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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: oldbike54 on April 15, 2018, 09:36:11 PM
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Another giant has left us , 6 time world speedway finals champion , Kiwi Ivan Mauger has departed this mortal coil . So long good sir , well done :bow:
Dusty
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I remember Ivan Mauger very well. I was living in SoCal near Gardena, Calif. Ascot racetrack was located about 30 mins from my apartment. Ascot was the haven for SoCal flat track racers, I was friends with one of the winnest racers at Ascot, Mr. Sammy Tanner the "Flying Flea" Sammy won more than 400 races at the 1/2 mile track.
A group of European speedway racers was invited to the USA to show off their skills. While the American flat trackers would put their left foot down when powering through the left-hand turns, most of the European riders kept their feet on the pegs. This, to me, was magic. I met and talked with many of the speedway riders, but Ivan stood out I had a very good talk with him. Ivan Mauger circled the Ascot 1/2 mile track without putting his foot down or lifting the throttle, I had never seen anything like that in my life.
Thanks for posting and allowing me to remember days past.
Larry
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Hi Larry ,
Yes , the foot up style was unique for sure , and Mauger mastered it .
Dusty
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Ivan Mauger, Barry Briggs, Ronnie Moore. NZ certainly had a mean speedway team back then.
Thanks for the memories; R.I.P Ivan
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Before I got run out of new Zealand back in 72 and sent with the penal colony to Australia I would ride up to Auckland on my 1970 BSA Lightning and watch him ride , definitely my hero at the time. Cant remember the name of the track now but sure theres a south pacific pom on line that can remind me of the name. Always tried to replicate his riding on the lightning when leaving the parking lot but we wont elaborate on that any further. RIP Ivan
Bill
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Thanks for the memory jog Les, it was Western Springs, Its been 46 years since I left N Z ill hopefully get back one day. Used to ride down to KihiKihi speedway on Sundays to push for my brother who raced T Q midgets,(the good days when every car had a team to push start it on the track and you hoped you wouldn't get run over by the cars coming up behind you ) loved the speedway scene back then. cheers Bill
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Sadly, as of March 2019 the Western Springs Speedway will be closed, not so much by the nimbys who moved in long after the speedway was established but bu the Regional facilities Auckland organization who want the speedway to relocate to where they want it to go at a cost of $26 million. The ratepayers of Auckland don't want to pay even more rates than they do now understandably, so it could well be the end of speedway and open wheel TQ's etc. Very sad.
Mauger, Briggs and Moore were all Christchurch guys; the speedway was very strong here around that time, and in fact is still going at Moore Park and also Ruapuna Speedway just on the outskirts of Christchurch. Ruapuna is more for open wheel dirt-track cars but do the odd sidecar and solo bike event.