Under the hammer
Apopular part of any Stafford show is the auction held by Bonhams and though there is always a little off-road interest in the sale, this October there were almost as many off-road orientated bikes as on-road ones. As well as the trials and scrambles bikes covering every era we feature in the magazine there was also the Ivan Mauger speedway collection. Though not quite in the remit of Classic Dirt Bike – though we have just produced a one-off specialist publication named Broadslide which covers the thrilling speedway scene – there is a crossover interest and the fascinating range of machines associated with the six-time world speedway champion is awe-inspiring. Sadly Ivan isn’t enjoying the best of health these days and a thinning out of his collection was the reason for the sale. With interest high the sale made an excellent return and the Mauger family have donated the proceeds to the Speedway Riders’ Benevolent Fund. It also meant there were more than a handful of speedway celebrities on hand to see what was what.