I first met Chris Graham one hot summer’s day 2006 whilst admiring his MV Agusta F41000
parked outside his showrooms near Nantwich, Cheshire. Being a Manx girl, born and brought
up in Ramsey, it was exciting to talk to Chris about his famous father, mindful of the fact that Les
Graham is somewhat of a hero on the Isle of Man.

Chris agreed to being interviewed for the TTSC Magazine and so I visited his South Cheshire
home where he reminisced about his father’s achievements

Backdrop…Following formal training at Rolls Royce, Crewe, Chris and his brother Stuart,
later to make his mark in the world of motorcycle and car racing, established what was to
become a very successful garage business in Cheshire. Today, Chris pursues a career in specialist
car sales, specifically such luxury American models as Corvettes. On a personal level,
however, his love of motorcycles is evident in the choice of machines he currently rides: MV
Agusta F41000; a tuned Honda Blackbird 1137cc; a Honda Fireblade mostly used on track. On
hot days Chris rides a Harley Davidson Low Rider Sport 1340cc. Chris related how he actually
visited the MV Agusta factory in Italy where Les Graham had been under contract in the early
1950’s. There he met up with President, Claudio Castiglioni, to negotiate the purchase of a bike
to be custom built at the factory. Understandably, because of family influence, he has refrained
from motorcycle racing: ‘both my mother and especially my wife did not encourage a road
racing career, in fact, they firmly discouraged it’. However, he has had a degree of success
in kart racing, being deprived of the 1973 British Kart Championship on his Suzuki powered
machine by a blown tyre. Built and tuned by Chris, the 250 cc engine of this kart was one of
the fastest in the UK. He was also instrumental in building the engines for Stuart’s Camaro and
later Lola GT. During this period Stuart was to have a great deal of success with his car racing
career. Chris talks with obvious pride about the racing achievements of brother, Stuart, with whom he
has a close relationship; it is clear that the reputation of their late father is an inspiration to them both.

Les Graham – First 500cc World Champion…..Chris has very little memory of this time
as he was only 4 years old. He does recall, however, that his father was away from home a
lot, initially as an RAF Bomber Pilot in WW2 then in Transport Command flying Yorks to India
and Ceylon. Post war, Les was contacted by the Competitions Manager at AJS asking him to
become involved in racing again as he had been pre-war. In 1947 he commenced riding for
AJS, winning the first ever 500cc World Championship two years later. Chris said: ‘It was just
Dad and it was just his job. I did not think about it being anything out of the ordinary.’

MV Agusta – The Italian experience 1952…..Les Graham was also one of the first British
riders to secure a works contract from an overseas manufacturer – MV Agusta. Chris has vivid
memories of this time, ‘we drove over to Italy through France and Switzerland with a trailer on
the back of the car containing all our possessions’. The family lived in a small village, Viggiu,
in the hills  around Varese, in the north of the country. Chris found Italian language lessons quite
traumatic but this was balanced by the excitement of the time spent at the MV factory whilst his
father was there on business. Here, they met Count Augusta and his family, becoming friendly
with his daughter. Times spent at Monza were memorable too; especially enchanting to the two
young brothers were the lizards which lived in the long grass. Writing in Les Graham: A Life in
Racing (Acanthus Press Ltd 2006) Matthew Freudenberg states, ‘the boys did watch the cars
and bikes as well and became familiar with men like Mike Hawthorn, Geoff Duke and the MV
Team riders. Stuart remembers that Fangio waved to them, probably from a Grand Prix Maserati,
as he passed on the track. Chris was old enough to cross- examine some of the drivers
about their speed through Monza’s fastest bend, and surprised them by being unimpressed.’
Whilst in Italy, the boys were to gain some of their first experiences of riding racing bikes,
albeit sitting in front of their father, Les, who was holding the handlebars. Chris recognises that
this time was special. A sign of the high esteem in which the Graham family was held in those
days is evident today by the annual Christmas card Chris receives from MV Agusta President,
Claudio Castiglioni.

Time of the accident – 1953…..The Senior TT of 1953 had a strong Italian presence, with
four Gileras and two MVs. The British Norton was to prove a strong entry too. Ridden by Ken
Kavanagh and Ray Amm, they were fastest in practice, lapping at over 94mph, whilst Geoff
Duke and Reg Armstrong on Gileras and Les Graham on the MV lapped at around 90mph. It
was during this race that Les was tragically to lose his life. At the bottom of Bray Hill, travelling at
about 130mph, the MV mounted the kerb, crashing into a solid wall killing the rider instantly.
Chris remembers that he and his brother, Stuart, were in Wallasey with their grandmother
at this time; his mother was in the IoM. He recalls that a neighbour came running to the house,
having heard on the news that his father had been involved in an accident. Chris’s recollections
of this time are hazy, but he remembers that his father’s body was flown back to England and
his ashes interred at Wallasey. Upon the death of Mrs Graham, many years later, Les Graham’s
ashes were moved from Wallasey to lie with his wife in Wrenbury, Cheshire.

Lasting memories of his father…..Chris reiterates, ‘this was just Dad doing his job, he had
two factory MVs at home to maintain and would transport them on a trailer to international meetings
as well as to Grand Prix’. Chris remembers asking his father why he did not ride a Gilera,
like Geoff Duke, as they were more reliable! Also the neighbours were none too happy about
the firing up of the 500 MVs whilst the family lived in Kent.

In 1955 the family travelled to the IoM to be present at the formal opening of the Les
Graham Memorial. Chris remembers his mother, Stuart and himself being driven round the TT
Course by Alan Jefferies – ‘Nick and Tony Jefferies were two little lads in the back of the car,
fooling about whilst I, at the age of 10 remember being interested in the Course’.

Current Involvement… Chris still visits the TT and other meetings, but not as often as he
would like, owing to business commitments. In 2003 he and Stuart travelled to the IoM to
acknowledge the 50 years anniversary of the death of their father and to place a wreath on the
Les Graham Memorial, ‘many people were present; the press, photographers and representatives
of the Manx Government. Geoff Duke spoke to me at length; because of all this it was not a sad occasion’.

Chris enjoys watching the Superbikes on TV and goes to Oulton Park regularly; indeed,
there was a copy of a book about Valentino Rossi on his coffee table. What of Stuart? ‘He still
races Lister Chevrolet/Lola Chevrolet and I sometimes spectate.’ Chris has a 33 year old son
who ‘dabbles’ in racing cars – Integra Honda – however, motorcycle racing is discouraged!’
Would Les have coped in today’s racing environment? ‘Dad was at the top of the sport, he was
so adaptable, so would have coped well’ It is a cliché that parents live on through their children.
Anyone who knows Chris will recognise the special relationship he has with his motorcycles.

My warmest thanks to Chris Graham for the time and energy he gave me in preparing this article

Elizabeth Marin

Shortly after working on this article, Chris received a copy of a 1998 edition of the Wirral Champion Magazine [Hoylake and West Kirby Edition] containing the following letter… “I thought you might be interested in the following: Just after IoM ‘53TT, I was in Italy with the International Motorcyclists Tour Club. We were on an organised visit to the Motto Guzzi factory and the famous rider Fergus Anderson was there after winning the 250 TT on their machine. We were invited to meet him and celebrate his victory. He said how pleased he was
to have won for Motto Guzzi, but his week had been overshadowed by the loss of his great friend Les Graham. He told us exactly what had happened: Les was going down Bray Hill at some 145mph when a rear wheel nut split letting the wheel slew over. He may have been able to master the resulting out of control machine, but he was coming up fast behind a slower rider. Rather than hit him, he took to the gap between this rider and the wall but did not make it. He hit the wall and that was the end. I have, subsequently, heard and read over the years all sorts of reasons for the crash – but I know the truth.”

H R Thewell, Bebington