Motorcycle speedway world championship season
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 | Finnish qualifying (top 9) 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
Continental quarter-finals
- Top 16 to Continental semi-finals
Swedish qualification
- Top 6 in each heat to Nordic qualification
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
Continental semi-finals
Fourth round
British/Commonwealth semi-finals
Nordic Final
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
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
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
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
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 9 July 2021.
- ^ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ "4-Timer Mauger". Sunday Mirror. 17 September 1972. Retrieved 9 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Fourth World title for Mauger". Birmingham Weekly Mercury. 17 September 1972. Retrieved 1 November 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "1972 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ "1972 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 | | |
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Speedway Grand Prix (SGP) | |
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See also | |
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