 season, which meant he missed all of the rest of that season and was never the same rider when he came back.

[steve roberts]

2 hours ago, E I Addio said:

Thanks. I love when these old memories come back. I am not sure if I ever saw Ron Mountford ride but I knew of him. Coventry in those days  seemed to have a very stable team back then, keeping the same riders year on year. 

While we have Coventry under the spotlight,  what memories do fans have of Tony Lomas and Ken McKinlay. Tony Lomas was a tester for Triumphs in Meriden. I only saw him a couple of times but if I recall correctly he was an all round motorcyclist, who came to speedway a bit later than most and if my memory is right he was a road racer before that. As for Hurri-Ken McKinlay I loved watching him at West Ham. Probably the best tactician and team rider I can remember, on a par with Leigh Adams. What was he like at Coventry ?

There was a great feature on Tony Lomas when he was interviewed in 'Backtrack' a couple of years ago. Apparently he lives in Reeth which is a lovely village I visit regularly in the Yorkshire Dales...yet to bump into him but I have enquired when in the area. Unfortunately my speedway memories of Tony are not particularly good. He was forced to join Oxford and the moved proved unsuccessful and he quickly joined Exeter in a swap involving Bob Kilby. Both riders benefitted from the move. Tony joining a track that he was more adapted for and for Bob to get away from Ivan Mauger! Great days!

Edited January 16, 2020 by steve roberts

[E I Addio]

34 minutes ago, Chadster said:

Ron Mountford suffered a bad leg break early on in the 1968 season, which meant he missed all of the rest of that season and was never the same rider when he came back.

Was that when he came back with one leg shorter than the other ?

[Sidney the robin]

3 hours ago, E I Addio said:

Thanks. I love when these old memories come back. I am not sure if I ever saw Ron Mountford ride but I knew of him. Coventry in those days  seemed to have a very stable team back then, keeping the same riders year on year. 

While we have Coventry under the spotlight,  what memories do fans have of Tony Lomas and Ken McKinlay. Tony Lomas was a tester for Triumphs in Meriden. I only saw him a couple of times but if I recall correctly he was an all round motorcyclist, who came to speedway a bit later than most and if my memory is right he was a road racer before that. As for Hurri-Ken McKinlay I loved watching him at West Ham. Probably the best tactician and team rider I can remember, on a par with Leigh Adams. What was he like at Coventry ?

From 1964- 68  the Coventry top four or five was always from a pool of the same riders, Boocock,Mountford,Lightfoot,France,Cottrell,.Then in the late 60s when Lightfoot and Mountford retired Mckinlay and Lomas came on board.