1961 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1961 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 16th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

The final was held outside of Wembley and England for the first time when on the 15 September Ove Fundin retained his title in his home country of Sweden. It was the first time a rider had won three titles and Sweden produced a clean sweep of podium places with Björn Knutsson and Göte Nordin finishing second and third.[7]

First Round
  • British & Commonwealth Qualifying - 32 riders to British & Commonwealth semi finals
  • Scandinavian Qualifying - 16 to Nordic Final
  • Continental Qualifying - 16 to Continental Final

British & Commonwealth Qualifying
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Preliminary Round
22 May Exeter Eric Hockaday Jim Lightfoot Pete Lansdale
24 May Poole Maury Mattingley Tony Lewis Ken Middleditch
25 May Middlesbrough Dick Campbell Peter Vandenberg Geoff Mudge
26 May Wolverhampton Graham Warren Harry Edwards Eric Hockaday
26 May Rayleigh Johnny Fitzpatrick Gil Goldfinch Ken Adams
26 May Plymouth Jack Scott Tony Lewis Chris Julian
27 May Edinburgh Jim Lightfoot Doug Templeton Dick Campbell
27 May Cradley Heath Harry Bastable Ivor Brown Peter Vandenberg
1 June Sheffield Clive Featherby Clive Cox George Hunter
3 June Stoke Maury Mattingley Ken Adams Stan Stevens
Round 1
3 July Wimbledon Ronnie Moore Ron How Jim Tebby
4 July Southampton Peter Craven Barry Briggs Ray Cresp
5 July New Cross Bob Andrews Split Waterman Ken McKinlay
6 July Oxford Jack Young Ronnie Genz Mike Broadbanks
6 July Ipswich Peter Moore Johnny Chamberlain Ray Cresp
7 July Leicester Ronnie Moore Ken McKinlay Danny Dunton
8 July Swindon Cyril Maidment Tadeusz Teodorowicz Neil Street
8 July Coventry Peter Moore Bob Duckworth Bob Andrews
8 July Norwich Billy Bales Mike Broadbanks Split Waterman
8 July Belle Vue Peter Craven Gerald Jackson Eric Williams

Scandinavian Qualifying
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Qualifications
30 April Vetlanda ? ? ?
1 May Visby ? ? ?
4 May Göteborg ? ? ?
26 May Oslo Ove Fundin Björn Knutsson Aage Hansen
28 May Helsinki Per Tage Svensson Rune Sörmander Arne Pander

Continental Qualifying
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Quarter-Finals
28 May Poznan Bohumír Bartoněk Bedřich Slaný Stanisław Tkocz
28 May Liberec Bronislaw Idzikowski Farid Szajnurov Igor Plekhanov
28 May Krsko Konstanty Pociejkewicz Bohumil Rednek Henryk Żyto
28 May Abensberg Josef Hofmeister Marian Kaiser Antonín Kasper Sr.
Semi-Finals
17 June Linz Josef Hofmeister Antonín Kasper Sr. Marian Kaiser
18 June Warsaw Stanisław Tkocz Mieczysław Połukard Florian Kapała

Second Round
  • British & Commonwealth semi finals - 16 to British & Commonwealth final
  • Scandinavian Final - 8 to European Final
  • Continental Final - 8 to European Final

British & Commonwealth Semi finals
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Semi-Finals
31 July Wimbledon Ronnie Moore Barry Briggs Bob Andrews
1 August Southampton Ron How Peter Craven Cyril Maidment
5 August Belle Vue Ronnie Moore Doug Davies Nigel Boocock
5 August Norwich Barry Briggs Peter Craven Billy Bales

Nordic Final
  • 11 June 1961
  • Gislaved
  • First 8 to European Final
Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Ove Fundin14
2 Arne Pander13
3 Björn Knutsson13
4 Per Tage Svensson12
5 Evert Andersson10
6 Göte Nordin10
7 Leif Larsson8
8 Rune Sörmander8
9 Göran Norlén7
10 Arne Carlsson7
11 Soren Sjosten6
12 Joel Jansson5
13 Bernt Nilsson3
14 Timo Laine2
15 Rolf Westerberg1
16 Curt Eldh2
R1 Aage Hansendnr
R1 Kalevi Lahtinendnr

Continental Final
  • 23 July 1961
  • Slany
  • First 8 to European Final
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21
(2) Florian Kapała 14 3 3 3 2 3 14 1
(1) Igor Plekhanov 14 2 3 3 3 3 14 2
(6) Stanisław Tkocz 12 2 2 2 3 3 12 3
4 (8) Henryk Żyto 10 3 1 3 1 2 10 4
5 (7) Josef Hofmeister 9 1 3 3 0 2 9 5
6 (12) Konstanty Pociejkewicz 9 2 2 1 2 2 9 6
7 (4) Kaziemirz Bentke 8 1 X 2 2 3 8 7
8 (15) Marian Kaiser 7 3 2 2 X - 7 8
9 (11) Mieczysław Połukard 7 X 1 1 3 2 7 9
10 (14) Joachim Maj 7 2 1 2 1 1 7 10
11 (16) Antonín Kasper Sr. 7 1 3 0 2 1 7 11
12 (10) Bedřich Slaný 6 3 0 1 1 1 6 12
13 (9) Stanislaw Rurarz 5 1 2 1 1 0 5 13
14 (3) Bronislaw Idzikowski 3 0 0 0 3 0 3 14
15 (13) Bohumír Bartoněk 1 X 0 0 E 1 1 15
16 (5) Bernard Kacperak 1 0 1 E 0 0 1 16
R1 (R1) Stefan Kepa 0 0 R1
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside

Third Round
  • British & Commonwealth Final - 8 to World Final
  • European Final - 8 to World Final

European Final
  • 26 August 1961
  • Wieden
  • First 8 to World Final plus 1 reserve
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21
(8) Ove Fundin 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
(11) Björn Knutsson 14 3 3 3 2 3 14 2
(3) Igor Plekhanov 11 3 2 1 3 2 11 3
4 (4) Rune Sörmander 10 2 1 3 3 1 10 4
5 (6) Florian Kapała 10 2 3 2 2 1 10 5
6 (12) Stanisław Tkocz 10 1 0 3 3 3 10 6
7 (15) Göte Nordin 9 3 1 2 1 2 9 7
8 (16) Josef Hofmeister 9 2 2 1 1 3 9 8
9 (5) Leif Larsson 8 1 2 1 2 2 8 9
10 (9) Henryk Żyto 7 2 3 2 F - 7 10
11 (2) Evert Andersson 6 1 2 0 1 2 6 11
12 (10) Per Tage Svensson 3 0 1 2 0 0 3 12
13 (14) Göran Norlén 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 13
14 (7) Mieczysław Połukard 1 0 0 1 - - 1 14
15 (13) Marian Kaiser 1 1 F E E 0 1 15
16 (1) Kaziemirz Bentke 0 NS NS NS NS NS 0 16
R1 (R1) Josef Bössner 3 1 1 1 3 R1
R2 (R2) Johan Hartl 0 0 0 R2
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside

British Final
  • 2 September 1961
  • Wembley
  • First 8 to World final plus 1 reserve
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21
(7) Barry Briggs 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
(3) Peter Craven 14 3 2 3 3 3 14 2
(12) Ronnie Moore 12 3 3 3 2 1 12 3
4 (5) Ken McKinlay 9 0 3 2 1 3 9 4
5 (1) Ron How 9 2 2 2 0 3 9 5
6 (4) Bob Andrews 9 1 2 2 3 1 9 6
7 (16) Ray Cresp 8 1 1 3 2 1 8 7
8 (15) Mike Broadbanks 7 3 1 1 0 2 7 8
9 (14) Cyril Maidment 7 2 3 1 1 0 7 9
10 (9) Ronnie Genz 7 1 1 2 1 2 7 10
11 (6) Jack Young 7 1 1 1 2 2 7 11
12 (11) Doug Davies 5 0 0 0 3 2 5 12
13 (8) Neil Street 5 2 0 0 2 1 5 13
14 (2) Peter Moore 3 0 2 1 0 0 3 14
15 (10) Jack Scott 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 15
16 (13) Nigel Boocock 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 16
R1 (R1) Chum Taylor 0 0 R1
R2 (R2) Split Waterman 0 0 R2
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside

World Final
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21
(6) Ove Fundin 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 1
(4) Björn Knutsson 12 3 3 3 F 3 12 2 3
(13) Göte Nordin 12 2 2 2 3 3 12 3 2
4 (15) Barry Briggs 12 1 3 3 2 3 12 4 1
5 (2) Bob Andrews 10 2 2 2 1 3 10 5
6 (16) Ronnie Moore 10 3 1 2 2 2 10 6
7 (3) Florian Kapała 8 0 2 2 3 1 8 7
8 (7) Rune Sörmander 7 2 1 0 3 1 7 8
9 (9) Ron How 7 2 3 1 1 0 7 9
10 (8) Peter Craven 6 F 2 3 0 1 6 10
11 (10) Ken McKinlay 5 3 F 1 1 E 5 11
12 (12) Cyril Maidment 4 1 0 1 2 0 4 12
13 (1) Igor Plekhanov 4 1 0 1 0 2 4 13
14 (5) Ray Cresp 3 F 1 0 F 2 3 14
15 (11) Stanisław Tkocz 3 0 0 0 2 1 3 15
16 (14) Mike Broadbank 2 0 1 0 1 0 2 16
R1 (R1) Jack Young 0 0 R1
R2 (R2) Leif Larsson 0 0 R2
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside

References
  1. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  2. "World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  3. "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  4. "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  5. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  6. "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  7. "Ove Fundin Retains Speedway Title". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 16 September 1961. Retrieved 7 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.