1973 Individual Speedway World Championship

1973 Individual Speedway World Championship
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The 1973 Individual Speedway World Championship.

The 1973 World Final was won by Polish rider Jerzy Szczakiel following a run-off in with defending champion Ivan Mauger after both riders had finished on 13 points. In the run-off Mauger fell in turn 3 after trying a risky passing move leaving Szczakiel to win easily. Another Polish rider, Zenon Plech finished third. The final, held at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów, Poland, was held in front of the largest crowd in world speedway history, estimated to be around 130,000.[1]

The Final was surrounded by controversy with decisions made by the Polish referee of the meeting seeming to openly favor the Polish riders in an attempt to have a home town win, including having 2nd reserve Andrzej Wyglenda of Poland race in Heat 16 in front of 1st reserve Tommy Jansson of Sweden (after Bernt Persson of Sweden was unable to ride) making it 4 Polish riders in the race as well as changing the outcome of Heat 19 in which Soviet rider Gregory Khlynovski attempted to pass Zenon Plech for the lead going into the back straight of the last lap and Plech fell. Despite protests from the Soviet officials, the referee simply took Plech's word that Khlynovski had knocked him off his bike and England's Peter Collins was awarded the heat win while Plech, who didn't actually finish the race was awarded 2nd which allowed him to finish a clear third in the championship.[2]

World final

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 Jerzy Szczakiel (3,3,3,2,2) 13+3
2 Ivan Mauger (3,1,3,3,3) 13+F
3 Zenon Plech (2,3,2,3,2) 12
4 Ole Olsen (1,2,3,2,3) 11
5 Gregory Khlynovski (2,3,2,3,X) 10
6 Vladimir Paznikov (3,1,2,1,1) 8
7 Paweł Waloszek (1,2,1,1,3) 8
8 Valery Gordeev (2,0,1,3,1) 7
9 Jan Mucha (1,1,1,2,2) 7
10 Anders Michanek (0,3,0,1,2) 6
11 Edward Jancarz (3,1,0,2,0) 5
12 Peter Collins (1,0,2,0,3) 6
13 John Boulger (2,2,1,0,1) 6
14 Ray Wilson (0,2,3,0,0) 5
15 Vladimir Zapleczny (0,0,0,1,1) 2
16 Bernt Persson (0,0,0,-,-) 1
R1 Andrzej Wyglenda (0) 0
R2 Tommy Jansson (0) 0

References

  1. ^ Katowice 1973
  2. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1eOmHuX2Lk&NR=1
  3. ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
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