1955 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1955 Individual Speedway World Championship was the tenth edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.

In a very competitive World final Peter Craven of England finished one point ahead of three other riders who had to ride off for the silver medal. The defending champion Ronnie Moore won the ride off to claim silver from fellow countryman Barry Briggs and Welshman Eric Williams who both crashed leaving Moore an easy victory, Briggs took third place from Williams who missed out on a medal.

Qualification Qualification started on 29 April.

Stage 1 Norwegian round 26 September 1954 Briskebyen Utstillingsplassen, Hamar Top 3 (+2 seeded) to Nordic round 1955 Pos. Rider Points1 Reidar Kristoffersen 152 Rolf Westerberg 143 Nils Paulsen 134 Sverre Gjomesli115 Rolf Solberg 96 Odd Johansen87 Erling Simonsen 88 Gunnar Hilsen79 Aage W. Jensen 710 Tore Meiner 611 Erling Cae 512 Oddvar Wold 513 Tor Bjorkkvist 414 Odd Kleiven 415 Knut Bjorge 216 Jens Georg Walle 0

Swedish round 29 April 1955 Linköping Motorstadion (Ryd), Linköping Top 6 to Nordic qualification Pos. Rider Points1 Ove Fundin 152 Ulf Ericsson 123 Lars Pettersson 124 Kjell Carlsson 115 Rune Claesson 106 Gunnar Johansson 97 Olle Andersson II 88 Stig Pramberg 89 Olle Segerström 810 Kaj Forsberg811 Göte Nordin 512 Thorsten Carlsson 513 Allan Nilsson 314 Rune Stenström 315 Bert Engman 316 Bertil Carlsson II 017 Stig Sköldberg 029 April 1955 Snälltorpet, Eskilstuna Top 6 to Nordic qualification Pos. Rider Points1 Bert Lindarw 142 Göran Norlén 143 Birger Forsberg 134 Olle Andersson I 115 Joel Jansson 96 Olle Heyman 97 Sven Fahlén 98 Bernt Nilsson 99 Per-Tage Svensson 810 Bengt Nilsson 811 Göte Olsson 412 Dan Forsberg 413 Alf Jonsson 314 Evert Andersson 315 Sven Skoglund 216 Olle Broms 017 Sten Cederlöv 0

Stage 2 Nordic round 1 May 1955 Turku Speedway track, Turku Top 8 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Points1 Ove Fundin 152 Ulf Ericsson 143 Sven Fahlén 114 Kaukko Jousanen 105 Reidar Kristoffersen 106 Olle Heyman107 Birger Forsberg 108 Antti Pajari 109 Olle Andersson I 810 Reino Niemi 511 Rauno Aaltonen 512 Aulis Tuominen 413 Aage Hansen 314 Simo Ylänen 315 Antti Mattila 216 Ilkka Helminen 04 May 1955 Amager Speedway Stadium, Copenhagen Top 8 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Points1 Göran Norlén 152 Joel Jansson 123 Lars Pettersson 114 Basse Hveem 105 Henry Andersen 106 Kjell Carlsson 97 Rune Claesson 88 Bert Lindarw 89 Kiehn Berthelsen 610 Leif Bech 611 Arne Pander 612 Nils Paulsen 513 Erling Simonsen 414 Eivind Petersen 415 Rolf Westerberg 316 Axel Möller 3

Continental round 1 May 1955 City Garden Stadium, Osijek Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Karel Kiendl 132 Fred Aberl 123 Sebastian Wiesent 124 Nicola Snjaric 115 Valentin Medved 116 Drago Regvart107 Branko Regvart 98 Max Aebi 99 Josip Klemencic 810 Cornel Bijman 711 Gerhard Hofemeister 512 Josef Sinzinger 513 Alois Strasser 414 Moritz Künzl 215 Leo Petzwinkler 216 Jakob Dietrich 08 May 1955 Niederrheinstadion, Oberhausen Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Josef Seidl 142 Per-Olof Söderman 123 Sune Karlsson 124 Georg Duneborn 115 Josef Hofmeister 96 Karl Killmeyer 87 Marius Metzelaar 88 Albin Siegl 89 T van Gorcum 810 Anton Kroeze 711 Howdy Byford 712 Alan Smith 413 Leopold Killmeyer 314 J van der Sluis 315 Thei Bischops 216 Alex Jakob 117 Kurt Pieper1

Stage 3 Nordic Final 8 June 1955 Lerkendal Stadion, Trondheim First 6 to European final Pos. Rider Points1 Ove Fundin 142 Henry Andersen 143 Basse Hveem 124 Ulf Ericsson 105 Birger Forsberg 106 Kjell Carlsson 97 Sven Fahlén 98 Joel Jansson 89 Rune Claesson 710 Bert Lindarw 711 Olle Heyman 612 Lars Pettersson 513 Reidar Kristoffersen 514 Göran Norlén 315 Antti Pajari 216 Kaukko Jousanen 1

Continental Final 13 June 1955 Altes Stadion, Abensberg First 6 to European Final Pos. Rider Points1 Fritz Dirtl 152 Josef Kamper 123 Georg Duneborn 124 Josef Hofmeister 115 Josef Seidl 116 Per Olof Söderman 10+37 Karl Killmeyer 10+28 Sune Karlsson 89 Nicvan Gorcum710 Fred Aberl 611 Sebastian Wiesent 612 Branko Regvart 413 Tinus Metzelaar 314 Karl Kiendl 215 Drago Regvart 216 Nicola Snjaric 1

British & Commonwealth round Top 21 qualify for Championship round. DateVenueWinner4 July Wimborne Road Ken Middleditch5 July Banister Court Stadium Dick Bradley7 July Foxhall Stadium Junior Bainbridge7 July Oxford Stadium Ronnie Genz8 July Leicester Stadium Ken Middleditch9 July Brandon Stadium Tommy Miller9 July Rayleigh Weir Stadium Bert Roger9 July Abbey Stadium Ian Williams11 July County Ground Stadium Ken McKinlay

Stage 4 Championship Round Top 12 qualify for World final + 2 reserves DateVenueWinner8 August Wimbledon Stadium Barry Briggs9 August West Ham Stadium Jack Young11 August Wembley Stadium Brian Crutcher13 August Perry Barr Stadium Doug Davies13 August Odsal Stadium Arthur Wright20 August Hyde Road Stadium Peter Craven20 August The Firs Stadium Aub Lawson

Scores First 12 to World final + 2 reserves Pos. Rider Total pts1 Peter Craven 292 Jack Young 293 Barry Briggs 284 Ron Johnston 265 Ronnie Moore 266 Arthur Wright 267 Doug Davies 268 Cyril Roger 259 Arthur Forrest 2410 Aub Lawson 2411 Phil Clarke 2412 Brian Crutcher 2313 Eric Williams 2314 Billy Bales 2315 Gerry Hussey 2216 Ken McKinlay 2217 Freddie Williams 2118 Alf Hagon 1919 Ken Middleditch1920 Ron Mountford 1821 Jack Geran 1822 Jack Biggs 1723 Alan Hunt 1724 Les McGillivray1725 Peter Moore 1526 Ron How1427 Harry Bastable1428 Peter Clark 14Pos. Rider Total pts29 Tommy Price 1430 Fred Rogers1431 Dick Bradley 1232 Bob Mark 1133 Ian Williams 1134 Split Waterman 1135 Bob Duckworth 1136 Tommy Miller 1037 Reg Reeves1038 Allan Kidd 1039 Alan Smith 940 Fred Brand 941 Neil Street 942 Guy Allott 843 Junior Bainbridge844 Harry Edwards745 Gordon McGregor 746 Bob Roger647 Charlie New648 Jimmy Gooch549 Bill Holden550 Eric French451 Ron Clarke 352 John Fitzpatrick 353 Ken Sharples154 Bob Sharp 155 Eddie Rigg 056 Jim Lightfoot0

European Final 4 July 1955 Bislett Stadium, Oslo First 4 to World final

Pos. Rider Total1 Henry Andersen 142 Olle Nygren 123 Kjell Carlsson 114 Ove Fundin 115 Per Olof Söderman 116 Basse Hveem 107 Josef Kamper 98 Ulf Ericsson 89 Fritz Dirtl 710 Birger Forsberg 711 Georg Duneborn 612 Alf Hagon 513 Rune Sörmander 414 Cyril Maidment315 Josef Seidl 216 Josef Hofmeister 017 Reidar Kristoffersen 0

World final 15 September 1955 Wembley Stadium, LondonBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Peter Craven (3,3,2,3,2)132 Ronnie Moore (3,1,3,2,3)12+33 Barry Briggs (3,2,3,2,2)12+24 Eric Williams(3,1,2,3,3)12+15 Brian Crutcher (2,2,3,Fx,3) 106 Ove Fundin (2,1,1,3,3) 107 Jack Young (1,3,1,3,2) 108 Olle Nygren (0,3,2,2,2) 99 Arthur Forrest (0,2,3,1,1) 710 Arthur Wright (1,3,0,1,1) 611 Billy Bales (2,0,1,2,1) 612 Ron Johnston (1,1,2,1,1) 613 Kjell Carlsson (0,2,0,1,0) 314 Phil Clarke (2,0,0,0,0) 215 Henry Andersen(1,0,1,0,0) 216 Cyril Roger(0,0,0,0,Fx) 0R1 Gerry Hussey did not ride-R2 Ken McKinlay did not ride- Note - Aub Lawson withdrew injured, Doug Davies withdrew with meningitis,

Classification

References