PS. Hi Ivan, welcome
to 5 mins with... how are you and what are you up to these days?
IM. I retired from Racing and my last meeting was in NZ in Feb 2006. I
was helping
Hans Nielsen in the Speedway World championships until 1989 and Wiggy in
the Long Track World Championship until the mid 90s.I have continued
with my Training Academies since 1986 in a lot of Countries. I Promoted
the Australian and New
ealand Long Track Grand Prix from 1989 until 2002 and in 2003 and 2004
I Promoted the Final Round of the World Long Track GP series in New
Plymouth, New Zealand. All during this time I have run my International
Golden helmet series all over Aussie and sometimes in NZ. So I am still
very much involved in Speedway since I stopped riding.
PS.
You scored a 12 point maximum for Newcastle at Sun Street, Stoke’s
former home in 1963, do you have any recollection of this?
IM.
I remember riding at Sun Street, I done a PL meeting and also an
Australasia V England Test there
PS. You brought your
Gold bike to display at a Stoke meeting in 1981, where is it now and do
you still display it?
IM.
My Gold Bike is now in the Canterbury Museum in my home town
Christchurch New Zealand.It is on the home page of my website with a
sign to click for the full museum details
http://www.ivanmauger.com/
PS. Where did you live when you lived in England?
IM.
We lived mostly in Bramhall and Woodford Cheshire
PS.
What was your most memorable World final victory?
IM.
The first and the third in succession at Wroclaw in 1970.That was the
hardest of all World Finals and the best I ever rode
PS. Which one of your
runners up spots hurt the most?
IM.
I have ten silver medals from World Championships and all of them hurt!!
But mostly when I finished second I rode second best on the night. I
only lost two World Finals on bad luck. The 1976 Speedway World Final
and the 1978 Long Track World Final. I also have five bronze medals from
World Championships but they are not worth talking about!
PS.
What was your worst injury?
IM.
I had my share of injuries during my career and they were all
inconvenient at the time. Same with the boys today
PS.
Why do you think there are no new Briggo’s or Moores or yourself coming
through from NZ?
IM.
NZ has changed a lot since the early 80s and young boys today lack the
dedication needed. However we have got some good boys now at about 13 to
16 who will be good in the next few years.
PS.
Who was your main rival in your career in your opinion?
IM. I
had many main rivals as I had a long career so it is unfair to pick out
a few. You can only ask that question of a rider who was World class for
less than 10 years.
PS.
How did you feel when your 6 World Titles was equalled by Tony
Rickardsson?
IM.
Sports records are made to be broken. I was pleased that it took a rider
of Tony’s outstanding ability to equal the 6 however he had the luxury
of a GP series for 5 of them.
PS.
Did the Queen present you with your honours or another Royal Family
member?
IM.
The Queen presented me with the MBE in 1976 and the Queens Governor
presented the OBE in 1989
PS.
You were once Kenny Carters mentor, what is your view on the
controversial exclusion in L.A. 82?
IM.
Depends who’s camp you were in,,,but the decision was made by Torre
Kittleson who had a reputation with all us top guys of never
disqualifying top riders in there own Countries. Get my Book due out in
2010 and you will see I have a lot to say about the LA Final in 1982 and
Torre’s other dubious decisions around Europe
PS.
What is your opinion on laydown bikes compared to the uprights?
IM.
The laydowns with leading link forks are 500% easier to ride than the
old up rights with straight forks and even more so now with the soft
compound rear tyres. When I do demos at different times I can now only
ride laydowns. Even my World Championship bikes with the heavy DOHC
heads on look like shopping trolleys to me now and they handled like
them then, especially with hard compound rear tyres but we did not know
it at the time.! If I was on form on big European tracks, I had to turn
it 5 or 6 meters early as the front wheel sledged so much at the ends of
the straights
PS.
Do you think todays rules of tape touching are fair or do you think
tape touching should be allowed to add to the excitement for the
supporters?
IM.
I think the best rule the BSPA ever made was the tape touching one.
During the late 60s and the 70s I touched the tapes when I needed to in
UK mainly to counter when there were many guys who just took a chance.
However, I also raced every Sunday somewhere in Europe on Speedway ,
Long track and Grass track where they had the touch tape rule and still
made most of my starts. Eric Gundersen and Hans Neilsen did the same at
just about every meeting they rode in, but when the tape rule came in
they both made a bigger percentage of the starts. Good starters are good
starters on any track or conditions but many Fans cannot accept it.
There will be more in my book.
PS.
What are your thoughts regarding the G.P. format compared to when you
ruled the World in the old one off finals, taking into account you had
to qualify to get there in the first place?
IM.
I wish there was a GP series when I was riding that you are selected if
your face fits or they need TV in your Country. If Emil Safutdinov was
an Australian/Danish or English he would never have been seeded for
2009 as they had enough from those Countries. Perhaps they wanted
Russian TV!!. For the last few years there has been a qualifying system
but only for 30 odd riders and then only 3 qualify. Prior to the GPs
every rider in the World who had a Bike on 1st of Jan
would have a chance to qualify for the final. More about that in my
book.
PS. How do your
Longtrack successes compare to your Speedway ones?
IM.
When I raced in the World Long track Championships the Worlds top dozen
or so Speedway rider were in it, plus there were about 20 odd World
Class Long track specialists. The World Long Track Championship was
extremely hard to win from 1971 until 1991.There used to be a European
Grass track Championship for riders who were not good enough to get a
start in the Qualifying Ronuds of the World Long Track Championship. The
World Long track GP series is about that standard these days with only
Gerd Riss of top standard. More about the LT in my book.
PS.
What advice would you give to any young rider aspiring to be World
Champion?
IM.
You must have a dream and be dedicated. No rider is ever going to be
World Champ overnight and you need to dig in for a number of years and
keep plodding away and fight back from injury and other set backs
PS.
Why do you think England has produced so few World champions?
IM.
For most of my career there have been outstanding English riders when
they are 16 to 19. Then they do not have any of number 17, although like
NZ there a couple of likely young English guys around at the moment. I
liked PCs bit in the Speedway Star recently when he compared Emil to
himself at the same age. So far there has not been an English rider with
the natural talent PC had at 18/19.Emil has it and it will not be too
long before he wins. More about the English boys in my book
PS. What was your
best year in terms of achievements?
IM.
Probably 1972,I won the Speedway, Longtrack,and Team Cup but crashed in
the run off for the World Pairs. Also won the British Semi-final for the
5th in succession and the 4th British Championship
and the Australasian GP for the 3rd in succession, the Golden
key of Bremen for 5th in a row, the Tomicek memorial in
Prague for 3rd in a row and many others. Plus Belle Vue won
the league and KO Cup. But I had a lot of other good years
PS.
Finally Ivan, if you could invoke any rule into the sport what would it
be?
IM. That
the GP series becomes a genuine World Championship. Of course the top
few are in it now but the GP Champion should be the only one seeded. To
give it credibility as a World Championship it must be completely open
to all riders for qualifying rounds and in every country including
Aussie, NZ, South Africa ,Argentina etc
