Speedway World Championship

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See also: Speedway World Championship Competitions

The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest ranked speedway riders of the world. Today, it is organised as a series of Speedway Grand Prix events, where points are awarded according to performance in the event and tallied up at the end of each season. However, up to 1995, it used to be organised as a single-night event, with qualifying rounds leading up to a big final with five heats, where points were awarded according to place in the heat and then tallied up at the end.

[edit] Organisation

[edit] 1936 to 1954

With minor modifications, the general system stayed the same from the first championship. There were initial qualifying rounds, where the riders raced in heats of four to score points against each other (3 for first place, 2 for second place, 1 for third place). The final qualifying round was called the Championship Round, and it consisted of seven to ten meetings, though no one participated in all of them. The 16 who scored the most points then qualified for the World Championship Final at Wembley, where the heat system was again used - this time with a total of 20 heats of four riders, each rider racing five heats, and every rider meeting each other at some point during the competition. The same points system was used, and the rider with the most points won. From 1936 to 1938 bonus points were carried over from the Championship Round. This was scrapped when the World Championship resumed after the War in 1949.

[edit] 1955 to 1994

In 1955, the World final organisers recognised that it was no longer practical for the foreigners to travel to the Championship round races in Britain, and so a system with zonal qualification races were invented. The Nordic countries Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway had their own qualifiers, Austria, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia had the "continental" qualifiers, and the best riders met for European Championships - all organised in roughly the same way as the World final was before. The Championship Round for British, American, Australian and New Zealand racers, however, was kept until 1964, when the same qualifier system was implemented there. From these two competitions, a certain amount then qualified for the World final, which was organised in the same way as before. The quotas from each nation/continent varied from year to year, generally depending on what nation hosted the championship, and the divisions could also vary (an intercontinental final between English-speaking and Nordic countries was in use from 1972 to 1990, for example).

[edit] 1995 to date

Gradually, it became apparent that the single-night event was getting obsolete, and a Grand Prix series similar to that used in Formula 1 and MotoGP was implemented in 1995 - while the system with qualifiers and a final was now used to qualify riders for the next Grand Prix series. Initially, there were six races, in Poland, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Great Britain. The old system with everyone racing each other was still used, however, except that the four best riders qualified for a final heat which would determine who won the individual event (and score maximum points). Points were awarded as follows:

• 25 for the winner, then 20, 18, 16, 14, 13, 12, 11, 9, 8, 7, 6, 4, 3, 2, and 1 for 16th

This system was used until 1998, when FIM invented another system. Instead of 16 riders racing for points and trying to qualify for a final, there would now be 24 riders, divided into two classes. The eight best would be directly qualified for the so-called Main Event, while the sixteen others would be knocked out if they finished out of the top two in 4-man heats on two occasions - while they would go through if they finished inside the top two on two occasions. This resulted in 10 heats, where eight proceeded to the Main Event, where exactly the same system was applied to give eight riders to a semi-final. The semi-finals were then two heats of four, where the top two qualified for a final and the others raced off in a consolation final. This system meant that the point system had to be revised, with 5th place getting 15 points, 6th 14, 8th 10, and after that 8, 8, 7, 7, etc. Places after 8th place were awarded according to the time a rider was knocked out and, secondly, according to position in the last heat he rode in.

This system went largely unchanged until 2004, although the number of GP races expanded to ten in 2002 and then back to 9 in 2003 and 2004. However, the system was viewed by many as too complicated, and for the 2005 Speedway Grand Prix season the system used from 1995 to 1997 was back, but with one minor modification; points gained in the heats would now count for the aggregate standings, and the top eight riders would qualify for two semi-final heats, just like the 1998-2004 system.

[edit] History

[edit] Humble beginnings

The British pride themselves on inventing the World Championship, having hosted the first fifteen - all in Wembley Stadium. These were from 1936, when Australian Lionel Van Praag won the title, to 1938 and from 1949 to 1960. Commonwealth countries dominated, with the UK, Australia and New Zealand taking four titles each up to 1959. The first non-English-speaking victor came in 1956, when the Swede Ove Fundin won the first of his five titles. The late 1950s and 1960s were dominated by Fundin along with the two New Zealanders Ronnie Moore (two titles) and Barry Briggs (four titles).

[edit] Mauger's era

Then, at the 1966 World Championship in Gothenburg Ivan Mauger, a 26-year-old New Zealander who had had a slow breakthrough in British league speedway, made his debut. He finished fourth, but won two out of five races, and showed potential by winning the European final (without Swedes) at Wembley. And he lived up to it. He raced till the ripe old age of 39, winning six World titles, including three in a row from 1968 to 1970 - including nine successive races in finals events. After 1970, though, he showed himself to be more human, as Ole Olsen took over - winning in Göteborg in 1971 and eventually taking three titles. However, Mauger had the last laugh of the two - winning the last final that they both competed in, at Chorzow in 1979, when he scored 14 out of 15 possible points to win the final ahead of Pole Zenon Plech.

[edit] Danes take over

After Bruce Penhall won twice in 1981 and 1982 - the latter being the first and only time a World Championship race has been hosted in the United States, in Los Angeles - it was time for Denmark to ascend the world control of speedway. Earlier on, only Ole Olsen had won World titles, in 1971, 1975 and 1978, but a new generation was growing up, led by Erik Gundersen and Hans Nielsen who occupied the first two places at Gothenburg in 1984. And, in fact, there were two Danes on top of the table in each and every World final from 1984 to 1988 - a somewhat extraordinary record. Gundersen and Nielsen took three titles each as the Danes won six successive and seven out of eight titles from 1984 to 1991. However, the retirement of Gundersen in 1989, followed by Jan Pedersen in 1992, weakened Danish speedway somewhat, as only Nielsen held the class required to win the World Championship. He did in 1995 - scoring 103 points and winning one of six races (fellow Dane Tommy Knudsen actually won two, but was too inconsistent and finished tenth), fifteen points more than his nearest opponent. He was pipped to the title by two points by Billy Hamill in 1996, and although he continued racing till 1999, he never threatened the top.

[edit] Speedway Grand Prix

Main article: Speedway Grand Prix

Instead, it was Sweden - represented by Tony Rickardsson, the 1994 champion - who took over. Rickardsson won four titles from 1998 to 2002, only interrupted by Mark Loram in 2000. Although Dane Nicki Pedersen and Australian Jason Crump won in 2003 and 2004, Rickardsson was hampered by injury and unlucky draws through many of the Grand Prix races, and was often in contention for the title. The 2005 Speedway Grand Prix series, however, saw Rickardsson return, taking his sixth victory to equal the record of Ivan Mauger. The 2006 Grand Prix was again won by Jason Crump who amassed a total of 188 points to lead the field throughout the championship. Rickardsson announced his retirement from the sport half way through the 2006 campaign.

[edit] Table of winners

Year	Winner	Runner Up	Third
1936 Wembley, UK	Lionel Van Praag (Aus) 14 (+12) 26	Eric Langton (Eng) 13 (+13) 26	Bluey Wilkinson (Aus) 15 (+10) 25
1937 Wembley, UK	Jack Milne (USA) 15 (+13) 28	Wilbur Lamoreaux (USA) 13 (+12) 25	Cordy Milne (USA) 12 (+11) 23
1938 Wembley, UK	Bluey Wilkinson (Aus) 14(+8) 22	Jack Milne (USA) 14 (+7) 21	Wilbur Lamoreaux (USA) 13 (+7) 20
Championship suspended 1939-1948
Year	Winner	Runner Up	Third
1949 Wembley, UK	Tommy Price (Eng) 15	Jack Parker (Eng) 14	Louis Lawson (Eng) 13
1950 Wembley, UK	Freddie Williams (Wal) 14	Wally Green (Eng) 13	Graham Warren (Eng) 12
1951 Wembley, UK	Jack Young (Aus) 12	Split Waterman (Eng) 12	Jack Biggs (Aus) 12
1952 Wembley, UK	Jack Young (Aus) 14	Freddie Williams (Wal) 13	Bob Oakley (Eng) 12
1953 Wembley, UK	Freddie Williams (Wal) 14	Split Waterman (Eng) 13	Geoff Mardon (NZ) 12
1954 Wembley, UK	Ronnie Moore (NZ) 15	Brian Crutcher (Eng) 13	Olly Nygren (Swe) 13
1955 Wembley, UK	Peter Craven (Eng) 13	Ronnie Moore (NZ) 12	Barry Briggs (NZ) 12
1956 Wembley, UK	Ove Fundin (Swe) 13	Ronnie Moore (NZ) 12	Arthur Forrest (GB) 11
1957 Wembley, UK	Barry Briggs (NZ) 14	Ove Fundin (Swe) 14	Peter Craven (GB) 11
1958 Wembley, UK	Barry Briggs (NZ) 15	Ove Fundin (Swe) 13	Aub Lawson (Aus) 11
1959 Wembley, UK	Ronnie Moore (NZ) 15	Ove Fundin (Swe) 13	Barry Briggs (NZ) 11
1960 Wembley, UK	Ove Fundin (Swe) 14	Ronnie Moore (NZ) 14	Peter Craven (GB) 14
1961 Malmö, Sweden	Ove Fundin (Swe) 14	Björn Knutsson (Swe) 12	Göte Nordin (Swe) 12
1962 Wembley, UK	Peter Craven (GB) 14	Barry Briggs (NZ) 13	Ove Fundin (Swe) 10
1963 Wembley, UK	Ove Fundin (Swe) 14	Björn Knutsson (Swe) 13	Barry Briggs (NZ) 12
1964 Gothenburg, Sweden	Barry Briggs (NZ) 15	Igor Plechanov (USSR) 13	Ove Fundin (Swe) 13
Year	Winner	Runner Up	Third
1965 Wembley, UK	Björn Knutsson (Swe) 14	Igor Plechanov (USSR) 13	Ove Fundin (Swe) 13
1966 Gothenburg, Sweden	Barry Briggs (NZ) 15	Sverre Harrfeldt (Nor) 14	Antoni Woryna (Pol) 13
1967 Wembley, UK	Ove Fundin (Swe) 14	Bengt Jansson (Swe) 14	Ivan Mauger (NZ) 13
1968 Gothenburg, Sweden	Ivan Mauger (NZ) 15	Barry Briggs (NZ) 12	Edward Jancarz (Pol) 11
1969 Wembley, UK	Ivan Mauger (NZ) 14	Barry Briggs (NZ) 11	Sören Sjösten (Swe) 11
1970 Wroclaw, Poland	Ivan Mauger (NZ) 15	Pawel Waloszek (Pol) 14	Antoni Woryna (Pol) 13
1971 Gothenburg, Sweden	Ole Olsen (Den) 15	Ivan Mauger (NZ) 12	Bengt Jansson (Swe) 12
1972 Wembley, UK	Ivan Mauger (NZ) 13	Bernt Persson (Swe) 13	Ole Olsen (Den) 12
1973 Chorzów, Poland	Jerzy Szczakiel (Pol) 13	Ivan Mauger (NZ) 13	Zenon Plech (Pol) 12
1974 Gothenburg, Sweden	Anders Michanek (Swe) 15	Ivan Mauger (NZ) 11	Sören Sjösten (Swe) 11
1975 Wembley, UK	Ole Olsen (Den) 15	Anders Michanek (Swe) 13	John Louis (GB) 12
1976 Chorzow, Poland	Peter Collins (GB) 14	Malcolm Simmons (GB) 13	Phil Crump (Aus) 12
1977 Gothenburg, Sweden	Ivan Mauger (NZ) 14	Peter Collins (GB) 13	Ole Olsen (Den) 12
1978 Wembley, UK	Ole Olsen (Den) 13	Gordon Kennett (GB) 12	Scott Autrey (USA) 11
1979 Chorzow, Poland	Ivan Mauger (NZ) 14	Zenon Plech (Pol) 13	Michael Lee (GB) 11
Year	Winner	Runner Up	Third
1980 Gothenburg, Sweden	Michael Lee (GB) 14	Dave Jessup (GB) 12	Billy Sanders (Aus) 12
1981 Wembley, UK	Bruce Penhall (USA) 14	Ole Olsen (Den) 12	Tommy Knudsen (Den) 12
1982 Los Angeles, USA	Bruce Penhall (USA) 14	Les Collins (GB) 13	Dennis Sigalos (USA) 12
1983 Norden, Germany	Egon Müller (FRG) 15	Billy Sanders (Aus) 12	Michael Lee (GB) 11
1984 Gothenburg, Sweden	Erik Gundersen (Den) 14	Hans Nielsen (Den) 13	Lance King (USA) 13
1985 Bradford, UK	Erik Gundersen (Den) 13	Hans Nielsen (Den) 13	Sam Ermolenko (USA) 13
1986 Chorzow, Poland	Hans Nielsen (Den) 14	Jan O. Pedersen (Den) 13	Kelvin Tatum (GB) 12
1987 Amsterdam, NL	Hans Nielsen (Den) 27 (12+15)	Erik Gundersen (Den) 24 (13+11)	Sam Ermolenko (USA) 24 (13+11)
1988 Vojens, Denmark	Erik Gundersen (Den) 14	Hans Nielsen (Den) 14	Jan O. Pedersen (Den) 13
1989 Munich, Germany	Hans Nielsen (Den) 15	Simon Wigg (GB) 12	Jeremy Doncaster (GB) 12
1990 Bradford, UK	Per Jonsson (Swe) 13	Void (Shawn Moran (USA) disqualified)	Todd Wiltshire (Aus) 12
1991 Gothenburg, Sweden	Jan O. Pedersen (Den) 15	Tony Rickardsson (Swe) 12	Hans Nielsen (Den) 11
1992 Wroclaw, Poland	Gary Havelock (GB) 14	Per Jonsson (Swe) 11	Gert Handberg (Den) 10
1993 Pocking, Germany	Sam Ermolenko (USA) 12	Hans Nielsen (Den) 11	Chris Louis (GB) 11
1994 Vojens, Denmark	Tony Rickardsson (Swe) 12	Hans Nielsen (Den) 12	Craig Boyce (Aus) 12
Speedway Grand Prix Series from 1995
Year	Winner	Runner Up	Third
1995	Hans Nielsen (Den) 103	Tony Rickardsson (Swe) 88	Sam Ermolenko (USA) 83
1996	Billy Hamill (USA) 113	Hans Nielsen (Den) 111	Greg Hancock (USA) 88
1997	Greg Hancock (USA) 118	Billy Hamill (USA) 111	Tomasz Gollob (Pol) 92
1998	Tony Rickardsson (Swe) 111	Jimmy Nilsen (Swe) 99	Tomasz Gollob (Pol) 97
1999	Tony Rickardsson (Swe) 111	Tomasz Gollob (Pol) 98	Hans Nielsen (Den) 76
2000	Mark Loram (GB) 102	Billy Hamill (USA) 95	Tony Rickardsson (Swe) 94
2001	Tony Rickardsson (Swe) 121	Jason Crump (Aus) 113	Tomasz Gollob (Pol) 89
2002	Tony Rickardsson (Swe) 181	Jason Crump (Aus) 162	Ryan Sullivan (Aus) 158
2003	Nicki Pedersen (Den) 152	Jason Crump (Aus) 144	Tony Rickardsson (Swe) 127
2004	Jason Crump (Aus) 158	Tony Rickardsson (Swe) 155	Greg Hancock (USA) 137
2005	Tony Rickardsson (Swe) 196	Jason Crump (Aus) 154	Leigh Adams (Aus) 107
2006	Jason Crump (Aus) 188	Greg Hancock (USA) 144	Nicki Pedersen (Den) 134
2007	Nicki Pedersen (Den) 196	Leigh Adams (Aus) 153	Jason Crump (Aus) 124
Year	Winner	Runner Up	Third

[edit] See also

• Speedway World Championship Classification
• World Under-21 Championship

[edit] References

• Speedway, Longtrack and Icespeedway History

v • d • e Individual Speedway World Championship and Speedway Grand Prix seasons Speedway World Championship: 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939 • 1949 • 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 Speedway Grand Prix: 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009

v • d • e International speedway competitions World Individual (SGP) • Pairs • Team (SWC) • Individual U-21 • Team U-21 Europe Individual • Pairs • Individual U-19 • Team U-19 • Club Governing Bodies World (FIM) • Europe (UEM)