The 1952 Individual Speedway World Championship was the seventh edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
Australian rider Jack Young became the first rider to win a second title (and the first to win two in a row) when he won his second straight World Championship after scoring 14 points. Second was Welshman Freddie Williams on 13 points, with England's Bob Oakley third on 12 points.
Qualification Qualification started on 26 May. Stage 1 Swedish round 1952 Ryd Motorstadion, Linköping First 8 to Nordic Final Pos. Rider Points1 Rune Sörmander 14+32 Sune Karlsson 14+23 Bert Lindarw 104 Helge Brinkeback 95 Göte Olsson 96 Stig Pramberg 97 Evert Fransson 88 Olle Nygren 89 Bo Andersson 810 Einar Lindqvist 711 Linus Eriksson 612 Lars-Erik Österberg 513 Lars Thaung414 Eskil Carlsson 315 Lennart Carlström 216 Kjell Carlsson 217 Joel Jansson 1
Stage 2 Continental qualifier 15 June 1952 BBM Stadium, Munich First 4 to Continental round Pos. Rider Points1 Fritz Dirtl 152 Josef Kamper 143 Sven Skoglund 114 Tinus Metzelaar 115 Leopold Killemeyer 116 Albin Siegl 97 Åke Lindqvist 88 Bob Mark 79 Thei Bischops 710 Karl Killmeyer 611 Josef Hofmeister 612 Gerrit Jonker 513 Alfred Aberl 514 Franz Neubauer 115 Reg Morgan 016 Walter Dirtl 0
Nordic Final 20 June 1952 Växjö Motorstadion, Växjö First 8 to Continental Final Pos. Rider Points1 Basse Hveem 142 Bo Andersson 133 Rune Sörmander 124 Olle Nygren 125 Sune Karlsson 106 Stig Pramberg 97 Göte Olsson 98 Kiehn Berthelsen 89 Werner Lorentzen 710 Evert Fransson 611 Reidar Kristoffersen 612 Bert Lindarw 513 Rolf Naess 514 Leo Helminen 215 Yrjö Heikkilä 216 Morian Hansen 017 Helge Brinkeback dnr
Stage 3 Continental Final 22 June 1952 Falköping Motorbanan, Falköping First 8 to International Round Pos. Rider Points1 Rune Sörmander 142 Olle Nygren 123 Stig Pramberg 114 Jim Gregory 115 Basse Hveem 116 Bo Andersson 117 Sune Karlsson 98 Fritz Dirtl 79 Josef Kamper 710 Ron Phillips 611 Göte Olsson 612 Ken McKinlay 513 Sven Skoglund 514 Edvin Fredriksen 215 Tony Lewis 216 Kiehn Berthelsen 017 Tinus Metzelaar dnr
British national round Top riders qualify for the International round DateVenueWinner 26 May County Ground Stadium Goog Hoskin 29 May Penarth Road Stadium Gerald Pugh 29 May Foxhall Stadium Noel Watson 30 May Monmore Green Stadium Benny King 31 May Aldershot Stadium Jock Grierson 31 May Abbey Stadium Harry Bastable
Stage 4 International round The top 62 riders qualify for the Championship round. DateVenueWinner7 July Wimborne Road Ken Middleditch 8 July Yarmouth Stadium Cyril Roger9 July White City Stadium, Glasgow Tommy Miller10 July Oxford Stadium Harry Saunders11 July The Stadium, Motherwell Tommy Miller14 July Stanley Stadium Peter Robinson19 July Ashfield Stadium Ron Johnston19 July Brandon Stadium Vic Emms19 July Old Meadowbank Ron Mountford19 July Sun Street Stadium Ken Adams25 July Dudley Wood Stadium Les Tolley25 July Leicester Stadium Arthur Payne
Stage 5 Championship Round Top 16 qualify for World final, 17th & 18th reserves for World final DateVenueWinner11 August Wimbledon Stadium Ronnie Moore12 August West Ham Stadium Jack Young14 August Wembley Stadium Jeff Lloyd16 August Hyde Road Stadium Ron How16 August Odsal Stadium Arthur Forrest23 August Perry Barr Stadium Arthur Payne23 August The Firs Stadium Bob Oakley27 August New Cross Stadium Split Waterman29 August Knowle Stadium Dick Bradley29 August Harringay Stadium Jack Biggs
Scores Top 16 qualify for World final, 17th & 18th reserves for World final Pos. Rider Total pts1 Bob Oakley 282 Jack Young 273 Split Waterman 274 Ronnie Moore 275 Freddie Williams 276 Ron How 267 Dick Bradley 258 Cyril Roger 259 Arthur Forrest 2410 Jeff Lloyd 2411 Brian Crutcher 2412 Arthur Payne 2413 Henry Long 2314 Derick Close 2315 Bert Roger 2316 Graham Warren 2217 Dan Forsberg 2218 Basse Hveem 2219 Trevor Redmond 2220 Alan Hunt 2221 Olle Nygren 2122 Cyril Brine 2123 Ken Sharples 2124 Tommy Price 2125 Geoff Mardon 2126 Eddie Rigg 2027 Peter Robinson 1828 Don Cuppleditch 1829 Harry Bastable 1830 Chris Boss 1731 Harry Edwards 1632 Jack Biggs 1633 Sune Karlsson 1634 Eric French 1635 Willie Wilson 1536 Eric Williams 1537 Wally Green 1438 Pat Clarke 1439 George Wilks 1440 Gordon McGregor 13Pos. Rider Total pts41 Dick Campbell 1342 Vic Emms 1343 Les Tolley 1344 Ken Adams 1345 Ron Mountford 1346 Ken Middleditch 1347 Geoff Pymar 1348 Rune Sörmander 1249 Sid Clark 1250 Len Williams 1151 Jack Parker 1052 Les Hewitt 1053 Nobby Stock 1054 Ivor Powell 1055 Billy Hole 1056 Tommy Miller 1057 Terry Small 1058 Charlie New 959 Harold Fairhurst 960 Phil Malpass 961 Jock Grierson 962 Lionel Benson 863 Gerald Jackson 864 Stig Pramberg 865 Tom Oakley 766 Fred Brand 767 Larry Lazarus 768 Louis Lawson 769 Reg Duval 670 Jim Gregory 671 Fred Pawson 672 Bruce Semmens 573 Bill Gilbert 574 Roy Craighead 575 Harry Saunders 476 George Wall 477 Bob Baker 378 Fritz Dirtl 279 Harry Welch 1
World final
18 September 1952 Wembley Stadium, London
Pos. Rider Points Heats1 Jack Young 14 (3,3,3,3,2)2 Freddie Williams 13 (3,2,3,2,3)3 Bob Oakley 12 (3,3,2,1,3)4 Ronnie Moore 10 (2,2,3,F,3)5 Arthur Payne 9 (0,1,2,3,3)6 Dan Forsberg 9 (2,3,1,3,F)7 Dick Bradley 9 (3,2,3,1,0)8 Jeff Lloyd 7 (2,2,0,2,1)9 Arthur Forrest 7 (1,1,0,3,2)10 Henry Long 7 (1,0,2,2,2)11 Brian Crutcher 6 (1,3,1,0,1)12 Split Waterman 6 (2,1,0,1,2)13 Graham Warren 5 (0,1,1,2,1)14 Derick Close 4 (1,0,2,0,1)15 Cyril Roger 2 (0,Ex,1,1,0)16 Ron How 0 (0,d,0,0,0) Basse Hveem (res) – – Trevor Redmond (res) – –
Classification
Podium Jack Young (Australia) Freddie Williams (Wales) Bob Oakley (England)
References