1972 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1972 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 27th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.

The 1972 final attendance at Wembley Stadium was 75,000. New Zealander Ivan Mauger joined Barry Briggs on four title wins (2nd only behind Ove Fundin) by defeating Bernt Persson in a run-off after both riders finished on 13 points.

In heat five, Briggs was involved in an accident which all but ended his speedway career. Going into the first turn his front wheel was hit by Bernt Persson's bike which caused him to fall. He was then hit by the Russian riders Grigory Khlinovsky and Valery Gordeev. Briggs suffered a severe hand injury and lost the index finger on his left hand which caused him to temporarily retire from racing. Briggs had been considered one of the pre-meeting favourites and his favouritism had been firmed when he had beaten fellow New Zealander Ivan Mauger in heat 2.

To the boos of the 75,000 strong Wembley crowd, FIM referee Georg Traunspurger did not exclude Persson. Defending champion Ole Olsen was unlucky not to retain his title because in his first ride (heat 4) while challenging Swede Christer Löfqvist he fell and would score no points. He won his next four rides to finish in a clear third place.

Before the final, the Russian riders had three of their bikes stolen and had to borrow equipment to compete.

First round Qualification results.

Continental qualifying Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 7 May Kovinar Stadium, Maribor Petr Ondrašík Jan Verner Sandor Csato 11 May Stadio Moretti, Udine Draško Oreško Gunther Walla Nedialko Nedialkov

Second round Norwegian qualifying 19 September 1971 Sandnes Idrettspark, Sandnes Top 9 (+3 seeded) to Nordic qualification 1972 Pos. Rider Points1 Reidar Eide 152 Dag Lovaas133 Svein Kaasa124 Tormod Langli115 Odd Fossengen116 Jan Terje Gravningen107 Dagfinn Dahl98 Edgar Stangeland 89 Oyvind S. Berg 710 Johnny Larsen 611 Nils Otto Haraldsen 512 Kjell Thomas Skjëveland 413 Eidar Egedius 414 Helge Langli 315 Ole Fjötland Finnish qualifying (top 9) (3 rounds) First (+2 seeded riders) to Nordic qualification 1972 R1 (9 Aug '71, Eteläpuisto, Tampere) R2 (28 Aug '71, Kärpänen Speedway, Lahti) R3 (12 Sep '71 Eteläpuisto, Tampere) Pos. Rider Points Points1 Matti Olin 8+6+8162 Kalevi Lahtinen 4+8+0123 Hannu Känkänen 3+4+6104 Reima Lohkovuori 6+2+395 Heikki Ahonen 0+3+476 Kari Vuoristo 2+1+037 Matti Touru 0+0+228 Ari Hiljanen 1+0+019 Rauli Mäkinen 0+0+11

British/Commonwealth preliminaries Top riders to British/Commonwealth qualifiers DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 15 AprilKingsmead Stadium, Canterbury Bob Young Malcolm Ballard Brian Foote 16 AprilRye House Stadium, Hoddesdon Dave Kennett Bob Humphreys Barry Crowson 21 AprilEast of England Arena, Peterborough Geoff Maloney Phil Crump Kevin Holden 27 AprilHolker Street, Barrow-in-Furness John Harrhy Alan Wilkinson Malcolm Shakespeare 28 AprilDerwent Park, Workington Alan Knapkin George Major Russ Dent

Continental quarter-finals Top 16 to Continental semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 21 May Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc Janosh Szőke Oleg Dzyadyk Aleksandr Pavlov 21 May Pavlovický Stadion, Liberec Viktor Trofimov Yury Dubinin Jan Mucha 21 May Abensberger Stadion, Abensberg Henryk Glucklich Jan Holub I Grigory Khlinovsky 21 May Stadion żużlowy, Gorzów Wielkopolski Edward Jancarz Zenon Plech Valery Gordeev

Swedish qualification Top 6 in each heat to Nordic qualification

(27 April, Gubbängens IPStockholm)PosRider Points 1 Anders Michanek 142 Karl-Erik Claesson 133 Hasse Holmqvist 134 Lars-Inge Hultberg 125 Bo Wirebrand 106 Göte Nordin 97 Åke Dovhed 98 Dirk van der Voet 79 Tommy Nilsson 610 Jan-Inge Karlsson 511 Bertil Andersson 512 Åke Andersson 513 Sune Eriksson 514 Harald Sandberg 315 Sune Stark 316 Bengt Brannefors017 Kjell Marrsson (res)0

(30 April, Målilla (Motorbana)Målilla)PosRider Points 1 Jan Simensen 122 Tommy Johansson 123 Per-Olof Söderman 114 Torbjörn Harrysson 115 Christer Sjösten 106 Stephan Johansson 97 Anders Jansson 98 Roy Dantanus 99 Berndt Johansson 710 Willy Karlsson 711 Bengt Olsson 712 Floyd Ohlsson 513 Lars-Olov Karlsson 414 Anders Lövgren 415 Claes-Ingvar Svensson 216 Curt Nyqvist017 Kalle Lindgren (res)0

(1 May, Motorbanen HagalundLindesberg)PosRider Points 1 Bernt Persson 152 Sören Sjösten 143 Lars Jansson 134 Bengt Larsson 125 Hans Johansson 116 Tommy Wedén 97 Stefan Salmonsson 98 Casimir Nilsson 89 Sigvard Johansson 610 Therje Henriksson 611 Lars Jennefors 512 Lars-Åke Andersson 413 Sören Karlsson 414 Inge Gustavsson 415 Hans Engzell 116 Leif Söderberg 0

(1 May, Gamla GalgbergetVisby)PosRider Points 1 Christer Löfqvist 152 Tommy Jansson 133 Leif Enecrona 134 Rolf Johansson 125 Bengt Jansson 126 Claes Löfstrand 87 Ragnar Holm 88 Bo Magnusson 79 Käll Haage 710 Håkan Karlsson 611 Torbjörn Karlsson 412 Kenneth Selmosson 413 Kurt Sigurdh 314 Börje Klingberg 315 Reine Södergren 116 Ove Helander 0

Third round British/Commonwealth qualifiers Top 32 to British/Commonwealth semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 20 MayThe Shay, Halifax Eric Boocock Bob Kilby Ray Wilson 20 MayKing's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn Terry Betts Malcolm Simmons Howard Cole 20 May Hyde Road, Manchester Ivan Mauger Chris Pusey Jim McMillan 22 MayReading Stadium, Reading Ronnie Moore Dave Jessup Mick Bell 22 MayCounty Ground Stadium, Exeter Howard Cole Bob Kilby Barry Briggs 25 MayOxford Stadium, Oxford Terry Betts Garry Middleton Malcolm Simmons 25 MayOwlerton Stadium, Sheffield Arnie Haley Ivan Mauger Bobby Beaton 25 MayWimbledon Stadium, London Ronnie Moore Bob Andrews Barry Briggs 25 MayFoxhall Stadium, Ipswich David Kennett John Harrhy George Hunter 26 MayHackney Wick Stadium, London Geoff Curtis Barry Thomas Chris Pusey 26 MayMonmore Green, Wolverhampton Dave Gifford Peter Collins Norman Hunter 27 MayAbbey Stadium, Swindon Barry Briggs Martin Ashby Phil Crump 27 MayDudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Bob Andrews Arnie Haley Bob Kilby 27 MayBrandon Stadium, Coventry Nigel Boocock Tony Lomas John Louis 30 MayWimborne Road, Poole Nigel Boocock Geoff Curtis Howard Cole 2 JuneHampden Park, Glasgow Bobby Beaton Jim McMillan John Louis 2 JuneSomerton Park, Newport Bruce Cribb Tony Clarke Mike Broadbanks 6 JuneLeicester Stadium, Leicester Dave Jessup Ivan Mauger Malcolm Shakespeare

Nordic qualifying Top 5 in each heat to Nordic final

(11 May, Gislaved Motorbana, Gislaved)PosRider Points 1 Bernt Persson 152 Tommy Jansson 133 Torbjörn Harrysson 124 Leif Enecrona 125 Christer Löfqvist 116 Jan Simensen 107 Odd Fossengen 98 Karl-Erik Claesson 89 Svein Kaasa 710 Jörn Mogensen 611 Claes Löfstrand 512 Tormod Langli413 Kari Vuoristo 314 Preben Bollerup 315 Kurt Bögh 216 Hans Erik Fuglerud0

(11 May, Avestavallen, AvestaPosRider Points 1 Hasse Holmqvist 152 Sören Sjösten 123 Tommy Johansson124 Göte Nordin125 Dag Lövaas 126 Bengt Larsson 107 Lars Jansson 88 Edgar Stangeland 79 Henning Hansen 610 Fred Hansen 611 Erik Tillgaard 612 Bo Wirebrand 513 Hannu Känkänen 514 Lars-Inge Hultberg 215 Niels Heraldsen 116 Knud Heia0

(12 May, Gamla Ryd Motorstadion, Linköping)PosRider Points 1 Anders Michanek 152 Reidar Eide 143 Bengt Jansson 134 Per-Olof Söderman 115 Öyvind Berg 116 Christer Sjösten 107 Bent Nörregaard-Jensen 108 Hans Johansso 79 Krause Kjaer 610 Ragnar Holm 611 Tommy Wedén 612 Nils Schelde 413 Stephan Johansson 314 Dagfinn Dahl 315 Kjell Skievelan 116 Matti Olin 0

Continental semi-finals 3 June Markéta Stadium, Prague Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Edward Jancarz 152 Milan Špinka 113 Zenon Plech 104 Anatolij Kuzmin 105 Viktor Trofimov 96 Petr Ondrašík97 Vladimir Baturin 88 Valerij Gordeev 89 Anatolij Mironov 810 Yury Dubinin 811 Václav Verner (res) 812 Ryszard Dziatkowiak 713 Antoni Woryna 414 Gennadij Ivanov 315 Jan Mucha 216 Stanislav Kubíček 017 Zdzislaw Dobrucki 018 Zdenek Novotny (res) 04 June Polonia Bydgoszcz Stadium, Bydgoszcz Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Marek Cieslak 152 Paweł Waloszek 133 Henryk Glücklich 114 Viktor Kalmykov 115 Zbigniew Friedek 116 Grigory Khlinovsky 107 Vladimir Paznikov 88 Jerzy Szczakiel 89 Andrzej Koselski (res) 810 Alexander Pavlov 611 Oleg Dziadyk 612 Jan Verner 613 Miroslav Verner 314 Janos Szöke 215 Jan Holub I 116 Benedykt Kosek (res) 117 Istvan Sziraczky 0

Fourth round British/Commonwealth semi-finals 20 June Leicester Stadium, Leicester Top 8 to British/Commonwealth final Pos. Rider Points1 Terry Betts 14+32 Ronnie Moore 14+23 Arnie Haley 134 Garry Middleton125 Barry Briggs116 John Louis87 Trevor Hedge88 George Hunter (res)89 Nigel Boocock610 Geoff Curtis611 Chris Pusey 612 Phil Crump413 Dave Younghusband414 Bobby Beaton215 Pete Smith216 Tony Clarke 117 Howard Cole 022 June Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield Top 8 to British/Commonwealth final Pos. Rider Points1 Ivan Mauger 152 Jim McMillan 133 John Boulger 124 Martin Ashby105 Ray Wilson106 Eric Boocock107 Dave Jessup98 Peter Collins99 Norman Hunter910 Tony Lomas411 Bob Kilby 412 John Harrhy413 Bob Andrews414 Barry Thomas315 Mick Bell216 Mike Broadbank2

Nordic Final 1 June 1972 Norrköping Motorstadion First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Bengt Jansson 3,2,3,3,3 142 Anders Michanek 3,3,3,1,3 133 Ole Olsen 3,2,2,3,2 124 Bernt Persson 1,2,3,2,3 115 Hasse Holmqvist 2,3,2,2,2 116 Christer Löfqvist 3,3,3,0,1 107 Jan Simensen 2,0,2,3,3 108 Reidar Eide 1,3,1,2,2 99 Tommy Jansson 2,1,2,3,E 810 Dag Lovaas 1,1,1,2,0 511 Tommy Johansson 0,1,0,1,2 412 Øyvind S. Berg 1,0,0,1,1 313 Göte Nordin 0,2,1,0,- 314 Leif Enecrona 0,0,1,1,1 315 Per Olof Söderman 2,0,0,0,0 216 Sören Sjösten 0,1,0,0,- 1R1 Christer Sjösten E 0R2 Runo Wedin 0 0

Continental Final 25 June 1972 Dombay Motodrom, Cherkessk First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Viktor Trofimov 2,3,3,3,3 142 Viktor Kalmykov 3,3,3,2,2 133 Anatoly Kuzmin 2,2,2,3,3 124 Valery Gordeev 3,1,1,3,3 115 Milan Špinka 1,3,3,2,1 106 Grigory Khlinovsky 3,2,F,1,3 97 Paweł Waloszek 0,3,2,2,2 98 Aleksandr Pavlov 2,2,2,1,2 99 Zenon Plech F,2,2,3,F 710 Anatoly Mironov 1,1,1,2,1 611 Zygfryd Friedek X,1,1,1,2 512 Petr Ondrašík 3,X,0,0,1 413 Vasily Baturin F,X,3,X,0 314 Marek Cieślak 0,1,1,1,0 315 Henryk Glucklich 2,E,X,0,X 216 Edward Jancarz 1,X,E,E,1 2R1 Gennady Kurilenko 1,0,0,X 1R2 Vladimir Kubanov 0,0,0 0

Fifth round British/Commonwealth Final 2 August 1972 Brandon Stadium, Coventry First 5 to World Final

European Final 3 September 1972 Olympic Stadium, Wrocław First 11 to World Final plus 1 reserve

World Final 16 September 1972 Wembley Stadium, LondonBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. Referee: Georg Traunspurger

References