The 1968 Speedway World Championship Final-winning, 1968 Jawa (ESO) Speedway Racing Motorcycle, Frame no. N-2899 Engine no. IM1-68 3894

Important Collectors' Motorcycles and Spares
The 1968 Speedway World Championship Final-winning
1968 Jawa (ESO) Speedway Racing Motorcycle
Frame no. N-2899
Engine no. IM1-68 3894
Having first dipped his toe in the waters of British speedway in 1957, riding for Wimbledon, Ivan eventually returned home to race in New Zealand and Australia. Despite numerous successes 'Down Under', he desperately wanted another crack at racing in Britain, then the centre of world speedway, and towards the end of 1962 reached an agreement with promoter Mike Parker to race for his Newcastle team – the 'Diamonds' - in the Provincial League. After a somewhat hesitant start while he re-familiarised himself with the British tracks, Ivan topped the Provincial League's averages for 1963 to become that year's PL Riders' Champion, a feat he repeated in '64. Ivan's 1965 season was blighted by injury but he bounced back in 1966 to take the European Championship at Wembley.

Understandably, he had high hopes of similar success in his first World Final appearance later that year at Gothenburg in Sweden. Unfortunately for Ivan, Mike Parker would not release him from domestic commitments and so he was denied the opportunity to practice on a track he had never seen before. On the night, Ivan could only manage fourth place overall, having been handicapped by the wrong gearing, a mistake that surely would have been avoided had he been allowed to practice.

Comfortably qualifying for the 1967 World Final at Wembley, Ivan won his first three races on the night and at the interval was level with Ove Fundin, a point ahead of Bengt Jansson and Igor Plechanov. By the time the four title contenders had completed four rides, all were level on 11 points. But there would be no stopping Fundin that night, and Ivan had to be content with a bronze medal. 'I felt great standing on the rostrum but disappointed not to have got into the run-off,' he recalled. 'It did help concentrate the mind, though.'

That first glimmer of World Final success did wonders for Ivan's confidence, and he commenced his 1968 campaign on top form. As he recalled in his autobiography, 'The Will to Win': 'Right from the off, it appeared not to matter what I rode, I just couldn't stop winning. The results kept coming, my confidence was soaring, and there seemed no good reason why it should not continue.'

And continue it did, with Ivan easily qualifying for the 1968 World Final, held that year in Gothenburg, Sweden on 6th September: 'After the first four races I was... two points ahead of Briggo (Barry Briggs) and three points ahead of Gennadi Kurilenko, the young Russian who was in his first final.' Ivan duly won his last race to wrap up his first World Championship with a faultless 15-point maximum score. His limitless ambition not withstanding, even Ivan himself could not have foreseen that there would be five more.

Ivan had become a Jawa factory-supported rider only one month before the World Final. The engine in the machine offered here was delivered new on 1st September 1968. Guy Allott did the complete strip and rebuild before it was used for the first time at Newcastle on 2nd September, Ivan achieving a 12-point maximum, and then four days later in Gothenburg to win the World Title. This machine was also used by Ivan at Wembley on 21st September, where Great Britain won the World Team Cup for the first time, also with a maximum score (Commonwealth riders were eligible to compete for Great Britain at this time).

Ivan restored this bike in his Gold Coast workshop around 2004, and following completion it was displayed at Ash's Speedway Museum at Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia (circa 2014). The machine has not been run since the restoration. Ivan's notebook recording meetings, points scored, and works carried out is included in the sale.