The 1936 Individual Speedway World Championship was the first ever Speedway World Championship and was won by Lionel Van Praag of Australia. The forerunner to the World Championship was generally regarded to be the Star Riders' Championship. The final was held at London's Wembley Stadium in front of 74,000. It was the first of a record 26 times that Wembley would host the World Final with the last being in 1981.
Summary The World Championship would consist of qualifying heats and then a Championship round, where points would be carried forward to the final to determine the winner. One of the favourites Jack Parker had a broken hand injury and was unable to compete in the final. Joe Abbott was also unable to line up for the final due to injury, despite qualifying for the final. They were replaced by Arthur Atkinson and Bill Pitcher.
Despite being unbeaten in the Final, Australian Bluey Wilkinson only finished third as the Championship was decided by bonus points accumulated in previous rounds plus the score from the final. Van Praag defeated England's Eric Langton in a runoff to be declared the inaugural Speedway World Champion.
As they lined up at the tapes for the runoff, Langton broke them which would ordinarily lead to disqualification. However, Van Praag stated he did not want to win the title by default and insisted that a race should take place. At the restart Langton made it to the first bend in front and led until the final bend on the last lap when Van Praag darted through the smallest of gaps to win by less than wheel length.Chaplin, John (1990) Speedway Special, , p. 109–114
Afterwards, controversial allegations were abound that the two riders had 'fixed' the match race, deciding between them that the first person to the first bend would win the race and the Championship and split the prize money; Langton led into the first bend but was overtaken by Van Praag. Van Praag reportedly paid Langton £50 "conscience money" after the race for going back on the agreement.
In the Championship round the top 16 riders over 7 rounds would qualify for the World final. Ron Johnson and Bill Pitcher qualified as first reserves.
Qualifying round Top 28 riders qualify for Championship round DateVenueWinner 26 May West Ham Stadium Jack Parker 30 May Hyde Road Bluey Wilkinson 6 June Harringay Stadium Frank Charles 19 June Hackney Wick Stadium Arthur Atkinson & Jack Ormston 20 June Wimbledon Stadium Fred Tate 25 June Wembley Stadium Ron Johnson 1 July New Cross Stadium Joe Abbott
Championship round The top 16 riders over the 7 qualifying rounds and 7 championship rounds would qualify for the World final. DateVenueWinner 11 July Harringay Stadium Jack Parker 14 July West Ham Stadium Eric Langton 23 July Wembley Stadium Lionel Van Praag 29 July New Cross Stadium George Newton 8 August Hyde Road Eric Langton 10 August Wimbledon Stadium Lionel Van Praag 14 August Hackney Wick Stadium Frank Charles
Qualifying points (top 16 qualify, 2 reserves)
Pos. Rider Qual Points c/f1 Eric Langton 66 132 Frank Charles 59123 George Newton 59124 Jack Parker59125 Lionel Van Praag 58126 Morian Hansen 48107 Bob Harrison48108 Vic Huxley 48109 Bluey Wilkinson 481010 Dicky Case 47911 Jack Ormston 47912 Jack Milne 45913 Cordy Milne 43914 Ginger Lees 37715 Wal Phillips 37716 Joe Abbott 367
Pos. Rider Qual Points c/f17 Ron Johnson 34718 Bill Pitcher 32619 Arthur Atkinson 31 620 Bill Kitchen (res) 29n/a21 Norman Parker 28622 Baltzer Hansen 2723 Eric Chitty 2424 Bill Clibbett 2425 Broncho Dixon 2226 Wally Kilmister 2227 Mick Murphy2128 Wally Lloyd (res) 1729 Gus Kuhn 1530 Rol Stobbart 1631 Gordon Byers (res) 9
World final 10 September 1936 Wembley Stadium, London
Pos. Rider c/f Final Points Final Heats Total Points1 Lionel Van Praag 12 14 (3,3,3,2,3) 26+32 Eric Langton 13 13 (3,3,3,2,2) 26+23 Bluey Wilkinson 10 15 (3,3,3,3,3) 254 Cordy Milne 9 11 (2,2,1,3,3) 205 Frank Charles 12 8 (3,3,0,2,0) 206 Dicky Case 9 8 (2,0,3,1,2) 177 Jack Ormston 9 8 (1,1,2,3,1) 178 Vic Huxley 10 7 (1,2,0,2,2) 179 George Newton 12 4 (0,0,3,1,0) 1610 Jack Milne 9 6 (1,2,1,0,2) 1511 Morian Hansen 10 5 (2,1,2,0,0) 1512 Bob Harrison 10 5 (0,0,2,0,3) 1513 Wal Phillips 7 5 (1,1,0,2,1) 1214 Jack Parker 12 - -1215 Ginger Lees 7 4 (2,0,1,0,1) 1116 Arthur Atkinson 6 3 (0,2,1,0,0) 917 Bill Pitcher6 2 (0,1,X/-,0,1) 818 Norman Parker (res) 6 1 (1) 719 Joe Abbott 7--7
Podium Lionel Van Praag Eric Langton Bluey Wilkinson
References