1953 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1953 Individual Speedway World Championship was the eighth edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Welshman Freddie Williams became the second rider to win a second title in front of a 90,000 attendance at Wembley Stadium. Williams won 4 of his 5 races, only dropping one point in heat 13 to Jeff Lloyd. Geoff Mardon defeated Olle Nygren in the bronze medal ride off.[7]

Qualification

Qualification started on 1952.[8][9]

Stage 1

Norwegian round

Pos. Rider Points
1 Basse Hveem 14+3
2 Henry Andersen 14+2
3 Reidar Kristoffersen 13
4 Sverre Gjomesli 11
5 Werner Lorentzen 10
6 Thorleif Andreassen 10
7 Erik Storm Larsen 10
8 Rolf Naess 6
9 Oddvan Gundersgaard 5
10 Edvin Fredriksen 5
11 Erling Simonsen 4
12 Odd Johansen 4
13 Magne Flaaten 3
14 Gunnar Hilsen 2
15 Karl Andreassen 1
16 Olgar Torholen 1

Swedish round

Pos. Rider Points
1 Stig Pramberg 12
2 Olle Segerström 11
3 Olle Nygren 11
4 Dan Forsberg 10
5 Rune Sörmander 10
6 Sune Karlsson 9
7 Bert Lindarw 8
8 Thorsten Carlsson 8
9 Joel Jansson 8
10 Bertil Carlsson II 7
11 Ove Fundin 6
12 Ove Bodin 4
13 Göte Olsson 4
14 Bernt Nilsson 4
15 Sven Skoglund 3
16 Evert Andersson 3
17 Gunnar Hellqvist 2

Stage 2

Continental qualifier

Pos. Rider Points
1 Josef Kamper 15
2 Kjell Carlsson 13
3 Fritz Dirtl 12
4 Sven Skoglund 11
5 Karl Killmeyer 10
6 Albin Siegl 9
7 Tony Kroeze 9
8 Josef Hofmeister 8
9 Wilf Plant 5
10 Fred Aberl 5
11 Gerit Jonker 5
12 Jack Winstanley 5
13 Karl Kiendl 4
14 Co Boef 4
15 Walter Dirtl 3
16 Leopold Killmeyer 2
17 Alfred Hamberger 1
18 Hans Müller 0

Nordic Final

Pos. Rider Points
1 Dan Forsberg 15
2 Basse Hveem 14
3 Olle Nygren 11
4 Olle Segerström 10
5 Henry Andersen 10
6 Rune Sörmander 9
7 Thorsten Carlsson 9
8 Stig Pramberg 9
9 Sune Karlsson 7
10 Leif Bech 7
11 Reidar Kristoffersen 7
12 Bert Lindarw 5
13 Thorleif Andreasen 3
14 Joel Jansson 3
15 Kaukko Jousanen 1
16 Simo Ylänen 0
17 Kiehn Berthelsen 0

Stage 3

Continental Final

Pos. Rider Points
1 Basse Hveem 15
2 Olle Nygren 13
3 Dan Forsberg 12
4 Sune Karlsson 12
5 Rune Sörmander 10
6 Olle Segerström 9
7 Phil Clarke 9
8 Stig Pramberg 8
9 Thorsten Carlsson 7
10 Henry Andersen 6
11 Karl Killmeyer 6
12 Kjell Carlsson 4
13 Josef Kamper 3
14 Bob Roger 3
15 Fritz Dirtl 2
16 Sven Skoglund 1
17 Albin Siegl dnr

British qualifying round

  • The top riders qualify for the International round.
Date Venue Winner
26 May Banister Court Stadium Maury Mattingley
26 May Cornish Stadium Goog Hoskin
28 May Oxford Stadium Jim Boyd
29 May Pennycross Stadium Harold Fairhurst
30 May Rayleigh Weir Stadium Peter Clark

Stage 4

International round

  • The top 54 riders qualify for the Championship round.
Date Venue Winner
6 July Stanley Stadium Tommy Miller
6 July Wimborne Road Basse Hveem
7 July Yarmouth Stadium Fred Brand
8 July White City Stadium, Glasgow Tommy Miller
10 July Leicester Stadium Olle Nygren
10 July The Stadium, Motherwell Ron Mountford
11 July Brandon Stadium Charlie New
11 July Sun Street Stadium Brian Crutcher
18 July Old Meadowbank Don Cuppleditch
24 July Monmore Green Stadium Harry Bastable

Stage 5

Championship Round

  • Top 16 qualify for World final, 17th-20th reserves for World final
Date Venue Winner
14 August Knowle Stadium Dick Bradley
15 August Harringay Stadium Olle Nygren
17 August Wimbledon Stadium Ronnie Moore
18 August West Ham Stadium Jack Young
20 August Wembley Stadium Jack Biggs
22 August Hyde Road Stadium Ronnie Moore
22 August Odsal Stadium Arthur Forrest
26 August Perry Barr Stadium Graham Warren
28 August The Firs Stadium Aub Lawson

Scores

  • Top 16 qualify for World final, 17th-20th reserves for World final
Pos. Rider Total pts
1 Ronnie Moore 29
2 Olle Nygren 28
3 Jack Young 27
4 Arthur Forrest 26
5 Jack Biggs 25
6 Dick Bradley 25
7 Freddie Williams 25
8 Aub Lawson 25
9 Alan Hunt 25
10 Jeff Lloyd 24
11 Split Waterman 24
12 Eric Williams 24
13 Geoff Mardon 24
14 Brian Crutcher 23
15 Rune Sörmander 23
16 Graham Warren 23
17 Dent Oliver 23
18 Arthur Payne 22
19 Louis Lawson 21
20 Maury Dunn 21
21 Wally Green 20
22 Len Williams 20
23 Ron How 19
24 Ken Walsh 19
25 Harry Edwards 18
26 Howdy Byford 18
27 Don Cuppleditch 17
28 Billy Hole 17
29 Tommy Miller 16
30 Ron Johnston 16
31 Bill Kitchen 16
32 Dan Forsberg 14
33 Dick Seers 14
34 Fred Brand 14
35 Eric Boothroyd 14
36 Charlie New 13
Pos. Rider Total pts
37 Bob Fletcher 13
38 Ken Middleditch 13
39 Peter Moore 12
40 Bob Mark 11
41 Jack Parker 11
42 Ron Clarke 11
43 Terry Small 11
44 John Reason 11
45 Harry Bastable 11
46 Jim Tolley 11
47 Olle Segerström 11
48 Stig Pramberg 11
49 Peter Clark 10
50 Harry Welsh 10
51 Ken McKinlay 9
52 Fred Rogers 9
53 Les Hewitt 8
54 Sune Karlsson 8
55 Reg Reeves 7
56 Phil Clarke 7
57 Charlie May 7
58 Barry Briggs 6
59 Geoff Pymar 6
60 Peter Robinson 6
61 Malcolm Craven 6
62 Trevor Redmond 5.5
63 Pat Clark 5
64 Bill Holden 4
65 Alan Kidd 3
66 Don Potter 3
67 Ron Mountford 3
68 Basse Hveem 3
69 Dick Campbell 2
70 Bob Baker 2
71 Gordon McGregor 2

World final

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 Freddie Williams (3,3,3,2,3) 14
2 Split Waterman (3,3,3,3,1) 13
3 Geoff Mardon (3,2,3,1,3) 12+3
4 Olle Nygren (2,3,2,3,2) 12+2
5 Jack Young (3,2,3,2,F) 10
6 Ronnie Moore (F,1,2,3,3) 9
7 Jeff Lloyd (2,2,F,3,1) 8
8 Arthur Forrest (2,2,0,0,3) 7
9 Aub Lawson (1,3,2,1,0) 7
10 Brian Crutcher (1,1,1,2,1) 6
11 Rune Sörmander (0,0,1,2,2) 5
12 Graham Warren (0,0,2,1,2) 5
13 Eric Williams (1,1,1,1,F) 4
14 Alan Hunt (0,0,1,0,2) 3
15 Dick Bradley (2,F,0,0,0) 2
16 Jack Biggs (1,1,0,0,-) 2
R1 Dent Oliver (1) 1
R2 Arthur Payne did not ride -

Classification

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
1 (1) Freddie Williams 14 3 3 3 2 3 14 1
2 (10) Split Waterman 13 3 3 3 3 1 13 2
3 (14) Geoff Mardon 12+3 3 2 3 1 3 12 3
4 (15) Olle Nygren 12+2 2 3 2 3 2 12 4
5 (5) Jack Young 10 3 2 3 2 - 10 5
6 (13) Ronnie Moore 9 - 1 2 3 3 7 6
7 (12) Jeff Lloyd 9 2 2 - 3 1 2 7
8 (7) Arthur Forrest 7 2 2 0 0 3 7 8
9 (8) Aub Lawson 7 1 3 2 1 0 7 9
10 (2) Brian Crutcher 6 1 1 1 2 1 6 10
11 (4) Rune Sörmander 5 0 0 1 2 2 5 11
12 (6) Graham Warren 5 0 0 2 1 2 5 12
13 (16) Eric Williams 4 1 1 1 1 - 4 13
14 (9) Alan Hunt 3 0 0 1 0 2 3 14
15 (3) Dick Bradley 2 2 - 0 0 0 2 15
16 (11) Jack Biggs 2 1 1 0 0 - 2 16
17 (17) Dent Oliver 1 1 1 17
18 (18) Arthur Payne 0 0 18
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

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 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. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  6. ^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL – RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Fred Williams wind the speed championship". Birmingham Daily Gazette. 18 September 1953. Retrieved 5 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "1953 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  9. ^ "1953 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  10. ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5