The 1949 Individual Speedway World Championship was the fourth edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
It was the first running of the event since its suspension in 1939, due to World War II. The World final at London's Wembley Stadium, was held in front of a reported 93,000 strong crowd and the Championship was won Tommy Price.
First qualifying round The top 96 riders qualify for the second qualifying round, where they will be joined by seeded division 2 riders.
DateVenueWinner 16 May County Ground Stadium Jack Mountford 18 May The Shay Vic Emms 18 May The Pilot Field Paddy Mills 18 May Tamworth Greyhound Stadium Basse Hveem 19 May Pennycross Stadium Bruce Semmens 19 May Owlerton Stadium Andy Menzies 20 May Leicester Stadium Charlie May 21 May Sun Street Stadium Stan Williams 21 May Hedon Stadium Billy Hole 21 May Rayleigh Weir Stadium Alan Hunt / Will Lowther
Second qualifying round The top 42 riders qualify for the Third qualifying round. DateVenueWinner 10 June Dudley Wood Stadium Gil Craven 11 June Brandon Stadium Ken Le Breton11 June Old Meadowbank Jack Young11 June The Firs Stadium Bob Leverenz13 June Knowle Stadium Fred Tuck13 June Walthamstow Stadium Jim Boyd
Third qualifying round The top 2 riders from each meeting qualify for the Championship round, where they will meet 32 seeded division 1 riders. DateVenueWinner/2nd4 July Brough Park Stadium Tommy Price / Ray Duggan5 July Ashfield Stadium Ken Le Breton / Freddie Williams5 July Banister Court Stadium Fred Tuck / Roy Craighead6 July Highbury Stadium (Fleetwood) Charles Cullum / Ken Sharples6 July White City Stadium, Glasgow Geoff Bennett / Gil Craven
Championship round The top 16 riders qualify for the world final. DateVenueWinner8 August Wimbledon Stadium Aub Lawson10 August New Cross Stadium Cyril Roger22 August Perry Barr Stadium Graham Warren25 August Wembley Stadium Wilbur Lamoreaux27 August Hyde Road Stadium Dent Oliver27 August Odsal Stadium Tommy Price30 August West Ham Stadium Cliff Watson2 September Harringay Stadium Dent Oliver
Scores Top 16 qualify for World final, 17th & 18th reserves for World final Pos. Rider Total pts1 Tommy Price 382 Graham Warren 383 Dent Oliver 374 Aub Lawson 375 Bill Gilbert 366 Wilbur Lamoreaux 357 Lloyd Goffe 348 Jack Parker 349 Bill Kitchen 3310 Cyril Roger 3111 Louis Lawson 3012 Bill Longley 3013 Norman Parker 3014 Ken Le Breton 2915 Cliff Watson 2916 Ron Clarke 2717 Oliver Hart 2718 Alec Statham 2519 Cyril Brine 25Pos. Rider Total pts20 Malcolm Craven 2521 Geoff Pymar 2322 Doug McLachlan 2323 Geoff Bennett 2024 Jeff Lloyd 1825 Mike Erskine 1826 Ray Duggan 1727 Charles Cullum 1728 Eric Chitty 1529 Split Waterman 1530 George Wilks 1531 Eddie Rigg 1432 Ken Sharples 1433 Roy Craighead 1334 Nobby Stock 1335 Gil Craven 1236 Jack Biggs 1137 Bob Harrison 938 Stan Dell 2
World final 22 September 1949 Wembley Stadium, London
Pos. Rider Points Heats1 Tommy Price 15 (3,3,3,3,3)2 Jack Parker 14 (3,3,3,2,3)3 Louis Lawson 13 (2,2,3,3,3)4 Norman Parker 10 (3,3,2,2,0)5 Wilbur Lamoreaux 9 (2,2,3,0,2)6 Bill Kitchen 9 (3,1,2,2,1)7 Ron Clarke 8 (1,0,2,3,2)8 Aub Lawson 8 (1,3,1,1,2)9 Bill Longley 8 (1,2,2,1,2)10 Cyril Roger 7 (2,0,1,1,3)11 Bill Gilbert 6 (2,1,3,0,0)12 Graham Warren 5 (0,2,0,2,1)13 Ken Le Breton 4 (1,0,1,1,1)14 Lloyd Goffe 2 (0,1,0,0,1)15 Cliff Watson 1 (0,1,0,0,0)16 Dent Oliver 0 (0,0,-,-,-) Oliver Hart (res) 1 (1,0,0) Alec Statham (res) – –
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