1968 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1968 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 23rd edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Ivan Mauger won his first World title. Fellow countryman Barry Briggs finished second and Pole Edward Jancarz took the bronze medal.[7][8]

Format changes

The format of the Championship changed again for the 1968 event. It reverted to the 1966 system whereby six riders from the Swedish section would qualify for the World Final direct to be held in Sweden. All other nations had to go through various events to establish the other ten riders to qualify for the final.

First round

Qualification results.[9][10]

British/Commonwealth qualifying

  • Top 32 to British/Commonwealth semi-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
25 May King's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn Malcolm Simmons Terry Betts Ray Wilson
25 May The Shay, Halifax Jim Airey Dave Younghusband Greg Kentwell
25 May Brandon Stadium, Coventry Nigel Boocock Norman Hunter Dave Hemus
25 May Hyde Road, Manchester Ivan Mauger Tommy Roper Charlie Monk
27 May Brough Park, Newcastle Ivan Mauger Barry Briggs Bert Harkins
27 May County Ground Stadium, Exeter Martin Ashby Jimmy Squibb Eric Boocock
28 May West Ham Stadium, London Norman Hunter Nigel Boocock Ivan Mauger
28 May Leicester Stadium, Leicester Bill Andrew Bob Kilby John Boulger
29 May Wimborne Road, Poole John Boulger Bill Andrew Geoff Mudge
30 May Oxford Stadium, Oxford Colin Gooddy Terry Betts Ronnie Genz
30 May Wimbledon Stadium, London Martin Ashby Nigel Boocock Trevor Hedge
30 May Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield Charlie Monk Colin Pratt John Dews
31 May Monmore Green, Wolverhampton James Bond Jim Airey Peter Vandenberg
31 May Hackney Wick Stadium, London Barry Briggs Colin Pratt Les McGillivray
31 May Somerton Park, Newport Cyril Francis Chris Julian Eric Boothroyd
31 May White City, Glasgow Bob Kilby Bert Harkins Jim McMillan
1 June Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Bill Andrew Trevor Hedge Reg Luckhurst
1 June Abeey Stadium, Swindon Barry Briggs Bob Kilby Mike Broadbanks
1 June Cliftonhill, Coatbridge Martin Ashby Ray Wilson Colin Pratt

Continental qualifying

  • Top 32 to Continantal semi-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
4 May East Germany Meissen Speedway Stadium, Meissen Soviet Union Boris Samorodov Czechoslovakia Jan Holub I Poland Antoni Woryna
5 May Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Stadion Automoto Drustvo Svetozarevo Soviet Union Gennady Kurilenko Poland Joachim Maj Soviet Union Yuri Chekranov
5 May Hungary Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc Poland Konstanty Pociejkewicz Poland Henryk Glucklich Soviet Union Viktor Trofimov
5 May West Germany Abensberger Stadion, Abensberg Poland Jan Mucha Soviet Union Igor Plekhanov Czechoslovakia Luboš Tomíček Sr.

Second round

Norwegian qualifying (top 8)

Pos. Rider time/note
1 Reidar Eide 1.21.1
2 Oyvind S. Berg 1.22.6
3 Odd Fossengen 1.24.0
4 Sverre Harrfeldt 1.24.0
5 Einar Egedius sf 1.24.5
6 Sven Svensrud sf 1.28.2
7 Ulf Lovaas sf fell
8 Thorbjorn Nygaard sf fell

Finnish qualifying (top 8)

Pos. Rider Points Total
1 Matti Olin 6+8 14+3
2 Kalevi Lahtinen 8+6 14+2
3 Veikko Metsahuone 4+3 7
4 Jouko Naskali 0+4 4
5 Reijo Tolviander 3+1 4
6 Reima Lohkovouri 0+2 2
7 Olavi Turunen 2+0 2
8 Timo Sinkkonen 1+0 1

British/Commonwealth semi-finals

Pos. Rider Points
1 New Zealand Barry Briggs 14
2 New Zealand Bill Andrew 13
3 England Norman Hunter 13
4 England Nigel Boocock 11
5 England Mike Broadbank 10
6 Australia Peter Vandenberg 10
7 England Dave Younghusband 9
8 Scotland Jim McMillan
9 Australia Jim Airey 7
10 England Colin Pratt 6
11 England Bob Andrews 6
12 England Tommy Roper 5
13 England Arnie Haley 3
14 England Chris Julian 3
15 England Jimmy Squibb 2
16 Scotland Bert Harkins 1
Pos. Rider Points
1 New Zealand Ivan Mauger 14
2 England Martin Ashby 14
3 England Terry Betts 12
4 Australia Charlie Monk 10
5 England Ray Wilson 10
6 England Eric Boocock 9
7 England Trevor Hedge 9
8 Australia Geoff Mudge 9
9 England Reg Luckhurst 8
10 England James Bond 7
11 England Colin Gooddy 7
12 Australia John Boulger 3
13 New Zealand Wayne Briggs 3
14 Australia Greg Kentwell 3
15 England Eric Boothroyd 1
16 England Bob Kilby 1

Third round

British/Commonwealth Final

  • 11 July 1968
  • England Wimbledon Stadium, London
  • First 10 to British-Nordic 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
1 New Zealand (12) Ivan Mauger 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
2 New Zealand (14) Barry Briggs 14 3 3 3 2 3 14 2
3 England (5) Eric Boocock 13 3 3 2 3 2 13 3
4 England (11) Martin Ashby 10 1 3 2 3 1 10 4
5 England (6) Trevor Hedge 10 2 2 3 3 0 10 5
6 England (10) Nigel Boocock 9 2 1 1 2 3 9 6
7 England (13) Norman Hunter 9 1 2 3 2 1 9 7
8 Scotland (4) Jim McMillan 8 3 1 2 2 0 8 8
9 England (1) Terry Betts 7 2 1 1 1 2 7 9
10 England (3) Dave Younghusband 6 1 0 2 1 2 6 10
11 Australia (15) Geoff Mudge 6 2 1 1 1 1 6 11
12 Australia (8) Charlie Monk 5 1 2 1 1 0 5 12
13 England (16) Mike Broadbanks 3 0 0 E 0 3 3 13
14 England (2) Ray Wilson 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 14
15 Australia (9) Peter Vandenberg 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 15
16 New Zealand (7) Bill Andrew 0 F - - - - 0 16
R1 England (R1) Reg Luckhurst 2 2 F 2 R1
R2 Australia (R2) Jim Airey 0 X 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

Nordic 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
1 Norway (10) Reidar Eide 14 3 3 3 2 3 14 1
2 Norway (1) Øyvind S. Berg 13 3 3 2 3 2 13 2
3 Norway (11) Odd Fossengen 12 1 3 3 3 2 12 3
4 Norway (5) Sverre Harrfeldt 11 3 1 1 3 3 11 4
5 Denmark (2) Ole Olsen 11 2 2 2 2 3 11 5
6 Denmark (9) Godtfred Andreasen 11 2 2 2 3 2 11 6
7 Norway (3) Per J.Aulie 9 1 2 3 0 3 9 7
8 Norway (16) Ole Todnem 9 3 3 1 1 1 9 8
9 Denmark (15) Kurt Bøgh 7 F 1 3 2 1 7 9
10 Denmark (13) Preben Moller Christensen 6 2 0 2 0 2 6 10
11 Denmark (8) Jens Ring 6 2 2 1 1 0 6 11
12 Norway (14) Helgie Langlie 3 F 0 - 2 1 3 12
13 Finland (4) Matti Olin 3 0 1 1 1 0 3 13
14 Norway (6) Eidar Egedius 2 1 1 E F - 2 14
15 Finland (7) Timo Laine 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 15
16 Finland (12) Jouko Naskali 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16
R1 Denmark (R1) Per Ehlert 1 1 1 R1
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

Continental semi-finals

Pos. Rider Points
1 Czechoslovakia Luboš Tomíček Sr. 15
2 Poland Konstanty Pociejkewicz 12
3 Poland Jerzy Trzeszkowski 11
4 Poland Pawel Waloszek 11
5 Soviet Union Igor Plechanov 11
6 Poland Jan Mucha 10
7 Soviet Union Vladimir Smirnov 10
8 Poland Jan Pytko 9
9 Czechoslovakia Miloslav Verner 7
10 Soviet Union Gabdrachman Kadyrov 6
11 Poland Henryk Glücklich 5
12 Soviet Union Boris Zechanovitsch 5
13 Czechoslovakia Miroslav Šmíd 2
14 Czechoslovakia Antonín Kasper Sr. 2
15 East Germany Hans Jürgen Fritz (res) 2
16 Hungary Barnabas Gyepes 1
17 Czechoslovakia Jaroslav Volf (res) 1
18 Soviet Union Viktor Trofimov 0
Pos. Rider Points
1 Poland Antoni Woryna 13
2 Poland Joachim Maj 13
3 Poland Andrzej Wyglenda 12
4 Soviet Union Boris Samorodov 10
5 Soviet Union Gennadij Kurilenko 10
6 Poland Jerzy Padewski 9
7 Czechoslovakia Jan Holub I 8
8 Poland Edward Jancarz 8
9 East Germany Gerhard Uhlenbrock 8
10 Soviet Union Jurij Chekranov 6
11 East Germany Jochen Dinse 5
12 Soviet Union Farid Szajnurov 5
13 East Germany Jürgen Hehlert 4
14 Czechoslovakia Antonín Šváb Sr. 4
15 Poland Stanislaw Tkocz 3
16 Czechoslovakia Frantisek Ledecky 1

Fourth round

Swedish Qualifying

Pos. Rider Points
1 Ove Fundin 14
2 Bengt Jansson 13
3 Anders Michanek 11
4 Gunnar Malmqvist 11
5 Per-Olof Söderman 10
6 Bernt Persson 9
7 Tommy Johansson 9
8 Bengt Svensson 9
9 Conny Samuelsson 8
10 Leif Larsson 6
11 Sven-Inge Svensson 6
12 Sören Enander 6
13 Allan Dahlöf 4
14 Runo Wedin 3
15 Jan Holmqvist 3
16 Bo Magnusson
Pos. Rider Points
1 Sören Sjösten 14
2 Torbjörn Harrysson 14
3 Olle Nygren 12
4 Göte Nordin 12
5 Bengt Larsson 10
6 Christer Löfqvist 9
7 Bo Josefsson 9
8 Therje Henriksson 9
9 Hasse Holmqvist 6
10 Sven Sigurd 4
11 Jan Svensson 4
12 Lars Jansson 4
13 Karl-Erik Andersson 3
14 Bengt Brannefors 3
15 Åke Andersson 3
16 Sixten Karlberg 2
17 Jan Stridh 2

British/Commonwealth/Nordic 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
1 New Zealand (11) Ivan Mauger 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
2 England (5) Nigel Boocock 13 3 3 3 2 2 13 2 3
3 Norway (16) Reidar Eide 13 2 3 2 3 3 13 3 2
4 England (7) Martin Ashby 11 2 2 3 3 1 11 4
5 Norway (15) Sverre Harrfeldt 10 3 0 1 3 3 10 5
6 England (9) Terry Betts 10 2 1 3 2 2 10 6
7 England (1) Trevor Hedge 9 3 2 1 2 1 9 7
8 England (3) Eric Boocock 7 2 1 2 1 1 7 8
9 England (13) Norman Hunter 6 1 0 1 1 3 6 9
10 New Zealand (12) Barry Briggs 6 1 F 2 1 2 6 10
11 Norway (10) Odd Fossengen 5 0 3 2 0 0 5 11
12 Scotland (8) Jim McMillan 5 0 2 1 0 2 5 12
13 Norway (6) Øyvind S. Berg 4 1 2 0 1 0 4 13
14 Denmark (2) Ole Olsen 4 1 1 0 2 F 4 14
15 England (4) Dave Younghusband 1 0 1 0 0 F 1 15
16 Norway (14) Godtfred Andreasen 0 0 0 0 - - 0 16
R1 Norway (R1) Per J.Aulle 1 0 1 1 R1
R2 Australia (R2) Geoff Mudge 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

Continental 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
1 Soviet Union (2) Gennady Kurilenko 12 3 1 3 3 2 12 1
2 Poland (6) Paweł Waloszek 10 2 3 3 2 0 10 2
3 Soviet Union (16) Vladimir Smirnov 10 3 0 2 2 3 10 3
4 Poland (15) Edward Jancarz 10 2 1 1 3 3 10 4
5 Poland (13) Jerzy Trzeszkowski 10 1 3 3 2 1 10 5
6 Poland (12) Antoni Woryna 9 2 2 2 1 2 9 6
7 Soviet Union (11) Igor Plekhanov 8 3 3 0 0 2 8 7 3
8 Poland (3) Konstanty Pociejkewicz 8 2 0 F 3 3 8 8 2
9 Poland (7) Jerzy Padewski 8 3 2 0 3 F 8 9 1
10 Czechoslovakia (9) Jan Holub I 7 1 1 3 1 1 7 10
11 Poland (1) Andrzej Wyglenda 7 1 2 1 2 1 7 11
12 Poland (8) Zygmunt Pytko 6 0 3 2 1 0 6 12
13 Soviet Union (10) Boris Samorodov 6 0 2 1 1 2 6 13
14 Poland (5) Jan Mucha 4 1 0 0 0 3 4 14
15 Poland (4) Joachim Maj 4 0 1 2 0 1 4 15
16 Czechoslovakia (14) Luboš Tomíček Sr. 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 16
R1 East Germany (R1) Gerhard Ulenbrock 0 0 R1
R2 Czechoslovakia (R2) Václav Verner 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

Fifth round

Swedish Final

  • Top 6 to World final, 1 reserve
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
27 May Malmö Stadion, Malmö Gunnar Malmqvist Anders Michanek Hasse Holmqvist
28 May Ullevi, Gothenburg Bernt Persson Gunnar Malmqvist Torbjörn Harrysson
30 May Ryd Motorstadion, Linköping Ove Fundin Bengt Jansson Gunnar Malmqvist
Pos. Rider Points
1 Gunnar Malmqvist 38
2 Ove Fundin 35
3 Torbjörn Harrysson 31
4 Bernt Persson 30
5 Anders Michanek 29
6 Hasse Holmqvist 28
7 Bengt Jansson 27
8 Bengt Larsson 25
9 Sören Sjösten 23
Pos. Rider Points
10 Therje Henriksson 22
11 Bo Josefsson 15
12 Bengt Svensson 15
13 Christer Löfqvist 14
14 Olle Nygren 10
15 Tommy Johansson 9
16 Per Olof Söderman 8
17 Conny Samuelsson 2
18 Runo Wedin 1

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
1 Poland (3) Paweł Waloszek 13 3 2 3 2 3 13 1
2 Poland (5) Antoni Woryna 11 3 3 3 X 2 11 2
3 Poland (16) Jerzy Trzeszkowski 11 2 2 2 3 2 11 3
4 New Zealand (11) Ivan Mauger 10 1 3 1 2 3 10 4
5 New Zealand (8) Barry Briggs 9 1 3 1 3 1 9 5
6 Soviet Union (1) Gennady Kurilenko 9 2 2 3 0 2 9 6
7 Norway (14) Reidar Eide 8 3 1 0 3 1 8 7
8 Poland (10) Edward Jancarz 8 3 3 2 F - 8 8
9 England (12) Nigel Boocock 7 2 1 0 2 2 7 9
10 England (2) Martin Ashby 6 1 2 1 1 1 6 10 3
11 Soviet Union (9) Igor Plekhanov 6 0 0 2 3 1 6 11 2
12 Soviet Union (6) Vladimir Smirnov 5 2 0 E 2 1 5 12
13 England (4) Trevor Hedge 3 0 0 3 0 0 3 13
14 England (7) Terry Betts 2 0 0 1 1 0 2 14
15 Norway (13) Sverre Harrfeldt 2 1 1 F - - 2 15
16 Poland (15) Konstanty Pociejkewicz 0 0 - - - - 0 16
R1 Poland (R1) Jerzy Padewski 7 1 2 1 3 7 R1
R2 Czechoslovakia (R2) Václav Verner 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
1 New Zealand (6) Ivan Mauger 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
2 New Zealand (5) Barry Briggs 12 2 2 3 3 2 12 2
3 Poland (7) Edward Jancarz 11 1 3 1 3 3 11 3 3
4 Soviet Union (9) Gennady Kurilenko 11 2 3 3 1 2 11 4 2
5 Poland (4) Paweł Waloszek 10 F 2 3 2 3 10 5
6 Sweden (12) Torbjörn Harrysson 10 3 3 2 1 1 10 6
7 Sweden (1) Anders Michanek 9 3 1 2 2 1 9 7
8 Sweden (10) Hasse Holmqvist 9 1 2 2 2 2 9 8
9 Sweden (15) Ove Fundin 7 3 0 1 0 3 7 9
10 Sweden (11) Gunnar Malmqvist 7 0 2 1 3 1 7 10
11 England (2) Martin Ashby 5 2 1 0 2 0 5 11
12 Poland (16) Antoni Woryna 5 2 1 R 1 1 5 12
14 Norway (8) Reidar Eide 3 0 0 2 1 F 3 14
13 Poland (3) Jerzy Trzeszkowski 4 1 1 0 0 2 4 13
15 Sweden (14) Bernt Persson 1 E 0 1 0 0 1 15
16 England (13) Nigel Boocock 1 1 0 0 X E 1 16
R1 Soviet Union (R1) Igor Plekhanov 0 0 R1
R2 Sweden (R2) Bengt Jansson 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

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. ^ "Sports in Brief". The Times. 7 September 1968. Retrieved 9 July 2021 – via Gale Primary Sources.
  8. ^ "Boocock last in Sweden". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 7 September 1968. Retrieved 9 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "1968 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  10. ^ "1968 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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