The 1975 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 30th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
Ole Olsen won his second World title in front of 81,000 at Wembley Stadium in London with a 15-point maximum from his five rides. Defending champion Anders Michanek finished second and England's John Louis won the run-off for the bronze medal, defeating four time world champion Ivan Mauger. Some criticism was aimed at the track surface which was described as dusty and dry.
Format changes The format of the Championship changed for the 1975 event. This time the British riders (not including Commonwealth riders for the first time) were allowed four places in the World Final to be held in England. All other nations had to go through the European Final route to provide the remaining 12 riders for the World Final. The European Final qualification route included a new Intercontinental Final which feature riders from the United States for the first time for many years.
First round Swedish qualifying Top 5 in each heat to Swedish final
(1 May, Motorbanen Hagalund Lindesberg)PosRider Points 1 Bernt Persson 14 2 Tommy Jansson 143 Sören Sjösten 124 Eddie Davidsson125 Bo Josefsson 116 Richard Hellsén 107 Bo Wirebrand98 Kjell Bergström 89 Åke Dovhed 610 Sven Nilsson 611 Berndt Johansson 512 Bengt Larsson 413 Sven-Olof Lindh 414 Sune Stark 215 Ragnar Holm 216 Gunnar Ärlevik 1
(1 May, Målilla (Motorbana)Målilla)PosRider Points 1 Jan Simensen 152 Christer Sjösten 133 Bengt Jansson 124 Conny Samuelsson115 Åke Andersson 116 Peter Smith 107 Tommy Nilsson 98 Jan Johansson 89 Sigvard Johansson 710 Lars-Inge Hultberg 711 Karl-Erik Claesson412 Stefan Johansson 313 Billy Syrén 314 Leif Mellberg 215 Sven-Erik Andersson 216 Bo Åstrand 117 Bertil Andersson (res) 1
(1 May, Gamla Galgberget Visby)PosRider Points 1 Tommy Johansson 152 Hasse Holmqvist 143 Sören Karlsson 134 Jan Andersson125 Leif Enecrona 96 Stefan Salmonsson 87 Lars-Åke Andersson 88 Stephan Johansson 89 Dirk van der Voet 810 Gunnar Malmqvist 711 Börje Klingberg 612 Christer Löfqvist 413 Curt Nyqvist 414 Käll Haage 215 Tommy Wedén 216 Eskil Jonsson 017 Rolf Jacobsson (res) 0
Continental qualifying Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd4 May Stadion Wiener Neustadt, Wiener Neustadt Alois Wiesböck Adi Funk Josef Minarik4 May La Favorita, Sarego Otto Barth Giuseppe Marzotto Angeł Eftimov
Second round British/Commonwealth preliminary round Riders progress to British/Commonwealth qualifying round DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 19 AprilKingsmead Stadium, Canterbury Bob Humphreys Les Rumsey Nigel Wasley 22 AprilWessex Stadium, Weymouth Paul Gachet Trevor Geer Ian Cartwright 27 AprilRye House Stadium, Hoddesdon Phil Herne Joe Owen Alan Sage 30 AprilOdsal Stadium, Bradford Terry Kelly Sid Sheldrick Geoff Bouchard
Continental quarter-finals Top 32 to Continental semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 18 May Breitenthal Stadium, Krumbach Jan Hadek Marek Cieślak Valery Gordeev 18 May Matija Gubec Stadium, Krško Henryk Glücklich Josef Minarik Vladimir Nesterov 18 May Trade Union Stadium, Ostrava Jiří Štancl Vladimir Gordeev Paweł Waloszek 18 May Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc Edward Jancarz Isztvan Sziracki Viktor Trofimov
Norwegian Final 14 September 1974 Nærbø, Nærbø Top 2 (+1 seeded) to Nordic final 1975 Pos. Rider Points1 Dag Lövaas 142 Edgar Stangeland 133 Ulf Lövaas 134 Reidar Eide 115 Oyvind S. Berg 11 Finland Final Eteläpuisto, Tampere 25 August 1974, first (+1 seeded riders) to 1975 Nordic final Pos. Rider Total1 Kari Vuoristo 152 Matti Olin 143 Veli Pekka Teromaa 134 Kai Niemi 125 Markku Helminen 106 Ari Hiljanen 97 Pekka Paljakka 98 Seppo Palomäki 79 Seppo Santala 610 Juhani Eronen 511 Esa Mattila 512 Reino Santala 513 Pekka Kortelainen 214 Harry Skofeldt 215 Erkki Etelatahti 116 Pentti Mattila 1
Danish Final Top 3 to Nordic final
Swedish Final 21 May 1975 Norrköping Motorstadion, Norrköping First 8 to Nordic Final
Third round Continental semi-finals 29 May Olching Speedwaybahn, Olching Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Valerij Gordeev 152 Edward Jancarz 123 Zenon Plech 124 Michail Starostin 105 Manfred Poschenreider 106 Viktor Trofimov 107 Boguslaw Nowak 98 Marek Cieslak 99 Andrzej Jurczynski 810 Henny Kroeze 811 Vladimir Rozanchuk 512 Jan Hadek 413 Jan Klokocka 414 Georgij Markatanov 215 Istvan Sziraczki 216 Andrzej Wyglenda 017 Janos Szöke (res) 031 May Markéta Stadium, Prague Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Piotr Bruzda 122 Jan Verner 113 Vladimir Gordeev 114 Paweł Waloszek 105 Henryk Glücklich 106 Viktor Kalmykov 107 Nikolaj Kornev 108 Jiří Štancl 9+39 Franciszek Stach 9+210 Vladimir Nesterov 811 Georgij Ivanov 512 Petr Kucera 513 Václav Verner 414 Andrzej Tkocz 415 Josef Minarik 116 Jerzy Szczakiel 1
British/Commonwealth qualifying round Top 5 Commonwealth riders to Intercontinental final, top 32 British riders to British semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 16 MaySomerton Park, Newport Bob Kilby Tom Owen John Boulger 16 MayMmonmore Green, Wolverhampton Ivan Mauger Arthur Price Chris Morton 17 MayThe Shay, Halifax Chris Pusey Dave Morton Charlie Monk 19 MayCounty Ground Stadium, Exeter Ivan Mauger Steve Reinke Martin Ashby 19 MaySmallmead Stadium, Reading Terry Betts Bob Humphreys Bobby Beaton 20 MayLeicester Stadium, Leicester Ray Wilson Billy Sanders Bob Valentine 21 MayWimborne Road, Poole Malcolm Simmons Paul Tyrer Neil Street 21 MayThe Boulevard, Hull Bruce Cribb Jim McMillan John Boulger 24 MayKing's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn Ray Bales Mick Hines Terry Betts 24 MayBrandon Stadium, Coventry Nigel Boocock George Hunter Malcolm Simmons 29 MayOwlerton Stadium, Sheffield Ray Wilson Chris Morton Carl Glover 29 MayOxford Stadium, Oxford Phil Herne Dave Jessup Richard Greer 29 MayFoxhall Stadium, Ipswich John Louis Billy Sanders Jim McMillan 30 MayWimbledon Stadium. London Peter Collins Colin Gooddy Eric Broadbelt 30 MayHackney Wick Stadium, London Dave Morton Ray Wilson Billy Sanders 31 MayAbbey Stadium, Swindon Ivan Mauger Martin Ashby Barry Thomas 31 MayDudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Arthur Price George Hunter John Boulger 31 MayHyde Road, Manchester Alan Wilkinson Chris Morton Peter Collins
Nordic Final 1 June 1975 Geiteryggen Speedwaybane, Skien First 9 to Intercontinental Final Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Ole Olsen 3,2,3,3,3142 Tommy Jansson 2,3,2,3,3 133 Dag Lovaas 3,0,3,3,3 12+34 Bernt Persson 2,3,2,3,2 12+25 Reidar Eide 3,3,1,2,1 106 Tommy Johansson 2,1,3,1,3 107 Hasse Holmqvist 1,2,2,1,2 88 Anders Michanek F,1,3,2,2 89 Bengt Jansson 0,3,0,2,2 710 Edgar Stangeland 0,2,1,2,1 611 Ila Teromaa 2,2,1,0,F 512 Finn Thomsen 3,F,0,0,1 413 Sören Sjösten 1,1,1,1,E 414 Sören Karlsson 1,0,2,0,0 315 Kari Vuoristo 0,0,0,1,0 116 Bent Nørregaard-Jensen F,-,-,-,-0R1 Tormod Langli 1,0 1R2 Helge Langli 1,0,1 2
Fourth round British semi-finals 24 June Leicester Stadium, Leicester Top 8 to British final
Pos. Rider Points1 Martin Ashby 152 Malcolm Simmons143 Bob Kilby 114 Jim McMillan105 Gordon Kennett106 John Louis107 Doug Wyer98 Chris Morton89 Bobby Beaton610 Frank Auffret511 George Hunter 512 Mike Lanham513 Eric Broadbelt314 Arthur Price215 Colin Gooddy216 Roger Johns 124 June Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Ray Wilson152 Dave Jessup133 Peter Collins114 Dave Morton115 Alan Wilkinson106 Tony Davey97 Carl Glover88 Chris Pusey89 Nigel Boocock810 Terry Betts511 Kevin Holden 412 Alan Grahame413 Ray Bales414 Tom Owen415 Trevor Hedge316 Paul Tyrer2
Intercontinental Final 3 June 1975 Ullevi, Gothenburg First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve
Continental Final 22 June 1975 Leningrad Speedway Stadium, Leningrad First 8 to European Final
Fifth round British Final 30 July 1975 Brandon Stadium, Coventry First 4 to World Final plus 1 reserve
European Final 24 August 1975 Polonia Bydgoszcz Stadium, Bydgoszcz First 12 to World Final plus 1 reserve
World Final 6 September 1975 Wembley Stadium, London.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. Referee: () Torrie Kittelsen
References