I had known Ivan Mauger in a personal capacity as a friend and fan for a very long time. He was quite a remarkable man, and in the last 25 years or so, long after idolising him as a rider from the other side of the fence, I had got to know him as a thoughtful, caring family man. My period of knowing him as a fan is from 1972 to 1985 when he retired, and because I was Midlands based and living close to the Coventry track, seeing him ride was not so frequent, and would mean that I would have to travel to Brandon, Monmore Green, the old Perry Barr track, or Blackbird Road to see him ride whether for the Belle Vue Aces in his final season, or more regularly with Exeter and then Hull.. He had often joked with me that I must have been his only Coventry Bees fan! I had got to know Ivan very well in the years since his retirement and it never seized to amaze me his enthusiasm about speedway, and his absolute encyclopaedia of knowledge about the sport, the technical aspects, the history, etc. In that respect, we were like two peas in a pod, and why whenever we had spoken by telephone – which was quite regularly, usually on my Friday morning, his Friday evening until his illness – the intention of a quick five minute chat nearly always ended in lasting at least one to two hours!! I often joke with Raye that Ivan lived on the phone. Our conversations were always very humorous, and I’d love to share some of the very funny and scandalous anecdotes and stories that Ivan had shared with me over the years but I fear that various ex-riders would be calling their lawyers! One of the aspects of Ivan’s personality that I would like to share is that I had always felt that the media and various speedway fans and folk regarded Ivan, at times, a bit big-headed. In my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth. One very specific memory is of the time the Vintage Speedway Magazine had organised the poll for the best riders of the Millennium in late 1999, which of course we all know that Ivan won. I can remember Ivan calling me about the poll, not in the slightest concerned how well he would do, quite selfless in fact, and his actual concern was the fact that the some of the riders of his era like Igor Plechanov, Bjorn Knutsson, Bengt Jansson, etc would be ignored in the poll and not get the recognition that they deserved. Quite amazing really that he should care so much. Inevitably as we get older we get more mellow, but with Ivan he still showed the same passion for speedway as he was riding. His detail to attention was astonishing, and his ability to recall facts and figures was amazing. Whilst researching his Farewell meetings from 1985 I called him concerning some confusion with dates. and not only was he able to recall the exact dates of each meeting in England, Scotland and Poland, but he could tell me every single detail about who won, who rode, the difficulties of promoting and riding in the meetings, etc. It has been a privilege to see Ivan ride as the peak of his powers and talent, but it has been an even greater privilege to know him as a dear friend.