1977 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1977 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 32nd edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.

History was made in the 1977 final when Ivan Mauger of New Zealand equalled Ove Fundin's title record of five World Championship wins. Mauger had gone close to equalling the record before and finally achieved it in Sweden, the home of Fundin. In a decisive 18th heat re-run Mauger won from his nearest challenger Ole Olsen (the latter riding on his spare bike saw his title hopes end). In the original start Olsen was leading Mauger when he was forced to lay his bike down to avoid hitting John Boulger and damaged his jawa bike. Defending champion Peter Collins won his last ride to claim the silver medal despite riding with a broken left leg, but Olsen won the bronze medal run-off against young English rider Michael Lee.

Qualifying results.

First round British Preliminary round Riders progress to British quarter-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 21 AprilOxford Stadium, Oxford Paul Tyrer Geoff Bouchard Martin Yeates 30 AprilLoomer Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme Robbie Gardner John Jackson Carl Glover 1 MayRye House Stadium, Hoddesdon Karl Fiala Les Collins Mike Lanham 5 MaySomerton Park, Newport Steve Weatherley Barney Kennett Steve Lomas

New Zealand qualification DateVenueWinner2nd3rd North Island Final 12 JanuaryWestern Springs Stadium, Auckland John Goodall Mike Fullerton Jack Millen South Island Final 3 JanuaryRuapuna Speedway, Templeton Roger Wright Larry Ross Paul Fewings

Second round New Zealand semi-final DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 20 JanuaryRuapuna Speedway, Templeton Ivan Mauger Larry Ross Barry Briggs

Australian qualification DateVenueWinner2nd3rd New South Wales Round 27 November Sydney Showground, Sydney Ricky Day Billy Sanders Mitch Shirra Queensland qualification 28 NovemberCarina Speedway, Bundaberg John Titman Neil Coddington Owen Hall Victorian qualification 8 JanuaryNorthern Park Raceway, Melbourne Phil Crump Danny Kennedy Rob Jones Southern qualification 17 JanuaryRowley Park, Adelaide John Boulger Tony Boyle Bob Maxfield 28 JanuaryRowley Park, Adelaide Phil Crump John Boulger Tony Boyle New South Wales qualification 11 FebruaryJerilderie Park, Tomago Phil Crump Phil Herne Billy Sanders West Australian qualification 21 FebruaryClaremont Speedway, Perth Glyn Taylor Neil Webb Les Leisk Northern Zone Final 23 FebruaryExhibition Ground, Brisbane Neil Coddington Steve Koppe Mike Farrell

Continental Preliminary round Riders progress to Continental semi-finals.

Josef Angermüller was killed during the first preliminary round at the San Savino Speedway Park after falling and colliding with a concrete post. DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 24 April San Savino, Civitanova Marche Paolo Noro Jan Hadek Jiří Štancl 25 April Breitwangbahn, Bopfingen Georg Hack Jiri Jirout Hans Ziegl

British quarter-finals Top 32 progress to British semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 14 MayThe Shay, Halifax Chris Pusey Doug Wyer John Louis 16 MayDudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Gordon Kennett George Hunter Bob Kilby 18 MayKing's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn Michael Lee Paul Tyrer Chris Morton 20 MayHackney Wick Stadium, London Malcolm Simmons Martin Yeates Dave Jessup

Third round British semi-finals 27 June Birchfield Ladbroke Stadium, Birmingham Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Terry Betts132 Michael Lee113 Alan Wilkinson10+34 Martin Ashby10+25 Neil Middleditch10+16 Barry Thomas97 Gordon Kennett98 David Gagen99 Bobby Beaton810 Trevor Geer811 Chris Pusey812 Ray Wilson713 Bobby McNeil414 Graham Drury315 Steve Finch116 Paul Tyrer 029 June Wimborne Road, Poole Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Dave Jessup152 Doug Wyer143 Malcolm Simmons134 John Davis125 Bob Kilby106 Keith White97 Chris Morton98 John Louis89 Martin Yeates710 Ian Turner611 Reg Wilson512 Jim McMillan413 Dave Gooderham414 Bernie Leigh315 George Hunter116 John Jackson0

New Zealand Final 12 February 1977 Western Springs Stadium, Auckland First 8 to Australasian final Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Larry Ross 3,2,3,3,3142 Ivan Mauger X,3,3,3,3123 Robin Adlington 2,3,2,2,3124 Barry Briggs 1,1,3,3,3115 John Goodall 3,3,1,3,1116 Roger Wright 1,3,2,2,2107 Colin Farquharson 2,2,3,2,1108 Mike Fullerton 3,1,2,1,299 Colin Tucker 3,0,1,2,2810 Paul Fewings 2,1,0,1,1 511 Max Brown 1,0,2,0,1 412 Allan Brown 0,2,1,1,F 413 James Moore 0,F,X,1,2 314 Malcolm Chambers 2,F,0,-,- 215 Bruce Spargo 0,1,0,0,0 116 John Bargh 0,-,0,0,00R1 Merv Hodgson 1,1,0 2R2 Bruce Mitchell 2,0 2

Australian Final 25 February 1977 Jerilderie Park Speedway, Tomago First 8 to Australasian final Pos. Rider Total1 Phil Crump 152 Phil Herne 133 Billy Sanders 134 John Boulger 115 Mike Farrell 106 John Titman 97 Ricky Day 98 Mitch Shirra 89 Stuart Mountford 710 Danny Kennedy 711 Tony Boyle 712 Paul O'Neil 413 Robin Amundson 314 Mick McKeon 215 John Williams 216 Robert Maxfield 0

Finland Final 29 August '76 Turku Hippodrome, Turku 4 selected for Nordic Final Pos. Rider Total1 Ilkka Teromaa 132 Veli Pekka Teromaa 12+33 Markku Helminen 12+24 Kai Niemi 115 Rauli Mäkinen 116 Seppo Palomäki 117 Esko Mylläri 108 Ari Koponen 9 Esa Mattila 710 Pekka Hautamäki 511 Ismo Kivelä 512 Pentti Mattila 513Olli Turkia 414 Keijo Mylläri 315 Veli Pekka Kunelius 216 Veikko Haapamäki 017 Veijo Tuoriniemi (res) 0

Norwegian Final 17 April 1977 Sandnes Stadion, Sandnes First 5 to Nordic Final Pos. Rider Total1 Tormod Langli 152 Rolf Gramstad 123 Stein R.Pedersen 124 Jan Gravningen 115 Edgar Stangeland 116 Tom Godal 7 Ingve Madland 8 Trond Helge Skretting 9 Geir Aasland

Danish Final 19 May 1977 Speedway Center, Fredericia First 5 to Nordic Final (Ole Olsen seeded to Nordic final) Pos. Rider Total1 Finn Thomsen 132 Erling Rasmussen 12+33 Bo Petersen 12+24 Gunnar Svendsen 115 Finn Rune Jensen 9+36 Bent Nørregaard-Jensen 9+27 Bent Rasmussen 88 Frank Mastrup 89 Kaj Kristiansen 710 Knud Ellegaard 711 Jens Erik Krause Kjaer 712 Kurt Bøgh 613 Frank Hansen 514 Jorgen Walther Johansen 515 Otto Larsen 116 Preben Rosenkilde 0

Continental quarter-finals Top 32 to Continental semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 1 May Hansa Stadium, Bremen Edward Jancarz Marek Cieślak Egon Muller 8 May Stadion Wiener Neustadt Jiří Štancl Siegfried Eder Jerzy Szczakiel 7 May Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný Sergey Dyuzhev Zenon Plech Jerzy Rembas 8 May Hajdú Volán Stadion, Debrecen Walter Grubmuller Sergey Uchov Václav Verner

Fourth Round Swedish qualification Top 5 in each heat to Swedish final

(6 May, Avestavallen, Avesta)PosRider Points 1 Sören Karlsson 152 Jan Andersson 143 Jan Simensen 134 Karl-Erik Claesson 115 Eddie Davidsson 106 Lars-Åke Andersson 97 Lars Hedlund 98 Roger Björkman 89 Lars Ericsson 810 Jan Holmqvist 511 Åke Dovhed] 12 Leif Johansson 413 Björn Persson 314 Harald Sandberg (res)315 Bo Wirebrand 216 Bernt Johansson 017 Tommy Karlsson 0 0

(7 May, Motala Arena, Motala)PosRider Points 1 Hasse Holmqvist 142 Richard Hellsén133 Christer Sjösten 124 Bengt Jansson 125 Börje Klingberg 116 Conny Samuelsson 97 Olle Nygren 88 Stephan Johansson 79 Therje Henriksson 610 Kenneth Selmosson 611 Fredrik Lindqvist 512 Dirk van der Voet 513 Bo Jansson 414 Jan Davidsson 415 Göran Waltersson 316 Per-Olov Dovhjort 1

(8 May, Ljungheden, Västervik)PosRider Points 1 Bernt Persson 142 Sören Sjösten 143 Tommy Johansson 134 Tommy Nilsson 135 Åke Fridell 9+36 Stefan Salmonsson 9+27 Willy Karlsson 88 Sven Nilsson 89 Tomas Pettersson 710 Bengt Larsson 711 Karl-Fredrik Lindgren 612 Börje Ohlsson 413 Kjell Bergström 314 Nils Eriksson (res) 215 Roy Dantanus 216 Stefan Hjort 117 Per-Åke Gerhardsson (res)018 Göran Hedberg 0

American Final 29 July 1977 Costa Mesa Speedway, Los Angeles First 2 to Intercontinental final Pos. Rider Total1 Mike Bast 142 Bruce Penhall 13+33 Scott Autrey 13+2 4 Steve Bast 115 Rick Woods 106 Alan Christian 97 Mike Curoso 98 Dennis Sigalos 89 Steve Gresham 810 Duane Yarrow 711 Larry Shaw 612 Rich McMurray 513 Dennis Robinson 514 Ron McGill 115 Dave Faria 1

Nordic Final 29 May 1977 Eteläpuisto, Tampere First 4 to Intercontinental final Pos. Rider Total1 Ole Olsen 152 Ila Teromaa 143 Finn Thomsen 124 Kai Niemi 125 Bo Petersen 106 Tom Godal 107 Finn Jensen 98 Tormod Langli 89 Gunnar Svendsen 710 Markku Helminen 511 Erling Rasmussen 512 Trond Helge Skretting 413 Esa Mattila (Res) 314 Rauli Mäkinen (Res) 215 Geir Aasland 116 Pentti Mattila (Res) 117 Ingve Madland 018 Ari Koponen 019 Stein R Pedersen 0

Australasian Final 19 February 1977 Sydney Showground Speedway, Sydney First 4 to Intercontinental final

British Final 13 July 1977 Brandon Stadium, Coventry First 5 plus Peter Collins (seeded) to Intercontinental final.

Continental semi-finals 29 May Stadion żużlowy, Gorzów Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Jerzy Rembas 13+32 Boguslaw Nowak 13+23 Jan Mucha 11+34 Václav Verner 11+25 Jan Verner 11+16 Alexander Juchov 11+07 Vladimir Rozhanchuck 88 Grigory Khlinovsky 89 Andrzej Jurczynski 710 Zenon Plech 611 Istvan Sziraczki 512 Mieczyslaw Wozniak 513 Ryszard Fabiszewski (res) 514 Laszlo Meszaros 315 Sergej Djuchev 116 Jindrich Dominik 117 Pavel Khlynovski 029 May Motodrom Halbemond, Norden Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Marek Cieslak 152 Egon Müller 133 Edward Jancarz 134 Jiří Štancl 135 Gregorij Ivanov 106 Angel Eftimov 97 Henny Kroeze 98 Jan Hadek 99 Hubert Fischbacher 610 Zdzislaw Dobrucki 511 Nikolaj Kornev 512 Siegfried Eder 413 Frits Koning 314 Henryk Glücklich 315 Alexander Rachimov 216 Andrzej Tkocz 2

Fifth round Swedish Final First 4 over three meetings to World final plus 1 reserve R1 (24 May, Vetlanda Motorstadion, Vetlanda) R2 (25 May, Norrköping Motorstadion, Norrköping) R3 (26 May, Snälltorpet, Eskilstuna) Pos. Rider R1 R2 R3 Total1 Anders Michanek 151514 442 Bengt Jansson 131114 383 Bernt Persson 12146 324 Tommy Nilsson 10812 305 Sören Karlsson 81110 296 Jan Andersson 6912 277 Richard Hellsén 1197 278 Christer Sjösten 969 249 Sören Sjösten 687 2110 Tommy Johansson 775 1911 Hasse Holmqvist 753 1512 Jan Simensen 366 1513 Åke Fridell 464 1414 Karl-Erik Claesson 436 1315 Börje Klingberg 403 716 Eddie Davidsson 122 517 Lars-Åke Andersson 0-- 018 Conny Samuelsson -0- 0

Continental Final 25 July 1977 Anatoly Stepanov Stadium, Tolyatti First 5 to World Final plus 1 reserve

Intercontinental Final 21 August 1977 White City Stadium, London First 7 to World Final

World Final 2 September 1977 Ullevi, GothenburgBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. Referee: () Torrie Kittelsen

References