1969 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1969 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 24th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.

The final was sponsored by the Sunday Mirror and held at Wembley. Ivan Mauger retained his title and won £1,000 in prize money. Barry Briggs finished second again after beating Sören Sjösten in a run-off for silver.

Format changes The format of the Championship changed again for the 1969 event. This time the Swedish riders were pooled with the Continental and European sections that would provide 10 riders for the World Final, while the British and Commonwealth riders would supply 6 riders for the World Final to be held at Wembley Stadium in London.

First round Qualification results.

Norwegian qualifying 13 October 1968 Kongsberg Idrettsparken, Kongsberg Top 4 (+2 seeded) to Nordic qualification 1969 Pos. Rider Points1 Reidar Eide152 Oyvind S. Berg143 Per Aulie 134 Ulf Lovaas105 Einar Egedius96 Odd Fossengen 97 Helge Langli 98 Jan Terje Gravningen89 Thorbjorn Nygaard 810 Svein Kaasa611 Edgar Stangeland612 Sverre Holm 313 Kjell P. Skaeveland314 Per H. Hansen 215 Kare Heia 216 Thorbjorn Olsen2 Finnish qualifying (top 8) (2 rounds) 2 Aug & 21 Sep 1968 Eteläpuisto, Tampere & Kärpänen Speedway, Lahti Top 3 (+seeded riders) to Nordic qualification 1969 Pos. Rider Points Total1 Matti Olin 8+8162 Reima Lohkovuori 6+4103 Jouko Naskali 0+664 Esko Koponen 4+26 5 Jorma Taipale 3+036 Kauko Reima 0+337 Juhani Lappi 2+138 Olavi Tutunen 1+01

Swedish qualification Top 8 in each heat to Nordic qualification

25 April, Ullevi, GothenburgPosRider Points 1 Ove Fundin 152 Bengt Brannefors 143 Bengt Larsson 134 Bo Josefsson 125 Conny Samuelsson 106 Hans Hallberg 107 Benny Lundström 98 Sune Stark 79 Nils Ringström 710 Börje Melin 611 Inge Gustafsson 612 Willy Friberg 513 Ryno Westergren 314 Olle Åhnström 215 Reine Södergren 116 Sören Backlund 0

27 April, Vetlanda MotorstadionPosRider Points 1 Bengt Jansson 152 Gunnar Malmqvist 143 Bengt Svensson 124 Sven-Inge Svensson 115 Runo Wedin 116 Tommy Johansson 97 Bo Magnusson 88 Jan Simensen99 Åke Andersson 610 Sonny Widergren 611 Birger Aniander 512 Sixten Carlberg 413 Jan Strid 414 Lennart Michanek 315 Arne Hansson 316 Lars Jennefors 1

28 April, Ryavallen, BoråsPosRider Points 1 Bernt Persson 142 Göte Nordin 133 Per-Olof Söderman 134 Sören Sjösten 105 Håkan Karlsson 96 Olle Nygren 87 Börje Olsson 88 Bengt Andersson 89 Sigvard Johansson 810 Per Sjöholm 711 Allan Dahlöf 712 Stig Pettersson 413 Hans Johansson 414 Yngve Nilsson 315 Käll Haage 316 Lennart Karlsson 1

29 April, Avestavallen, AvestaPosRider Points 1 Leif Enecrona 122 Hasse Holmqvist 113 Anders Michanek 114 Leif Larsson 85 Sven Sigurd 86 Christer Löfqvist 87 Per-Åke Gerhardsson 68 Therje Henriksson 69 Tommy Bergqvist 510 Lars Jansson 511 Egon Stengarn 412 Rolf Karlsson 313 Lars Eriksson 214 Hans Utterström 215 Curt Nyqvist 116 Jan Holmqvist 0

Continental qualifying Top 32 to Continental semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 11 May Speedway Stadion, Ruhpolding Antoni Woryna Edward Jancarz Manfred Poschenreider 11 May Matija Gubec Stadium, Krško Jerzy Trzeszkowski Zdislaw Dobrucki Gennady Kurilenko 11 May Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc Vladimir Smirnov Zbigniew Podlecki Paweł Waloszek 11 May Paul Greifzu Stadium, Stralsund Viktor Trofimov Zygmunt Pytko Jürgen Hehlert

British/Commonwealth qualifying Top 32 to British/Commonwealth semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 17 MayThe Shay, Halifax Eric Boocock Charlie Monk Reg Luckhurst 17 MayCliftonhill, Coatbridge Jim McMillan Bert Harkins Trevor Hedge 19 MayBrough Park, Newcastle Eric Boocock Ray Wilson Dave Gifford 19 MayCounty Ground Stadium, Exeter Barry Briggs Martin Ashby Tony Clarke 20 MayLeicester Stadium, Leicester Martin Ashby Howard Cole John Boulger 20 MayWest Ham Stadium, London Norman Hunter Stan Stevens Ken McKinlay 21 MayWimborne Road, Poole Geoff Mudge Ivan Mauger Pete Smith 22 MayOxford Stadium, Oxford Eddie Reeves Pete Smith Mike Broadbanks 22 MayWimbledon, London Ronny Moore Tony Clarke Ivan Mauger 22 MayOwlerton Stadium, Sheffield Arnold Haley Jim Airey Nigel Boocock 23 MaySomerton Park, Newport Sándor Lévai Frank Shuter Reg Luckhurst 23 MayHampden Park, Glasgow Charlie Monk Barry Briggs Jim McMillan 23 MayHackney Wick Stadium, London Colin Pratt Garry Middleton Pete Smith 23 MayMonmore Green, Wolverhampton Nigel Boocock James Bond Norman Hunter 24 MayHyde Road, Manchester Ivan Mauger Ray Wilson Chris Pusey 24 MayBrandon Stadium, Coventry Nigel Boocock Norman Hunter Coll Cottrell 1 JuneKing's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn Terry Betts Malcolm Simmons Martin Ashby 9 JuneDudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Roy Trigg Bob Andrews James Bond 11 JuneAbbey Stadium, Swindon Barry Briggs Jim Airey Clive Hitch

Second round Nordic qualification

1 May, Gamla Speedway TrackVisbyPosRider Points 1 Sören Sjösten 132 Bernt Persson 133 Hasse Holmqvist 134 Bengt Larsson125 Gunnar Malmqvist 126 Runo Wedin 107 Öyvind S. Berg 108 Therje Henriksson 89 Christer Löfqvist 810 Börje Olsson 511 Conny Samuelsson 412 Bent Nörregaard-Jensen 413 Torbjörn Karlsson 414 Svein Kaasa 215 Jan Höijvind 116 Reima Lohkovuori 0

1 May, Kumla MotorstadionKumlaPosRider Points 1 Bengt Jansson 132 Per-Olof Söderman 133 Jan Simensen 134 Nils Ringström 125 Reidar Eide 116 Anders Michanek 117 Bengt Andersson 88 Sven Sigurd 89 Kurt Bögh 710 Hans Hallberg 611 Ulf Lövaas 512 Sven-Inge Svensson 413 Bengt Brannefors 314 Esko Koponen 215 Godtfred Andreasen 216 Helge Langli 1

1 May, Gislaved MotorbanaGislavedPosRider Points 1 Ove Fundin 152 Göte Nordin 143 Ole Olsen 134 Bo Josefsson 125 Odd Fossengen 116 Bengt Svensson 107 Benny Lundström 88 Tommy Johansson 89 Sigvard Johansson 610 Sune Stark 611 Per-Åke Gerhardsson 412 Jens Ring 413 Matti Olin 314 Per Aulie 215 Håkan Karlsson 116 Leif Enecrona 0

Continental semi-finals 7 June Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný Top 8 to Continental final

Pos. Rider Points1 Antoni Woryna 132 Zbigniew Podlecki 113 Andrzej Wyglenda 114 Jan Mucha 105 Edward Jancarz 106 Stanislaw Tkocz 97 Pawel Waloszek 98 Jan Holub I 99 Manfred Poschenreider 810 Vladimir Smirnov 711 Miloslav Verner 712 František Ledecký 713 Hans Jürgen Fritz 314 Janos Szöke 315 Vjatjeslav Baturin 216 Antonín Kasper Sr. 18 June Polonia Bydgoszcz Stadium, Bydgoszcz Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Jerzy Trzeszkowski 142 Henryk Glucklich 133 Andrzej Pogorzelski 114 Valerij Klementiev 115 Gennadij Kurilenko 96 Zygmunt Pytko 97 Zbigniew Dobrucki 98 Karel Průša 99 Gerhard Uhlenbrock 710 Václav Verner 611 Boris Tschechanvitsch 612 Jaroslav Volf 513 Viktor Trofimov 514 Jiří Štancl 415 Peter Liebing 216 Drago Perko 0

British semi-finals 24 June Leicester Stadium, Leicester Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Barry Briggs 142 Charlie Monk 113 Reg Luckhurst 114 Jim McMillan105 Trevor Hedge106 Garry Middleton97 Howard Cole88 Norman Hunter89 Ronnie Moore710 Arnie Haley711 James Bond 712 Clive Hitch613 Cyril Maidment514 Jim Airey415 Bert Harkins216 Colin Gooddy126 June Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Ivan Mauger 142 Ray Wilson 143 Tommy Roper 124 Nigel Boocock 115 Roy Trigg116 Eric Boocock117 Ken McKinlay78 Colin Pratt79 Martin Ashby610 Geoff Mudge611 Bruce Cribb 612 Terry Betts513 Tony Clarke514 Pete Smith315 John Boulger116 Bob Andrews 1

Third round Nordic Final 4 June 1969 Linköping Motorstadion Ryd, Linköping First 8 to European Final

Continental Final 27 June 1969 Stroitel Stadion, Ufa First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve

Fourth round British/Commonwealth Final 5 August 1969 West Ham Stadium, London First 6 to World Final plus 1 reserve

European Final 24 August 1969 Olching Speedwaybahn, Olching First 10 to World Final plus 1 reserve

World Final 13 September 1969 Wembley Stadium, LondonBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.

References