1977 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1977 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 32nd edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3][4][5]

History was made in the 1977 final when Ivan Mauger of New Zealand equalled Ove Fundin's title record of five World Championship wins. Mauger had gone close to equalling the record before and finally achieved it in Sweden, the home of Fundin.[6] In a decisive 18th heat Mauger won from his nearest challenger Ole Olsen, when Olsen was forced to lay his bike down to avoid hitting John Boulger. The result was just one point for Olsen, a badly damaged Jawa bike and the end of his title hopes. Defending champion Peter Collins won his last ride to claim the silver medal despite riding with a broken left leg, but Olsen won the bronze medal run-off against young English rider Michael Lee.[7]

Qualifying results.[8][9]

First round

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British Preliminary round

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  • Riders progress to British quarter-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
21 April Oxford Stadium, Oxford Paul Tyrer Geoff Bouchard Martin Yeates
30 April Loomer Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme Robbie Gardner John Jackson Carl Glover
1 May Rye House Stadium, Hoddesdon Karl Fiala Les Collins Mike Lanham
5 May Somerton Park, Newport Steve Weatherley Barney Kennett Steve Lomas

New Zealand qualification

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Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
North Island Final
12 January Western Springs Stadium, Auckland John Goodall Mike Fullerton Jack Millen
South Island Final
3 January Ruapuna Speedway, Templeton Roger Wright Larry Ross Paul Fewings

Second round

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New Zealand semi-final

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Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
20 January Ruapuna Speedway, Templeton Ivan Mauger Larry Ross Barry Briggs

Australian qualification

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Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
New South Wales Round
27 November Sydney Showground, Sydney Ricky Day Billy Sanders Mitch Shirra
Queensland qualification
28 November Carina Speedway, Bundaberg John Titman Neil Coddington Owen Hall
Victorian qualification
8 January Northern Park Raceway, Melbourne Phil Crump Danny Kennedy Rob Jones
Southern qualification
17 January Rowley Park, Adelaide John Boulger Tony Boyle Bob Maxfield
28 January Rowley Park, Adelaide Phil Crump John Boulger Tony Boyle
New South Wales qualification
11 February Jerilderie Park, Tomago Phil Crump Phil Herne Billy Sanders
West Australian qualification
21 February Claremont Speedway, Perth Glyn Taylor Neil Webb Les Leisk
Northern Zone Final
23 February Exhibition Ground, Brisbane Neil Coddington Steve Koppe Mike Farrell

Continental Preliminary round

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  • Riders progress to Continental semi-finals.

Josef Angermüller was killed during the first preliminary round at the San Savino Speedway Park after falling and colliding with a concrete post.[10]

Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
24 April   San Savino, Civitanova Marche   Paolo Noro   Jan Hadek   Jiří Štancl
25 April   Breitwangbahn, Bopfingen   Georg Hack   Jiri Jirout   Hans Ziegl

British quarter-finals

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  • Top 32 progress to British semi-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
14 May The Shay, Halifax Chris Pusey Doug Wyer John Louis
16 May Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Gordon Kennett George Hunter Bob Kilby
18 May King's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn Michael Lee Paul Tyrer Chris Morton
20 May Hackney Wick Stadium, London Malcolm Simmons Martin Yeates Dave Jessup

Third round

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British semi-finals

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Pos. Rider Points
1 Terry Betts 13
2 Michael Lee 11
3 Alan Wilkinson 10+3
4 Martin Ashby 10+2
5 Neil Middleditch 10+1
6 Barry Thomas 9
7 Gordon Kennett 9
8 David Gagen 9
9 Bobby Beaton 8
10 Trevor Geer 8
11 Chris Pusey 8
12 Ray Wilson 7
13 Bobby McNeil 4
14 Graham Drury 3
15 Steve Finch 1
16 Paul Tyrer 0
Pos. Rider Points
1 Dave Jessup 15
2 Doug Wyer 14
3 Malcolm Simmons 13
4 John Davis 12
5 Bob Kilby 10
6 Keith White 9
7 Chris Morton 9
8 John Louis 8
9 Martin Yeates 7
10 Ian Turner 6
11 Reg Wilson 5
12 Jim McMillan 4
13 Dave Gooderham 4
14 Bernie Leigh 3
15 George Hunter 1
16 John Jackson 0

New Zealand Final

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Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 Larry Ross 3,2,3,3,3 14
2 Ivan Mauger X,3,3,3,3 12
3 Robin Adlington 2,3,2,2,3 12
4 Barry Briggs 1,1,3,3,3 11
5 John Goodall 3,3,1,3,1 11
6 Roger Wright 1,3,2,2,2 10
7 Colin Farquharson 2,2,3,2,1 10
8 Mike Fullerton 3,1,2,1,2 9
9 Colin Tucker 3,0,1,2,2 8
10 Paul Fewings 2,1,0,1,1 5
11 Max Brown 1,0,2,0,1 4
12 Allan Brown 0,2,1,1,F 4
13 James Moore 0,F,X,1,2 3
14 Malcolm Chambers 2,F,0,-,- 2
15 Bruce Spargo 0,1,0,0,0 1
16 John Bargh 0,-,0,0,0 0
R1 Merv Hodgson 1,1,0 2
R2 Bruce Mitchell 2,0 2

Australian Final

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Pos. Rider Total
1 Phil Crump 15
2 Phil Herne 13
3 Billy Sanders 13
4 John Boulger 11
5 Mike Farrell 10
6 John Titman 9
7 Ricky Day 9
8 Mitch Shirra 8
9 Stuart Mountford 7
10 Danny Kennedy 7
11 Tony Boyle 7
12 Paul O'Neil 4
13 Robin Amundson 3
14 Mick McKeon 2
15 John Williams 2
16 Robert Maxfield 0

Finland Final

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Pos. Rider Total
1 Ilkka Teromaa 13
2 Veli Pekka Teromaa 12+3
3 Markku Helminen 12+2
4 Kai Niemi 11
5 Rauli Mäkinen 11
6 Seppo Palomäki 11
7 Esko Mylläri 10
8 Ari Koponen
9 Esa Mattila 7
10 Pekka Hautamäki 5
11 Ismo Kivelä 5
12 Pentti Mattila 5
13 Olli Turkia 4
14 Keijo Mylläri 3
15 Veli Pekka Kunelius 2
16 Veikko Haapamäki 0
17 Veijo Tuoriniemi (res) 0

Norwegian Final

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Pos. Rider Total
1 Tormod Langli 15
2 Rolf Gramstad 12
3 Stein R.Pedersen 12
4 Jan Gravningen 11
5 Edgar Stangeland 11
6 Tom Godal
7 Ingve Madland
8 Trond Helge Skretting
9 Geir Aasland

Danish Final

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Pos. Rider Total
1 Finn Thomsen 13
2 Erling Rasmussen 12+3
3 Bo Petersen 12+2
4 Gunnar Svendsen 11
5 Finn Rune Jensen 9+3
6 Bent Nørregaard-Jensen 9+2
7 Bent Rasmussen 8
8 Frank Mastrup 8
9 Kaj Kristiansen 7
10 Knud Ellegaard 7
11 Jens Erik Krause Kjaer 7
12 Kurt Bøgh 6
13 Frank Hansen 5
14 Jorgen Walther Johansen 5
15 Otto Larsen 1
16 Preben Rosenkilde 0

Continental quarter-finals

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  • Top 32 to Continental semi-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
1 May   Hansa Stadium, Bremen   Edward Jancarz   Marek Cieślak   Egon Muller
8 May   Stadion Wiener Neustadt   Jiří Štancl   Siegfried Eder   Jerzy Szczakiel
7 May   Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný   Sergey Dyuzhev   Zenon Plech   Jerzy Rembas
8 May   Hajdú Volán Stadion, Debrecen   Walter Grubmuller   Sergey Uchov   Václav Verner

Fourth Round

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Swedish qualification

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  • Top 5 in each heat to Swedish final

American Final

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Pos. Rider Total
1 Mike Bast 14
2 Bruce Penhall 13+3
3 Scott Autrey 13+2
4 Steve Bast 11
5 Rick Woods 10
6 Alan Christian 9
7 Mike Curoso 9
8 Dennis Sigalos 8
9 Steve Gresham 8
10 Duane Yarrow 7
11 Larry Shaw 6
12 Rich McMurray 5
13 Dennis Robinson 5
14 Ron McGill 1
15 Dave Faria 1

Nordic Final

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Pos. Rider Total
1   Ole Olsen 15
2   Ila Teromaa 14
3   Finn Thomsen 12
4   Kai Niemi 12
5   Bo Petersen 10
6   Tom Godal 10
7   Finn Jensen 9
8   Tormod Langli 8
9   Gunnar Svendsen 7
10   Markku Helminen 5
11   Erling Rasmussen 5
12   Trond Helge Skretting 4
13   Esa Mattila (Res) 3
14   Rauli Mäkinen (Res) 2
15   Geir Aasland 1
16   Pentti Mattila (Res) 1
17   Ingve Madland 0
18   Ari Koponen 0
19   Stein R Pedersen 0

Australasian Final

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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 21
    (5) Ivan Mauger 14 3 3 3 2 3 14 1 3
    (1) Phil Crump 14 3 2 3 3 3 14 2 2
    (16) John Boulger 14 3 3 2 3 3 14 3 1
4   (9) Billy Sanders 12 3 1 3 3 2 12 4
5   (12) Phil Herne 11 2 2 2 2 3 11 5
6   (4) Barry Briggs 9 1 1 3 2 2 9 6
7   (3) Ricky Day 9 2 3 2 1 1 9 7
8   (13) Mitch Shirra 8 1 0 2 3 2 8 8
9   (6) Mike Farrell 7 2 3 1 1 0 7 9
10   (14) John Titman 7 2 2 1 1 1 7 10
11   (7) Colin Farquharson 4 1 2 0 0 1 4 11
12   (10) Larry Ross 4 1 1 1 0 1 4 12
13   (15) Robin Adlington 3 0 0 1 0 2 3 13
14   (11) Mike Fullerton 3 0 1 0 2 E 3 14
15   (8) Roger Wright 1 0 0 E 1 0 1 15
16   (2) John Goodall 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16
R1   (R1) Stuart Mountford 0 0 R1
R2   (R2) Paul O'Neil 0 0 R2
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 21

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

British Final

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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 21
    (6) Michael Lee 14 3 2 3 3 3 14 1
    (8) Dave Jessup 13 1 3 3 3 3 13 2
    (16) Doug Wyer 12 3 2 2 3 2 12 3
4   (2) John Davis 10 3 0 2 2 3 10 4
5   (5) Keith White 10 2 2 3 1 2 10 5
6   (3) Chris Morton 9 X 3 2 2 2 9 6
7   (14) Bob Kilby 9 2 3 0 3 1 9 7
8   (11) Gordon Kennett 8 3 1 0 1 3 8 8
9   (1) Terry Betts 8 2 3 1 1 1 8 9
10   (9) Alan Wilkinson 7 2 1 1 2 1 7 10
11   (15) John Louis 6 1 2 0 1 2 6 11
12   (10) Martin Ashby 5 1 1 3 0 0 5 12
13   (7) Barry Thomas 2 T 0 0 2 0 2 13
14   (12) David Gagen 2 0 1 1 0 0 2 14
15   (4) Neil Middleditch 2 1 0 1 0 0 2 15
16   (13) Malcolm Simmons 0 F - - - - 0 16
R1   (R1) Mick Bell 3 0 2 1 3 R1
R2   (R2) Frank Smith 0 F 0 0 R2
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 21

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

Continental semi-finals

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Pos. Rider Points
1   Jerzy Rembas 13+3
2   Boguslaw Nowak 13+2
3   Jan Mucha 11+3
4   Václav Verner 11+2
5   Jan Verner 11+1
6   Alexander Juchov 11+0
7   Vladimir Rozhanchuck 8
8   Grigory Khlinovsky 8
9   Andrzej Jurczynski 7
10   Zenon Plech 6
11   Istvan Sziraczki 5
12   Mieczyslaw Wozniak 5
13   Ryszard Fabiszewski (res) 5
14   Laszlo Meszaros 3
15   Sergej Djuchev 1
16   Jindrich Dominik 1
17   Pavel Khlynovski 0
Pos. Rider Points
1   Marek Cieslak 15
2   Egon Müller 13
3   Edward Jancarz 13
4   Jiří Štancl 13
5   Gregorij Ivanov 10
6   Angel Eftimov 9
7   Henny Kroeze 9
8   Jan Hadek 9
9   Hubert Fischbacher 6
10   Zdzislaw Dobrucki 5
11   Nikolaj Kornev 5
12   Siegfried Eder 4
13   Frits Koning 3
14   Henryk Glücklich 3
15   Alexander Rachimov 2
16   Andrzej Tkocz 2

Fifth round

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Swedish Final

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Pos. Rider R1 R2 R3 Total
1 Anders Michanek 15 15 14 44
2 Bengt Jansson 13 11 14 38
3 Bernt Persson 12 14 6 32
4 Tommy Nilsson 10 8 12 30
5 Sören Karlsson 8 11 10 29
6 Jan Andersson 6 9 12 27
7 Richard Hellsén 11 9 7 27
8 Christer Sjösten 9 6 9 24
9 Sören Sjösten 6 8 7 21
10 Tommy Johansson 7 7 5 19
11 Hasse Holmqvist 7 5 3 15
12 Jan Simensen 3 6 6 15
13 Åke Fridell 4 6 4 14
14 Karl-Erik Claesson 4 3 6 13
15 Börje Klingberg 4 0 3 7
16 Eddie Davidsson 1 2 2 5
17 Lars-Åke Andersson 0 - - 0
18 Conny Samuelsson - 0 - 0

Continental Final

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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 21
    (9) Jan Verner 13 1 3 3 3 3 13 1 3
    (4) Egon Muller 13 3 3 3 1 3 13 2 2
    (6) Jiří Štancl 13 3 3 3 2 2 13 3 1
4   (12) Edward Jancarz 11 3 2 2 3 1 11 4
5   (13) Jan Mucha 11 2 2 2 2 3 11 5
6   (10) Vladimir Rozhanchuk 10 2 2 0 3 3 10 6
7   (11) Grigory Khlinovsky 9 0 2 2 3 2 9 7
8   (14) Bogusław Nowak 7 3 1 2 1 T 7 8
9   (7) Jerzy Rembas 6 0 3 1 F 2 6 9
10   (2) Jan Hadek 5 2 0 1 1 1 5 10
11   (8) Angel Jeftimov 3 2 1 F - - 3 11
12   (15) Henny Kroeze 2 1 1 F - - 2 12
13   (16) Marek Cieślak 1 0 F 1 E E 1 13
14   (5) Georgy Ivanov 1 1 F - - - 1 14
15   (3) Andrzej Jurczyński 0 F 0 F F - 0 15
16   (1) Václav Verner 0 F - - - - 0 16
R1   (R1) Nikolay Kornev 5 E 3 2 5 R1
R2   (R2) Nikolay Dubrovin 1 1 1 R2
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 21

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

Intercontinental Final

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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 21
    (1) Peter Collins 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
    (15) Ole Olsen 13 3 2 3 3 2 13 2
    (12) Billy Sanders 12 2 3 2 2 3 12 3 3
4   (11) Michael Lee 12 1 3 2 3 3 12 4 2
5   (4) Ivan Mauger 9 2 0 3 2 2 9 5
6   (16) John Boulger 9 2 2 1 1 3 9 6
7   (3) Finn Thomsen 8 E 0 3 3 2 8 7
8   (9) John Davis 7 3 2 0 X 2 7 8 3
9   (5) Dave Jessup 7 3 1 1 2 F 7 9 F
10   (8) Ila Teromaa 6 1 1 1 2 1 6 10
11   (7) Doug Wyer 6 2 1 2 0 1 6 11
12   (14) Kai Niemi 5 1 0 2 1 1 5 12
13   (6) Keith White 4 0 3 0 1 0 4 13
14   (13) Bruce Penhall 3 0 0 1 1 1 3 14
15   (10) Phil Crump 2 0 2 E 0 0 2 15
16   (2) Mike Bast 1 T 1 0 0 0 1 16
R1   (R1) Trevor Geer 1 1 1 R1
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 21

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

World Final

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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
    (7) Ivan Mauger 14 3 2 3 3 3 14 1
    (14) Peter Collins 13 3 3 2 2 3 13 2
    (9) Ole Olsen 12+3 2 3 3 3 1 12 3
4   (16) Michael Lee 12+2 2 3 3 2 2 12 4
5   (3) Finn Thomsen 10 2 3 1 1 3 10 5
6   (13) Bengt Jansson 8 1 1 2 3 2 9 6
7   (1) Egon Müller 8 3 2 0 F 3 8 7
8   (5) Anders Michanek 8 2 E 3 3 E 8 8
9   (11) Billy Sanders 7 3 1 2 0 E 6 9
10   (4) Tommy Nilsson 6 0 2 E 2 2 6 10
11   (12) Bernt Persson 6 1 1 2 1 1 6 11
12   (2) John Boulger 5 1 2 E 2 F 5 12
13   (6) Edward Jancarz 4 1 1 1 1 0 4 13
14   (15) Jiří Štancl 3 0 0 1 0 2 3 14
15   (8) Jan Verner 1 0 0 0 1 X 1 15
16   (10) Jan Mucha 0 0 0 1 E X 1 16
R1   (R1) Sören Karlsson 0 0 R1
R2   (R2) Bogusław Nowak 0 0 R2
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

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  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 10 July 2021.
  3. ^ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  5. ^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Mauger wins World title". Belfast Telegraph. 3 September 1977. Retrieved 10 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Sad Olsen faces cost of failure". Telegraph. 3 September 1977. Retrieved 10 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "1977 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  9. ^ "1977 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Josef Angermüller". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  11. ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5