1962 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1962 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 17th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.

The final was sponsored by the Sunday Pictorial and England's Peter Craven won his second title finishing one point ahead of two-time champion Barry Briggs. Three time champion Ove Fundin defeated fellow Swede Björn Knutson in a ride off to claim the bronze medal.

First round Qualification results.

British & Commonwealth provincial qualifying Top 16 riders to British Provincial final DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 4 JuneBrough Park, Newcastle upon Tyne Brian Craven Stan Stevens Gil Goldfinch 4 JuneCounty Ground, Exeter Cliff Cox Len Silver Chris Julian 6 JuneWimborne Road, Poole Tony Lewis Peter Vandenberg Geoff Mudge 7 JuneCleveland Park Stadium, Middlesbrough Peter Vandenberg Eric Boothroyd Wayne Briggs 7 JuneOwlerton Stadium, Sheffield Guy Allott Clive Featherby Dick Campbell 7 JunePennycross Stadium, Plymouth Jimmy Squibb Peter Jarman Ross Gilbertson 8 JuneMonmore Green, Wolverhampton Willie Templeton Graham Warren Norman Hunter 8 JuneLeicester Stadium, Leicester Ivor Brown Harry Edwards Gil Goldfinch 8 JuneGreenfield Stadium, Bradford Brian Craven Cliff Cox Tommy Roper 9 JuneNeath Abbey Stadium, Neath Eric Boothroyd Trevor Redmond Geoff Mudge 9 JuneOld Meadowbank, Edinburgh Wayne Briggs Clive Featherby Doug Templeton 9 JuneDudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Ivor Brown Ross Gilbertson Tony Lewis 9 JuneSun Street Stadium, Hanley Ken Adams Peter Jarman Tommy Roper

Norwegian qualifying 22 October 1961 Krohnsminde Idrettsplass, Bergen Top 5 to Nordic qualification 1962 Pos. Rider Points1 Aage Hansen142 Sverre Harrfeldt123 Reidar Kristoffersen114 Egil Bratvold95 Svein Johnsen 96 Oystein Mellerud97 Cato Agnor 88 Per Aulie89 Bjarne Sorenby 710 Odvar Kristiansen611 Jon Odegaard 612 Fred Roger Steen 513 Haavard Gulbjörnrud 514 Reidar Bakken 415 Gunnar Skjetene4 Finnish qualifying 17 September 1961 Turku Hippodrome, Turku First 5 to Nordic qualification 1962 Pos. Rider Points1 Timo Laine 152 Antti Pajari 143 Ilkka Helminen 134 Esko Koponen 125 Olavi Turunen 116 Antero Salasto 107 Veikko Kirjonen 8 8 Martti Assinen 89 Nils Staaf 710 Jan Ulfingman 611 Reijo Saburin 512 Martti Koivuoja 513 Osmo Hokkannen 214 Pertti Petersohn 215 Bertil Kollroos 0

Swedish qualifying Top 15 to Nordic qualifying DateVenueWinner2nd3rd29 April Gamla Motorstadion, Målilla Ove Fundin Rune SörmanderLeif Larsson 1 May Gamla Speedway Track, Visby Björn Knutson Curt Eldh Göte Nordin 3 May Hammarby IP, Stockholm Ove FundinBjörn KnutsonLeif Larsson Pos. Rider Points1 Ove Fundin 302 Björn Knutson 273 Rune Sörmander 264 Leif Larsson 255 Curt Eldh 246 Per-Tage Svensson 227 Göte Nordin 208 Bengt Brannefors 209 Evert Andersson 1910 Sören Sjösten 18 11 Joel Jansson 1712 Arne Carlsson 1613 Åke Andersson 16Pos. Rider Points14 Göran Norlén 1515 Kjell Svensson 1216 Willihard Thomsson1117 Inge Gustafsson 1018 Göran Carlsson 719 Sigvard Johansson520 Jan Ekeroth521 Kurt Westlund422 Thore Kindstrand 223 Curt Nyqvist 224 Olle Nygren 225 Per-Åke Lundgren 226 Bengt Jansson 2

Continental qualifying Top 32 to Continental semi-final DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 7 April Praterstadion, Vienna Luboš Tomíček Sr. Manfred Poschenreider Josef Bössner 13 May Rivne Speedway Stadium, Rivne Joachim Maj Bedřich Slaný Viktor Trofimov 13 May Trade Union Stadium, Ostrava Antonín Kasper Sr. Andrzej Domiszewski Konstanty Pociejkewicz 13 May Gradski Stadion, Osijek Paweł Waloszek Florian Kapała Igor Plekhanov

Second Round Nordic Qualifying 24 May Odense Athletics Stadium, Odense Top 8 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Points1 Björn Knutson 142 Ove Fundin 133 Leif Larsson114 Göran Norlén 115 Sören Sjösten 116 Kurt W Petersen 107 Sverre Harrfeldt 98 Willihard Thomsson827 May Målilla Motorbana, Målilla Top 8 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Points1 Göte Nordin 152 Åke Andersson 123 Bengt Brannefors 124 Arne Carlsson 115 Rune Sörmander 116 Inge Gustafsson 97 Per-Tage Svensson 98 Aage Hansen 99 Evert Andersson 810 Paul Wissing 611 Kalevi Lahtinen 512 Esko Koponen 313 Timo Laine 414 Göran Carlsson 315 Olavi Turunen 316 Illka Helminen 017 Antti Pajari 0

British Provincial final 15 June, Monmore Green Stadium, Wolverhampton Top 6 riders to British national league round Pos. Rider Points1 Peter Vandenberg142 Jimmy Squibb 10+33 Doug Templeton10+24 Brian Craven 10+15 Gil Goldfinch 10+06 Trevor Redmond 97 Geoff Mudge 98 Ivor Brown 89 Cliff Cox 8Pos. Rider Points10 Wayne Briggs 711 Ken Adams 612 Eric Boothroyd 513 Ross Gilbertson214 Stan Stevens 215 Tony Lewis 016 Pete Jarman 017 Tommy Roper 0

Continental semi-finals 3 June Army Sports Club Stadium, Lviv Top 8 to Continental final

Pos. Rider Points1 Bedřich Slaný132 Janusz Suchecki123 Jaroslav Volf114 Boris Samorodov115 Joachim Maj96 Konstanty Pociejkewicz97 Bronislaw Rogal98 Antonin Novak89 Farid Szajnurov710 Leonid Drobiazko711 Norbert Świtała712 Wiktor Kuzniecow 513 Viktor Trofimov514 Antonín Kasper Sr.415 Andrzej Domiszewski216 Jurij Olenew117 Mieczysław Połukard03 June Army Stadium, Warsaw Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Marian Kaiser142 Henryk Zyto133 Florian Kapala124 Stanislaw Tkocz115 Luboš Tomíček Sr.116 Pawel Waloszek107 Igor Plechanov98 Stanislav Kubicek89 Jan Malinowski610 Jan Kusiak 611 Karel Průša 612 Drago Perko 513 Josef Bössner 314 Valent Medved315 Kurt Wilder316 Alfred Sitzwohl0

Third round British & Commonwealth national league round Top 16 to British & Commonwealth final DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 30 JuneBrandon Stadium, Coventry Ken McKinlay Ron Mountford Barry Briggs 30 JuneAbbey Stadium, Swindon Ronnie Moore Les Owen Bob Andrews 2 JulyWimbledon Stadium, London Ronnie Moore Barry Briggs Peter Moore 3 JulyBanister Court Stadium, Southampton Alby Golden Neil Street Ronnie Genz 5 JulyOxford Stadium, Oxford Peter Craven Billy Bales Mike Broadbanks 6 JulyFoxhall Stadium, Ipswich Barry Briggs Dick Fisher Peter Moore 6 JulyLeicester Stadium, Leicester Peter Craven Ron How Ian Williams 7 JulyThe Firs Stadium, Norwich Ron How Bob Andrews Billy Bales 7 JulyHyde Road, Manchester Peter Craven Dick Fisher Gerald Jackson

Nordic Final July 3, 1962 Selskov Stadium, Hillerød First 8 to European Final

Continental Final 17 June 1962 Olympic Stadium Wrocław, Wrocław First 8 to European Final

Fourth round British & Commonwealth Finals Three events with the top 8 accumulated scorers going through to World final. DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 23 JulyWimbledon Stadium, London Peter Craven Ronnie Moore Barry Briggs 24 JulyBanister Court Stadium, Southampton Peter Craven Barry BriggsKen McKinlay 27 JulyThe Firs Stadium, Norwich Barry BriggsRonnie Moore Peter Craven Pos. Rider Points1 Peter Craven41+32 Barry Briggs 41+23 Ronnie Moore 384 Ken McKinlay 33 5 Ron How 306 Ron Mountford 29 7 Bob Andrews 298 Mike Broadbanks 26Pos. Rider Points9 Nigel Boocock 22 10 Peter Moore 1911 Dick Fisher 1112 Peter Vandenberg 1113 Cyril Roger 1014 Brian Craven 715 Ian Williams 716 Billy Bales 317 Ronnie Genz 3

European Final 26 June 1962 Dælenenga idrettspark, Oslo First 8 to World Final plus 1 reserve

World Final 8 September 1962 Wembley Stadium, LondonBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. Referee: C. H. King

References