1978 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1978 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 33rd edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Ole Olsen won his third world crown. The final was sponsored by the Sunday Mirror and was attended by 86,500. Gordon Kennett took silver on the day of his 25th birthday and American Scott Autrey won the bronze medal run-off defeating Dave Jessup and Jerzy Rembas.[7]

British Qualification

The British qualifying rounds for the World Championship doubled up as qualifying rounds for the Volkswagen/Daily Mirror Grand Prix. Therefore, many non-British riders such as Ivan Mauger and Phil Crump rode in these meetings scoring points towards the Volkswagen/Daily Mirror Grand Prix qualification - but their scores didn't count towards World Championship qualification.

DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Preliminary Round
16 April Rye House Stadium Ted Hubbard Kelvin Mullarkey Vic Harding
16 April Boston Steve Weatherley Tom Owen Chris Turner
20 April Teesside Mike Sampson Phil Collins Paul Tyrer
23 April Mildenhall Martin Yeates Richard Greer Bob Coles
27 April Oxford Dave Perks Geoff Bouchard Steve Finch
Qualifying Round
11 May Wimbledon Peter Collins Bob Kilby Dave Jessup
11 May Sheffield Ivan Mauger Doug Wyer Steve Bastable
12 May Hackney Dave Jessup Terry Betts Finn Thomsen
13 May Belle Vue Peter Collins Chris Morton Bobby Beaton
13 May Kings Lynn Michael Lee John Titman Malcolm Simmons
13 May Coventry Alan Molyneux Keith White Billy Sanders
15 May Reading Gordon Kennett Billy Sanders John Davis
15 May Exeter Phil Crump Václav Verner Mike Farrell
15 May Birmingham Ray Wilson John Titman Mike Lanham
16 May Leicester Scott Autrey John Titman Les Collins
17 May Poole Tony Davey Václav Verner Malcolm Simmons
17 May White City Stadium Kai Niemi Gordon Kennett Ila Teromaa
17 May Hull Ivan Mauger Bobby Beaton Graham Drury
18 May Swindon Peter Collins Jan Andersson Dave Perks
18 May Ipswich John Louis Michael Lee Tony Davey
19 May Wolverhampton Gordon Kennett Hans Nielsen Jim McMillan
19 May Bristol Joe Owen Tormod Langli Reg Wilson
20 May Cradley Heath Alan Grahame John Davis Bruce Cribb
20 May Halifax Eric Broadbelt Ian Cartwright Phil Collins
Semi-Finals
12 July Poole Tony Davey Gordon Kennett Dave Jessup
13 July Sheffield Peter Collins Chris Morton Michael Lee
Final
16 August Coventry Michael Lee Dave Jessup Malcolm Simmons result

British 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
(7) Michael Lee 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 1
(5) Dave Jessup 12 2 3 1 3 3 12 2
(16) Malcolm Simmons 11 0 3 3 2 3 11 3
4 (9) Gordon Kennett 10 2 2 2 3 1 10 4 3
5 (1) Steve Bastable 10 3 1 2 1 3 10 5 2
6 (12) Chris Morton 10 E 2 3 2 3 10 6 1
7 (13) Tony Davey 8 3 0 2 3 0 8 7
8 (15) John Davis 8 2 2 2 2 0 8 8
9 (10) Les Collins 7 3 0 1 1 2 7 9
10 (6) Peter Collins 6 1 3 E E 2 6 10
11 (8) Reg Wilson 6 0 0 3 2 1 6 11
12 (2) Doug Wyer 4 1 2 X 1 E 4 12
13 (14) Alan Grahame 4 1 1 0 0 2 4 13
14 (4) Jim McMillan 3 2 1 0 T 0 3 14
15 (11) John Louis 3 1 0 1 0 1 3 15
16 (3) Dave Morton 3 0 1 1 0 1 3 16
R1 (R1) Phil Collins 0 0 R1
R2 (R2) Trevor Geer 0 0 R2
R3 (R3) Mick Bell 1 1 1 R3
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

Swedish Qualification
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Semi-Finals
5 May Avesta Anders Michanek Christer Sjösten Borje Flingberg
7 May Malilla Tommy Nilsson Sören Karlsson Stefan Salomonsson
7 May Visby Jan Andersson Conny Samuelsson Sören Sjösten
Final
30 May Kumla Anders Michanek Jan Andersson Bernt Persson

Swedish Final
  • May 30, 1978
  • Kumla
  • First 7 to Nordic Final + 1 reserve
Pos.RiderTotal
1 Anders Michanek14
2 Jan Andersson14
3 Bernt Persson11
4 Tommy Nilsson11
5 Lars Ericsson10
6 Sören Karlsson10
7 Christer Sjösten10
8 Bo Wirebrand8
9 Bengt Jansson6
10 Stefan Salomonsson6
11 Hasse Holmqvist5
12 Conny Samuelsson5
13 Borje Klingberg4
14 Gert Carlsson3
15 Tommy Pettersson1
16 Sören Sjösten1
17 Lars-Åke Andersson1

New Zealand Final
  • February 11, 1978
  • Wellington
  • Marked in green, to Austral-Asian Final
Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Larry Ross3,3,3,3,315
2 Barry Briggs2,3,3,2,212
3 Mike Fullerton1,3,2,3,312
4 Mitch Shirra3,2,E,3,311
5 Roger Wright2,3,3,1,211
6 Colin Tucker3,2,2,2,211
7 Colin Farquharson1,1,3,2,310
8 James Moore3,1,0,0,26
9 Allan Brown0,0,2,3,16
10 Greg Joynt1,2,2,0,05
11 Paul Fewinks2,2,0,1,F5
12 Max BrownF,0,1,2,14
13 Gavin Miller2,1,1,0,04
14 Cliff Anderson0,0,1,1,13
15 Patrick Pawson1,E,1,1,03
16 Kris Berrigan0,1,0,0,12
R1 Robin Adlington

Intercontinental Round
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
American Final
29 December 1977 Santa Ana ? ? ?
Australasian Final
18 February Aucland Mitch Shirra Mick McKeon John Titman
Danish Final
15 May Fjelsted Bent Rasmussen Kristian Præstbro Hans Nielsen
Nordic Final
8 June Norrköping Ole Olsen Bernt Persson Finn Thomsen
Intercontinental Final
2 July Fredericia Ole Olsen Ivan Mauger Scott Autrey

Australasian Final
  • February 12, 1978
  • Auckland
  • First 4 to Intercontinental Final
Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Mitch Shirra2,2,3,3,313
2 Mick McKeon3,3,2.5,2,111.5
3 John Titman2,3,T,3,311
4 Mike Farrell3,1,1,3,311
5 Mike Fullerton1,3,3,1,210
6 Phil Herne1,2,2,3,210
7 John Boulger3,3,2,T,19
8 Billy Sanders3,T,3,F,39
9 Colin Farquharson0,2,2,2,28
10 Roger Wright1,1,2.5,1,16.5
11 Robert Maxfield1,1,1,2,16
12 Larry Ross2,E,E,2,26
13 James Moore2,1,1,1,05
14 Colin Tucker0,2,1,0,03
15 Allan Brown0,0,0,0,00
16 Lloyd CrossF,-,-,-,-0
R1 Greg Joynt0,0,1,T1
R2 Cliff Anderson0,0,00

Danish Final
  • May 15, 1978
  • Fjelsted
  • First 2 to Nordic Final
Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Bent Rasmussen13+3
2 Kristian Præstbro13+2
3 Hans Nielsen12+3
4 Mike Lohmann12+2
5 Alf Busk12+1
6 Bo Petersen10
7 Finn Rune Jensen9
8 Knud Ellegaard8
9 Klaus Lohmann6
10 Kurt Bøgh4
11 Steen Mastrup4
12 Arne Kruse4
13 Erling Rasmussen3
14 Gunnar Svensen3
15 Bent Nørregaard-Jensen3
16 Jens Kjaer2

Nordic Final
  • June 8, 1978
  • Norrköping
  • First 9 to Intercontnental 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) Ole Olsen 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
(7) Bernt Persson 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 2
(9) Finn Thomsen 11 2 2 3 3 1 11 3 3
4 (15) Kai Niemi 11 3 2 2 1 3 11 4 2
5 (4) Ila Teromaa 10 2 3 2 2 1 10 5
6 (8) Tommy Nilsson 10 2 2 2 2 2 10 6
7 (13) Kristian Præstbro 9 1 3 1 1 3 9 7
8 (16) Anders Michanek 8 2 1 2 3 0 8 8
9 (3) Jan Andersson 6 1 0 1 2 2 6 9 3
10 (6) Tom Godal 6 1 1 3 0 1 6 10 2
11 (11) Sören Karlsson 6 3 1 0 0 2 6 11 1
12 (14) Bent Rasmussen 5 0 0 0 2 3 5 12
13 (10) Christer Sjösten 4 0 2 0 1 1 4 13
14 (1) Lars Ericsson 3 0 1 1 1 0 3 14
15 (5) Audun Ove Olsen 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 15
16 (12) Stein Roar Pedersen 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 16
R1 (R1) Bo Wirebrand 0 0 R1
R2 (R2) Runo Wedin 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

Intercontinental Final
  • July 2, 1978
  • Fredericia
  • First 7 to World Final + 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
(3) Ole Olsen 13 2 3 2 3 3 13 1 3
(11) Ivan Mauger 13 3 2 2 3 3 13 2 2
(1) Scott Autrey 11 3 X 3 2 3 11 3 3
4 (16) Ila Teromaa 11 3 3 1 1 3 11 4 2
5 (13) Jan Andersson 11 2 2 3 2 2 11 5 1
6 (9) Anders Michanek 10 2 1 3 3 1 10 6
7 (5) John Titman 10 2 3 1 2 2 10 7
8 (6) Bernt Persson 9 3 3 0 2 1 9 8
9 (2) Kai Niemi 8 1 2 2 1 2 8 9
10 (12) Steve Gresham 7 X 1 3 3 X 7 10
11 (4) Finn Thomsen 5 0 2 2 E 1 5 11
12 (15) Mike Farrell 5 1 1 0 1 2 5 12
13 (10) Mick McKeon 3 1 1 1 0 0 3 13
14 (8) Kristian Præstbro 2 0 0 1 0 1 2 14
15 (7) Mitch Shirra 1 1 F - - - 1 15
16 (14) Tommy Nilsson 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 16
R1 (R1) Bert Rasmussen 0 0 0 0 R1
R2 (R2) Tom Jenssen 0 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

Continental Round
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Preliminary Round
22 April Slany Boleslaw Proch Jerzy Kochman Rudi Muts
23 April Maribor Jan Hadek Sandro Pastoreli Angel Jeftimov
Quarter-Finals
7 May Varese Egon Muller Grigory Khlinovsky Jerzy Rembas
7 May Miskolc Mikhail Starostin Andrzej Huszcza Václav Verner
7 May Krumbach Georg Hack Ales Dryml, Sr Nikolay Kornev
7 May Częstochowa Marek Cieślak Jiří Štancl Zdeněk Kudrna
Semi-Finals
28 May Norden Alois Wiesböck Egon Muller Ryszard Fabiszewski
28 May Pocking Hans Wassermann Jiří Štancl Marek Cieślak
Final
2 July Prague Hans Wassermann Jiří Štancl Marek Cieślak

Continental Final
  • July 2, 1978
  • Prague
  • First 6 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
(5) Hans Wassermann 14 3 2 3 3 3 14 1
(9) Jiří Štancl 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 2
(11) Marek Cieślak 11 1 3 3 3 1 11 3
4 (16) Petr Ondrašík 11 3 2 1 2 3 11 4
5 (1) Jan Verner 11 3 1 2 2 3 11 5
6 (7) Jerzy Rembas 9 2 0 3 3 1 9 6
7 (8) Zdeněk Kudrna 9 1 3 2 1 2 9 7
8 (2) Boleslaw Proch 8 2 2 2 2 0 8 8
9 (14) Alois Wiesböck 6 2 3 F 1 0 6 9
10 (4) Francesco Biginato 6 1 1 0 2 2 6 10
11 (10) Janosz Sziracky 5 0 1 2 1 1 5 11
12 (13) Nikolay Kornev 4 1 0 1 0 2 4 12
13 (6) Emil Sova 4 0 0 0 1 3 4 13
14 (3) Ryszard Fabiszewski 4 0 2 1 0 1 4 14
15 (12) Egon Muller 2 2 0 E E - 2 15
16 (15) Piotr Pyszny 2 X 1 1 0 0 2 16
R1 (R1) Bogusław Nowak 0 0 R1
R2 (R2) Georg Hack 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
(15) Ole Olsen 13 3 2 2 3 3 13 1
(13) Gordon Kennett 12 2 3 2 2 3 12 2
(2) Scott Autrey 11 3 2 1 3 2 11 3 3
4 (12) Dave Jessup 11 E 3 3 3 2 11 4 2
5 (9) Jerzy Rembas 11 3 1 3 1 3 11 5 1
6 (1) Malcolm Simmons 10 2 2 2 2 2 10 6
7 (6) Michael Lee 9 3 1 3 2 0 9 7
8 (14) Ivan Mauger 8 F 3 2 0 3 8 8
9 (16) John Titman 7 1 2 F 3 1 7 9
10 (3) Anders Michanek 7 1 3 0 2 1 7 10
11 (4) Ila Teromaa 6 0 1 3 F 2 6 11
12 (11) Jan Verner 5 2 1 1 0 1 5 12
13 (8) Marek Cieślak 5 2 0 1 1 1 5 13
14 (10) Jan Andersson 3 1 0 1 1 0 3 14
15 (7) Jiří Štancl 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 15
16 (5) Petr Ondrašík 0 F 0 0 0 0 0 16
R1 (R1) Steve Bastable 0 0 R1
R2 (R2) Bernt Persson 0 0 R2
R3 (R3) Zdeněk Kudrna 0 0 R3
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 10 July 2021.
  3. "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  4. "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  5. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  6. "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  7. "Ole - He's champ". Sunday Mirror. 3 September 1978. Retrieved 10 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
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