The 1966 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 21st edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
In the final in Gothenburg New Zealander Barry Briggs equalled the record of Ove Fundin by winning his fourth World title. Norwegian Sverre Harrfeldt took silver and Pole Antoni Woryna took bronze. Ivan Mauger, a 26-year-old New Zealander who had won the European Final qualifier finished fourth.
Format changes The format of the Championship changed for the 1966 event. With the final to be held in Sweden, six riders from Sweden would be eligible for the World Final by finishing in the top six of the Swedish finals. The remaining Scandinavian riders were pooled in with the British and Commonwealth riders and then the Continental riders, who ultimately would have only 10 places for the World Final.
Two Swedish finals were held during 1966, the three race qualifying for the World Final and another held on 7 October that was separate from the World Championship.
First round Qualification results.
British & Commonwealth qualifying Top 32 to British & Commonwealth semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 20 MaySomerton Park, Newport Nigel Boocock Jon Erskine Jack Biggs 20 MayWhite City, Glasgow Ron Mountford Charlie Monk Eric Boocock 21 MayOld Meadowbank, Edinburgh George Hunter Doug Templeton Norman Hunter 21 MayBrandon Stadium, Coventry Nigel Boocock Jim Lightfoot Bill Andrew 21 MayHyde Road, Manchester Brian Brett Jon Erskine Cyril Maidment 21 MayWimbledon Stadium, London Reg Luckhurst Bob Dugard Bob Paulson 23 MayBrough Park, Newcastle Ivan Mauger Brian Brett Mike Broadbank 23 MayCounty Ground Stadium, Exeter Ron Mountford Martin Ashby Trevor Hedge 24 MayLong Eaton Stadium, Long Eaton Ray Wilson Eric Boothroyd Ivan Mauger 24 MayWest Ham Stadium, London Barry Briggs Norman Hunter Malcolm Simmons 25 MayKing's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn David Crane Cyril Maidment Peter Moore 25 MayWimborne Road, Poole Bill Andrew Geoff Mudge Doug Templeton 26 MayOxford Stadium, Oxford Eric Boocock Jimmy Gooch Jim Lightfoot 26 MayOwlerton Stadium, Sheffield Billy Bales Barry Briggs Charlie Monk 27 MayHackney Wick Stadium, London Colin Pratt Mike Broadbank Ivan Mauger 27 MayMonmore Green, Wolverhampton Ken McKinlay Terry Betts Peter Jarman 28 MayDudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Ivor Brown Peter Vandenberg Colin Gooddy 28 MayThe Shay, Halifax Eric Boocock Eric Boothroyd Colin Pratt 28 MayAbbey Stadium, Swindon Barry Briggs Martin Ashby Arne Pander
Second round British & Commonwealth semi-finals 13 June Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Top 8 to British final
Pos. Rider Points1 Trevor Hedge 12+32 Colin Pratt12+23 Mike Broadbank11+34 Norman Hunter 11+25 Eric Boocock11+16 Dave Younghusband11+07 Nigel Boocock108 Ken McKinlay 109 Martin Ashby910 Cyril Maidment611 Geoff Mudge 512 Reg Luckhurst413 Bill Andrew314 Bob Paulson315 Eric Boothroyd216 Ray Wilson 017 Ronnie Genz (res)015 June The Shay, Halifax Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Barry Briggs152 Ron Mountford123 Peter Moore10+34 Roy Trigg10+25 Jimmy Gooch 10+16 Brian Brett10+07 George Hunter 98 Ivan Mauger99 Terry Betts710 Peter Vandenberg611 Arne Pander 512 Jim Lightfoot513 Jon Erskine 414 Charlie Monk415 Doug Templeton216 Colin Gooddy2
Continental qualifying Top 32 to Continental semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 8 May Abensberger Stadion, Abensberg Joachim Maj Andrzej Wyglenda Andrzej Pogorzelski 8 May Meissen Speedway Stadium, Meissen Jan Mucha Edmund Migoś Marian Rose 8 May Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc Jerzy Trzeszkowski Zbigniew Podlecki Farid Szajnurov 8 May Gradski stadion, Osijek Gennady Kurilenko Stanisław Tkocz Antoni Woryna
Norwegian qualifying 28 October 1965 Dælenenga idrettspark, Oslo Top 5 to Nordic Final 1966 Pos. Rider Points1 Sverre Harrfeldt 152 Per Aulie 143 Johnny Faafeng134 Thorbjorn Nygaard125 Rolf Westerberg106 Thorbjorn Aulie 107 Svein Johnsen 88 Ivar Arne Hoffgaard 89 Hans R. Gaarder610 Olav Aaen611 Einar Egedius612 Svein Svensrud413 Arne Thorbjornsen 214 Jan Terje Gravningen215 Svein Tollefsen 216 Lars Skjellfoss1 Finnish qualifying 30 July 1965 Kärpänen Speedway, Lahti Top 3 (+1 seeded) to Nordic final 1966 Pos. Rider Points1 Kalevi Lahtinen 152 Matti Olin 143 Heikki Kaprali 124 Esko Koponen 125 Antero Salasto 106 Jouko Naskali 97 Timo Sinkkonene 88 Reima Lohkovuori 89 Veikko Vesa 710 Eero Mantila 611 Reijo Tolviander 612 Juhani Taipale 513 Toivo Skytta 314 Teijo Naskali 315 Teuvo Morjavaara 216 Martti Myllyntausta 0
Third round British & Commonwealth Final 27 June 1966 Wimbledon Stadium, London First 8 to British/Commonwealth/Scandinavian Final plus 1 reserve
Nordic Final 19 May 1966 Selskov Stadium, Hillerød First 7 to British/Commonwealth/Scandinavian Final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Points1 Kalevi Lahtinen 142 Ole Olsen 133 Sverre Harrfeldt 124 Paul Wissing 125 Matti Olin 126 Nils Paulsen 87 Jonny Faafeng 88 Torbjörn Nygaard 79 Per Aulie 710 Börge Christiansen 711 Jan Holm-Nielsen 412 Preben Andreasen 413 Heikki Kaprali 414 Jörgen Mogensen 315 Kurt Bøgh 216 Jouko Naskali 117 Erik Kastebo 1
Continental Semi-finals 22 May Trud Stadium, Balakovo Top 8 to Continental final
Pos. Rider Points1 Gennady Kurilenko132 Antoni Woryna113 Marian Rose104 Konstanty Pociejkewicz 105 Stanislaw Tkocz 106 Edmund Migos 107 Viktor Trofimov 108 Boris Samorodov 99 Marian Kaiser 810 Vladimir Sokolov 711 Jan Mucha 612 Peter Leibing 413 Antonín Šváb Sr. 414 Luboš Tomíček Sr. 315 Jan Holub I 316 Hans Jürgen Fritz 022 May Rybnik Municipal Stadium, Rybnik Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Andrzej Pogorzelski 142 Joachim Maj 123 Pavel Mareš 124 Pawel Waloszek 105 Andrzej Wyglenda 106 Stanislav Kubíček 97 Jaroslav Volf 88 Igor Plechanov 89 Jerzy Trzeszkowski 10 Zbigniew Podlecki11 Gabdrakhman Kadyrov 12 Farid Szajnurov 13 Bohumír Bartoněk 14 Manfred Poschenreider 15 Václav Průša 16 Vladimir Kornev
Fourth round Swedish Qualifying 24 April, Gamla Motorstadion, Målilla Top 8 to Swedish final Pos. Rider Points1 Per Olof Söderman 152 Karl-Erik Andersson 133 Olle Nygren 134 Bengt Brannefors 105 Bo Josefsson 106 Gunnar Malmqvist 87 Willy Friberg 78 Bengt Larsson 9 Bo Magnusson 610 Therje Henriksson 611 Sune Stark 512 Jan Simensen 513 Bengt Svensson 514 Conny Samuelsson 415 Arne Hansson 316 Sven Sigurd 11 May, Gamla Speedway Track, Visby Top 8 to Swedish final Pos. Rider Points1 Leif Enecrona 142 Göte Nordin 153 Leif Larsson 114 Torbjörn Harrysson 105 Arne Carlsson 106 Björn Knutson 97 Bengt Jansson 98 Kurt Westlund 89 Bernt Persson 710 Anders Michanek 711 Nils Ringström 512 Hasse Holmqvist 413 Yngve Nilsson 314 Ryno Westergren 315 Sture Lindblom 216 Per-Åke Gerhardsson 217 Leif Söderberg 118 Lars Jansson 1
Continental Final 25 June 1966 Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný First 9 to European Final plus 1 reserve
British/Commonwealth/Scandinavian Final 14 July 1966 Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield First 7 to European Final plus 1 reserve
Fifth round Swedish Final Top 6 to World final DateVenueWinner2nd3rd31 May Ryavallen, Borås Bengt Brannefors Björn KnutsonKarl-Erik Andersson 1 June Ryd Motorstadion, Linköping Björn Knutson Per-Olof Söderman Torbjörn Harrysson2 June Ullevi, Gothenburg Björn KnutsonTorbjörn Harrysson Leif Larsson Pos. Rider Points1 Björn Knutson412 Torbjörn Harrysson353 Leif Enecrona334 Leif Larsson335 Per Olof Söderman 326 Göte Nordin317 Bengt Brannefors278 Olle Nygren269 Gunnar Malmqvist25Pos. Rider Points10 Bernt Persson1811 Karl-Erik Andersson1412 Bengt Larsson1313 Therje Henriksson714 Bo Josefsson515 Bengt Jansson416 Willy Friberg417 Kurt Westlund418 Arne Carlsson3
European Final 3 September 1966 Wembley Stadium, London First 10 to World Final plus 1 reserve
World Final 23 September 1966 Ullevi, GothenburgBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.
References