Vale: world speedway legend Ivan Mauger

New Zealander Ivan Mauger, who won six individual world speedway titles in the 1960s and 1970, has passed away at the age of 78.

He had suffered from dementia for several years, and retired from public life in 2013 due to poor health. He had lived on the Gold Coast for many years with his wife Raye, who survives the speedway legend alongside their three children: Kym, Debbie and Julie.

Mauger, born in Christchurch, won his six world speedway titles in 1968-1970, 1972, 1977 and 1979, and also finished on the podium four other times.

Only Swede Tony Rickardsson has won as many individual titles, while Mauger also reached the summit in long track, pairs competition, and as a member of New Zealand’s World Cup team.

His career began in the 1950s and ended in 1986.

Until American Greg Hancock usurped him in 2011, Mauger had been the oldest world speedway champion – a record he had held since September 2, 1979. Mauger was 39 years and 339 days old at the time.

Speedway New Zealand chief executive John McCallum said Mauger's death was a massive loss for the sport.

"He was a megastar. No one dominated the world like Ivan did,” McCallum was quoted as saying by stuff.co.nz.

"In footballing terms, he was the Pelé of speedway.”

Following his retirement – he raced for the last time in Adelaide in 1986 – Mauger went on to become a speedway promoter around the globe, including events in Australia.

He was awarded an MBE in 1976, and then admitted to the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1989.

With Mauger's health not improving, the family made the difficult decision to part with much of his collection of memorabilia in 2017 – which was a vast collection of trophies, riding gear programs and even ticket stubs.

Mauger made an appearance at the 2012 Broadford Bike Bonanza celebration in Victoria, and cut laps on the speedway machine that took Aussie Jack Young to the 1951 world title.

RIP Ivan.