New Zealand speedway rider (1939?2018)
Ivan Mauger
OBE
|
Born
| (
1939-10-04
)
4 October 1939
Christchurch
, New Zealand
|
---|
Died
| 16 April 2018
(2018-04-16)
(aged 78)
Gold Coast
,
Queensland
, Australia
|
---|
Nickname
| Sprouts, Galloping Mauger
|
---|
Nationality
| New Zealander
|
---|
|
1957?1958, 1963
| Wimbledon Dons
|
---|
1957
| Rye House Roosters
|
---|
1958
| Eastbourne Eagles
|
---|
1963?1968
| Newcastle Diamonds
|
---|
1969?1972
| Belle Vue Aces
|
---|
1973?1977, 1984
| Exeter Falcons
|
---|
1978?1981
| Hull Vikings
|
---|
|
---|
|
1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1977, 1979
| World Champion
|
---|
1971, 1972, 1976
| Long Track World Champion
|
---|
1968, 1970, 1971, 1972
| British Champion
|
---|
1971, 1973
| British League Riders Champion
|
---|
1963, 1964
| Provincial League Riders' Champion
|
---|
1964, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1980
| Northern Riders' Champion
|
---|
1974, 1981
| New Zealand Champion
|
---|
1983, 1984, 1985, 1986
| New Zealand Long track Champion
|
---|
1970, 1971, 1972
| Australasian Grand Prix winner
|
---|
1977, 1981
| Australasian Champion
|
---|
1962, 1963
| Victorian State Champion
|
---|
1962
| Qld State Champion
|
---|
1973
| WA State Champion
|
---|
1966, 1970, 1971, 1975
| European Final
winner
|
---|
1975
| Intercontinental Final
winner
|
---|
1970, 1971, 1972, 1973
| Scottish Open Champion
|
---|
1962
| Australian Long Track Champion
|
---|
1975, 1979, 1980
| Yorkshire TV Trophy
|
---|
1970, 1971, 1972
| Internationale
|
---|
1972
| Manpower Trophy
|
---|
1972
| Superama
|
---|
1973
| Littlechild
|
---|
1974
| Pride of the East
|
---|
1974
| Brandonapolis
|
---|
|
---|
|
1969, 1970
| World Pairs Champion
|
---|
1968, 1971, 1972, 1979
| World Team Cup winner
|
---|
1970, 1971, 1972, 1974
| British League Champion
|
---|
1972
| British League KO Cup Winner
|
---|
1964
| Provincial League Champion
|
---|
|
---|
Ivan Gerald Mauger
OBE
(4 October 1939 ? 16 April 2018) was a New Zealand
motorcycle speedway
rider.
[1]
He won a record six
World Championships
(Finals), a feat equalled only with the inclusion of the Speedway GP Championships by
Tony Rickardsson
of Sweden who won one World Final and five GP Championships.
[2]
Mauger rode for several British teams ?
Wimbledon Dons
,
Newcastle Diamonds
,
Belle Vue Aces
,
Exeter Falcons
and the
Hull Vikings
. In 2010, Mauger was named an
FIM
Legend for his motorcycling achievements.
[3]
Mauger and his wife of over 60 years, Raye, lived on Australia's
Gold Coast
. He was an active supporter of speedway, attending many meetings throughout the Australian season, as well as the
Speedway Grand Prix
of New Zealand, held at the
Western Springs Stadium
in
Auckland
.
Career
[
edit
]
Wimbledon
[
edit
]
Mauger first arrived in the UK as a 17-year-old aboard the SS
Rangitoto
, which docked at
Tilbury
in 1957, with his teenage bride Raye, renting a one-bedroom flat in
Wimbledon
around the corner from Plough Lane where
Moore
and
Briggs
reigned as the twin 'kings of the cinders'.
"Without Ronnie, there would have been no Briggo and no Ivan Mauger; whenever he came home to
New Zealand
it was like the arrival of
Elvis
. He was our
Pele
, if you like."
Inspired by the deeds of Moore, from the age of 12, Mauger dedicated himself to becoming speedway's champion of the world, working as a delivery boy for a local chemist in Christchurch after school and in the holidays to save money for his first racing machine.
"Everyone thought I had wealthy parents because I could afford to buy a bike before I was 16 but for three years I never bought an ice-cream, a
Coca-Cola
or anything like that. After I left school I had two jobs ? as did Raye ? and that's how we saved enough money to come to England when we were little more than children."
Mauger's great adventure began at
Plough Lane
where he rode in the second-half 'faces of the future' races and assisted Mac the groundsman.
"I never, ever felt I was going to work for the simple reason that I just loved the atmosphere of being in
Wimbledon Stadium
. I cleaned the dressing rooms, the toilets, the pits and the workshop. I helped Mac work on the track, I weeded the tulip beds and on Monday afternoons I had to cut the grass out in the centre before the speedway meeting. And not just any old cut would do for Ronnie. It had to be mowed in one direction then the other, just like Wembley Stadium."
Newcastle
[
edit
]
A major breakthrough in his career occurred in 1963 when he returned to England with Raye and his young family to join Mike Parker's Provincial league team
Newcastle Diamonds
, though he did ride in a few meetings for the
Wimbledon Dons
in the National League during this season. He won the
Provincial League Riders' Championship
, held at
Hyde Road
on 28 September 1963.
[4]
He then won the Riders' Championship for the second successive year in 1964.
[5]
In 1966, he qualified for his first World Final where he finished fourth, and won the first of his six record breaking
World Championships
in 1968. After a public falling out with Parker, Mauger put in a transfer request in December 1968, stating that the mental strain of riding with Newcastle was endangering his health.
[6]
Belle Vue
[
edit
]
Mauger joined the
Belle Vue Aces
in 1969, where he enjoyed his greatest league team achievements. As a Belle Vue Ace he won the title in 1970, 1971 and 1972, thereby becoming the only rider to complete the 'Triple Crown'. In 1969 Mauger finished with a British League record average of 11.67. He dropped only 13 points from his 37 completed League & Speedway Star KO Cup matches. During these matches he recorded 22 full maximums, and 3 paid maximums.
Exeter
[
edit
]
Mauger joined the
Exeter Falcons
in 1973. In 1977 wearing the Exeter colours he equalled
Ove Fundin
's then-record of five World Championship wins.
Hull
[
edit
]
In 1978 he joined the
Hull Vikings
, winning his last and record sixth world title in 1979. He left Hull in 1981, but returned in 1984 at the age of 44 for Exeter where he competed in home meetings.
Australasia
[
edit
]
In his home country of New Zealand, Ivan Mauger is considered a national sporting hero. He has won the
New Zealand Championship
on two occasions (1974 and 1981), and scored his first podium in the championship with second in 1959 behind then dual World Champion
Barry Briggs
. Surprisingly considering his successful career, Mauger didn't place (or ride) in the NZ Championship again until his 1974 championship. His only other podium in the championship was in 1979 when he placed third behind
Larry Ross
and
Mitch Shirra
.
Adelaide based Speedway promoter Kym Bonython signed Mauger to ride the 1960/61 Australian season based at the Rowley Park Speedway. Mauger had considerable success riding in Australia throughout his career. In 1962 he was the Australian Long Track Champion, as well as the
Victorian
and
Queensland
State Champion. He also finished runner up in the 1962
Australian Solo Championship
in
Rockhampton
(
Qld
) behind star
New South Wales
based rider
"Cowboy" Bob Sharp
. He would repeat his Victorian Championship win in 1963, and would finish third in the Australian Championship in the same year. Ten years later in 1973, Mauger would win the
Western Australian State Championship
, held at the 520 metres (570 yd)
Claremont Speedway
in
Perth
.
Other than Bonython, whom Mauger rates as his favourite Australian promoter, he also had a great relationship with longtime Claremont Speedway promoter Con Migro and appeared at Claremont for two meetings in January for 13 straight years. It was during this time that Mauger won the "Sunday Times King of Claremont" meeting in 1973, 1980, 1981 and 1983.
After losing the 1960 Australian Long track championship in
Port Pirie
in South Australia when his bike seized after leading for 5½ of 6 laps, Mauger credits advice he received from Australia's
1951
and
1952
World Champion
Jack Young
(whose home track was Rowley Park when Mauger was based for the season) for steering him on the path to becoming a World Champion himself. Young told Mauger that it isn't the fastest rider who wins the World Championship, it's the rider who at the end of the meeting had scored the most points and that to get there he had to conserve his bike to make sure he finished. Being the fastest rider didn't mean much if he led a race until half a lap from home but had pushed the bike beyond its limits and didn't finish. Ironically the same fate awaited Mauger in the 1961 Australian Long track Championship when his clutch gave out after leading 4½ laps, but he would make amends and win the title in 1962 at Port Pirie.
Ivan Mauger was the Australasian Grand Prix winner in 1971, 1972 and 1973 at the
Liverpool Speedway
in
Sydney
(on the original 440 metres (480 yd) track). He later would win the Australasian Championship in 1977 at the
Sydney Showground Speedway
, and in 1981 again at Liverpool, this time on the 280 metres (310 yd) track built onto the infield in 1974 when the main track became a paved oval.
Mauger rode his last meeting in Australia back where he first rode in the country in Adelaide. Mauger rode in the South Australia 150 Jubilee at the
Wayville Showground
in 1986. There he was presented with the winners trophy by his idol Jack Young.
International
[
edit
]
Ivan Mauger is considered to be the best speedway rider ever and was voted as the "Greatest Rider of the 20th Century". He jointly holds the record for most Speedway World Championship wins with Sweden's
Tony Rickardsson
with six wins each, one in front of Swedish legend
Ove Fundin
.
Mauger won the Individual Speedway World Championship in
1968
,
1969
,
1970
,
1972
,
1977
and
1979
. He was runner up in
1971
,
1973
and
1974
, and third in
1967
. Mauger's second place in 1971 at the
Ullevi
Stadium in Sweden was to the man whom he not only taught to ride a speedway bike but would become his great friend and rival throughout the 1970s,
Denmark
's
Ole Olsen
.
Representing
New Zealand
, Mauger was the
Speedway World Pairs Champion
in
1969
with
Bob Andrews
(1969 was the unofficial World Championship), and
1970
with
Ronnie Moore
. The 1970 Pairs Championship held at the
Malmo Stadion
in
Malmo
,
Sweden
, was the first official FIM World Championship held for Pairs. He would finish runner up in the championship in
1971
,
1972
,
1978
and
1981
, before one last podium in
1984
when he finished third with
Mitch Shirra
.
Mauger was also the
Speedway World Team Cup
Champion in
1968
,
1969
and
1971
while riding for
Great Britain
(the British team regularly consisted of riders from the
Commonwealth nations
). He would win the title again in
1979
as captain of New Zealand.
During his career, Ivan Mauger also raced in the
World Long Track Championship
, winning the title in 1971, 1972 and 1976, bringing his total of World Championships in speedway racing to 15. Mauger was also runner up at the Longtrack Championship in 1974 and 1975, beaten both times by
West Germany
's
Egon Muller
, who himself would go on to win the Speedway World Championship in
1983
.
Mauger's 15 World Championships sees him sit third on world titles won just behind Denmark's
Erik Gundersen
who won 17. Another Dane
Hans Nielsen
holds the record with 22 World Championships, though unlike Mauger or Gundersen he never won the World Long Track Championship.
Honours and awards
[
edit
]
Mauger was appointed a
Member of the Order of the British Empire
(MBE) in the
1976 New Year Honours
, for services to speedway riding.
[7]
In the
1989 New Year Honours
, he was promoted to
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
(OBE) for services to speedway sport.
[8]
Mauger was an inaugural inductee into the
New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame
in 1990. He was voted the prestigious Millennium Man of Speedway by the readers of Speedway Star and Vintage Speedway Magazine in December 1999. He was selected by the
Olympic Committee
to carry the Olympic Torch at the Sydney Games, an honour which he performed on 12 June 2000.
In 1970, two men in the USA named George Wenn and Ray Bokelman said that if Ivan Mauger won his third World Final in a row at Wrocław (Poland), they would have the winning bike gold plated. Mauger duly won the World Final that year, and true to their promise, the bike was taken to America and Gold plated, and so was born the "Triple Crown Special". The machine is on display at
Canterbury Museum
in
Christchurch
, New Zealand.
Later life and death
[
edit
]
Mauger was president of World Speedway Riders' Association from 2007 to 2008. He died in
Gold Coast
, Queensland, Australia, on 16 April 2018.
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
Titles
[
edit
]
- World Champion
: 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1977, 1979 ? R/Up 1971, 1973, 1974
[13]
- New Zealand Sportsperson of the Year (Halberg Award) 1977 and 1979.
- Long Track World Champion
1971, 1972, 1976 R/Up 1974, 1975
- World Pairs Champion
1969, 1970 R/Up 1971, 1972, 1978, 1981
- Speedway World Team Cup
Champion 1968, 1971, 1972, 1979
- European Champion
1966, 1970, 1971, 1975
- British Champion
1968, 1970, 1971, 1972
- Intercontinental Champion
1975
- New Zealand Champion
1974, 1981
- New Zealand Long Track Champion 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986
- New Zealand South Island Champion 1977, 1981, 1983
- Australasian Champion
1977, 1981
- Australasian Grand Prix winner 1970, 1971, 1972
- Sunday Times
King of Claremont
winner 1973, 1980, 1981, 1983
- British-Nordic Champion 1968, 1971
- British League Riders Champion
1971, 1973
- Embassy Internationale Winner 1970, 1971, 1972
- Northern Riders Champion
1964, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1980
- Provincial League Riders Champion
1963, 1964
- Lubos Tomicek Memorial Trophy Winner 1971, 1972, 1973, 1979
- Silver Sash Match Race Champion 1968, 1969
- Golden Helmet Match Race Champion 1970
- Scottish Open Champion
1970, 1971, 1972, 1973
- Scotianapolis Winner 1969, 1970
- Welsh Open Champion 1964, 1973
- Westernapolis Winner 1968, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975
- Leningrad Cup (USSR) Winner 1969
- Lokeren Memorial Trophy Winner 1970
- Golden Key of Bremen 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975
- Australian Long Track Champion 1962
- Victorian State Champion
(Australia) 1962, 1963
- Queensland State Champion
(Australia) 1962
- Western Australian State Champion
1973
- Yorkshire Television
Trophy 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980
- Lada Indoor International 1979
- British Long Track Champion 1980
- World Champion of Champions Match Race Series 1989
- South Australian 150 Jubilee Trophy 1986
Speedway World Final appearances
[
edit
]
Individual World Championship
[
edit
]
- 1966
?
Gothenburg
,
Ullevi
? 4th ? 11pts
- 1967
?
London,
Wembley Stadium
?
3rd
? 13pts
- 1968
?
Gothenburg, Ullevi ?
Winner
? 15pts
- 1969
?
London, Wembley Stadium ?
Winner
? 14pts
- 1970
?
Wroclaw
,
Olympic Stadium
?
Winner
? 15pts
- 1971
?
Gothenburg, Ullevi ?
2nd
? 12pts+3pts
- 1972
?
London, Wembley Stadium ?
Winner
? 13pts+3pts
- 1973
?
Chorzow
,
Silesian Stadium
?
2nd
? 13pts + F
- 1974
?
Gothenburg, Ullevi ?
2nd
? 11pts + 3pts
- 1975
?
London, Wembley Stadium ? 4th ? 12pts + 2pts
- 1976
?
Chorzo, Silesian Stadium ? 4th ? 11pts
- 1977
?
Gothenburg, Ullevi ?
Winner
? 14pts
- 1978
?
London, Wembley Stadium ? 8th ? 8pts
- 1979
?
Chorzow, Silesian Stadium ?
Winner
? 14pts
World Pairs Championship
[
edit
]
- 1969
?
Stockholm
,
Gubbangens IP
(with
Bob Andrews
) ?
Winner
? 28pts (18)
- 1970
?
Malmo
,
Malmo Stadion
(with
Ronnie Moore
) ?
Winner
? 28pts (12)
- 1971
?
Rybnik
,
Rybnik Municipal Stadium
(with
Barry Briggs
) ?
2nd
? 25pts (12)
- 1972
?
Boras
,
Ryavallen
(with Ronnie Moore) ?
2nd
? 24pts (14)
- 1973
?
Boras, Ryavallen (with
Graeme Stapleton
) ? 7th ? 10pts (8)
- 1974
?
Manchester
,
Hyde Road
(with Barry Briggs) ?
3rd
? 21pts (17)
- 1976
?
Eskilstuna
,
Snalltorpet
(with Barry Briggs) ? 5th ? 15pts (8)
- 1977
?
Manchester, Hyde Road (with
Larry Ross
) ? 5th ? 17pts (16)
- 1978
?
Chorzow, Silesian Stadium (with Larry Ross) ?
2nd
? 24pts (12+2)
- 1979
?
Vojens
,
Vojens Speedway Center
(with Larry Ross) ? 6th ? 12pts (6)
- 1980
?
Krsko
,
Matija Gubec Stadium
(with Larry Ross) ? 5th ? 16pts (11)
- 1981
?
Chorzow, Silesian Stadium (with Larry Ross) ?
2nd
? 22pts (12)
- 1983
?
Gothenburg, Ullevi (with Larry Ross) ? 7th ? 11pts (7)
- 1984
?
Lonigo
,
Santa Marina Stadium
(with
Mitch Shirra
) ?
3rd
? 25pts (9+2)
- 1985
?
Rybnik, Rybnik Municipal Stadium (with Mitch Shirra) ? 4th ? 15pts (8)
World Team Cup
[
edit
]
* 1966?1972 as a member of
Great Britain
. 1979 with
New Zealand
World Longtrack Championship
[
edit
]
Finals
Grasstrack
[
edit
]
Among Mauger's many honours he also took his share on grass. These included titles in the Bewdley Bonanza, the Lydden International and the Western Winner.
Guinness Book of Records
[
edit
]
- Most Individual Championship wins ? 9 (6 Speedway / 3 Long track),
- First person to win World Speedway and Long track Championships in the same year ? 1972,
- Only person to win 3 Individual World Championships in succession ? 1968, 1969 and 1970,
- Most individual World Speedway wins ? 6 (joint with Tony Rickardsson)
- Most World Championship Finals appearances with 52,
- First person to win World Speedway, World Long track, World Pairs, and World Team Cup Championships (achieved in 1971 with World Long track win)
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Ivan Mauger
at Wikimedia Commons