Motorcycle speedway world championship season
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 Knutson and Göte Nordin finishing second and third.[7]
First round
Qualification results.[8][9]
Norwegian qualifying - 25 June 1960
- Idda Idrettsplassen, Kristiansand
- Top 5 to Nordic qualification 1961
Pos. | Rider | Points | 1 | Aage Hansen | 15 | 2 | Oystein Mellerud | 13+3 | 3 | Sverre Harrfledt | 13+2 | 4 | Rolf Westerberg | 12 | 5 | Oddvar Kristiansen | 9 | 6 | Gunnar Skvetne | 8 | 7 | Jon Odegaard | 8 | 8 | Arne Kristiansen | 7 | 9 | Bjarne Sörenbye | 7 | 10 | Fred Roger Steen | 7 | 11 | Reidar Bakken | 6 | 12 | Egil H. Kruke | 4 | 13 | Egil Bratvold | 4 | 14 | Ole Rostad | 3 | 15 | Reidar Eide | 2 | 16 | Egil Otto Tobiasen | 1 | | Finnish qualifying - 25 September 1960
- Eteläpuisto, Tampere
- First 5 (+seeded riders) to Nordic qualification 1961
Pos. | Rider | Points | 1 | Kalevi Lahtinen | 15 | 2 | Olavi Turunen | 13 | 3 | Timo Laine | 11 | 4 | Yrjö Vuorio | 11 | 5 | Antti Pajari | 10 | 6 | Antero Salasto | 10 | 7 | Ilkka Helminen | 8 | 8 | Esko Koponen | 7 | 9 | Pertti Petersohn | 6 | 10 | Martti Assinen | 6 | 11 | Raimo Orastie | 5 | 12 | Nils Staaf | 5 | 13 | Jan Ulfingman | 4 | 14 | Valle Seliverstov | 4 | 15 | Heikki Yli Orvola | 3 | 16 | Osmo Hokkanen | 2 | |
Swedish qualifying
- Top 15 to Nordic qualifying
Date | Venue | Winner | 2nd | 3rd |
30 April | Vetlanda Motorstadion, Vetlanda | Ove Fundin | Rune Sörmander | Göran Norlen |
1 May | Gamla Speedway Track, Visby | Ove Fundin | Björn Knutson | Arne Carlsson |
4 May | Nya Ullevi, Gothenburg | Sören Sjösten | Rune Sörmander | Evert Andersson |
| Pos. | Rider | Points | 16 | Olle Segerström | 13 | 17 | Inge Gustafsson | 9 | 18 | Göran Carlsson | 7 | 19 | Kjell Lutteman | 7 | 20 | Thore Kindstrand | 6 | 21 | Thorvald Karlsson | 5 | 22 | Curt Nyqvist | 4 | 23 | Kjell Svensson | 3 | 24 | Bo Magnusson | 1 | 25 | Per-Åke Lundgren | 1 | 26 | Hans Hallberg | 0 | 27 | Bengt Brannefors | 0 | 28 | Olle Andersson IV | 0 | |
British & Commonwealth qualifying
- Top 64 riders to British & Commonwealth 2nd Round
Date | Venue | Winner | 2nd | 3rd |
22 May | County Ground, Exeter | Eric Hockaday | Jim Lightfoot | Pete Lansdale |
24 May | Wimborne Road, Poole | Maury Mattingley | Tony Lewis | Ken Middleditch |
25 May | Cleveland Park Stadium, Middlesbrough | Dick Campbell | Peter Vandenberg | Geoff Mudge |
26 May | Monmore Green Stadium, Wolverhampton | Graham Warren | Harry Edwards | Eric Hockaday |
26 May | Rayleigh Weir Stadium, Rayleigh | Johnny Fitzpatrick | Gil Goldfinch | Ken Adams |
26 May | Pennycross Stadium, Plymouth | Jack Scott | Tony Lewis | Chris Julian |
27 May | Old Meadowbank, Edinburgh | Jim Lightfoot | Doug Templeton | Dick Campbell |
27 May | Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley | Harry Bastable | Ivor Brown | Peter Vandenberg |
1 June | Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield | Clive Featherby | Clive Cox | George Hunter |
3 June | Hanley Greyhound Stadium, Hanley | Maury Mattingley | Ken Adams | Stan Stevens |
Continental qualifying
- Top 32 to Continental semi-finals
Second round
British & Commonwealth 2nd round
- Top 32 riders to British & Commonwealth semi-finals
Date | Venue | Winner | 2nd | 3rd |
3 July | Wimbledon Stadium, London | Ronnie Moore | Ron How | Jim Tebby |
4 July | Banister Court Stadium, Southampton | Peter Craven | Barry Briggs | Ray Cresp |
5 July | New Cross Stadium, London | Bob Andrews | Split Waterman | Ken McKinlay |
6 July | Oxford Stadium, Oxford | Jack Young | Ronnie Genz | Mike Broadbanks |
6 July | Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich | Peter Moore | Johnny Chamberlain | Ray Cresp |
7 July | Leicester Stadium, Leicester | Ronnie Moore | Ken McKinlay | Danny Dunton |
8 July | Abbey Stadium, Swindon | Cyril Maidment | Tadeusz Teodorowicz | Neil Street |
8 July | Brandon Stadium, Coventry | Peter Moore | Bob Duckworth | Bob Andrews |
8 July | The Firs Stadium, Norwich | Billy Bales | Mike Broadbanks | Split Waterman |
8 July | Hyde Road, Manchester | Peter Craven | Gerald Jackson | Eric Williams |
Nordic Qualifying
Continental semi-finals
Third round
British & Commonwealth Semi finals
Nordic Final
Continental Final
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 |
Fourth round
European Final
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 Stadium, London
- First 9 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
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
- ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
- ^ "World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "World Finals 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "History Speedway and Longtrack". Speedway.org. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "World Individual Final – Rider Index". British Speedway. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "Ove Fundin Retains Speedway Title". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 16 September 1961. Retrieved 7 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "1961 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ "1961 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
Speedway World Championship | | |
---|
Speedway Grand Prix (SGP) | |
---|
See also | |
---|