1956 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1956 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 11th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.

The World final was sponsored by the Sunday Dispatch and was televised live. Despite being televised a crowd of 65,000 saw the first Scandinavian winner in 23 year old Ove Fundin from Sweden.

Qualification Qualification started in 1955.

Stage 1 Norwegian qualification The October 1955 Norwegian final was cancelled due to bad weather, resulting in riders being seeded to Nordic round

Finnish round 23 October 1955 Helsinki Velodrome, Helsinki First 7 (+seeded riders) to 1956 Nordic round Pos. Rider Points1 Kauko Jousanen 152 Antti Pajari 143 Simo Ylänen 114 Janne Rihkajrvi 115 Aulis Tuominen 106 Pertti Mikkola 97 Erkki Ala Sippola 98 Paavo Mikkola 79 Pekka Tenko 710 Raimo Kivinen 611 Toimi Koskela 412 Nils Staaf 413 Reino Niemi 414 Pentti Paajanen 315 Kalevi Lahtinen 316 Antti Mattila 2

Swedish round 27 April 1956 Hammarby IP, Stockholm Top 6 to Nordic round Pos. Rider Points1 Dan Forsberg 142 Ulf Ericsson 133 Bernt Nilsson 134 Birger Forsberg 115 Lars Pettersson 116 Per-Tage Svensson 97 Sune Karlsson 88 Sven Fahlén 89 Bert Lindarw 710 Olle Segerström611 Rune Claesson 612 Bengt Eriksson 613 Göte Nordin 514 Alf Jonsson 215 Thorsten Carlsson 216 Thorvald Karlsson 029 April 1956 Målilla Motorbana, Målilla Top 6 to Nordic round Pos. Rider Points1 Rune Sörmander 152 Olle Andersson II 133 Göran Norlén 114 Stig Pramberg 115 Allan Nilsson 106 Per-Olof Söderman 107 Olle Heyman 98 Bertil Carlsson II 89 Kaj Forsberg 710 Joel Jansson 611 Roger Forsberg 612 Evert Andersson 513 Olle Andersson I 514 Bengt Gustafsson 215 Per Sjöholm 116 Åke Andersson 117 Bo Sandin 0

Stage 2 Nordic round 25 May 1956 Dælenenga idrettspark, Oslo Top 8 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Points1 Henry Andersen 142 Göran Norlén 113 Rune Sörmander 114 Reidar Kristoffersen 115 Olle Andersson II 116 Per-Olof Söderman 107 Stig Pramberg 108 Aage Hansen 99 Antti Pajari 910 Jörgen Stabirk 511 Werner Lorentzen512 Roger Steen 413 Torbjörn Ludvigsen 414 Erling Cae 215 Odd Johansen 216 Erhard Fisker 227 May 1956 Helsinki Velodrome, Helsinki Top 8 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Points1 Bernt Nilsson 132 Ulf Ericsson 133 Birger Forsberg 124 Lars Pettersson 115 Rolf Westerberg 116 Dan Forsberg 107 Kaukko Jousanen 98 Simo Ylänen99 Per-Tage Svensson 810 Aulis Tuominen 811 Erkki Ala-Sippola 412 Juha Rihkajärvi 413 Esko Koponen 314 Tore Mellby 215 Kalevi Lathinen 216 Pertti Mikkola 0

Continental round 29 April 1956 Army Stadium, Warsaw Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Florian Kapala 132 Edward Kupczynski 123 Janusz Suchecki 114 Edmund Nazimek 115 Marian Kaiser 116 Hugo Rosak 107 Tadeusz Teodorowicz 108 Mieczyslaw Polukard 109 Wlodzimierz Szwendrowski 1010 Josef Kysilka 511 Richard Janicek412 Rudolf Havelka 413 Miloslav Špinka 414 Karel Polak 415 Jaroslav Machac 116 Alois Jarolim 01 May 1956 Altes Stadion Abensberg, Abensberg Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Josef Hofmeister 152 Josef Siedl 143 Andrzej Krzesiński134 Albin Siegl5 Paul Cardang 6 Sebastian Wiesent 7 Alfred Aberl 8 Fritz Dirtl 9 Josef Kamper

Stage 3 British & Commonwealth round Top 21 qualify for Championship round. DateVenueWinner10 July Banister Court Stadium Ian Williams12 July Foxhall Stadium Ken McKinlay12 July Oxford Stadium Howdy Byford13 July Leicester Stadium Dick Bradley14 July Rayleigh Weir Stadium Gerald Jackson25 July Brandon Stadium Bert Edwards25 July Abbey Stadium Bob Roger

Nordic Final 8 June 1956 Ryd Motorstadion, Linköping First 7 to European final Pos. Rider Points1 Dan Forsberg 152 Ulf Ericsson 143 Rune Sörmander 134 Bernt Nilsson 125 Göran Norlén 116 Per Olof Söderman 97 Birger Forsberg 98 Ole Andersson 79 Per Tage Svensson 610 Aage Hansen 511 Rolf Westerberg 512 Stig Pramberg 313 Lars Pettersson 114 Antti Pajari 115 Simo Ylänen 016 Reidar Kristoffersen dnr17 Kaukko Jousanen dnr

Continental Final Fritz Dirtl was tragically killed competing in the Continental final. He was involved in a crash with fellow Austrian rider Josef Kamper and the fell into the path of Mieczysław Połukard. 10 June 1956 Niederrheinstadion, Oberhausen First 7 to European Final Pos. Rider Points1 Kjell Carlsson 142 Josef Seidl 143 Andrzej Krzesiński 114 Włodzimierz Szwendrowski 105 Tadeusz Teodorowicz 106 Edward Kupczyński 97 Florian Kapała 98 Mieczysław Połukard 99 Albin Siegl 710 Hugo Rosák 711 Josef Hofmeister 512 Paul Cardang 513 Sebastian Wiesent 514 Alfred Aberl 215 Fritz Dirtl 016 Josef Kamper 017 Janusz Suchecki dnr18 Edmund Nazimek dnr19 Marian Kaiser dnr

Stage 4 Championship Round Top 11 qualify, 1 reserve for World final DateVenueWinner20 August Wimbledon Stadium Ronnie Moore22 August Wimborne Road Jack Biggs23 August Wembley Stadium Brian Crutcher25 August Hyde Road Stadium Brian Crutcher29 August Odsal Stadium Barry Briggs31 August Perry Barr Stadium Alan Hunt / Doug Davies1 September The Firs Stadium Gerry Hussey (Peter Craven seeded to World final)

Scores First 11 to World final + 1 reserve Pos. Rider Total pts1 Brian Crutcher292 Ronnie Moore 273 Gerry Hussey 264 Alan Hunt 265 Ken McKinlay 266 Doug Davies 257 Barry Briggs 258 Arthur Forrest259 Dick Fisher 2410 Eric Boothroyd 2411 Peter Moore 2312 Jack Biggs 2313 Nigel Boocock 2314 Aub Lawson 2215 Split Waterman 2216 Ron How 2017 Ron Johnston 1818 Les McGillivray 1719 Bob Roger 1720 Billy Bales1721 Bob Duckworth 1722 Guy Allott 1723 Gerald Jackson1624 Eric French1425 Peter Williams 1426 Ron Clarke 1427 Bert Edwards 1328 Ken Middleditch 1329 Harry Bastable 13 Pos. Rider Total pts30 Cyril Roger 1231 Bert Roger 1232 Ray Cresp 1233 Ken Sharples 1234 Phil Clarke1135 Cyril Maidment 1036 Jim Tolley 1037 Dick Bradley938 Alby Golden 939 Arthur Wright940 George White 841 Howdy Byford 842 Ronnie Genz 843 Bob Sharp844 Trevor Redmond745 Reg Trott 646 Pete Lansdale647 Jack Geran 548 Junior Bainbridge549 Bill Holden450 Ron Mountford 451 Allan Kidd 452 Cyril Brine 453 Barry East 354 Neil Mortimer 255 Gordon McGregor 256 Alf Hagon257 Derek Tailby258 Bill Andrew1

European Final 8 July 1956 Bislett Stadium, Oslo First 4 to World final plus 1 reserve

Pos. Rider Total1 Ove Fundin 152 Per Olof Söderman 133 Ole Andersson 124 Ulf Ericsson 115 Rune Sörmander 106 Henry Andersen 87 Florian Kapała 88 Edward Kupczyński 79 Göran Norlén 710 Dan Forsberg 611 Birger Forsberg 512 Bernt Nilsson 413 Włodzimierz Szwendrowski 214 Mieczysław Połukard 215 Marian Kaiser 216 Tadeusz Teodorowicz 2

World final 22 September 1956 Wembley Stadium, LondonBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Ove Fundin (1,3,3,3,3)132 Ronnie Moore (2,2,2,3,3)123 Arthur Forrest (3,1,3,2,2)11+34 Peter Craven(3,1,2,2,3)11+25 Ken McKinlay (2,2,3,3,0) 106 Per Olof Söderman (0,3,2,2,3) 107 Barry Briggs (3,2,1,3,1) 108 Brian Crutcher (1,3,3,0,2) 99 Peter Moore (2,1,1,2,2) 810 Eric Boothroyd (2,3,1,1,0) 711 Alan Hunt (3,0,1,1,1) 612 Dick Fisher (0,0,2,1,2) 513 Doug Davies (1,2,0,0,1) 414 Ole Andersson (1,1,0,0,0) 215 Ulf Ericsson(0,0,0,1,1) 216 Gerry Hussey(0,0,0,0,0) 0R1 Rune Sörmander absent-R2 Jack Biggs did not ride-R3 Nigel Boocock did not ride-

Classification

References