Wikipedia

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.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

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.[7]

Qualification edit

Qualification started on 29 April.[8][9]

Stage 1 edit

Norwegian round edit

Pos. Rider Points
1 Reidar Kristoffersen 15
2 Rolf Westerberg 14
3 Nils Paulsen 13
4 Sverre Gjomesli 11
5 Rolf Solberg 9
6 Odd Johansen 8
7 Erling Simonsen 8
8 Gunnar Hilsen 7
9 Aage W. Jensen 7
10 Tore Meiner 6
11 Erling Cae 5
12 Oddvar Wold 5
13 Tor Bjorkkvist 4
14 Odd Kleiven 4
15 Knut Bjorge 2
16 Jens Georg Walle 0

Swedish round edit

Pos. Rider Points
1 Ove Fundin 15
2 Ulf Ericsson 12
3 Lars Pettersson 12
4 Kjell Carlsson 11
5 Rune Claesson 10
6 Gunnar Johansson 9
7 Olle Andersson II 8
8 Stig Pramberg 8
9 Olle Segerström 8
10 Kaj Forsberg 8
11 Göte Nordin 5
12 Thorsten Carlsson 5
13 Allan Nilsson 3
14 Rune Stenström 3
15 Bert Engman 3
16 Bertil Carlsson II 0
17 Stig Sköldberg 0
Pos. Rider Points
1 Bert Lindarw 14
2 Göran Norlén 14
3 Birger Forsberg 13
4 Olle Andersson I 11
5 Joel Jansson 9
6 Olle Heyman 9
7 Sven Fahlén 9
8 Bernt Nilsson 9
9 Per-Tage Svensson 8
10 Bengt Nilsson 8
11 Göte Olsson 4
12 Dan Forsberg 4
13 Alf Jonsson 3
14 Evert Andersson 3
15 Sven Skoglund 2
16 Olle Broms 0
17 Sten Cederlöv 0

Stage 2 edit

Nordic round edit

Pos. Rider Points
1 Ove Fundin 15
2 Ulf Ericsson 14
3 Sven Fahlén 11
4 Kaukko Jousanen 10
5 Reidar Kristoffersen 10
6 Olle Heyman 10
7 Birger Forsberg 10
8 Antti Pajari 10
9 Olle Andersson I 8
10 Reino Niemi 5
11 Rauno Aaltonen 5
12 Aulis Tuominen 4
13 Aage Hansen 3
14 Simo Ylänen 3
15 Antti Mattila 2
16 Ilkka Helminen 0
Pos. Rider Points
1 Göran Norlén 15
2 Joel Jansson 12
3 Lars Pettersson 11
4 Basse Hveem 10
5 Henry Andersen 10
6 Kjell Carlsson 9
7 Rune Claesson 8
8 Bert Lindarw 8
9 Kiehn Berthelsen 6
10 Leif Bech 6
11 Arne Pander 6
12 Nils Paulsen 5
13 Erling Simonsen 4
14 Eivind Petersen 4
15 Rolf Westerberg 3
16 Axel Möller 3

Continental round edit

Pos. Rider Points
1 Karel Kiendl 13
2 Fred Aberl 12
3 Sebastian Wiesent 12
4 Nicola Snjaric 11
5 Valentin Medved 11
6 Drago Regvart 10
7 Branko Regvart 9
8 Max Aebi 9
9 Josip Klemencic 8
10 Cornel Bijman 7
11 Gerhard Hofemeister 5
12 Josef Sinzinger 5
13 Alois Strasser 4
14 Moritz Künzl 2
15 Leo Petzwinkler 2
16 Jakob Dietrich 0
Pos. Rider Points
1 Josef Seidl 14
2 Per-Olof Söderman 12
3 Sune Karlsson 12
4 Georg Duneborn 11
5 Josef Hofmeister 9
6 Karl Killmeyer 8
7 Marius Metzelaar 8
8 Albin Siegl 8
9 T van Gorcum 8
10 Anton Kroeze 7
11 Howdy Byford 7
12 Alan Smith 4
13 Leopold Killmeyer 3
14 J van der Sluis 3
15 Thei Bischops 2
16 Alex Jakob 1
17 Kurt Pieper 1

Stage 3 edit

Nordic Final edit

Pos. Rider Points
1   Ove Fundin 14
2   Henry Andersen 14
3   Basse Hveem 12
4   Ulf Ericsson 10
5   Birger Forsberg 10
6   Kjell Carlsson 9
7   Sven Fahlén 9
8   Joel Jansson 8
9   Rune Claesson 7
10   Bert Lindarw 7
11   Olle Heyman 6
12   Lars Pettersson 5
13   Reidar Kristoffersen 5
14   Göran Norlén 3
15   Antti Pajari 2
16   Kaukko Jousanen 1

Continental Final edit

Pos. Rider Points
1   Fritz Dirtl 15
2   Josef Kamper 12
3   Georg Duneborn 12
4   Josef Hofmeister 11
5   Josef Seidl 11
6   Per Olof Söderman 10+3
7   Karl Killmeyer 10+2
8   Sune Karlsson 8
9   Nicvan Gorcum 7
10   Fred Aberl 6
11   Sebastian Wiesent 6
12   Branko Regvart 4
13   Tinus Metzelaar 3
14   Karl Kiendl 2
15   Drago Regvart 2
16   Nicola Snjaric 1

British & Commonwealth round edit

  • Top 21 qualify for Championship round.[10]
Date Venue Winner
4 July Wimborne Road Ken Middleditch
5 July Banister Court Stadium Dick Bradley
7 July Foxhall Stadium Junior Bainbridge
7 July Oxford Stadium Ronnie Genz
8 July Leicester Stadium Ken Middleditch
9 July Brandon Stadium Tommy Miller
9 July Rayleigh Weir Stadium Bert Roger
9 July Abbey Stadium Ian Williams
11 July County Ground Stadium Ken McKinlay

Stage 4 edit

Championship Round edit

  • Top 12 qualify for World final + 2 reserves
Date Venue Winner
8 August Wimbledon Stadium Barry Briggs
9 August West Ham Stadium Jack Young
11 August Wembley Stadium Brian Crutcher
13 August Perry Barr Stadium Doug Davies
13 August Odsal Stadium Arthur Wright
20 August Hyde Road Stadium Peter Craven
20 August The Firs Stadium Aub Lawson

Scores

  • First 12 to World final + 2 reserves
Pos. Rider Total pts
1   Peter Craven 29
2   Jack Young 29
3   Barry Briggs 28
4   Ron Johnston 26
5   Ronnie Moore 26
6   Arthur Wright 26
7   Doug Davies 26
8   Cyril Roger 25
9   Arthur Forrest 24
10   Aub Lawson 24
11   Phil Clarke 24
12   Brian Crutcher 23
13   Eric Williams 23
14   Billy Bales 23
15   Gerry Hussey 22
16   Ken McKinlay 22
17   Freddie Williams 21
18   Alf Hagon 19
19   Ken Middleditch 19
20   Ron Mountford 18
21   Jack Geran 18
22   Jack Biggs 17
23   Alan Hunt 17
24   Les McGillivray 17
25   Peter Moore 15
26   Ron How 14
27   Harry Bastable 14
28   Peter Clark 14
Pos. Rider Total pts
29   Tommy Price 14
30   Fred Rogers 14
31   Dick Bradley 12
32   Bob Mark 11
33   Ian Williams 11
34   Split Waterman 11
35   Bob Duckworth 11
36   Tommy Miller 10
37   Reg Reeves 10
38   Allan Kidd 10
39   Alan Smith 9
40   Fred Brand 9
41   Neil Street 9
42   Guy Allott 8
43   Junior Bainbridge 8
44   Harry Edwards 7
45   Gordon McGregor 7
46   Bob Roger 6
47   Charlie New 6
48   Jimmy Gooch 5
49   Bill Holden 5
50   Eric French 4
51   Ron Clarke 3
52   John Fitzpatrick 3
53   Ken Sharples 1
54   Bob Sharp 1
55   Eddie Rigg 0
56   Jim Lightfoot 0

European Final edit

Pos. Rider Total
1   Henry Andersen 14
2   Olle Nygren 12
3   Kjell Carlsson 11
4   Ove Fundin 11
5   Per Olof Söderman 11
6   Basse Hveem 10
7   Josef Kamper 9
8   Ulf Ericsson 8
9   Fritz Dirtl 7
10   Birger Forsberg 7
11   Georg Duneborn 6
12   Alf Hagon 5
13   Rune Sörmander 4
14   Cyril Maidment 3
15   Joseph Seidl 2
16   Josef Hofmeister 0
17   Reidar Kristoffersen 0

World final edit

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1   Peter Craven (3,3,2,3,2) 13
2   Ronnie Moore (3,1,3,2,3) 12+3
3   Barry Briggs (3,2,3,2,2) 12+2
4   Eric Williams (3,1,2,3,3) 12+1
5   Brian Crutcher (2,2,3,Fx,3) 10
6   Ove Fundin (2,1,1,3,3) 10
7   Jack Young (1,3,1,3,2) 10
8   Olle Nygren (0,3,2,2,2) 9
9   Arthur Forrest (0,2,3,1,1) 7
10   Arthur Wright (1,3,0,1,1) 6
11   Billy Bales (2,0,1,2,1) 6
12   Ron Johnston (1,1,2,1,1) 6
13   Kjell Carlsson (0,2,0,1,0) 3
14   Phil Clarke (2,0,0,0,0) 2
15   Henry Andersen (1,0,1,0,0) 2
16   Cyril Roger (0,0,0,0,Fx) 0
R1   Gerry Hussey did not ride -
R2   Ken McKinlay did not ride -
  • Note - Aub Lawson withdrew injured, Doug Davies withdrew with meningitis,

Classification edit

Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos
1   (8) Peter Craven 13 3 3 2 3 2 13 1
2   (2) Ronnie Moore 12+3 3 1 3 2 3 12 2
3   (14) Barry Briggs 12+2 3 2 3 2 2 12 3
4   (12) Eric Williams 12+1 3 1 2 3 3 12 4
5   (1) Brian Crutcher 10 2 2 3 - 3 4 5
6   (5) Ove Fundin 10 2 1 1 3 3 10 6
7   (9) Jack Young 10 1 3 1 3 2 10 7
8   (6) Olle Nygren 9 0 3 2 2 2 9 8
9   (4) Arthur Forrest 7 0 2 3 1 1 7 9
10   (3) Arthur Wright 6 1 3 0 1 1 6 10
11   (10) Billy Bales 6 2 0 1 2 1 6 11
12   (7) Ron Johnston 6 1 1 2 1 1 6 12
13   (11) Kjell Carlsson 3 0 2 0 1 0 3 13
14   (13) Phil Clarke 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 14
15   (16) Henry Andersen 2 1 0 1 0 0 2 15
16   (15) Cyril Roger 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 16
  (17) Gerry Hussey 0 0
  (18) Ken McKinlay 0 0
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside

References edit

  1. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  2. ^ "World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  3. ^ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  4. ^ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  6. ^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Craven Wins Speedway's World Title". Bradford Observer. 16 September 1955. Retrieved 5 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "1955 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  9. ^ "1955 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Speedway Stars bid for World Title". Weekly Dispatch (London). 3 July 1955. Retrieved 13 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "1955". Speedway.org. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  12. ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
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