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

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.[7]

Qualifying edit

Qualification started in 1956.[8][9]

Stage 1 edit

Norwegian qualification edit

Pos. Rider Points
1 Aage Hansen 15
2 Rolf Westerberg 14
3 Reidar Kristoffersen 13
4 Nils Paulsen 12
5 Erling Simonsen 11
6 Odd Johansen 10
7 Arne Kristiansen 9
8 Roger Steen 9
9 Gunnar Dyrseth 7
10 Oddbjorn Blaasmo 5
11 Thorbjorn Nygaard 4

Finnish qualification edit

Pos. Rider Points
1 Antti Pajari 15
2 Simo Ylanen 14
3 Kauko Jousanen 12
4 Reino Niemi 10
5 Pekka Tenko 9
6 Raimo Kivinen 8
7 Erkki Ala Sippola 8
8 Timo Laine 8
9 Paavo Mikkola 7
10 Kalevi Lahtinen 7
11 Rauno Aaltonen 6
12 Heikki Sorii 4
13 Aulis Tuominen 3
14 Valle Seliverstov 3
15 Jorma Rihkajarvi 2
16 Nils Staaf 2
17 Orvo Ahlqvist 1

Swedish qualification edit

Pos. Rider Points
1 Per-Olof Söderman 14
2 Olle Nygren 14
3 Olle Segerström 11
4 Göte Nordin 10
5 Sven Fahlén 10
6 Lars Pettersson 10
7 Sune Karlsson 9
8 Kjell Wårenius 7
9 Bernt Nilsson 7
10 Roger Forsberg 7
11 Evert Andersson 5
12 Alf Jonsson 5
13 Thorsten Carlsson 5
14 Roland Krantz 4
15 Bo Sandin 2
16 Nils Johansson 0
17 Per-Åke Lundgren 0
Pos. Rider Points
1 Rune Sörmander 15
2 Dan Forsberg 11
3 Bengt Eriksson 11
4 Bertil Carlsson II 10
5 Olle Andersson IV 9
6 Per-Tage Svensson 8+3
7 Bert Lindarw 8+2
8 Stig Pramberg 8+1
9 Allan Nilsson 8+0
10 Thorvald Karlsson 7
11 Rune Claesson 6
12 Kaj Forsberg 6
13 Björn Knutson 5
14 Gunnar Johansson 3
15 Göran Norlén 2
16 Bengt Brannefors 2

Stage 2 edit

Nordic qualification edit

Pos. Rider Points
1 Olle Nygren 15
2 Reidar Kristoffersen 11
3 Sune Karlsson 11
4 Bertil Carlsson II 10
5 Olle Segerström 10
6 Rolf Westerberg 10
7 Aage Hansen 9
8 Bengt Eriksson 9
9 Olle Andersson IV 8
10 Arne Pander 8
11 Erik Kastebo 5
12 Erling Simonsen 4
13 Arne Kristiansen 4
14 Erik Wincentz 3
15 Fred Carlsen 1
16 Svend Nissen 1
Pos. Rider Points
1 Per-Olof Söderman 13
2 Dan Forsberg 13
3 Lars Pettersson 12
4 Rune Sörmander 12
5 Bert Lindarw 11
6 Nils Paulsen 11
7 Aulis Tuominen 8
8 Kauko Jousanen 8
9 Roger Steen 6
10 Raimo Kivinen 6
11 Sven Fahlén 5
12 Erkki Ala-Sippola 5
13 Pertti Mikkola 5
14 Timo Laine 3
15 Esko Koponen 2
16 Kalevi Lahtinen 0

Continental round edit

Pos. Rider Points
1 Josef Hofmeister 15
2 Josef Seidl 14
3 Andrzej Krzesinski 13
4 Birger Forsberg 10
5 Josef Kamper 10
6 Josef Kysilka 10
7 Joel Jansson 8
8 Simo Ylänen 7
9 Tony Kroeze 6
10 Alfred Aberl 6
11 Jarosłav Wolf 6
12 Mieczysław Połukard 5
13 Antti Pajari 4
14 Leopold Killmeyer 3
15 Albin Siegl 2
16 Thei Bishops 1
Pos. Rider Points
1 Florian Kapała 14
2 Rudolf Havelka 13.5
3 Joachim Maj 12
4 Marian Kaiser 10.5
5 Marian Philipp 9
6 Janusz Suchecki 9
7 Stanislaw Tkocz 9
8 Milan Spinka 8
9 Tadeusz Teodorowicz 7
10 Richard Janicek 7
11 Edward Kupczyński 7
12 Valentin Unterköfler 5
13 Jaroslav Machac 4
14 Erich Sidlo 2
15 Hans Sidlo 2
16 Franz Schenk 0

Stage 3 edit

Nordic Final edit

Pos. Rider Points
1   Aage Hansen 14
2   Per Olof Söderman 13
3   Rune Sörmander 12
4   Dan Forsberg 11
5   Nils Paulsen 11
6   Olle Nygren 10
7   Reidar Kristoffersen 10
8   Rolf Westerberg 7
9   Bert Lindarw 7
10   Arne Pander 7
11   Lars Pettersson 6
12   Bengt Eriksson 5
13   Ole Andersson 3
14   Sune Karlsson 2
15   Kauko Jousanen 2
16   Aulis Tuominen 0
17   Bertil Carlsson dnr
18   Olle Segerström dnr

Continental Final edit

Pos. Rider Points
1   Josef Hofmeister 15
2   Josef Seidl 12
3   Stanisław Tkocz 11
4   Birger Forsberg 10
5   Joel Jansson 10
6   Josef Kamper 10
7   Florian Kapała 10
8   Marian Kaiser 9
9   Janusz Suchecki 8
10   Jaroslav Volf 7
11   Joachim Maj 5
12   Josef Kysilka 5
13   Tadeusz Teodorowicz 4
14   Erich Sidlo 2
15   Rudolf Havelka 1
16   Otto Holoubek 0
17   Marian Philipp 0
18   Andrzej Krzesiński dnr
19   Simo Ylänen dnr

British & Commonwealth qualifying edit

  • Top 32 qualify for British & Commonwealth semi-final.[10]
Date Venue Winner
13 July Brandon Stadium Ron Johnston
13 July The Firs Stadium Brian Crutcher
13 July Rayleigh Weir Stadium Ken McKinlay
13 July Abbey Stadium Ian Williams
15 July Wimbledon Stadium Peter Craven
16 July Banister Court Stadium Brian Crutcher
18 July Foxhall Stadium Cyril Roger
18 July Oxford Stadium Jack Geran
19 July Leicester Stadium Ken McKinlay

Stage 4 edit

British/Commonwealth semi-final edit

  • 24 August 1958
  •   Hyde Road, Manchester
  • First 5 to World final
Pos. Rider Total
1   Peter Craven 13
2   Ron Johnston 13
3   Ian Williams 12
4   Aub Lawson 12
5   Ron How 11
6   Brian Crutcher 10
7   Ken Middleditch 10
8   Billy Bales 9
9   Les McGillivray 7
10   Gerald Jackson 6
11   Brian Hanham 5
12   Charlie New 5
13   Maurice McDermott 3
14   Arthur Forrest 3
15   Cyril Maidment 1
16   Ronnie Genz 1
17   Eric French 0
Pos. Rider Total
1   Bob Roger 14
2   Ken McKinlay 14
3   Barry Briggs 13
4   George White 12
5   Jack Geran 11
6   Jack Biggs 10
7   Alf Hagon 9
8   Neil Street 7
9   Ron Mountford 7
10   Eric Boothroyd 6
11   Dick Bradley 5
12   Phil Clarke 5
13   Jim Lightfoot 4
14   Peter Moore 3
15   Jack Unstead 2
16   Mike Broadbank 0

European Final edit

Pos. Rider Total
1   Rune Sörmander 14
2   Per Olof Söderman 13
3   Josef Hofmeister 12
4   Olle Nygren 11
5   Aage Hansen 11
6   Dan Forsberg 9
7   Rolf Westerberg 9
8   Stanisław Tkocz 7
9   Josef Kamper 6
10   Florian Kapała 6
11   Joseph Seidl 5
12   Marian Kaiser 4
13   Joel Jansson 3
14   Nils Paulsen 3
15   Reidar Kristoffersen 2
16   Birger Forsberg 2
17   Bert Lindarw 2
  • Note: Olle Nygren injured and replaced by Dan Forsberg in final

World final edit

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1   Barry Briggs (3,2,3,3,3) 14+3
2   Ove Fundin (3,3,2,3,3) 14+2
3   Peter Craven (2,1,3,2,3) 11+3
4   Aub Lawson (3,3,1,2,2) 11+2
5   Rune Sörmander (1,3,3,1,3) 11+1
6   Ron Johnston (3,2,1,1,2) 9
7   Ken McKinlay (0,0,3,3,2) 8
8   Bob Roger (2,1,2,2,1) 8
9   Per Olof Söderman (1,2,0,3,1) 7
10   Jack Geran (1,3,1,1,1) 7
11   Ron How (1,2,2,0,2) 7
12   Aage Hansen (0,0,2,2,0) 4
13   George White (2,1,0,1,0) 4
14   Ian Williams (2,0,1,0,0) 3
15   Dan Forsberg (0,1,0,0,1) 2
16   Josef Hofmeister (0,0,0,0,0) 0
R1   Jack Biggs did not ride -
R2   Rolf Westerberg did not ride -

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   (10) Barry Briggs 14+3 3 2 3 3 3 14 1
2   (4) Ove Fundin 14+2 3 3 2 3 3 14 2
3   (2) Peter Craven 11+3 2 1 3 2 3 11 3
4   (5) Aub Lawson 11+2 3 3 1 2 2 11 4
5   (3) Rune Sörmander 11+1 1 3 3 1 3 11 5
6   (13) Ron Johnston 9 3 2 1 1 2 9 6
7   (1) Ken McKinlay 8 0 0 3 3 2 8 7
8   (15) Bob Roger 8 2 1 2 2 1 8 8
9   (11) Per Olof Söderman 7 1 2 0 3 1 7 9
10   (6) Jack Geran 7 1 3 1 1 1 7 10
11   (16) Ron How 7 1 2 2 0 2 7 11
12   (14) Aage Hansen 4 0 0 2 2 0 4 12
13   (12) George White 4 2 1 0 1 0 4 13
14   (8) Ian Williams 3 2 0 1 0 0 3 14
15   (9) Dan Forsberg 2 0 1 0 0 1 2 15
16   (7) Josef Hofmeister 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16
  (17) Rolf Westerberg 0 0
  (18) Jack Biggs 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. ^ "Speedway ace crashes in Final battle". Weekly Dispatch London. 22 September 1957. Retrieved 6 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "1957 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  9. ^ "1957 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Hunters beaten". Leicester Evening Mail. 1 July 1957. Retrieved 13 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5