IVAN Mauger proudly reminisced about his pioneering 21-point performance at Poole almost 50 years ago during the interval of their polished 56-33 home triumph over Lakeside last night.

The six-times world champion, who lives in Australia these days, was in town to sign copies of his new book ‘The Will to Win’ for Pirates fans.

But, with great pride, he told a bumper Wimborne Road crowd: “I scored the first ever 21-point maximum here in 1966 (when I was only 26).

“We’d only just got back from Poland on the Monday or Tuesday after they’d beaten us (Great Britain) 5-0 in a Test series over there and I came here on the Wednesday night with my club side Newcastle.

“I got a 21-point maximum. It was the first ever in British League racing.

“I don’t know how I was able to do it because I can’t remember if the rules allowed you to have seven rides back then.

“I must have had tactical rides.

“That could have taken me up to six. But I don’t know what happened, why I had seven.

“I can’t remember much about the meeting, but I know I won seven races.

“In fact, I nearly always had good meetings at Poole and I have always had great memories of racing here.

“I also won the British semi-final at Poole and got quite a few maximums with Newcastle, Belle Vue and Exeter on my visits.

“It was a great track to race on and I always had a good time here.”

Mauger, in fact, scored almost half of Newcastle’s tally in their 53-43 British League Knockout Cup, second round, reverse.

He had seven rides under the cup’s 16-heat format. League matches at the time were run over 13 races.

Newcastle also turned up with their full quota of seven men, so Mauger took his five scheduled rides.

He also replaced Mike Watkin and Peter Kelly in two other outings as a tactical substitute under the ruling that allowed a “team six or more points in arrears” to use a substitute rider.

Under the Bournemouth Evening Echo headline ‘Mauger Magnificent” speedway reporter Colin Smith labelled Ivan’s performance “fantastic”.

In his match report, Smith wrote: “Mauger rattled off seven superb victories for an incredible return of 21 points. And all this on an away track!

“It was sensational stuff, and there to admire the performance was Barry Briggs, the rider who pipped Mauger for both the British and Nordic-British championships (earlier in the 1966 season).

“Another spectator was reigning world champion Bjorn Knutsson, who leads Swedish Tourists Vargarna against the Pirates at Poole next Wednesday (in a challenge match the Dorset club won 43-35).

“They saw the magnificent Mauger rocketing from the starting gate to win convincingly in each of his seven rides.

“There was good support from Diamonds number one man Graham Coombes.

“But it was not enough to upset Poole’s progress into the third round (where they were ousted by Coventry).”

Mauger, who won the British semi-final at Poole in 1968, also took the chequered flag in both his second-half outings, to make it nine on an extraordinary night.

Remarkably, nine days later, he was back at Wimborne Road and scorched to a 12-point maximum in Diamonds’ shock 42-35 league win on an occasion when he also won both his second-half heats.

Amazingly, Poole’s Bjarne Pedersen’s stunning 22 paid 23-point maximum performance for Pirates at Arena-Essex in 2005 was the first to better Mauger’s haul.

Pedersen was able to overhaul the Kiwi’s return by winning six heats and then following his team-mate, Matej Ferjan, home when riding as a double points tactical substitute starting 15 metres back during Poole’s 51-44 Elite League defeat at Purfleet on July 22.

So it took 39 years for Mauger’s achievement to be surpassed – and a major change in the rules to allow double points scorers!

Below are the Echo’s heat details from the British League Knockout Cup, second round, encounter between Poole and Newcastle on Mauger’s unforgettable record-making night of Wednesday, July 27, 1966.

Pirates 53: 1 Geoff Mudge (3-2-3-2-2*) 12+1, 2 Colin McKee (2*-1-2*-1*-1*) 7+4, 3 Ronnie Genz (3-1*-2-3-3) 12+1, 4 Wayne Briggs (ret-1*-3-0-1*) 5+2, 5 Bill Andrew (1-2-ret-ret-2) 5, 6 Norman Strachan (0-2) 2, 7 Pete Smith (3-0-2*-3-2) 10+1. Team manager: Ken Middleditch.

Newcastle 43: 1 Graham Coombes (1-3-2*-1-2-1-0) 10+1, 2 Mike Watkin (0-2-0-1*-1-1) 5+1, 3 Peter Kelly (2-ret-0-0) 2, 4 Russ Dent (1*-1-0-2-0) 4+1, 5 Ivan Mauger (3-3-3-3-3-3-3) 21, 6 Dave Gifford (0) 0, 7 Alan Butterfield (0-1) 1. Team manager: Eddie Glennon.

Ht 1: Mudge, McKee, Coombes, Watkin, 72.2 (5-1).

Ht 2: Genz, Kelly, Dent, Briggs (retired), 72.6 (8-4).

Ht 3: Smith, Watkin, McKee, Butterfield, 73.2 (12-6).

Ht 4: Coombes, Mudge, Genz, Kelly (retired), 72.0 (15-9).

Ht 5: Mauger, Coombes, Andrew, Strachan, 71.8 (16-14).

Ht 6: Mudge, McKee, Dent, Kelly, 74.0 (21-15).

Ht 7: Mauger, Genz, Briggs, Watkin, 71.2 (24-18).

Ht 8: Mauger, Andrew, Coombes, Smith, 72.0 (26-22).

Ht 9: Briggs, Smith, Butterfield, Dent, 74.2 (31-23).

Ht 10: Mauger, Mudge, McKee, Kelly, 72.2 (34-26).

Ht 11: Smith, Dent, Watkin, Andrew (retired), 74.4 (37-29).

Ht 12: Genz, Coombes, Watkin, Briggs, 72.8 (40-32).

Ht 13: Mauger, Smith, Coombes, Andrew (retired), 73.0 (42-36).

Ht 14: Genz, Mudge, Watkin, Dent, 72.8 (47-37).

Ht 15: Mauger, Strachan, McKee, Gifford, 73.8 (50-40).

Ht 16: Mauger, Andrew, Briggs, Coombes, 72.0 (53-43).