5 replies to this topic

[brands77]

Whilst reading through my recently purchased copy of Racing Lines - thanks for the tip knickerbrook and Robin127, I kept seeing the rider Chris Conn featuring high in the results. He is not someone I know much about, so I looked him up on Wikipedia. It turns out yesterday was the first anniversary of his death - 12/2/21.

Can anyone tell me anything about him? He seems to have been one of the top privateers of the 60s.

[tonyed]

Chris Conn 31 December 1937 – 12 February 202131 December 1937 – 12 February 2021was top line rider in his day, riding mainly Manx Nortons as well as Cotton (250) AJS (350) and Aermacchi (350).

 

Born 31/12/1937 died 12/02/2021 he had two 3rd places in the Junior and Senior TTs in 1966 and was 10th in the 500cc title race in that year

 

He competed in the Southern 100 as well 

 

He was in the RAF and originally hailed from Portishead in Somerset.

 

He rode with the number 7 on his helmet long before Bazza adopted that number. 

 

Home circuit - Castle Combe

Edited by tonyed, 16 February 2022 - 11:31.

[brands77]

Thank you for this tonyed. The write ups on him suggest that he was mainly uk based, but I can see that he did quite a few GPs between 65 and 67. Was he part of the "Continental Circus" and does anyone know why he seems to have retired at the end of 67 when he seems to have had pretty successful seasons in 66 and 67?

[tonyed]

Corporal Chris Conn rode for Frank Higley and just seemed to have retired. He never had anything to do with racing after that see https://www.vintageb...enring-in-1967/

Edited by tonyed, 16 February 2022 - 11:40.

[brands77]

Thanks Tonyed, the article does shed quite a bit of light on him and what he did

[StanN]

Chris’ early racing career doesn’t seem to be covered much “on web”. The first mention, in the text of Racing Line, is from 1963, although he does appear in the results from previous year’s events. Much mention of his Southern 100, MGP, TT and GP participation though.

 

Looking back through the race programmes I still have from 1960 through 1967, when I first started attending races as a “gofer” with my brother-in-law, before stating to race myself in 1963, I have found entries for Chris at Brands and Snetterton. There could have been earlier entries at, say, Castle Combe, but the first I found was 4 Sept, 60 at Snetterton  and 31 March, 61 at Brands, both on his 500 Manx. In 61 he entered the 250 class on an Ariel Arrow as well as the Manx at 1 Brands and 2 Snetterton events but it doesn’t look like he started in these races.

 

From mid-62 and in 63 his entrant was listed as H. Middleton and he entered on a 350 Manx as well as his 500. I don’t have any 64 programmes and only 1 65 for the 5 Sept event at Snetterton where his entrant was Alan Dudley-Ward. The last entry in my programmes that I have for him was the International event on 10 April, 66 where he rode Tom Kirby’s in both 350 and 500 races.

 

Stan