The 1968 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 23rd edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
Ivan Mauger won his first World title. Fellow countryman Barry Briggs finished second and Pole Edward Jancarz took the bronze medal.
Format changes The format of the Championship changed again for the 1968 event. It reverted to the 1966 system whereby six riders from the Swedish section would qualify for the World Final direct to be held in Sweden. All other nations had to go through various events to establish the other ten riders to qualify for the final.
First round Qualification results.
British/Commonwealth qualifying Top 32 to British/Commonwealth semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 25 MayKing's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn Malcolm Simmons Terry Betts Ray Wilson 25 MayThe Shay, Halifax Jim Airey Dave Younghusband Greg Kentwell 25 MayBrandon Stadium, Coventry Nigel Boocock Norman Hunter Dave Hemus 25 MayHyde Road, Manchester Ivan Mauger Tommy Roper Charlie Monk 27 MayBrough Park, Newcastle Ivan Mauger Barry Briggs Bert Harkins 27 MayCounty Ground Stadium, Exeter Martin Ashby Jimmy Squibb Eric Boocock 28 MayWest Ham Stadium, London Norman Hunter Nigel Boocock Ivan Mauger 28 MayLeicester Stadium, Leicester Bill Andrew Bob Kilby John Boulger 29 MayWimborne Road, Poole John Boulger Bill Andrew Geoff Mudge 30 MayOxford Stadium, Oxford Colin Gooddy Terry Betts Ronnie Genz 30 MayWimbledon Stadium, London Martin Ashby Nigel Boocock Trevor Hedge 30 MayOwlerton Stadium, Sheffield Charlie Monk Colin Pratt John Dews 31 MayMonmore Green, Wolverhampton James Bond Jim Airey Peter Vandenberg 31 MayHackney Wick Stadium, London Barry Briggs Colin Pratt Les McGillivray 31 MaySomerton Park, Newport Cyril Francis Chris Julian Eric Boothroyd 31 MayWhite City, Glasgow Bob Kilby Bert Harkins Jim McMillan 1 JuneDudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Bill Andrew Trevor Hedge Reg Luckhurst 1 JuneAbeey Stadium, Swindon Barry Briggs Bob Kilby Mike Broadbanks 1 JuneCliftonhill, Coatbridge Martin Ashby Ray Wilson Colin Pratt
Continental qualifying Top 32 to Continantal semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 4 May Meissen Speedway Stadium, Meissen Boris Samorodov Jan Holub I Antoni Woryna 5 May Stadion Automoto Drustvo Svetozarevo Gennady Kurilenko Joachim Maj Yuri Chekranov 5 May Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc Konstanty Pociejkewicz Henryk Glucklich Viktor Trofimov 5 May Abensberger Stadion, Abensberg Jan Mucha Igor Plekhanov Luboš Tomíček Sr.
Second round Norwegian qualifying (top 8) 1 October 1967 (elimination format) Sandnes Idrettspark, Sandnes Top 8 to Nordic final 1968 Pos. Rider time/note1 Reidar Eide 1.21.12 Oyvind S. Berg1.22.63 Odd Fossengen1.24.04 Sverre Harrfeldt1.24.05 Einar Egedius sf 1.24.56 Sven Svensrudsf 1.28.27 Ulf Lovaas sf fell8 Thorbjorn Nygaard sf fell Finnish qualifying (top 8) (2 rounds) ? & 30 Aug 1967 Eteläpuisto, Tampere & Kärpänen Speedway, Lahti Top 3 to Nordic final 1968 Pos. Rider Points Total1 Matti Olin 6+814+32 Kalevi Lahtinen 8+614+2 3 Veikko Metsahuone 4+374 Jouko Naskali 0+445 Reijo Tolviander 3+146 Reima Lohkovouri 0+227 Olavi Turunen 2+028 Timo Sinkkonen 1+01
British/Commonwealth semi-finals 27 June Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield Top 8 to British final
Pos. Rider Points1 Barry Briggs 142 Bill Andrew 133 Norman Hunter 134 Nigel Boocock115 Mike Broadbank106 Peter Vandenberg107 Dave Younghusband98 Jim McMillan9 Jim Airey710 Colin Pratt611 Bob Andrews 612 Tommy Roper513 Arnie Haley314 Chris Julian315 Jimmy Squibb216 Bert Harkins 12 July Wimborne Road, Poole Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Ivan Mauger142 Martin Ashby143 Terry Betts124 Charlie Monk105 Ray Wilson106 Eric Boocock97 Trevor Hedge98 Geoff Mudge99 Reg Luckhurst810 James Bond711 Colin Gooddy 712 John Boulger313 Wayne Briggs314 Greg Kentwell315 Eric Boothroyd116 Bob Kilby1
Third round British/Commonwealth Final 11 July 1968 Wimbledon Stadium, London First 10 to British-Nordic Final plus 1 reserve
Nordic Final 2 June 1968 Selskov Stadium, Hillerød First 6 to British-Nordic Final, plus 1 reserve
Continental semi-finals 26 May Mšeno Speedway Stadium, Mšeno Top 8 to Continental final
Pos. Rider Points1 Luboš Tomíček Sr. 152 Konstanty Pociejkewicz 123 Jerzy Trzeszkowski 114 Pawel Waloszek 115 Igor Plechanov 116 Jan Mucha 107 Vladimir Smirnov 108 Jan Pytko 99 Miloslav Verner 710 Gabdrachman Kadyrov 611 Henryk Glücklich 512 Boris Zechanovitsch 513 Miroslav Šmíd 214 Antonín Kasper Sr. 215 Hans Jürgen Fritz (res)216 Barnabas Gyepes 117 Jaroslav Volf (res)118 Viktor Trofimov 026 May Rybnik Municipal Stadium, Rybnik Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Antoni Woryna 132 Joachim Maj 133 Andrzej Wyglenda 124 Boris Samorodov 105 Gennadij Kurilenko 106 Jerzy Padewski 97 Jan Holub I 88 Edward Jancarz 89 Gerhard Uhlenbrock 810 Jurij Chekranov 611 Jochen Dinse 512 Farid Szajnurov 513 Jürgen Hehlert 414 Antonín Šváb Sr. 415 Stanislaw Tkocz 316 Frantisek Ledecky 1
Fourth round Swedish Qualifying 28 April, Gamla Motorstadion, Målilla Top 8 to Swedish final Pos. Rider Points1 Ove Fundin 142 Bengt Jansson 133 Anders Michanek 114 Gunnar Malmqvist 115 Per-Olof Söderman 106 Bernt Persson 97 Tommy Johansson 98 Bengt Svensson 99 Conny Samuelsson 810 Leif Larsson 611 Sven-Inge Svensson 612 Sören Enander 613 Allan Dahlöf 414 Runo Wedin 315 Jan Holmqvist 316 Bo Magnusson 1 May, Gamla Speedway Track, Visby Top 8 to Swedish final Pos. Rider Points1 Sören Sjösten 142 Torbjörn Harrysson 143 Olle Nygren 124 Göte Nordin 125 Bengt Larsson 106 Christer Löfqvist 97 Bo Josefsson 98 Therje Henriksson 99 Hasse Holmqvist 610 Sven Sigurd411 Jan Svensson 412 Lars Jansson 413 Karl-Erik Andersson 314 Bengt Brannefors 315 Åke Andersson 316 Sixten Karlberg 217 Jan Stridh 2
British/Commonwealth/Nordic Final 6 August 1968 West Ham Stadium, London First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve
Continental Final 21 June 1968 Stroitel Stadium, Ufa First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve
Fifth round Swedish Final Top 6 to World final, 1 reserve DateVenueWinner2nd3rd27 May Malmö Stadion, Malmö Gunnar Malmqvist Anders Michanek Hasse Holmqvist 28 May Ullevi, Gothenburg Bernt Persson Gunnar Malmqvist Torbjörn Harrysson 30 May Ryd Motorstadion, Linköping Ove Fundin Bengt Jansson Gunnar Malmqvist Pos. Rider Points1 Gunnar Malmqvist382 Ove Fundin353 Torbjörn Harrysson314 Bernt Persson305 Anders Michanek 296 Hasse Holmqvist287 Bengt Jansson278 Bengt Larsson259 Sören Sjösten23Pos. Rider Points10 Therje Henriksson2211 Bo Josefsson1512 Bengt Svensson 1513 Christer Löfqvist1414 Olle Nygren1015 Tommy Johansson916 Per Olof Söderman817 Conny Samuelsson218 Runo Wedin1
European Final 25 August 1968 Olympic Stadium, Wrocław First 10 to World Final plus 1 reserve
World Final 6 September 1968 Ullevi, GothenburgBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.
References