1972 Individual Speedway World Championship

1972 Individual Speedway World Championship

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1973

The 1972 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 27th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

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. ^[7]

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. ^[8]

First round

Qualification results. ^{[9] [10]}

Continental qualifying

• Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
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 Points 1 Reidar Eide 15 2 Dag Lovaas 13 3 Svein Kaasa 12 4 Tormod Langli 11 5 Odd Fossengen 11 6 Jan Terje Gravningen 10 7 Dagfinn Dahl 9 8 Edgar Stangeland 8 9 Oyvind S. Berg 7 10 Johnny Larsen 6 11 Nils Otto Haraldsen 5 12 Kjell Thomas Skjëveland 4 13 Eidar Egedius 4 14 Helge Langli 3 15 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 Points 1 Matti Olin 8+6+8 16 2 Kalevi Lahtinen 4+8+0 12 3 Hannu Känkänen 3+4+6 10 4 Reima Lohkovuori 6+2+3 9 5 Heikki Ahonen 0+3+4 7 6 Kari Vuoristo 2+1+0 3 7 Matti Touru 0+0+2 2 8 Ari Hiljanen 1+0+0 1 9 Rauli Mäkinen 0+0+1 1

British/Commonwealth premilinaries

• Top riders to British/Commonwealth qualifiers

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
15 April	Kingsmead Stadium, Canterbury	Bob Young	Malcolm Ballard	Brian Foote
16 April	Rye House Stadium, Hoddesdon	Dave Kennett	Bob Humphreys	Barry Crowson
21 April	East of England Arena, Peterborough	Geoff Maloney	Phil Crump	Kevin Holden
27 April	Holker Street, Barrow-in-Furness	John Harrhy	Alan Wilkinson	Malcolm Shakespeare
28 April	Derwent Park, Workington	Alan Knapkin	George Major	Russ Dent

Continental quarter-finals

• Top 16 to Continental semi-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
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 IP Stockholm) Pos Rider Points 1 Anders Michanek 14 2 Karl-Erik Claesson 13 3 Hasse Holmqvist 13 4 Lars-Inge Hultberg 12 5 Bo Wirebrand 10 6 Göte Nordin 9 7 Åke Dovhed 9 8 Dirk van der Voet 7 9 Tommy Nilsson 6 10 Jan-Inge Karlsson 5 11 Bertil Andersson 5 12 Åke Andersson 5 13 Sune Eriksson 5 14 Harald Sandberg 3 15 Sune Stark 3 16 Bengt Brannefors 0 17 Kjell Marrsson (res) 0

(30 April, Målilla (Motorbana) Målilla) Pos Rider Points 1 Jan Simensen 12 2 Tommy Johansson 12 3 Per-Olof Söderman 11 4 Torbjörn Harrysson 11 5 Christer Sjösten 10 6 Stephan Johansson 9 7 Anders Jansson 9 8 Roy Dantanus 9 9 Berndt Johansson 7 10 Willy Karlsson 7 11 Bengt Olsson 7 12 Floyd Ohlsson 5 13 Lars-Olov Karlsson 4 14 Anders Lövgren 4 15 Claes-Ingvar Svensson 2 16 Curt Nyqvist 0 17 Kalle Lindgren (res) 0

(1 May, Motorbanen Hagalund Lindesberg) Pos Rider Points 1 Bernt Persson 15 2 Sören Sjösten 14 3 Lars Jansson 13 4 Bengt Larsson 12 5 Hans Johansson 11 6 Tommy Wedén 9 7 Stefan Salmonsson 9 8 Casimir Nilsson 8 9 Sigvard Johansson 6 10 Therje Henriksson 6 11 Lars Jennefors 5 12 Lars-Åke Andersson 4 13 Sören Karlsson 4 14 Inge Gustavsson 4 15 Hans Engzell 1 16 Leif Söderberg 0

(1 May, Gamla Galgberget Visby) Pos Rider Points 1 Christer Löfqvist 15 2 Tommy Jansson 13 3 Leif Enecrona 13 4 Rolf Johansson 12 5 Bengt Jansson 12 6 Claes Löfstrand 8 7 Ragnar Holm 8 8 Bo Magnusson 7 9 Käll Haage 7 10 Håkan Karlsson 6 11 Torbjörn Karlsson 4 12 Kenneth Selmosson 4 13 Kurt Sigurdh 3 14 Börje Klingberg 3 15 Reine Södergren 1 16 Ove Helander 0

Third round

British/Commonwealth qualifiers

• Top 32 to British/Commonwealth semi-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
20 May	The Shay, Halifax	Eric Boocock	Bob Kilby	Ray Wilson
20 May	King's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn	Terry Betts	Malcolm Simmons	Howard Cole
20 May	Hyde Road, Manchester	Ivan Mauger	Chris Pusey	Jim McMillan
22 May	Reading Stadium, Reading	Ronnie Moore	Dave Jessup	Mick Bell
22 May	County Ground Stadium, Exeter	Howard Cole	Bob Kilby	Barry Briggs
25 May	Oxford Stadium, Oxford	Terry Betts	Garry Middleton	Malcolm Simmons
25 May	Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield	Arnie Haley	Ivan Mauger	Bobby Beaton
25 May	Wimbledon Stadium, London	Ronnie Moore	Bob Andrews	Barry Briggs
25 May	Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich	David Kennett	John Harrhy	George Hunter
26 May	Hackney Wick Stadium, London	Geoff Curtis	Barry Thomas	Chris Pusey
26 May	Monmore Green, Wolverhampton	Dave Gifford	Peter Collins	Norman Hunter
27 May	Abbey Stadium, Swindon	Barry Briggs	Martin Ashby	Phil Crump
27 May	Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley	Bob Andrews	Arnie Haley	Bob Kilby
27 May	Brandon Stadium, Coventry	Nigel Boocock	Tony Lomas	John Louis
30 May	Wimborne Road, Poole	Nigel Boocock	Geoff Curtis	Howard Cole
2 June	Hampden Park, Glasgow	Bobby Beaton	Jim McMillan	John Louis
2 June	Somerton Park, Newport	Bruce Cribb	Tony Clarke	Mike Broadbanks
6 June	Leicester Stadium, Leicester	Dave Jessup	Ivan Mauger	Malcolm Shakespeare

Nordic qualifying

• Top 5 in each heat to Nordic final

(11 May, Gislaved Motorbana, Gislaved) Pos Rider Points 1 Bernt Persson 15 2 Tommy Jansson 13 3 Torbjörn Harrysson 12 4 Leif Enecrona 12 5 Christer Löfqvist 11 6 Jan Simensen 10 7 Odd Fossengen 9 8 Karl-Erik Claesson 8 9 Svein Kaasa 7 10 Jörn Mogensen 6 11 Claes Löfstrand 5 12 Tormod Langli 4 13 Kari Vuoristo 3 14 Preben Bollerup 3 15 Kurt Bögh 2 16 Hans Erik Fuglerud 0

(11 May, Avestavallen, Avesta Pos Rider Points 1 Hasse Holmqvist 15 2 Sören Sjösten 12 3 Tommy Johansson 12 4 Göte Nordin 12 5 Dag Lövaas 12 6 Bengt Larsson 10 7 Lars Jansson 8 8 Edgar Stangeland 7 9 Henning Hansen 6 10 Fred Hansen 6 11 Erik Tillgaard 6 12 Bo Wirebrand 5 13 Hannu Känkänen 5 14 Lars-Inge Hultberg 2 15 Niels Heraldsen 1 16 Knud Heia 0

(12 May, Gamla Ryd Motorstadion, Linköping) Pos Rider Points 1 Anders Michanek 15 2 Reidar Eide 14 3 Bengt Jansson 13 4 Per-Olof Söderman 11 5 Öyvind Berg 11 6 Christer Sjösten 10 7 Bent Nörregaard-Jensen 10 8 Hans Johansso 7 9 Krause Kjaer 6 10 Ragnar Holm 6 11 Tommy Wedén 6 12 Nils Schelde 4 13 Stephan Johansson 3 14 Dagfinn Dahl 3 15 Kjell Skievelan 1 16 Matti Olin 0

Continental semi-finals

3 June Markéta Stadium, Prague Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points 1 Edward Jancarz 15 2 Milan Špinka 11 3 Zenon Plech 10 4 Anatolij Kuzmin 10 5 Viktor Trofimov 9 6 Petr Ondrašík 9 7 Vladimir Baturin 8 8 Valerij Gordeev 8 9 Anatolij Mironov 8 10 Yury Dubinin 8 11 Václav Verner (res) 8 12 Ryszard Dziatkowiak 7 13 Antoni Woryna 4 14 Gennadij Ivanov 3 15 Jan Mucha 2 16 Stanislav Kubíček 0 17 Zdzislaw Dobrucki 0 18 Zdenek Novotny (res) 0

4 June Polonia Bydgoszcz Stadium, Bydgoszcz Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points 1 Marek Cieslak 15 2 Paweł Waloszek 13 3 Henryk Glücklich 11 4 Viktor Kalmykov 11 5 Zbigniew Friedek 11 6 Grigory Khlinovsky 10 7 Vladimir Paznikov 8 8 Jerzy Szczakiel 8 9 Andrzej Koselski (res) 8 10 Alexander Pavlov 6 11 Oleg Dziadyk 6 12 Jan Verner 6 13 Miroslav Verner 3 14 Janos Szöke 2 15 Jan Holub I 1 16 Benedykt Kosek (res) 1 17 Istvan Sziraczky 0

Fourth round

British/Commonwealth semi-finals

20 June Leicester Stadium, Leicester Top 8 to British/Commonwealth final Pos. Rider Points 1 Terry Betts 14+3 2 Ronnie Moore 14+2 3 Arnie Haley 13 4 Garry Middleton 12 5 Barry Briggs 11 6 John Louis 8 7 Trevor Hedge 8 8 George Hunter (res) 8 9 Nigel Boocock 6 10 Geoff Curtis 6 11 Chris Pusey 6 12 Phil Crump 4 13 Dave Younghusband 4 14 Bobby Beaton 2 15 Pete Smith 2 16 Tony Clarke 1 17 Howard Cole 0

22 June Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield Top 8 to British/Commonwealth final Pos. Rider Points 1 Ivan Mauger 15 2 Jim McMillan 13 3 John Boulger 12 4 Martin Ashby 10 5 Ray Wilson 10 6 Eric Boocock 10 7 Dave Jessup 9 8 Peter Collins 9 9 Norman Hunter 9 10 Tony Lomas 4 11 Bob Kilby 4 12 John Harrhy 4 13 Bob Andrews 4 14 Barry Thomas 3 15 Mick Bell 2 16 Mike Broadbank 2

Nordic Final

• 1 June 1972
• Norrköping Motorstadion
• First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Bengt Jansson	3,2,3,3,3	14
2	Anders Michanek	3,3,3,1,3	13
3	Ole Olsen	3,2,2,3,2	12
4	Bernt Persson	1,2,3,2,3	11
5	Hasse Holmqvist	2,3,2,2,2	11
6	Christer Löfqvist	3,3,3,0,1	10
7	Jan Simensen	2,0,2,3,3	10
8	Reidar Eide	1,3,1,2,2	9
9	Tommy Jansson	2,1,2,3,E	8
10	Dag Lovaas	1,1,1,2,0	5
11	Tommy Johansson	0,1,0,1,2	4
12	Øyvind S. Berg	1,0,0,1,1	3
13	Göte Nordin	0,2,1,0,-	3
14	Leif Enecrona	0,0,1,1,1	3
15	Per Olof Söderman	2,0,0,0,0	2
16	Sören Sjösten	0,1,0,0,-	1
R1	Christer Sjösten	E	0
R2	Runo Wedin	0	0

Continental Final

• 25 June 1972
• Dombay Motodrom, Cherkessk
• First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Viktor Trofimov	2,3,3,3,3	14
2	Viktor Kalmykov	3,3,3,2,2	13
3	Anatoly Kuzmin	2,2,2,3,3	12
4	Valery Gordeev	3,1,1,3,3	11
5	Milan Špinka	1,3,3,2,1	10
6	Grigory Khlinovsky	3,2,F,1,3	9
7	Paweł Waloszek	0,3,2,2,2	9
8	Aleksandr Pavlov	2,2,2,1,2	9
9	Zenon Plech	F,2,2,3,F	7
10	Anatoly Mironov	1,1,1,2,1	6
11	Zygfryd Friedek	X,1,1,1,2	5
12	Petr Ondrašík	3,X,0,0,1	4
13	Vasily Baturin	F,X,3,X,0	3
14	Marek Cieślak	0,1,1,1,0	3
15	Henryk Glucklich	2,E,X,0,X	2
16	Edward Jancarz	1,X,E,E,1	2
R1	Gennady Kurilenko	1,0,0,X	1
R2	Vladimir Kubanov	0,0,0	0

Fifth round

British/Commonwealth Final

• 2 August 1972
• Brandon Stadium, Coventry
• First 5 to 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) Ivan Mauger	14		3				3			3							2			3		14	1
	(12) Nigel Boocock	12			3					2		2			3						2		12	2
	(4) Barry Briggs	11	1							3				3				1				3	11	3	3
4	(8) John Louis	11		2						1			3			3			2				11	4	E
5	(9) Eric Boocock	10			2		2						1					3		2			10	5	3
6	(2) Jim McMillan	10	3					1				3				0				3			10	6	2
7	(15) Terry Betts	9				3			2			1						0	3				9	7
8	(10) Ray Wilson	7			T			2						1			3		1				7	8
9	(11) Dave Jessup	7			1				3		T					2						1	7	9
10	(13) John Boulger	7				0	3							2		1					1		7	10
11	(3) Martin Ashby	6	2						1				2				1				0		6	11
12	(16) Arnold Haley	5				1				0	1						2			1			5	12
13	(5) Garry Middleton	4		1			1					0					0					2	4	13
14	(1) Peter Collins	3	0				E				2				1				0				3	14
15	(7) Trevor Hedge	2		0					E					0	2					0			2	15
16	(14) Ronnie Moore	2				2		E					0		0							0	2	16
R1	(R1) Pete Bailey	0			0																		0	R1
R2	(R2) Norman Hunter	0									F												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

European Final

• 3 September 1972
• Olympic Stadium, Wroclaw
• First 11 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
	(12) Paweł Waloszek	13			3					1		3			3						3		13	1
	(8) Ole Olsen	11		3						3			2			1			2				11	2
	(13) Anders Michanek	11				3	3							1		3					1		11	3
4	(16) Aleksandr Pavlov	10				1				0	3						3			3			10	4
5	(4) Anatoly Kuzmin	10	2							2				3				3				0	10	5
6	(3) Grigory Khlinovsky	9	3						3				3				0				0		9	6
7	(10) Christer Löfqvist	8			2			1						2			2		1				8	7
8	(11) Viktor Trofimov	8			1				2		2					2						1	8	8
9	(2) Bernt Persson	7	1					3				1				0				2			7	9
10	(6) Valery Gordeev	7		2				2			E							1			2		7	10
11	(14) Viktor Kalmykov	7				2		F					1		2							2	7	11
12	(5) Jan Simensen	6		F			2					0					1					3	6	12
13	(15) Milan Špinka	5				0			1			2						0	2				5	13
14	(9) Bengt Jansson	3			0		E						0					2		1			3	14
15	(1) Hasse Holmqvist	2	F				E				1				1				0				2	15
16	(7) Reidar Eide	0		E					0					0	0					0			0	16
R1	(R1) Tommy Jansson	0																					0	R1
R2	(R2) Zenon Plech	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

• 16 September 1972
• Wembley Stadium, London ^[11]
• Referee: Georg Traunspurger

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) Ivan Mauger	13		2				3			2							3			3		13	1	3
	(13) Bernt Persson	13				2	3							3		3					2		13	2	2
	(16) Ole Olsen	12				F				3	3						3			3			12	3
4	(15) Christer Löfqvist	11				3			2			3						0	3				11	4
5	(14) John Louis	11				1		2					3		2							3	11	5
6	(7) Aleksandr Pavlov	8		1					3					0	3					1			8	6
7	(4) Anders Michanek	8	X							2				2				2				2	8	7
8	(3) Paweł Waloszek	6	3						1				0				1				1		6	8
9	(8) Viktor Trofimov	6		0						0			2			2			2				6	9
10	(12) Nigel Boocock	6			2					1		2			1						0		6	10
11	(10) Viktor Kalmykov	6			1			1						1			2		1				6	11
12	(11) Anatoly Kuzmin	4			3				0		0					1						0	4	12
13	(1) Grigory Khlinovsky	4	2				1				1				0				0				4	13
14	(5) Barry Briggs	3		3			F					-					-					-	3	14
15	(2) Eric Boocock	2	X					0				0				0				2			2	15
16	(9) Valery Gordeev	2			0		0						1					1		0			2	16
R1	(R1) Jan Simensen	2					2										0						2	R1
R2	(R2) Jim McMillan	2										1										1	2	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 9 July 2021.
3. "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
4. "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
5. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
6. "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
7. "4-Timer Mauger" . Sunday Mirror. 17 September 1972. Retrieved 9 July 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Fourth World title for Mauger" . Birmingham Weekly Mercury. 17 September 1972. Retrieved 1 November 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "1972 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
10. "1972 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
11. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN   0-7524-2402-5