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Ivan Mauger
Ivan Gerald Mauger OBE (4 October 1939 – 16 April 2018; last name pronounced "Major") 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.[2] In 2010, Mauger was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements.[3] CareerUnited KingdomMauger 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 Ronnie Moore and Barry Briggs were the star names. Inspired by Moore, Mauger's began racing at Plough Lane in the second-half 'faces of the future' races and assisted the groundsman. He only rode a handful of races for Wimbledon Dons during the 1957 and 1958 seasons.[4] 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. He averaged 10.42 that season and won the Provincial League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 28 September 1963.[5] He then won the Riders' Championship for the second successive year in 1964[6] and topped the league averages with an impressive 11.54 average and helping Newcastle win the league title.[7] His 1965 season was interrupted after he broke an ankle riding in a league match.[8] 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. In 1968 he was considered the league's best rider and 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.[9] 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. 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.[10] Mauger joined the Exeter Falcons in 1973[11] and would spend five years at the club. In 1977 wearing the Exeter colours he equalled Ove Fundin's then-record of five World Championship wins. 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
In his home country of New Zealand, Mauger is considered a national sporting hero. He has won the New Zealand Championship on two occasions (1974 and 1981),[12][13] and scored his first podium in the championship with second in 1959 behind then dual World Champion Barry Briggs. 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, Queensland. 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 Claremont Speedway in Perth. Mauger credits advice he received from Australia's former 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. He later would win the Australasian Championship in 1977 at the Sydney Showground Speedway, and in 1981 again at Liverpool. 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. InternationalIvan Mauger is considered to be one of the best speedway riders of all-time and jointly holds the record for most Speedway World Championship wins with Sweden's Tony Rickardsson with six wins each. Mauger won the Individual Speedway World Championship in 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972,[14] 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 Malmö Stadion in Malmö, 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.[15] 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 Müller, who himself would go on to win the Speedway World Championship in 1983. Honours and awardsMauger was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1976 New Year Honours, for services to speedway riding.[16] In the 1989 New Year Honours, he was promoted to Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to speedway sport.[17] 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. Personal lifeMauger 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. Mauger was president of World Speedway Riders' Association from 2007 to 2008. He died in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, on 16 April 2018.[18][19][20] [21] Titles
Speedway World Final appearancesIndividual World Championship
World Pairs Championship
World Team Cup
* 1966–1972 as a member of Great Britain. 1979 with New Zealand World Longtrack ChampionshipFinals
GrasstrackAmong 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
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