1960 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1960 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 15th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.

The final was held on 17 September, in front of a 70,000 crowd at Wembley Stadium. In an extremely competitive final three riders tied for first place on 14 points before Ove Fundin won the ride off to claim his second world title. In the ride off Fundin defeated defending champion Ronnie Moore and former champion Peter Craven. Craven had earlier set a track record of 68.8 seconds in his first race.

First Round Qualification results.

Norwegian qualifying 25 June 1959 Geiteryggen Speedwaybane, Skien Top 7 to Nordic qualification 1960 Pos. Rider Points1 Aage Hansen 152 Rolf Westerberg143 Thorbjorn Nygaard124 Reidar Kristoffersen105 Roger Steen106 Oddvar Kristiansen97 Arne Kristiansen98 Oystein Mellerud89 Tore Melbye 610 Roger Hansen 511 Sverre Harrfeldt512 Egil H. Kruke413 Gunnar Skjetne414 Egil Bratvold 215 Per Aulie 216 Svein Johnsen2 Finnish qualifying 27 July 1959 Eteläpuisto, Tampere First 2 (+seeded riders) to Nordic qualification 1960 Pos. Rider Points1 Pertti Mikkola 152 Kalevi Lahtinen 133 Olavi Turunen 134 Timo Laine 95 Raimo Orastie 96 Aulis Lehtonen 97 Antti Mattila 88 Esko Koponen 79 Yrjo Vuori 710 Antero Salasto 711 Pertti Petersohn 612 Valle Seliverstov 513 Martti Assinen 414 Heikki Sorri 315 Nils Staaf 316 Martti Koivuoja 2

Swedish qualifying 1 May 1960 Gamla Speedway Track, Visby Top 8 to Nordic qualification Pos. Rider Points1 Rune Sörmander 142 Olle Nygren 123 Alf Jonsson 114 Curt Eldh 115 Sören Sjösten 106 Åke Andersson 107 Evert Andersson 108 Björn Knutson 99 Joel Jansson 910 Bert Lindarw 511 Bengt Brannefors 512 Inge Gustafsson 413 Thorvald Karlsson 414 Olle Andersson 415 Per-Tage Svensson 116 Per-Åke Lundgren 117 Bengt Fransson 018 Jan Ekeroth 05 May 1960 Hammarby IP, Stockholm Top 7 to Nordic qualification Pos. Rider Points1 Göran Norlén 152 Göte Nordin 133 Bertil Strid 114 Curt Nyqvist 105 Kjell Wårenius 106 Bernt Nilsson 107 Hans Hallberg 98 Bengt Eriksson 79 Birger Forsberg 710 Agnar Stenlund 611 Kjell Lutteman 612 Leif Larsson 413 Olle Segerström 414 Göran Carlsson 415 Thore Kindstrand 316 Per-Åke Lundgren 117 Åke Östblom 018 Jan Ekeroth 0

Continental quarter-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 22 May Kajzerica, Zagreb Florian Kapała Jan Malinowski Joachim Maj 22 May Pavlovičky Stadion, Liberec František Richter Stefan Kepa Stanislav Svoboda 22 May Alfred Smoczyk Stadium, Leszno Bernard Kacperak Konstanty Pociejkewicz Pawel Waloszek 30 May ASKÖ-X-Platz, Vienna Josef Bössner Henryk Żyto Antonín Kasper Sr.

Second round British & Commonwealth qualifying Top 64 riders to British second round DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 2 JuneOwlerton Stadium Dennis Newton Eric Hockaday Tink Maynard 4 JuneSun Street Stadium Reg Fearman Reg Luckhurst Alan Smith 4 June Old Meadowbank Guy Allott Gil Goldfinch Tony Robinson 6 JuneStanley Stadium Peter Vandenberg Ken Adams Nick Nicholls 10 JuneRayleigh Weir Stadium Reg Reeves Alan Smith Stan Stevens 10 JuneKnowle Stadium Ernie Baker Johnny Hole Maury Mattingley 11 JuneDudley Wood Stadium Maury Mattingley Reg Reeves Gil Goldfinch 11 JuneOdsal Stadium Charlie Barsby Danny Dunton Ken Adams 15 JuneWimborne Road Dennis Newton Ron Taylor Alan Kidd

Nordic Qualification 26 May 1960 Selskov Stadium, Hillerød Top 8 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Points1 Alf Jonsson 142 Björn Knutson 123 Aage Hansen 134 Rune Sörmander 115 Sverre Harrfeldt 106 Joel Jansson 97 Arne Pander 98 Evert Andersson 99 Erik Kastebo 710 Nils Paulsen 611 Kurt W. Petersen612 Arne Kristiansen413 Åke Andersson 314 Hans Peter Boisen 315 Odvar Kristiansen 116 Öystein Mellerud 017 Curt Eldh dns26 May 1960 Helsinki Velodrome, Helsinki Top 8 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Points1 Olle Nygren `32 Göte Nordin 123 Curt Nyqvist 124 Kjell Wårenius 105 Bernt Nilsson 106 Bertil Strid 7 Rolf Westerberg 98 Göran Norlén 99 Hans Hallberg 710 Antti Pajari 611 Kalevi Lahtinen 612 Thorbjörn Nygaar 513 Timo Laine 514 Aluis Tuominen 415 Valle Seliverstov 216 Pertti Mikkola 0

Continental semi-final 26 June 1960 Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Stanislav Svoboda 142 Jaroslav Volf 123 Frantisek Richter 114 Mieczyslaw Polukard 115 Pawel Waloszek 106 Bedrich Slany 97 Marian Kaiser 98 Stefan Rurarz 99 Bronislaw Rogal 810 Kazimierz Bentke 711 Bohumil Rendek 612 Konstanty Pociejkewicz 513 Bernard Kasperak 514 Bohumír Bartoněk 215 Stefan Kępa 216 Edmund Migoś 226 June BBM Stadium, Munich Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Josef Hofmeister 152 Jan Malinowski 133 Florian Kapala 134 Luboš Tomíček Sr. 125 Stefan Kwoczala 106 Henryk Zyto 97 Joachim Maj 98 Josef Seidl 99 Antonín Kasper Sr. 710 Marian Philipp 611 Josef Bössner 512 Józef Wieczorek413 Karel Prusa314 Alois Frach 315 Zdenek Rott 216 Fred Aberl 117 Edward Luther 0

Third round Ove Fundin – seeded to European Final British & Commonwealth Second round To 32 to British & Commonwealth semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd2 July Hyde Road Peter Craven Dick Fisher Ronnie Genz2 July Abbey StadiumChum Taylor Ray Cresp Mike Broadbank4 July Wimbledon Stadium Ron How Jack Young Alf Hagon5 July Banister Court Stadium Neil Street Jack Biggs Bryan Elliott6 July New Cross Stadium Barry Briggs Neil Street Ron Johnston7 July Foxhall Stadium Peter Craven Nigel Boocock Jim Lightfoot7 July Oxford Stadium Mike Broadbank Ronnie Genz Les McGillivray8 July Leicester Stadium Barry Briggs Ken McKinlay Jack Geran9 July Brandon Stadium Ken McKinlay Jack Young Les Owen9 July The Firs Stadium Ron How Billy Bales Aub Lawson

Nordic Final 16 June 1960 Dælenenga idrettspark, Oslo First 7 to European Final plus 1 reserve

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Olle Nygren 14+32 Göte Nordin 14+23 Aage Hansen 134 Rune Sörmander 125 Curt Nyqvist 106 Björn Knutson 107 Göran Norlén 98 Alf Jonsson 99 Arne Pander 610 Sverre Harrfeldt 511 Kjell Warenius 512 Evert Andersson 413 Bernt Nilsson 314 Hans Hallberg 215 Rolf Westerberg 216 Joel Jansson 2R1 Bertil Strid 0

Continental Final 3 July 1960 Stadion Wien, Vienna First 8 to European Final

Fourth round Ronnie Moore – seeded to World Final

British & Commonwealth semi finals Top 9 riders based on points accumulated over two rides would progress to world final DateVenueWinner2nd3rd8 August Wimbledon Stadium Peter Craven Barry Briggs Eric Williams13 August Brandon Stadium Ron How Peter Moore Aub Lawson13 August The Firs Stadium Peter Craven Ken McKinlay Bob Andrews16 August Banister Court Stadium Ken McKinlay Jack Young] Ron How Pos. Rider Points1 Peter Craven 302 Ron How 283 Ken McKinlay 284 Barry Briggs 245 Peter Moore 246 Jack Young 247 Ron Johnston 238 Eric Williams 239 Aub Lawson 2310 Bryan Elliott 2211 Chum Taylor 2012 Bob Andrews 1913 Jack Biggs 1714 Tadeusz Teodorowicz 1515 Mike Broadbank 1516 Nigel Boocock 15Pos. Rider Points17 Les McGillivray 1418 Split Waterman 1319 George White 1320 Ian Williams 1221 Jack Unstead 1122 Les Owen 1023 Ray Cresp 824 Billy Bales 825 Alf Hagon 726 Jack Geran 727 Neil Street 728 Ronnie Genz 529 Gerry Jackson 530 Dick Fisher 431 Ron Mountford 432 Gordon McGregor 3

European Final 14 August 1960 Olympic Stadium, Wrocław First 6 to World Final plus 1 reserve

World Final 17 September 1960 Wembley Stadium, London,Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.

See also motorcycle speedway 1960 Speedway World Team Cup

References