1976 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1976 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 31st edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.

England's Peter Collins became the first British World Speedway Champion since Peter Craven had won in 1962. Fellow Englishman Malcolm Simmons finished second with Australia's Phil Crump finishing third. 1976 was the first time since 1952 that no rider from either New Zealand or Sweden finished on the podium in the World Final.1976 Individual Speedway World Championship

Qualifying results.

First round British Preliminary round Riders progress to British qualifying round DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 3 AprilShielfield Park, Berwick Taffy Owen Tom Owen Graham Jones 10 AprilKingsmead Stadium, Canterbury Reg Luckhurst Ted Hubbard Graham Banks 11 AprilMildenhall Stadium, Mildenhall Kevin Jolly Andy Cusworth Laurie Etheridge 13 AprilWessex Stadium, Weymouth Tony Featherstone Bob Coles Barney Kennett

British qualifying round Riders progress to British quarter finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 22 AprilOwlerton Stadium, Sheffield Trevor Geer Alan Grahame Paul Tyrer 23 AprilMonmore Green, Wolverhampton Alan Molyneux Brian Havelock Bob Coles 24 April Abbey Stadium, Swindon Dave Perks Steve Bastable Tom Owen 24 April Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Bobby McNeil Mick Hines Mick Bell

Second round Swedish qualification Top 5 in each heat to Swedish final

(6 May, Kumla Motorstadion Kumla)PosRider Points 1 Bernt Persson 152 Tommy Nilsson 133 Sören Sjösten 124 Bo Jansson 125 Bengt Jansson 116 Jan Simensen 107 Gunnar Malmqvist 88 Leif Enecrona 89 Börje Klingberg 610 Bernt Johansson 411 Bo Andersson 412 Peter Smith 413 Sven-Inge Svensson 414 Therje Henriksson 315 Kjell Bergström 216 Benny Ekberg 217 Eskil Jonsson 118 Harald Sandberg 0

(9 May, Målilla (Motorbana)Målilla )PosRider Points 1 Lars Jansson 152 Bo Wirebrand 133 Per-Åke Gerhardsson 124 Tommy Johansson 115 Sven Nilsson 106 Richard Hellsén 97 Karl-Erik Claesson 88 Eddie Davidsson 79 Lars Larsson 710 Bo Josefsson 611 Willy Karlsson 412 Tomas Pettersson 413 Jan Andersson 314 Stefan Salmonsson 315 Sigvard Johansson 316 Lars-Inge Hultberg 317 Peter Carlsson218 Sune Stark 0

(9 May, Motorbanen HagalundLindesberg)PosRider Points 1 Tommy Jansson 152 Hasse Holmqvist 133 Christer Sjösten 124 Sören Karlsson 115 Lars-Åke Andersson 10+36 Per-Olof Dovhjort 10+27 Claes-Ingvar Svensson 88 Kenneth Selmosson 89 Bengt Larsson 710 Lars-Olof Karlsson 611 Bertil Andersson 512 Leif Johansson 513 Ragnar Holm 514 Leif Mellberg 215 Stephan Johansson 116 Åke Dovhed 117 Kari Vuoristo 118 Curt Nyqvist 0

New Zealand qualification Top 16 to New Zealand final DateVenueWinner2nd3rd South Island Final 6 December, '75Oreti Park Speedway, Invercargill Larry Ross Graeme Stapleton Denis Sincock North Island Final 10 JanuaryShowgrounds, Palmerston North Colin Farquharson Colin Tucker Roy Trigg

Australian qualification DateVenueWinner2nd3rd New South Wales Round 22 November '75Liverpool Speedway, Green Valley Billy Sanders Phil Herne Mitch Shirra 28 November '75Jerilderie Park Speedway, Tomago Phil Herne Terry Southerland Mitch Shirra 29 November '75Sydney Showground, Sydney Mitch Shirra Phil Herne Billy Sanders Queensland Qualification 6 December '75Brisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane Mike Farrell Ron Henderson Darryl McLean Southern Territory Qualification 9 JanuaryRowley Park Speedway, Adelaide John Boulger Ray Snider Robin Amundson Victoria Qualification 17 JanuaryNorthern Park Raceway, Melbourne Danny Kennedy Rob Jones John Dewhurst Northern District 23 JanuaryRowley Park Speedway, Adelaide Phil Crump John Boulger Kym Amundson 31 JanuarySydney Showground, Sydney Billy Sanders Mike Farrell John Langfield 7 FebruaryBrisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane Mike Farrell John Titman Garry Middleton

British quarter-finals Top 32 to British semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 3 MayBirchfield Ladbroke Stadium, Birmingham Peter Collins Chris Pusey Alan Molyneux 5 MayWimborne Road, Poole Dave Jessup Dave Morton Arthur Price 8 MayHyde Road, Manchester Alan Grahame John Davis Michael Lee 8 MayKing's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn Malcolm Simmons Chris Morton Doug Wyer

Continental Preliminary round Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 25 April La Favorita, Sarego Hans Wassermann Evzen Erban Karel Vobornik 25 April Stadion Wiener Neustadt Georg Gilgenreiner Alois Wiesböck Hubert Fischbaher

Third round American qualifying 3 June Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, San Jose Top 16 to American Final

New Zealand Final 14 February, Ruapuna Speedway, Templeton Top 8 to Australasian final Pos. Rider Total1 Ivan Mauger 14+32 Barry Briggs 14+23 Larry Ross 11+34 Roy Trigg 11+25 Graeme Stapleton 106 Paul Fewings 107 Colin Tucker 108 Colin Farquharson 79 Dennis Sincock 610 Robin Adlington 611 Merv Salt 512 Paul Church 413 Kevin Burt 314 Paul Wells 315 Graeme Stewart316 Bruce Mitchell217 Mike Fullerton1

Australian Final 13 February 1976, Rowley Park Speedway, Adelaide Top 8 to Australasian Final Pos. Rider Total1 Phil Crump 152 John Langfield 133 Phil Herne 124 John Boulger 125 Mitch Shirra 106 John Titman 97 Ticky Day 98 Billy Sanders 89 Mick McKeon 810 Mike Farrell 611 Robin Amundson 512 Robert Maxfield 413 Ron Henderson 314 Rod Chessell 315 Ray Snider 216 Dene Davies 117 Paul Scanlon 0

Swedish Final The final was initially started on 20 May at Gubbängens IP but had to be abandoned following the fatal crash of Tommy Jansson.

25 May 1976 Linköping Motorstadion, Linköping Top 8 to Nordic final

Danish Final 25 April 1976 Speedway Center, Vojens Top 2 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Total1 Finn Thomsen 152 Kurt Bøgh 12+33 Jan Henningsen 12+24 Leif Rasmusen 12+15 Finn Rune Jensen 116 Gunnar Svendsen 107 Bent Nørregaard-Jensen 108 Mike Lohmann 89 Kristian Præstbro 810 Jens Erik Krause Kjaer 411 Knud Ellegaard 412 Ernst Bøgh 413 Erling Rasmussen 314 Godtfred Andreasen 315 Jorgen Walther Johansen 216 Kaj Kristensen 2

Finland Final Top 1 to Nordic final 17 Sep '75, Kärpänen speedway, Lahti Pos. Rider Total1 Ilkka Teromaa 152 Kai Niemi 133 Olli Turkia 124 Kari Vuoristo 115 Rauli Mäkinen 116 Teuvo Sirenius 87 Pekka Paljakka 78 Esko Mylläri 79 Esa Mattila 710 Ismo Kivelä (res) 711 Pentti Mattila 612 Veli Pekka Teromaa 513 Matti Vayrynen 414 Seppo Palomäki 315 Kari Lindevall 216 Heikki Ahonen017 Esa Jamsalainen (res)0

Norwegian Final 25 April 1976 Geiteryggen Speedwaybane, Skien First 3 to Nordic Final Pos. Rider Total1 Reidar Eide 152 Dag Lovaas 143 Edgard Stangeland 134 Audun Ove Olsen 115 Øyvind S. Berg 116 Jan Terje Gravningen 107 Kjell Gimre 98 Helge Langli 99 Tormod Langli 610 Tom Godal 511 Ingve Madland 412 Stein Pedersen 413 Askild Malmin 314 Jorn Flatha 215 Sigvard Pedersen 216 Per Hetland 1

British semi-finals 18 May Leicester Stadium, Leicester Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Malcolm Simmons 142 Bob Kilby133 John Louis 134 Dave Jessup125 John Davis116 Reg Wilson97 Chris Morton98 George Hunter89 Gordon Kennett710 Tom Owen611 Arthur Price 512 Richard Greer513 Tony Davey414 Alan Molyneux315 Paul Tyrer116 Kevin Holden 019 May White City, London Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Peter Collins152 Jim McMillan143 Doug Wyer124 Mike Lanham115 Dave Morton106 Ray Wilson107 Terry Betts98 Chris Pusey99 Michael Lee810 Steve Weatherley711 Frank Auffret 512 Arthur Browning413 Dave Perks314 Carl Glover215 Geoff Pusey116 Steve Lomas0

Continental quarter-finals Top 32 to Continental semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 15 May Trade Union Stadium, Ostrava Mikhail Starostin Vladimir Gordeev Viktor Trofimov 15 May Mladost Stadium, Prelog Giuseppe Marzotto Viktor Kuznetsov Angel Eftimov 16 May Rottalstadion, Pocking Egon Müller Christoph Betzl Valery Gordeev 16 May Hajdú Volán Stadion, Debrecen Vaclav Hejl Paolo Noro Václav Verner

Fourth round Continental semi-finals 30 May Breitenthal Speedway Stadium, Krumbach Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Egon Müller 152 Valerij Gordeev 113 Christoph Betzl 114 Jiří Štancl 115 Hans Wassermann 116 Jan Klokocka 107 Grigory Khlinovsky 98 Vladimir Smirnov 99 Josef Minarik 810 Viktor Selivanov 611 Václav Verner 612 Vaclav Hejl 513 Petr Ondrašík 514 Evzen Erban 115 Franz Lang 116 Paulo Noro 117 Peter Lempenauer (res)030 May Stadion Wybrzeże, Gdańsk Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Viktor Kuznetsov 132 Giuseppe Marzotto 133 Vladimir Gordeev 114 Viktor Trofimov 115 Nikolaj Kornev 106 Michail Starostin 107 Jan Hadek 98 Georgij Ivanov 99 Sergej Djuchev 810 Hubert Fischbacher 611 Josef Angermüller 412 Emil Sova 413 Vladimir Paznikov 414 Petr Kucera 315 Jan Verner 316 Angel Eftimov 1

Australasian Final 21 February 1976 Western Springs Stadium, Auckland Top 4 to Intercontinental final Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 John Boulger 3,3,2,3,3142 Billy Sanders 2,3,3,3,2133 Phil Crump 3,3,3,X,3 124 Ivan Mauger 3,2,X,3,3 11+35 Phil Herne 3,2,1,2,3 11+26 Mitch Shirra 2,3,2,3,1 11+17 Barry Briggs X,1,3,2,2 88 John Titman X,2,2,2,2 89 Ricky Day 1,1,3,0,1 610 Colin Tucker 2,2,1,0,0 511 Colin Farqhuarson 1,E,1,2,1 512 John Langfield X,1,2,1,0 413 Larry Ross 2,1,0,1,E 414 Graeme Stapleton 0,0,E,1,2 315 Roy Trigg 1,0,0,0,1 216 Paul Fewlings 0,0,1,0,01R1 Dennis Sincock 1R2 Robin Adlington 1

American Final 4 June Cal-Expo Rodeo Arena, Sacramento Winner to Intercontinental Final, Autrey won a three rider race-off Pos. Rider Total1 Scott Autrey ?+32 William Mike Curoco ?+23 Steve Gresham ?+1

British Final 2 June 1976 Brandon Stadium, Coventry First 5 to Intercontinental Final

Nordic Final 2 June 1976 Norrköping Motorstadion, Norrköping Top 6 to Intercontinental final

Fifth round Intercontinental Final 26 June 1976 Wembley Stadium, London First 8 to World Final

Continental Final 20 June 1976 Leningrad Speedway Stadium, Leningrad

World Final 5 September 1976 Silesian Stadium, Chorzów Top 8 to World final & 1 reserve

References