Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

l'Super Kiwi' Mf/uler Neff/ins World Speedwf/Y Crown By Peter White LONDON, ENGLAND September 13, 1969 - New Zealand speedway ace IftD Mauger hrlI1lant1y retained the World Championship at the Empire Stadium, Wembley tonight. Mauger scored 14 out of a possible 15 points to defeat fellow countryman Barry Briggs (second) and Swed1sh rider Soren 81'DGESTONE Sjosten (third). Briggs and Sjosten scored 11 points a p!'!Ce and had to run ott for the minor placlll!l:s. Tied in fourth with' te.· points each were Nigel Boocock, the English captain, and Hasse Holmqv1st, another Swedish international. Riders from six countries, England, Sweden, New Zealand, Scotland, Poland and Russia, contested the Final. There were sixteen competitors and each rode flve times. meeting every other rider looked capable of causing IlPset5 at any time during the meeting. UnpredictabUity is their main claim to !ame. But following a practice session on the Thursday before the meet it seemed obvious Mauger and Briggs were the men to beat. The Kiwi duo were several miles an hour faster than the opposition with Mauger looldng eSPecially smart. , Came race night and Ivan was in 'a class of his own. He won bis first four races easily and had the title in the bag Sales-Senice Barney Tillman's SPORT CENT Eli 6027 WlIIl1ler Blvd., E. Los ABceles (213) 7~"23 IHAAL.&V-DAVIOBON I '~O MODELS OF INGLEWOOD Coming Aug. 20th &11-11iOS or &11-1&00 11.11 H• ., W.lco...s You I HAR~V-DAVIDeaN I of Lomita ~., 40 II. . Molllrcrcl.s In slock ... lI.w Sports. .s I_tlate d.lI"" 2212 Pc. CUlt HWJ. (213) 534-5530 o THE TWO-* Rudy For Innt~a1t Otll,.,! 167 W. Collllll "'ve. sa. lI.manllo, Cal. (714) TU 5-3445 Speedwl)'" p,.still. . . .Id'. CIIMplouhlp Sliver ""..I tropllJ Is h.ld proud I, IIJ ••• Z... Ianel'.I... llau.., for tile secoad con_cutl•• year. Maul_ wrlJllMll up th.tltl ••arl, wltll wins In hi s first f.r raees. ooce. All races were four lap scratch there and then. Once he had notched 12 points no one could peg b1m back. Even starts. a last in 'h1a !1nal outing would leave b1m A near-capacity crowd at SO,OOO witchampion. Il8ssed the meet1Dg which was run under Ultimately he came in second to Belle warm, humld conditions. The atmosphere was electric as the Vue teammate Sjosten. The heat win allowed, diminutive Soren (he's, under riders paraded onto the centre green at 7:00 p.m. to receive their commemoranve feet tall) a run ott with Briggs for second place. tive The roar of the crowd was While Ivan was in scintillating form deafening as each rider stepped forward. it was a less happy evening for h1a It was an overwhelming experience. A truly memorable occasion that really had fellow COlII\tryman and closest rival Barry Briggs. to be witnessed to be !ully appreciated. Four times a world champion in preFor the sixteen competitors it was the vious years it seemed incredible that culmination of months of hard work. Of Briggs could only amass 11 points. Even qual1ty1ng rounds, flnalsand more!1nals. more ama.z1ng though, was the fact that Just to be there on the "Nlgbtof Nlgbts" this meagre total still entitled b1m to a stamped them as being world class. run ott to decide second and third placSix rlders qua,llfled from the British ings. Usually a man who drops as lowas Final and ten from the EurQPeaD Final. 11 points Is well out of the running. The leading scorers from the Nordic Briggs OPened bis account with a fanFinal and .the Continental Final met in tastic heat four ilin over Moore, Ken the European Final from which the top McKinlay and AndrezeJ Pogorze1sld. ten ~ed for Wembley. Barry was left at the start and trailed The qualUiers from the British Final in third spot behind McKinlay and Moore were BriggS (New Zealand). Boocock for most of the race. On the!1nal turn he (England), Ronnie Moore (New Zealand), made a super-human effort and drove Ken McKinley (Scotland), IftD Mauger under the QPposttion to score by inches. (New Zealand) and Howard Cole (EngIt was a great ride and augured well for land). Reserve was Arnold Haley (Engthe rest of the meeting. land). Then, sensationally. in his next ride he was pipped by the unknown Russian Klementiev. The hammer and sickle boy had been all at sea first time out but when he met Briggs he really got stuck in. He beat Briggs out of the gate and that was that. Try as he may, Briggs couldn·t get by. The crowd went wild and rose to their feet to haU the new Russian speedway discovery. This ride, more than anything else, stamped Klementiev as having arrived in the big time. The Russian fell twice in his remaining outings and wound IlP with a total of four points, but he had left h1a mark. It seemed as 1! the defeat unsettled Briggs. He was second to Mauger in heat nine and then third behind Sjosten and Jan Mucha in his fourth ride. He managed to bounce back with a win in his next outing which enabled b1m to meet Sjosten in the run ott. After the run ott, which he duly won, Briggs collapsed in the pits with exhaustion. A disappointment for the British tans was the !lL1lure of Nigel Boocock to gain Swedlsh star $oren $Jost.. came out tblrd a place. after a fllDoff wltll llarry lIrlas. N1gells perhaps the tOP English rider From the EurQPeaD Final the chosen at present and one of only two repreriders ~re Vladimir Klementiev (Russentatives of that country to be r1d1ng in sia), Torb1Orn HarrySSOD (Sweden), Jan the Final. Clad in all blue leathers, he Mucha (Poland), Andrzej Wyglenda (PoIs a sPectacular speed merchant, now land). Fund1n (Sweden), Henryk Gluckpopular the world over. He is a class llch (Poland), Holmqrist (Sweden) and rider, of that there can be no doubt, but Andtzej Pogorzelsld (Poland). Reserve on big nights such as this, lady luck alwas Zb1gn1ew Podlecld (Poland). ways seeins to desert him. Booey has been riding better than ever A good deal of interest centered on the appearance of Klement1ev, the lone in domestic and international matches Soviet representative. Unheard of in this season and it was generally hoped he would break his world champlonsbip western circles until the EurQPeaD Final which he sensationally won with 12 jinx at Wembley. points. He started well enough: a grand win in Also, any of the Polish contingent the very first race over Tor10m Harry- medals. KAWASAKI SPE ED KITS 120cc & 175cc ~6 ,00 up write or call ., $ DRACO'S MOTORCYCLES "'ve. 1629 So.,-Stalldard Cal. 92707 (714) 543-9611 s.. ta ....., SALES SERVICE HOCrlES MOfOICYClfS HODAKA YANKEE GREEVES OSSA Compl.lIt lIachln. Shop FacillUes 22025 So. Figueroa Torrance, California(n3) 328-1242 sson and two le&d1Dg Polish contenders. But then a shock defeat at the bands of Pogorzelsld and, later, two third placlogs put Nigel out of the running. The rema.ln1ng favorite, OVe Fund1n at Sweden, was just not with it. Fund1n holds the record at flve world Final successes and usually he shines at Wembley. 1969, however, saw him right out of touch. He managed only one win all nightagainst mediocre opposition. His nine point total was sensationally low for the man who was quite expected to walk away with the trophy. The only casualty of the meeting was fancied Swedish rider Torb1Orn Harrysson. He tangled with Polish contestant Edward Jancarz in heat 9 and sustained a fractured right leg. This allowed EurQPeaD reserve Zb1gn1ew Podlecld to have two rides - in place of Harrysson in the second hal1. Most courageous rider must surely have been New Zealander Ronnie Moore. More was involved in a nasty crash at the Newcastle track in August wb1le riding for h1a country against England. He sutrered a fractured r.1gbt instep and a good deal of bone and muscular damage to bis right foot. This injury kept him out of action until two days before the Final. He rode at the Wembley practice on the Thursday mornlng and was obviously well out of cODdition and ingreatpatn. However he was determined to chase the title. "1 have qualUed to ride. Notbtng w1ll stOP me now" he said. And ride he did. Un!ortunately the injury proved too much of a handicap and h1a scoring power was CODSiderab1:y restricted. Whereas prior to the accldent Moore was hotly !lLvored to take the championship, he was certainly not a threat on race night. It was a great disappointment that Ronnie could not do better but nevertheless an indication of the supreme ftght- Russian HIIsatlon Vladimir KI.m.nti.... (I.ft) was virtuall, unknown until h. scor.d well In th. Euro..an finals. H. but llarry Brlas In Bria's second rac•• ing spirit and guts of speedway rlders. It was a night of shocks at Wembley this year. One by one the more fancied competitors dropped points unW only Mauger was left. So it was Ivan Mauger who breezed it in. He collected the spoils - a gold medal, a stIver racing Wheel trophy, the winner's wreath and a cool $2400. He rode the victory lap the most jubUant, elated man in the stadium. Next year the world Final has been allocated by the F .I.M., the controlllng body of all motorcycle competition, to Poland. ...... fe.,Ie Cif, rawasalri Area's leading "11Illle Kawasaki Dealer Complete Parts & "'ccesso,les 5&63 II. Rosemead IIlvd., Temple Ci Iy (213) 216-7504 MOro-X ACCESSORIES Pelican DIve & Cycl. DI.t. Co. 500 lIroadway St., Vall.Jo, Cal. 94590 All orders shipped same day llarry IIrlas collap••d In the pits after his his runoff with Soren SJosten for s.cond plac•• To retain the championship and maJce it three in row, Mauger w1ll really have to work hard. The Polish rlders are virtually unbeatable on their own tracks. Although it Is an individual competition they are not averse to team riding and conditions are, on the whole, tough, 8!'PCc12.lly for the British based boys.' (Results on PlIP 16) a

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