1950 Individual Speedway World Championship

1950 Individual Speedway World Championship

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1949

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1951

The 1950 Individual Speedway World Championship was the fifth edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

The title was won by Welshman Freddie Williams with the pivotal heat being the heat against Australian Graham Warren. Warren and Williams both unbeaten met in their third rides and as Warren challenged Williams for the lead he was forced to drop behind Williams. Warren then hit a bump and fell which cost him valuable points and the chance to win the title. ^[7]

Ronnie Moore became the youngest finalist at the age of just 17. ^[8]

First qualifying round

• The top 74 riders qualify for the second qualifying round, where they will be joined by seeded division 2 riders. ^[9]

Date	Venue	Winner
12 June	Stanley Stadium	Jack Hughes
12 June	Wimborne Road	Ray Ellis
13 June	Cornish Stadium	Hugh Geddes
15 June	Oxford Stadium	Charlie New
16 June	County Ground Stadium	Bob McFarlane
16 June	Leicester Stadium	Les Hewitt
17 June	Rayleigh Weir Stadium	Ticker James
17 June	Abbey Stadium	Reg Duval

Second qualifying round

• The top 73 riders qualify for the Third qualifying round. ^[9]

Date	Venue	Winner
5 July	Highbury Stadium (Fleetwood)	Merv Harding
5 July	White City Stadium, Glasgow	Frank Hodgson
6 July	Pennycross Stadium	George Wall
6 July	Owlerton Stadium	Pete Lansdale
7 July	The Shay	Les Hewitt
8 July	Brandon Stadium	Alan Hunt
8 July	Old Meadowbank	Dick Campbell
8 July	The Firs Stadium	Jack Young

Third qualifying round

• The top 2 riders from each meeting qualify for the Championship round, where they will meet 34 seeded division 1 riders. ^[9]

Date	Venue	Winner/2nd
25 July	Ashfield Stadium	Jack Young / Derick Close
25 July	Banister Court Stadium	Merv Harding / Ron Mason
25 July	Yarmouth Stadium	Les Hewitt / Eddie Rigg
29 July	Sun Street Stadium	Junior Bainbridge / Mike Erskine
31 July	Dudley Wood Stadium	Geoff Pymar / Ken Sharples
31 July	Brough Park Stadium	Lindsay Mitchell / Dick Campbell
31 July	Walthamstow Stadium	Jim Boyd / Tommy Miller

Championship round

9 events in Great Britain.

Scores

• Top 16 qualify for World final, 17th & 18th reserves for World final

Pos. Rider Total pts 1 Jack Young 39 2 Graham Warren 37 3 Cyril Brine 36 4 Jack Parker 35 5 Aub Lawson 34 6 Ronnie Moore 34 7 Freddie Williams 33 8 Split Waterman 32 9 Vic Duggan 32 10 Dent Oliver 30 11 Danny Dunton 30 12 Wally Green 29 13 Tommy Price 29 14 Ron Clarke 29 15 Arthur Payne 27 16 Jack Biggs 26 17 Arthur Forrest 26 18 Cyril Roger 25 19 Mike Erskine 23 20 Norman Parker 23 21 Alec Statham 23 22 Oliver Hart 23 23 Eddie Rigg 22 24 Louis Lawson 21 25 Derick Close 21

Pos. Rider Total pts 26 George Wilks 21 27 Malcolm Craven 20 28 Alan Hunt 20 29 Jeff Lloyd 20 30 Ken Sharples 20 31 Tommy Miller 19 32 Bert Roger 17 33 Geoff Bennett 16 34 Merv Harding 16 35 Bill Longley 16 36 Dick Campbell 15 37 Eric Chitty 15 38 Charles Cullum 15 39 Ron Mason 14 40 Eric French 13 41 Dick Seers 13 42 Bill Kitchen 12 43 Jack Mountford 11 44 Lindsay Mitchell 10 45 Junior Bainbridge 8 46 Les Hewitt 6 47 Billy Hole 5 48 Johnny Hole 4 49 Dick Bradley 2

World final

• 22 September 1950
• London, Wembley Stadium
• Change: Arthur Forrest → Mike Erskine

Pos.	Rider	Points	Heats
1	Freddie Williams	14	(3,3,3,2,3)
2	Wally Green	13	(2,3,3,2,3)
3	Graham Warren	12	(3,3,F,3,3)
4	Aub Lawson	10	(2,2,3,1,2)
5	Tommy Price	8	(3,F,3,1,1)
6	Jack Parker	8	(2,1,2,3,0)
7	Split Waterman	8	(1,2,3,1,1)
8	Jack Young	7	(0,1,2,1,3)
9	Cyril Brine	7	(2,2,2,0,1)
10	Ronnie Moore	7	(X,0,2,3,2)
11	Dent Oliver	6	(X,3,1,2,0)
12	Danny Dunton	5	(1,0,1,1,2)
13	Vic Duggan	4	(1,1,1,0,1)
14	Ron Clarke	3	(1,2,0,0,0)
15	Jack Biggs	3	(0,1,0,0,2)
16	Arthur Payne	0	(0,0,-,0,0)
	Cyril Roger (res)	5	(3,2)
	Mike Erskine (res)	0	(0)

Podium

1950 Podium:

1. Freddie Williams
2. Wally Green
3. Graham Warren

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 5 July 2021.
3. "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
4. "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
5. "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
6. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
7. "Three inches and a bump cost me the title" . Sport Argus. 23 September 1950. Retrieved 5 July 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Profile". Moore Park Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
9. "World Championship Opens On Monday" . Bristol Observer. 10 June 1950. Retrieved 2 January 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.