1966 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1966 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 21st edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

In the final in Göteborg New Zealander Barry Briggs equalled the record of Ove Fundin by winning his fourth World title. Norwegian Sverre Harrfeldt took silver and Pole Antoni Woryna took bronze.[7] Ivan Mauger, a 26-year-old New Zealander who had won the European Final qualifier finished fourth.

Format changes edit

The format of the Championship changed for the 1966 event. With the final to be held in Sweden, six riders from Sweden would be eligible for the World Final by finishing in the top six of the Swedish finals. The remaining Scandinavian riders were pooled in with the British and Commonwealth riders and then the Continental riders, who ultimately would have only 10 places for the World Final.

Two Swedish finals were held during 1966, the three race qualifying for the World Final and another held on 7 October that was separate from the World Championship.[8][9]

First round edit

Qualification results.[10][11]

British & Commonwealth qualifying edit

  • Top 32 to British & Commonwealth semi-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
20 May Somerton Park, Newport Nigel Boocock Jon Erskine Jack Biggs
20 May White City, Glasgow Ron Mountford Charlie Monk Eric Boocock
21 May Old Meadowbank, Edinburgh George Hunter Doug Templeton Norman Hunter
21 May Brandon Stadium, Coventry Nigel Boocock Jim Lightfoot Bill Andrew
21 May Hyde Road, Manchester Brian Brett Jon Erskine Cyril Maidment
21 May Wimbledon Stadium, London Reg Luckhurst Bob Dugard Bob Paulson
23 May Brough Park, Newcastle Ivan Mauger Brian Brett Mike Broadbank
23 May County Ground Stadium, Exeter Ron Mountford Martin Ashby Trevor Hedge
24 May Long Eaton Stadium, Long Eaton Ray Wilson Eric Boothroyd Ivan Mauger
24 May West Ham Stadium, London Barry Briggs Norman Hunter Malcolm Simmons
25 May King's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn David Crane Cyril Maidment Peter Moore
25 May Wimborne Road, Poole Bill Andrew Geoff Mudge Doug Templeton
26 May Oxford Stadium, Oxford Eric Boocock Jimmy Gooch Jim Lightfoot
26 May Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield Billy Bales Barry Briggs Charlie Monk
27 May Hackney Wick Stadium, London Colin Pratt Mike Broadbank Ivan Mauger
27 May Monmore Green, Wolverhampton Ken McKinlay Terry Betts Peter Jarman
28 May Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Ivor Brown Peter Vandenberg Colin Gooddy
28 May The Shay, Halifax Eric Boocock Eric Boothroyd Colin Pratt
28 May Abbey Stadium, Swindon Barry Briggs Martin Ashby Arne Pander

Second round edit

British & Commonwealth semi-finals edit

Pos. Rider Points
1   Trevor Hedge 12+3
2   Colin Pratt 12+2
3   Mike Broadbank 11+3
4   Norman Hunter 11+2
5   Eric Boocock 11+1
6   Dave Younghusband 11+0
7   Nigel Boocock 10
8   Ken McKinlay 10
9   Martin Ashby 9
10   Cyril Maidment 6
11   Geoff Mudge 5
12   Reg Luckhurst 4
13   Bill Andrew 3
14   Bob Paulson 3
15   Eric Boothroyd 2
16   Ray Wilson 0
17   Ronnie Genz (res) 0
Pos. Rider Points
1   Barry Briggs 15
2   Ron Mountford 12
3   Peter Moore 10+3
4   Roy Trigg 10+2
5   Jimmy Gooch 10+1
6   Brian Brett 10+0
7   George Hunter 9
8   Ivan Mauger 9
9   Terry Betts 7
10   Peter Vandenberg 6
11   Arne Pander 5
12   Jim Lightfoot 5
13   Jon Erskine 4
14   Charlie Monk 4
15   Doug Templeton 2
16   Colin Gooddy 2

Continental qualifying edit

  • Top 32 to Continental semi-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
8 May   Abensberger Stadion, Abensberg   Joachim Maj   Andrzej Wyglenda   Andrzej Pogorzelski
8 May   Meissen Speedway Stadium, Meissen   Jan Mucha   Edmund Migoś   Marian Rose
8 May   Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc   Jerzy Trzeszkowski   Zbigniew Podlecki   Farid Szajnurov
8 May   Gradski stadion, Osijek   Gennady Kurilenko   Stanisław Tkocz   Antoni Woryna

Norwegian qualifying edit

Pos. Rider Points
1 Sverre Harrfeldt 15
2 Per Aulie 14
3 Johnny Faafeng 13
4 Thorbjorn Nygaard 12
5 Rolf Westerberg 10
6 Thorbjorn Aulie 10
7 Svein Johnsen 8
8 Ivar Arne Hoffgaard 8
9 Hans R. Gaarder 6
10 Olav Aaen 6
11 Einar Egedius 6
12 Svein Svensrud 4
13 Arne Thorbjornsen 2
14 Jan Terje Gravningen 2
15 Svein Tollefsen 2
16 Lars Skjellfoss 1

Finnish qualifying edit

Pos. Rider Points
1 Kalevi Lahtinen 15
2 Matti Olin 14
3 Heikki Kaprali 12
4 Esko Koponen 12
5 Antero Salasto 10
6 Jouko Naskali 9
7 Timo Sinkkonene 8
8 Reima Lohkovuori 8
9 Veikko Vesa 7
10 Eero Mantila 6
11 Reijo Tolviander 6
12 Juhani Taipale 5
13 Toivo Skytta 3
14 Teijo Naskali 3
15 Teuvo Morjavaara 2
16 Martti Myllyntausta 0

Third round edit

British & Commonwealth Final edit

  • 27 June 1966
  •   Wimbledon Stadium, London
  • First 8 to British/Commonwealth/Scandinavian 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
    (3) Barry Briggs 12 3 3 3 3 F 12 1
    (8) Ivan Mauger 11 3 1 2 3 2 11 2
    (7) Colin Pratt 10 0 2 3 2 3 10 3
4   (9) Mike Broadbank 9 3 3 0 1 2 9 4
5   (1) George Hunter 9 0 2 3 3 1 9 5
6   (6) Nigel Boocock 9 2 0 2 2 3 9 6
7   (15) Brian Brett 8 0 1 1 3 3 8 7 3
8   (4) Ken McKinlay 8 2 3 0 0 3 8 8 2
9   (16) Eric Boocock 8 3 2 1 1 1 8 9 1
10   (2) Trevor Hedge 8 1 2 3 2 F 8 10 0
11   (5) Ron Mountford 7 1 0 2 2 2 7 11
12   (13) Roy Trigg 7 2 1 1 1 2 7 12
13   (14) Norman Hunter 6 1 3 1 0 1 6 13
14   (10) Jimmy Gooch 5 2 1 2 0 0 5 14
15   (12) Dave Younghusband 2 0 E E 1 1 2 15
16   (11) Peter Moore 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 16
R1   (R1) Martin Ashby 0 0 R1
R2   (R2) Terry Betts 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 edit

Pos. Rider Points
1   Kalevi Lahtinen 14
2   Ole Olsen 13
3   Sverre Harrfeldt 12
4   Paul Wissing 12
5   Matti Olin 12
6   Nils Paulsen 8
7   Jonny Faafeng 8
8   Torbjörn Nygaard 7
9   Per Aulie 7
10   Börge Christiansen 7
11   Jan Holm-Nielsen 4
12   Preben Andreasen 4
13   Heikki Kaprali 4
14   Jörgen Mogensen 3
15   Kurt Bøgh 2
16   Jouko Naskali 1
17   Erik Kastebo 1

Continental Semi-finals edit

Pos. Rider Points
1   Gennady Kurilenko 13
2   Antoni Woryna 11
3   Marian Rose 10
4   Konstanty Pociejkewicz 10
5   Stanislaw Tkocz 10
6   Edmund Migos 10
7   Viktor Trofimov 10
8   Boris Samorodov 9
9   Marian Kaiser 8
10   Vladimir Sokolov 7
11   Jan Mucha 6
12   Peter Leibing 4
13   Antonín Šváb Sr. 4
14   Luboš Tomíček Sr. 3
15   Jan Holub I 3
16   Hans Jürgen Fritz 0
Pos. Rider Points
1   Andrzej Pogorzelski 14
2   Joachim Maj 12
3   Pavel Mares 12
4   Pawel Waloszek 10
5   Andrzej Wyglenda 10
6   Stanislav Kubicek 9
7   Jaroslav Volf 8
8   Igor Plechanov 8
9   Jerzy Trzeszkowski
10   Zbigniew Podlecki
11   Gabdrakhman Kadyrov
12   Farid Szajnurov
13   Bohumír Bartoněk
14   Manfred Poschenreider
15   Vaclav Prusa
16   Vladimir Kornev

Fourth round edit

Swedish Qualifying edit

Pos. Rider Points
1 Per Olof Söderman 15
2 Karl-Erik Andersson 13
3 Olle Nygren 13
4 Bengt Brannefors 10
5 Bo Josefsson 10
6 Gunnar Malmqvist 8
7 Willy Friberg 7
8 Bengt Larsson
9 Bo Magnusson 6
10 Therje Henriksson 6
11 Sune Stark 5
12 Jan Simensen 5
13 Bengt Svensson 5
14 Conny Samuelsson 4
15 Arne Hansson 3
16 Sven Sigurd 1
Pos. Rider Points
1 Leif Enecrona 14
2 Göte Nordin 15
3 Leif Larsson 11
4 Torbjörn Harrysson 10
5 Arne Carlsson 10
6 Björn Knutson 9
7 Bengt Jansson 9
8 Kurt Westlund 8
9 Bernt Persson 7
10 Anders Michanek 7
11 Nils Ringström 5
12 Hasse Holmqvist 4
13 Yngve Nilsson 3
14 Ryno Westergren 3
15 Sture Lindblom 2
16 Per-Åke Gerhardsson 2
17 Leif Söderberg 1
18 Lars Jansson 1

Continental Final edit

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
    (14) Andrzej Pogorzelski 12 3 3 1 2 3 12 1
    (12) Antoni Woryna 11 2 3 2 3 1 11 2
    (13) Konstanty Pociejkewicz 11 2 2 3 2 2 11 3
4   (11) Marian Kaiser 10 0 3 2 3 2 10 4
5   (2) Edmund Migoś 10 3 2 3 0 2 10 5
6   (1) Igor Plechanov 10 2 3 1 1 3 10 6
7   (9) Pawel Waloszek 10 3 1 2 3 1 10 7
8   (7) Stanisław Tkocz 9 3 1 2 0 3 9 8 3
9   (6) Pavel Mares 9 2 1 3 X 3 9 9 2
10   (8) Marian Rose 9 1 2 3 1 2 9 10
11   (3) Viktor Trofimov 5 1 2 0 2 0 5 11
12   (16) Joachim Maj 4 0 1 0 3 0 4 12
13   (10) Andrzej Wyglenda 3 1 F 1 1 0 3 13
14   (4) Stanislav Kubíček 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 14
15   (5) Boris Samorodov 2 0 0 1 0 1 2 15
16   (15) Gennady Kurilenko 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 16
R1   (R1) Jaroslav Volf 0 0 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

British/Commonwealth/Scandinavian Final edit

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
    (14) Barry Briggs 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
    (11) Ivan Mauger 13 3 3 3 3 1 13 2
    (8) Nigel Boocock 12 3 3 2 1 3 12 3
4   (13) Sverre Harrfeldt 10 E 3 2 2 3 10 4
5   (12) George Hunter 10 2 2 3 1 2 10 5
6   (7) Ken McKinlay 10 1 1 3 2 3 10 6
7   (15) Colin Pratt 10 2 2 2 3 1 10 7
8   (5) Mike Broadbank 9 2 1 1 3 2 9 8
9   (6) Brian Brett 6 0 2 1 2 1 6 9
10   (4) Kalevi Lahtinen 6 2 1 1 1 1 6 10
11   (3) Ole Olsen 5 3 F 0 2 0 5 11
12   (2) Torbjörn Nygaard 3 1 1 0 1 0 3 12
13   (16) Nils Paulsen 3 1 0 0 E 2 3 13
14   (9) Jonny Faafeng 2 1 0 1 0 0 2 14
15   (10) Paul Wissing 1 0 0 0 1 E 1 15
16   (1) Börge Christiansen 0 F - - - - 0 16
R1   (R1) Eric Boocock 0 2 2 0 2 0 R1
R2   (R2) Gordon Guasco 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 edit

Swedish Final edit

  • Top 6 to World final
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
31 May Ryavallen, Borås Bengt Brannefors Björn Knutson Karl-Erik Andersson
1 June Ryd Motorstadion, Linköping Björn Knutson Per-Olof Söderman Torbjörn Harrysson
2 June Ullevi, Göteborg Björn Knutson Torbjörn Harrysson Leif Larsson
Pos. Rider Points
1 Björn Knutson 41
2 Torbjörn Harrysson 35
3 Leif Enecrona 33
4 Leif Larsson 33
5 Per Olof Söderman 32
6 Göte Nordin 31
7 Bengt Brannefors 27
8 Olle Nygren 26
9 Gunnar Malmqvist 25
Pos. Rider Points
10 Bernt Persson 18
11 Karl-Erik Andersson 14
12 Bengt Larsson 13
13 Therje Henriksson 7
14 Bo Josefsson 5
15 Bengt Jansson 4
16 Willy Friberg 4
17 Kurt Westlund 4
18 Arne Carlsson 3

European Final edit

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
    (14) Ivan Mauger 14 2 3 3 3 3 14 1
    (16) Barry Briggs 13 3 2 3 3 2 13 2
    (12) Antoni Woryna 11 1 3 3 2 2 11 3
4   (11) Sverre Harrfeldt 10 2 3 1 3 1 10 4
5   (1) Nigel Boocock 10 2 2 2 1 3 10 5
6   (5) Igor Plechanov 10 1 3 2 2 2 10 6
7   (10) Mike Broadbank 9 3 2 2 1 1 9 7
8   (13) Stanisław Tkocz 8 F 1 3 1 3 8 8
9   (15) Andrzej Pogorzelski 8 1 2 1 2 2 8 9
10   (8) Marian Kaiser 7 3 E 2 2 0 7 10
11   (6) Ken McKinlay 6 2 1 0 3 0 6 11
12   (3) Konstanty Pociejkewicz 5 3 F 1 0 1 5 12
13   (2) Edmund Migoś 4 1 0 0 0 3 4 13
14   (7) Brian Brett 3 0 1 1 0 1 3 14
15   (4) George Hunter 2 0 1 0 1 E 2 15
16   (9) Colin Pratt 0 0 0 E 0 0 0 16
R1   (R1) Pawel Waloszek 0 0 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

World Final edit

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
    (16) Barry Briggs 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
    (11) Sverre Harrfeldt 14 3 3 2 3 3 14 2
    (1) Antoni Woryna 13 3 3 1 3 3 13 3
4   (9) Ivan Mauger 11 2 1 3 3 2 11 4
5   (4) Torbjörn Harrysson 10 2 2 2 2 2 10 5
6   (7) Göte Nordin 9 3 2 3 F 1 9 6
7   (14) Leif Enecrona 8 2 1 2 2 1 8 7
8   (13) Igor Plechanov 8 1 2 1 2 2 8 8
9   (2) Stanisław Tkocz 7 1 3 2 1 0 7 9
10   (3) Björn Knutson 5 E 1 1 E 3 5 10
11   (12) Marian Kaiser 5 0 0 3 1 1 5 11
12   (6) Andrzej Pogorzelski 5 2 2 0 1 0 5 12
13   (8) Mike Broadbank 4 1 1 0 0 2 4 13
14   (10) Leif Larsson 3 1 0 0 2 0 3 14
15   (15) Nigel Boocock 2 0 0 1 0 1 2 15
16   (5) Per Olof Söderman 1 0 X 0 1 0 1 16
R1   (R1) Ken McKinlay 0 0 R1
R2   (R2) Bengt Brannefors 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

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 edit

  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. ^ "Miss oakley's title". The Times. 24 September 1966. Retrieved 9 July 2021 – via Gale Primary Sources.
  8. ^ "Swedish season". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  9. ^ "World Championship qualifying". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  10. ^ "1966 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  11. ^ "1966 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  12. ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5