The 1938 Individual Speedway World Championship was the third edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
The Championship was won by the 28 year-old Australian Arthur 'Bluey' Wilkinson, in front of a new record crowd for speedway of 95,000. The newspapers reported that despite extra police one of the worst traffic jams of the year resulted after the meeting was over and that the air was thick with petrol fumes.
Qualifying round The top 28 riders over the 13 qualifying rounds would qualify for the Championship round. DateVenueWinner 11 May Perry Barry Stadium Tiger Hart 18 May Banister Court Stadium Frank Goulden 24 May White City Nottingham Tiger Hart 26 May Owlerton Stadium Billy Lamont & Tommy Allott 4 June The Firs Stadium Wal Morton 7 June Brough Park Stadium Doug Wells11 June Hackney Wick Stadium Doug Wells21 June West Ham Stadium Bluey Wilkinson23 June Knowle Stadium Cordy Milne9 July Harringay Stadium Tommy Croombs16 July Hyde Road Jack Milne18 July Wimbledon Stadium Wilbur Lamoreaux20 July New Cross Stadium Jack Milne
Championship round DateVenueWinner 30 July Hyde Road Wilbur Lamoreaux 5 August Knowle Stadium Cordy Milne 8 August Wimbledon Stadium Geoff Pymar 17 August New Cross Stadium Bluey Wilkinson 18 August Wembley Stadium Jack Milne & Wilbur Lamoreaux 20 August Harringay Stadium Lionel Van Praag 23 August West Ham Stadium Bluey Wilkinson & Jack Milne
Points The top 16 riders and 1 reserve, over the 7 Championship rounds would qualify for the World final.
Pos. Rider Qual Points c/f1 Bluey Wilkinson 53 82 Wilbur Lamoreaux 52 73 Cordy Milne 50 74 Jack Milne 49 75 Lionel Van Praag 49 76 Bill Kitchen 40 67 Eric Langton 37 58 Alec Statham 37 59 Benny Kaufman 36 510 Geoff Pymar 35 511 Arthur Atkinson 34 512 George Newton 34 513 Jack Parker 31 414 Tommy Croombs 29 415 Frank Varey 29416 Tommy Price 27 4
Pos. Rider Qual Points c/f17 Jack Ormston 26 418 Vic Duggan 25 19 Ron Johnson 2520 Jimmie Gibb 2421 Les Wotton 1722 Wally Lloyd 1623 Eric Gregory 1624 Morian Hansen 1325 Clem Mitchell 1226 George Wilks 1227 Bert Spencer 728 Charlie Spinks 4
World final 1 September 1938 Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 95,000 (all-time Wembley speedway attendance record)
Pos. Rider c/f Final Points Final Heats Total Points1 Bluey Wilkinson 8 14 (3,3,3,3,2) 222 Jack Milne 7 14 (3,3,2,3,3) 213 Wilbur Lamoreaux 7 13 (3,1,3,3,3) 204 Lionel Van Praag 7 11 (3,2,2,1,3) 185 Bill Kitchen 6 9 2,2,1,2,2) 156 Cordy Milne 7 8 (1,3,3,0,1) 157 Alec Statham 5 8 (2,3,0,0,3) 138 Eric Langton 5 8 (1,2,2,3,0) 139 Benny Kaufman 5 7 (2,1,0,2,2) 1210 Jack Parker 4 6 (2,2,2,0,0) 1011 Arthur Atkinson 5 5 (1,0,2,1,1) 1012 Jack Ormston (res) 4 5 (3,2) 913 Tommy Price 4 4 (1,0,1,2,0) 814 Tommy Croombs 4 4 (0,1,1,1,1) 815 George Newton 5 2 (0,1,0,1,0) 716 Geoff Pymar 5 2 (0,0,1,0,1) 717 Frank Varey 4 0 (0,0,0,-,-) 4
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