1955 Individual Speedway World Championship
The 1955 Individual Speedway World Championship was the tenth edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
In a very competitive World final Peter Craven of England finished one point ahead of three other riders who had to ride off for the silver medal. The defending champion Ronnie Moore won the ride off to claim silver from fellow countryman Barry Briggs and Welshman Eric Williams who both crashed leaving Moore an easy victory, Briggs took third place from Williams who missed out on a medal.[7]
Qualification
Qualification started on 29 April.[8][9]
Stage 1
Norwegian round
- 26 September 1954
- Briskebyen Utstillingsplassen, Hamar
- Top 3 (+2 seeded) to Nordic round 1955
Pos. | Rider | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Reidar Kristoffersen | 15 |
2 | Rolf Westerberg | 14 |
3 | Nils Paulsen | 13 |
4 | Sverre Gjomesli | 11 |
5 | Rolf Solberg | 9 |
6 | Odd Johansen | 8 |
7 | Erling Simonsen | 8 |
8 | Gunnar Hilsen | 7 |
9 | Aage W. Jensen | 7 |
10 | Tore Meiner | 6 |
11 | Erling Cae | 5 |
12 | Oddvar Wold | 5 |
13 | Tor Bjorkkvist | 4 |
14 | Odd Kleiven | 4 |
15 | Knut Bjorge | 2 |
16 | Jens Georg Walle | 0 |
Swedish round
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Stage 2
Nordic round
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Continental round
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Stage 3
Nordic Final
- 8 June 1955
- Lerkendal Stadion, Trondheim
- First 6 to European final
Pos. | Rider | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Ove Fundin | 14 |
2 | Henry Andersen | 14 |
3 | Basse Hveem | 12 |
4 | Ulf Ericsson | 10 |
5 | Birger Forsberg | 10 |
6 | Kjell Carlsson | 9 |
7 | Sven Fahlén | 9 |
8 | Joel Jansson | 8 |
9 | Rune Claesson | 7 |
10 | Bert Lindarw | 7 |
11 | Olle Heyman | 6 |
12 | Lars Pettersson | 5 |
13 | Reidar Kristoffersen | 5 |
14 | Göran Norlén | 3 |
15 | Antti Pajari | 2 |
16 | Kaukko Jousanen | 1 |
Continental Final
- 13 June 1955
- Altes Stadion, Abensberg
- First 6 to European Final
Pos. | Rider | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Fritz Dirtl | 15 |
2 | Josef Kamper | 12 |
3 | Georg Duneborn | 12 |
4 | Josef Hofmeister | 11 |
5 | Josef Seidl | 11 |
6 | Per Olof Söderman | 10+3 |
7 | Karl Killmeyer | 10+2 |
8 | Sune Karlsson | 8 |
9 | Nicvan Gorcum | 7 |
10 | Fred Aberl | 6 |
11 | Sebastian Wiesent | 6 |
12 | Branko Regvart | 4 |
13 | Tinus Metzelaar | 3 |
14 | Karl Kiendl | 2 |
15 | Drago Regvart | 2 |
16 | Nicola Snjaric | 1 |
British & Commonwealth round
- Top 21 qualify for Championship round.[10]
Date | Venue | Winner |
---|---|---|
4 July | Wimborne Road | Ken Middleditch |
5 July | Banister Court Stadium | Dick Bradley |
7 July | Foxhall Stadium | Junior Bainbridge |
7 July | Oxford Stadium | Ronnie Genz |
8 July | Leicester Stadium | Ken Middleditch |
9 July | Brandon Stadium | Tommy Miller |
9 July | Rayleigh Weir Stadium | Bert Roger |
9 July | Abbey Stadium | Ian Williams |
11 July | County Ground Stadium | Ken McKinlay |
Stage 4
Championship Round
- Top 12 qualify for World final + 2 reserves
Date | Venue | Winner |
---|---|---|
8 August | Wimbledon Stadium | Barry Briggs |
9 August | West Ham Stadium | Jack Young |
11 August | Wembley Stadium | Brian Crutcher |
13 August | Perry Barr Stadium | Doug Davies |
13 August | Odsal Stadium | Arthur Wright |
20 August | Hyde Road Stadium | Peter Craven |
20 August | The Firs Stadium | Aub Lawson |
Scores
- First 12 to World final + 2 reserves
European Final
- 4 July 1955
- Bislett Stadium, Oslo
- First 4 to World final[11]
Pos. | Rider | Total |
---|---|---|
1 | Henry Andersen | 14 |
2 | Olle Nygren | 12 |
3 | Kjell Carlsson | 11 |
4 | Ove Fundin | 11 |
5 | Per Olof Söderman | 11 |
6 | Basse Hveem | 10 |
7 | Josef Kamper | 9 |
8 | Ulf Ericsson | 8 |
9 | Fritz Dirtl | 7 |
10 | Birger Forsberg | 7 |
11 | Georg Duneborn | 6 |
12 | Alf Hagon | 5 |
13 | Rune Sörmander | 4 |
14 | Cyril Maidment | 3 |
15 | Joseph Seidl | 2 |
16 | Josef Hofmeister | 0 |
17 | Reidar Kristoffersen | 0 |
World final
- 15 September 1955
- Wembley Stadium, London[12]
Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Peter Craven | (3,3,2,3,2) | 13 |
2 | Ronnie Moore | (3,1,3,2,3) | 12+3 |
3 | Barry Briggs | (3,2,3,2,2) | 12+2 |
4 | Eric Williams | (3,1,2,3,3) | 12+1 |
5 | Brian Crutcher | (2,2,3,Fx,3) | 10 |
6 | Ove Fundin | (2,1,1,3,3) | 10 |
7 | Jack Young | (1,3,1,3,2) | 10 |
8 | Olle Nygren | (0,3,2,2,2) | 9 |
9 | Arthur Forrest | (0,2,3,1,1) | 7 |
10 | Arthur Wright | (1,3,0,1,1) | 6 |
11 | Billy Bales | (2,0,1,2,1) | 6 |
12 | Ron Johnston | (1,1,2,1,1) | 6 |
13 | Kjell Carlsson | (0,2,0,1,0) | 3 |
14 | Phil Clarke | (2,0,0,0,0) | 2 |
15 | Henry Andersen | (1,0,1,0,0) | 2 |
16 | Cyril Roger | (0,0,0,0,Fx) | 0 |
R1 | Gerry Hussey | did not ride | - |
R2 | Ken McKinlay | did not ride | - |
- Note - Aub Lawson withdrew injured, Doug Davies withdrew with meningitis,
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 | (8) Peter Craven | 13 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
2 | (2) Ronnie Moore | 12+3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
3 | (14) Barry Briggs | 12+2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 3 | |||||||||||||||
4 | (12) Eric Williams | 12+1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 4 | |||||||||||||||
5 | (1) Brian Crutcher | 10 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||||||||||||||
6 | (5) Ove Fundin | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 6 | |||||||||||||||
7 | (9) Jack Young | 10 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 7 | |||||||||||||||
8 | (6) Olle Nygren | 9 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 8 | |||||||||||||||
9 | (4) Arthur Forrest | 7 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 9 | |||||||||||||||
10 | (3) Arthur Wright | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 10 | |||||||||||||||
11 | (10) Billy Bales | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 11 | |||||||||||||||
12 | (7) Ron Johnston | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 12 | |||||||||||||||
13 | (11) Kjell Carlsson | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 13 | |||||||||||||||
14 | (13) Phil Clarke | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | |||||||||||||||
15 | (16) Henry Andersen | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | |||||||||||||||
16 | (15) Cyril Roger | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 16 | |||||||||||||||
(17) Gerry Hussey | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
(18) Ken McKinlay | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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
- ^ 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 5 July 2021.
- ^ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ "Craven Wins Speedway's World Title". Bradford Observer. 16 September 1955. Retrieved 5 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "1955 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
- ^ "1955 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
- ^ "Speedway Stars bid for World Title". Weekly Dispatch (London). 3 July 1955. Retrieved 13 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "1955". Speedway.org. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
- ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5