1972 Individual Speedway World Championship

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

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)

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 preliminaries

  • 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

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

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
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

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
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

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

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

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
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