The Mauger Campaign submission for the Greater Manchester Plan March 2019
The Mauger Campaign has been launched to commemorate the life and achievements of Ivan Mauger MBE, OBE, the most successful rider in speedway history and one of the world’s most successful sportsmen.
Throughout the successful parts of his career Ivan Mauger lived with his wife Raye and their three children in the Greater Manchester area and this submission seeks the adoption of policies to commemorate his life and achievements, his inspiration to countless thousands and his contribution to Greater Manchester.
There aren’t enough superlatives to describe Ivan’s career. He has the most individual world championships; 6 speedway and 3 long track.
Whilst a member of the Belle Vue team, which he joined in 1969, Ivan was the first person to win the speedway world championship three years in succession (1968, 1969 and 1970) and the first person to win the world speedway and long track championships in the same year.
Two American businessmen thought so much of Ivan’s achievement in winning the world individual speedway championship three years in succession in 1970, they gold plated his world championship winning bike.
It was featured with Ivan on Blue Peter in the early 1970s and is now a permanent exhibit at the Canterbury Museum in New Zealand.
CAREER DETAILS
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
| WORLD CHAMPION | 6 x individual speedway
3 x individual long track 2 x world pairs 4 x world teams |
1968-69-70-72-77-79
1971-72-76 1969-70 1968-71-72-79 |
| SILVER MEDALLIST | 3 x individual speedway
2 x individual long track 4 x world pairs 2 x world teams |
1971-73-74
1974-75 1971-72-78-81 1969-70 |
| BRONZE MEDALLIST | 1 x individual speedway
2 x world pairs |
1967
1974-84 |
| FOURTH PLACE | 3 x individual speedway
1 x individual long track 1 x world pairs 2 x world teams |
1966-75-76
1978 1985 1966-67 |
MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS
| CHAMPION | 4 x European champion
4 x British champion 2 x British-Nordic champion 1 x Intercontinental champion 6 x British semi final winner |
1966-70-71-751968-70-71-721968-7119751968-69-70-71-72-73 |
| SILVER MEDALLIST | 1 x European3 x British-Nordic4 x British | 1973
1966-70-74 1966-67-69-73 |
| BRONZE MEDALLIST | 1 x European
1 x Commonwealth |
1974
1980 |
|
AWARDED MBE 1975
AWARDED OBE 1989
AWARDED MEDAILLE D’OR/GOLD MEDAL 1987
(Only 7 have been awarded by Federation Internationale De Motocyclisme since 1904)
AWARDED HONORARY CITIZEN OF CITY OF GNIESZNO POLAND 1985
NEW ZEALAND SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR – 1977-79
INDUCTED INTO NZ SPORTS HALL OF FAME – 1990
HONORARY SPORTS AMBASSADOR FOR NZ – 1985
CANTERBURY SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR – 1970-71-72
BRITISH MOTOR CYCLE NEWS – “MAN OF THE DECADE” WINNER 1970 – 1980
BRITISH SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR
4th 1969, 3rd 1970, 4th 1971, 2nd 1972, 3rd 1973 BBC TV SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
Runner up 1970-1972
SUBJECT OF OFFICIAL TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY FILMS:
1976 “Flying Kiwi” produced by British Television
1987 “Circuits of Gold” produced by NZ National Film Unit
2000 “Man of the Millennium” produced by Re-run Video UK
Additional unofficial television documentary films produced in Poland, Czechoslovakia
OFFICIAL JAWA FACTORY RIDER
1969 to 1982
PATRON
Mosgiel and district Motor Cycle Club
PATRON
New Zealand National Motorcycle Museum
PRESIDENT
Australian Veteran Riders Association
Represented N.Z. and International Competitors at F.I.M. Congress (World Authority) in Madrid/SPAIN, Ljubljana/YUGOSLAVIA, London/ENGLAND, Berlin/GERMANY, Brugrs/BELGIUM, Caracas/VENEZUELA, Poznan/POLAND, Montreux/SWITZERLAND, MALTA, Tokyo/JAPAN, Munich/GERMANY
IVAN MAUGER HOLDS THE FOLLOWING WORLD RECORDS:
Most individual World Championships – 9
6 x Speedway – 3 x Long Track
First person to win World Speedway and World Long Track
CHAMPIONSHIPS in same year
Most world final qualification – 52
Most individual world speedway championship wins – 6
Only person to win 3 individual world titles in succession
TRACK RECORDS
WORLD LONG TRACK RECORD
Alexandra Park, Auckland New Zealand, 23rd January 1987
143.033 k.p.h.
SPEEDWAY TRACK RECORDS
Holder of 119 track records in:
ENGLAND; AUSTRALIA; USA; SCOTLAND; NEW ZEALAND; WALES; IRELAND; NORWAY; SWEDEN; DENMARK; HOLLAND; BELGIUM; FRANCE; GERMANY; ITALY; AUSTRIA; YUGOSLAVIA; HUNGARY; POLAND; CZECHOSLAVAKIA; RUSSIA.
LONG TRACK, TRACK RECORDS
Holder of 58 track records in:
NEW ZEALAND; AUSTRALIA; USA; SCOTLAND; ENGLAND;WALES; NORWAY; DENMARK; FRANCE; GERMANY; ITALY; YUGOSLAVIA; CZECHOSLAVAKIA. |
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This does not do justice to his standing and contribution to speedway.
One of the things that makes Ivan’s story so remarkable is that it wasn’t always like this.
Ivan arrived in England as a 17 year old in 1957. It wasn’t long before Ivan and his wife had their first child but success didn’t follow and he returned to New Zealand the following year having been unable to establish himself in the UK.
Once back in New Zealand, despite what is said to have been extreme hardship, he worked hard to develop his skills.
Having been separated from his wife and child when they had to return to New Zealand without him, he resolved to return to the UK only if his wife and by that time, their three children, could come to the UK with him.
Eventually in 1963 Mike Parker, a Manchester based sports promoter, brought Ivan and his family to the UK and put Ivan in his Newcastle team.
From 1963 Ivan had a long association with Manchester, having lived in Chorlton Cum Hardy, Denton, Bramhall, and Woodford for the successful part of his racing career before moving with his family to Australia after his retirement.
Sadly, after suffering from Alzheimer’s for a number of years, Ivan died on 16 April 2018.
The Mauger Campaign believes that Ivan Mauger MBE, OBE deserves recognition and that his life and achievements and his association with the area should be recognised and commemorated.
Or to put it another way, having inspired countless thousands, the area deserves recognition in the life of the most successful speedway rider ever and one of the world’s most successful sportsmen.
In establishing policies to ensure the region thrives, the Greater Manchester Plan should acknowledge Ivan Mauger’s life and achievements as an example of what has been achieved to inspire future generations.
The Mauger Campaign seeks policies to do so as part of the Greater Manchester Plan for Homes, Jobs and the Environment’s plans for the future.
March 2019