The 1959 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 14th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
The event was sponsored by the Sunday Pictorial. New Zealand continued their recent domination as Ronnie Moore won his second title with a 15-point maximum and New Zealand won their fourth title in six years. Ove Fundin finished second and defending champion Barry Briggs, returning from retirement won the bronze medal ride off.
First Round Qualification results.
Norwegian round 25 June 1958 Dælenenga idrettspark, Oslo Top 6 (+1 seeded) to Nordic qualification 1959 Pos. Rider Points1 Aage Hansen152 Nils Paulsen143 Reidar Kristoffersen134 Rolf Westerberg 125 Roger Steen 116 Sverre Harrfeldt117 Tore Svaleng98 Arne Kristiansen 79 Kjell Bergh 510 Haavard Gulbjornsrud511 Oddvar Kristiansen 512 Oystein Mellerud 413 Thorbjorn Nygaard 314 Per Aulie 315 Tore Melbye 216 Egil H. Kruke 1 Finnish round 5 October 1958 Turku Hippodrome, Turku Top 8 to Nordic qualification 1959 Pos. Rider Points1 Antti Pajari 152 Timo Laine 143 Kauko Jousanen 134 Aulis Tuominen 125 Olavi Turunen 116 Kalevi Lahtinen 107 Antero Salasto 98 Pertti Mikkola 69 Esko Koponen 610 Raimo Kivinen 411 Turkka Silvan 312 Veikko Kirjonen 313 Heikki Sorri 314 Valle Seliverstov 315 Lasse Mylari 316 Reino Niemi 117 Martti Assinen (res) 118 Pertti Petersohn (res) 0
Swedish round 3 May 1959 Vetlanda Motorstadion, Vetlanda Top 6 to Nordic qualification, 2 to Continental quarterfinal Pos. Rider Points1 Arne Carlsson 152 Björn Knutson 133 Joel Jansson 124 Rune Sörmander 115 Åke Andersson 96 Alf Jonsson 97 Thorvald Karlsson 98 Allan Nilsson 99 Göran Carlsson 810 Bengt Brannefors 711 Evert Andersson 512 Per-Tage Svensson 513 Bengt Fransson 314 Olle Segerström 315 Inge Gustavsson 216 Olle Andersson 017 Gösta Edvardsson 03 May 1959 Hammarby IP, Stockholm Top 8 to Nordic qualification Pos. Rider Points1 Ulf Ericsson 122 Birger Forsberg 123 Göran Norlén 124 Bernt Nilsson 125 Bengt Eriksson 106 Stig Pramberg 107 Olle Nygren 98 Göte Nordin 89 Kjell Wårenius 810 Curt Nyqvist611 Kjell Lutteman 412 Bert Lindarw 413 Bertil Stridh 314 Hans Hallberg 315 Curt Eldh 316 Sune Karlsson 117 Sven-Gunnar Karlstén 1
Continental quarter-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 31 May Municipal Stadium, Ostrów Joachim Maj Janusz Koscielak Mieczysław Połukard 31 May Niederrheinstadion, Oberhausen Björn Knutson Florian Kapała Konstanty Pociejkewicz 31 May Pavlovičky Stadion, Liberec Stefan Kwoczala Luboš Tomíček Sr. Richard Janicek 31 May Stražišče Sports Park, Kranj Miloslav Špinka Marian Phillip Karel Průša
Second round Nordic qualification 24 May 1959 Helsinki Velodrome, Helsinki Top 8 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Points1 Bernt Nilsson 152 Ulf Ericsson 143 Olle Nygren 134 Göran Norlén 115 Birger Forsberg 116 Kjell Lutteman 97 Kalevi Lahtinen 88 Aulis Tuominen 89 Kauko Jousanen 810 Timo Laine 711 Curt Nyqvist 612 Nils Paulsen 413 Bert Lindarw 414 Esko Koponen 215 Antero Salasto 116 Pertti Mikkola 017 Torbjörn Nygaard 024 May 1959 Selskov Stadium, Hillerød Top 6 to Nordic qualification Pos. Rider Points1 Rune Sörmander 142 Arne Carlsson 123 Aage Hansen 114 Åke Andersson 115 Allan Nilsson 106 Alf Jonsson 107 Arne Pander 98 Thorvald Karlsson 99 Poul Hansen 810 Kurt W Petersen 611 Rolf Westerberg 512 Erik Kastebo 413 Roger Steen 414 Sverre Harrfeldt 315 Roger Hansen 216 Arne Kristiansen 1
Continental semi-final 14 June 1959 Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Luboš Tomíček Sr. 132 Mieczyslaw Polukard 133 Stanislav Svoboda 104 Richard Janicek 105 Bohumír Bartoněk 106 Stefan Kwoczała 107 Jaroslav Machac 98 Frantisek Irmis 99 Joachim Maj 710 Stefan Kepa 711 Stanislaw Tkocz 712 Jan Malinowski 613 Henryk Zyto 514 Bohumil Rendek 215 Jan Koscielak 116 Bronislaw Rogal 115 June 1959 Wiener Stadion, Vienna Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Konstanty Pociejkewicz 132 Florian Kapala 133 Björn Knutson 114 Pawel Mirowski 115 Josef Hofmeister 106 Josef Bössner 97 Miloslav Špinka 98 Zdeněk Dominik 79 Karel Průša510 Joel Jansson 511 Alfred Aberl 412 Jan Kolber 413 Göran Carlsson 414 Josef Kamper (res) 415 Marian Phillip 316 Josip Klemencic 217 Franz Schenk 218 Otto Holoubek (res) 0
Third round Ove Fundin - seeded to European Final
British & Commonwealth Qualifying Top 32 riders based on points accumulated progress to British semi-final DateVenueWinner2nd3rd29 June Wimbledon Stadium Ron How George WhiteRonnie Moore2 July Oxford Stadium Jack Geran Neil StreetBrian Hanham4 July Hyde Road Ron Johnston Ken McKinlay Peter Craven4 July The Firs Stadium Mike BroadbankGeoff Mardon Bob Duckworth7 July Banister Court StadiumBrian Crutcher Peter Moore Ron Mountford10 July Leicester Stadium Ken McKinlay Peter Craven Ron Johnston11 July Brandon Stadium Brian CrutcherRon Mountford Geoff Mardon11 July Abbey Stadium Mike Broadbank Les McGillivray Nigel Boocock23 July Wimborne Road Ronnie MooreRon How Jack Unstead
Nordic Final 31 May 1959 Turku Speedway track, Turku First 9 to European Final Pos. Rider Total1 Rune Sörmander 14+32 Aage Hansen 14+23 Arne Carlsson 124 Ole Andersson 115 Olle Nygren 96 Alf Jonsson 97 Kalevi Lahtinen 98 Ulf Ericsson 89 Thorvald Karlsson 710 Timo Laine 611 Göran Norlén 612 Birger Forsberg 413 Bernt Nilsson 414 Aulis Lehtonen 315 Antti Pajari 216 Turka Sivari 117 Kjell Lutteman 018 Aulis Tuominen dnr19 Allan Nillson dnr
Continental Final 21 June 1959 BBM Stadium, Munich First 6 to European Final
Fourth round Barry Briggs - seeded to World Final
British & Commonwealth Semi finals Top 9 riders based on points accumulated over two rides would progress to World final DateVenueWinner2nd3rd10 August Wimbledon Stadium Brian Crutcher Ken McKinlay Geoff Mardon11 August Banister Court Stadium Ronnie Moore Cyril Roger Neil Street15 August Hyde Road Ron How Peter Moore Nigel Boocock15 August The Firs Stadium Peter Craven Brian Crutcher George White Pos. Rider Points1 Peter Moore 272 Peter Craven 263 Brian Crutcher 264 Ronnie Moore 255 Geoff Mardon 246 Ron How 237 George White 238 Cyril Roger 219 Aub Lawson 2010 Ken McKinlay 2011 Nigel Boocock 2012 Neil Street 1813 Arthur Wight 1614 Gerry Jackson 1615 Jack Geran 1516 Ron Johnston 15Pos. Rider Points17 Bob Duckworth 1418 Mike Broadbank 1319 Ron Mountford 1220 Ian Williams 1221 Chum Taylor 1122 Jack Unstead 1123 Ray Cresp 824 Gordon McGregor 825 Bob Andrews 726 Charlie Barsby 727 Les McGillivray628 Ronnie Genz 630 Les Owen 631 Alf Hagon 532 Dick Bradley 433 Cyril Maidment 1
European Final 17 July 1959 Ullevi, Gothenburg First 6 to World final plus 1 reserve
Pos. Rider Total1 (12) Ove Fundin 143,2,3,3,32 (4) Josef Hofmeister 132,3,2,3,33 (3) Mieczysław Połukard 123,3,2,2,24 (16) Rune Sörmander 112,1,3,3,25 (13) Olle Nygren 103,2,3,2,06 (8) Arne Carlsson 93,0,3,3,t7 (9) Florian Kapała 92,3,1,0,38 (15) Björn Knutson 70,1,1,2,39 (14) Aage Hansen 71,3,0,2,110 (11) Konstanty Pociejkewicz 61,2,2,1,011 (5) Luboš Tomíček Sr. 6f,1,2,1,212 (6) Alf Jonsson 5f,2,1,1,113 (10) Kalevi Lahtinen 40,1,1,0,214 (7) Miloslav Špinka 32,0,0,1,015 (1) Åke Andersson 21,0,0,0,116 (2) Bohumír Bartoněk 10,0,0,0,1R1 (17) Ulf Ericsson -dnrR2 (18) Thorvald Karlsson -dnr
World Final 19 September 1959 Wembley Stadium, LondonBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.
References