1957 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1957 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 12th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.

The event was sponsored by the Sunday Dispatch and the attendance was 51,000. New Zealander Barry Briggs won the title after a ride off against defending champion Ove Fundin after the pair tied on 14 points after five rides each. In the ride off Fundin took the lead before Briggs forced his way to the front and with a lap to go Fundin lost control and crashed into the safety fence. Briggs duly won the £500 first prize with Fundin bruised but collecting £200. Peter Craven won the bronze and £100 after another ride off for third place.

Qualifying Qualification started in 1956 and featured an extra round.

Stage 1 Norwegian qualification 21 October 1956 Geiteryggen Speedwaybane, Skien Top 8 to Nordic qualification 1957 Pos. Rider Points1 Aage Hansen152 Rolf Westerberg143 Reidar Kristoffersen134 Nils Paulsen125 Erling Simonsen116 Odd Johansen107 Arne Kristiansen98 Roger Steen 99 Gunnar Dyrseth710 Oddbjorn Blaasmo 511 Thorbjorn Nygaard 4 Finnish qualification 7 October 1956 Turku Hippodrome, Turku Top 8 to Nordic qualification 1957 Pos. Rider Points1 Antti Pajari 152 Simo Ylanen 143 Kauko Jousanen 124 Reino Niemi 105 Pekka Tenko 96 Raimo Kivinen 87 Erkki Ala Sippola 88 Timo Laine 89 Paavo Mikkola 710 Kalevi Lahtinen 711 Rauno Aaltonen 612 Heikki Sorii 413 Aulis Tuominen 314 Valle Seliverstov 315 Jorma Rihkajarvi 216 Nils Staaf 217 Orvo Ahlqvist 1

Swedish qualification 10 May 1957 Hammarby IP, Stockholm Top 6 to Nordic qualification Pos. Rider Points1 Per-Olof Söderman 142 Olle Nygren 143 Olle Segerström 114 Göte Nordin 105 Sven Fahlén 106 Lars Pettersson 107 Sune Karlsson 98 Kjell Wårenius 79 Bernt Nilsson 710 Roger Forsberg 711 Evert Andersson512 Alf Jonsson 513 Thorsten Carlsson 514 Roland Krantz 415 Bo Sandin 216 Nils Johansson 017 Per-Åke Lundgren 012 May 1957 Vetlanda Motorstadion, Vetlanda Top 6 to Nordic qualification Pos. Rider Points1 Rune Sörmander 152 Dan Forsberg 113 Bengt Eriksson 114 Bertil Carlsson II105 Olle Andersson IV 96 Per-Tage Svensson 8+37 Bert Lindarw 8+28 Stig Pramberg 8+19 Allan Nilsson 8+010 Thorvald Karlsson 711 Rune Claesson 612 Kaj Forsberg 613 Björn Knutson 514 Gunnar Johansson 315 Göran Norlén 216 Bengt Brannefors 2

Stage 2 Nordic qualification 24 May 1957 Dælenenga idrettspark, Oslo Top 8 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Points1 Olle Nygren 152 Reidar Kristoffersen 113 Sune Karlsson 114 Bertil Carlsson II 105 Olle Segerström 106 Rolf Westerberg 107 Aage Hansen 98 Bengt Eriksson 99 Olle Andersson IV 810 Arne Pander 811 Erik Kastebo512 Erling Simonsen 413 Arne Kristiansen 414 Erik Wincentz 315 Fred Carlsen 116 Svend Nissen 126 May 1957 Kärpänen speedway track, Lahti Top 8 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Points1 Per-Olof Söderman 132 Dan Forsberg 133 Lars Pettersson 124 Rune Sörmander 125 Bert Lindarw 116 Nils Paulsen 117 Aulis Tuominen 88 Kauko Jousanen 89 Roger Steen 610 Raimo Kivinen 611 Sven Fahlén 512 Erkki Ala-Sippola 513 Pertti Mikkola 514 Timo Laine 315 Esko Koponen 216 Kalevi Lahtinen 0

Continental round 26 May 1958 Abensberger Stadion, Abensberg Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Josef Hofmeister 152 Josef Seidl 143 Andrzej Krzesinski 134 Birger Forsberg 105 Josef Kamper 106 Josef Kysilka 107 Joel Jansson 88 Simo Ylänen 79 Tony Kroeze610 Alfred Aberl 611 Jarosłav Wolf 612 Mieczysław Połukard 513 Antti Pajari 414 Leopold Killmeyer 315 Albin Siegl 216 Thei Bishops 126 May 1958 Army Stadium, Warsaw Top 7 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Florian Kapała 142 Rudolf Havelka 13.53 Joachim Maj 124 Marian Kaiser 10.55 Marian Philipp 96 Janusz Suchecki 97 Stanislaw Tkocz 98 Milan Spinka89 Tadeusz Teodorowicz 710 Richard Janicek 711 Edward Kupczyński 712 Valentin Unterköfler 513 Jaroslav Machac 414 Erich Sidlo 215 Hans Sidlo 216 Franz Schenk 0

Stage 3 Nordic Final 7 June 1957 Dælenenga idrettspark, Oslo First 8 to European final Pos. Rider Points1 Aage Hansen 142 Per Olof Söderman 133 Rune Sörmander 124 Dan Forsberg 115 Nils Paulsen 116 Olle Nygren 107 Reidar Kristoffersen 108 Rolf Westerberg 79 Bert Lindarw 710 Arne Pander 711 Lars Pettersson 612 Bengt Eriksson 513 Ole Andersson 314 Sune Karlsson 215 Kauko Jousanen 216 Aulis Tuominen 017 Bertil Carlsson dnr18 Olle Segerström dnrContinental Final 23 June 1957 Stadion Wien, Vienna First 8 to European Final Pos. Rider Points1 Josef Hofmeister 152 Josef Seidl 123 Stanisław Tkocz 114 Birger Forsberg 105 Joel Jansson 106 Josef Kamper 107 Florian Kapała 108 Marian Kaiser 99 Janusz Suchecki 810 Jaroslav Volf 711 Joachim Maj 512 Josef Kysilka 513 Tadeusz Teodorowicz 414 Erich Sidlo 215 Rudolf Havelka 116 Otto Holoubek 017 Marian Philipp 018 Andrzej Krzesiński dnr19 Simo Ylänen dnr

British & Commonwealth qualifying Top 32 qualify for British & Commonwealth semi-final. DateVenueWinner13 July Brandon Stadium Ron Johnston13 July The Firs Stadium Brian Crutcher13 July Rayleigh Weir Stadium Ken McKinlay13 July Abbey Stadium Ian Williams 15 July Wimbledon Stadium Peter Craven16 July Banister Court Stadium Brian Crutcher18 July Foxhall Stadium Cyril Roger18 July Oxford Stadium Jack Geran19 July Leicester Stadium Ken McKinlay

Stage 4 British/Commonwealth semi-final 24 August 1958 Hyde Road, Manchester First 5 to World final Pos. Rider Total1 Peter Craven 132 Ron Johnston 133 Ian Williams 124 Aub Lawson 125 Ron How 116 Brian Crutcher 107 Ken Middleditch 108 Billy Bales 99 Les McGillivray 710 Gerald Jackson 611 Brian Hanham 512 Charlie New 513 Maurice McDermott 314 Arthur Forrest 315 Cyril Maidment 116 Ronnie Genz 117 Eric French 024 August 1958 Brandon Stadium, Coventry First 5 to World final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Total1 Bob Roger 142 Ken McKinlay 143 Barry Briggs 134 George White 125 Jack Geran 116 Jack Biggs 107 Alf Hagon 98 Neil Street 79 Ron Mountford 710 Eric Boothroyd 611 Dick Bradley 512 Phil Clarke 513 Jim Lightfoot 414 Peter Moore 315 Jack Unstead 216 Mike Broadbank 0

European Final 7 July 1957 Växjö Motorstadion, Växjö Ove Fundin seeded to World final First 5 to World final plus 1 reserve

Pos. Rider Total1 Rune Sörmander 142 Per Olof Söderman 133 Josef Hofmeister 124 Olle Nygren 115 Aage Hansen 116 Dan Forsberg 97 Rolf Westerberg 98 Stanisław Tkocz 79 Josef Kamper 610 Florian Kapała 611 Josef Seidl 512 Marian Kaiser 413 Joel Jansson 314 Nils Paulsen 315 Reidar Kristoffersen 216 Birger Forsberg 217 Bert Lindarw 2 Note: Olle Nygren injured and replaced by Dan Forsberg in final

World final 21 September 1957 Wembley Stadium, LondonBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Barry Briggs (3,2,3,3,3)14+32 Ove Fundin (3,3,2,3,3)14+23 Peter Craven (2,1,3,2,3)11+34 Aub Lawson(3,3,1,2,2)11+25 Rune Sörmander (1,3,3,1,3) 11+16 Ron Johnston (3,2,1,1,2) 97 Ken McKinlay (0,0,3,3,2) 88 Bob Roger (2,1,2,2,1) 89 Per Olof Söderman (1,2,0,3,1) 710 Jack Geran (1,3,1,1,1) 711 Ron How (1,2,2,0,2) 712 Aage Hansen (0,0,2,2,0) 413 George White (2,1,0,1,0) 414 Ian Williams (2,0,1,0,0) 315 Dan Forsberg(0,1,0,0,1) 216 Josef Hofmeister(0,0,0,0,0) 0R1 Jack Biggs did not ride-R2 Rolf Westerberg did not ride-

Classification

References