1954 Individual Speedway World Championship

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In the 1954 Individual Speedway World Championship was the ninth edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Ronnie Moore a 21-year-old New Zealander won his first World Championship with a 15-point maximum in front of a 90,000 attendance. He defeated his main rival Olle Nygren in the final heat. Nygren then lost the silver medal ride off to Wembley's teenager Brian Crutcher.[7] Moore's success was made all the more remarkable because he rode the meeting while still recovering from a broken leg.[8] Moore's win made him New Zealand's first ever World Champion in all forms of motor racing.

Qualification[]

Nordic Final[]

  • 3 June 1954
  • Norway Oslo
  • First 8 to Continental final
Pos. Rider Points
1 Sweden Olle Nygren 15
2 Sweden Rune Sörmander 14
3 Sweden 12
4 Sweden Sune Karlsson 10
5 Sweden Dan Forsberg 10
6 Sweden Ove Fundin 9
7 Sweden Göte Olsson 9
8 Sweden Joel Jansson 9
9 Norway Reidar Kristoffersen 7
10 Denmark Kiehn Berthelsen 6
11 Denmark Leif Bech 6
12 Norway Aage Hansen 5
13 Norway 4
14 Finland 2
15 Finland 1
16 Norway 1

Continental Final[]

  • 20 June 1954
  • Sweden Linköping
  • First 8 to Championship Round
Pos. Rider Points
1 Sweden Ove Fundin 14
2 Sweden Rune Sörmander 14
3 Sweden Sune Karlsson 12
4 Sweden Olle Nygren 10
5 Sweden Kjell Carlsson 9
6 Austria Fritz Dirtl 9
7 Sweden Joel Jansson 9
8 Sweden 9
9 England Bill Kitchen 8
10 Sweden Dan Forsberg 7
11 Sweden Göte Olsson 6
12 England 4
13 Sweden 3
14 Sweden 3
15 Sweden 2
16 Austria Josef Kamper 1
17 Sweden Per Olof Söderman 1
18 West Germany dnr
19 West Germany Josef Hofmeister dnr

Championship Round[]

Venues[]

8 events in Great Britain.

Scores[]

  • Top 16 qualify for World final, 17th-18th reserves for World final
Pos. Rider Total pts
1 Australia Jack Young 29
2 England Peter Craven 28
3 England Eddie Rigg 28
4 Sweden Ove Fundin 26
5 England Brian Crutcher 26
6 New Zealand Ronnie Moore 26
7 New Zealand Geoff Mardon 26
8 Australia Aub Lawson 26
9 England Arthur Forrest 26
10 Australia Jack Biggs 24
11 England Fred Brand 24
12 England Split Waterman 23
13 New Zealand Barry Briggs 23
14 England Tommy Price 23
15 Sweden Olle Nygren 22
16 New Zealand Trevor Redmond 22
17 England Alan Hunt 22
18 Wales Freddie Williams 21
19 England Gerry Hussey 21
20 Wales Eric Williams 19
21 New Zealand Ron Johnston 18
22 England Arthur Wright 17
23 Australia 17
24 England Dick Bradley 17
25 Sweden Rune Sörmander 16
26 England Cyril Roger 16
27 England Derick Close 16
28 Sweden Sune Karlsson 15
29 England 15
30 England Bert Roger 15
31 England 14
32 England 14
Pos. Rider Total pts
33 England Cyril Brine 14
34 England 13
35 Republic of Ireland 13
36 England Ken Sharples 13
37 Scotland Ken McKinlay 12
38 Australia 12
39 England 12
40 Wales Ian Williams 12
41 England Bob Roger 11
42 England 11
43 England Ken Middleditch 11
44 Australia Jack Geran 10
45 Sweden Kjell Carlsson 9
46 England Ron Mountford 9
47 England Dent Oliver 9
48 Sweden Joel Jansson 8
49 England Eric Boothroyd 8
50 England 8
51 New Zealand Brian McKeown 8
52 England Jim Lightfoot 9
53 England 8
54 Sweden 7
55 Austria Fritz Dirtl 7
56 England Bob Oakley 7
57 Australia 7
58 England Wally Green 6
59 England Phil Clarke 6
60 England Billy Bales 5
61 England 4
62 England 4
63 England 4
64 Australia 2

World final[]

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 New Zealand Ronnie Moore (3,3,3,3,3) 15
2 England Brian Crutcher (3,2,2,3,3) 13+3
3 Sweden Olle Nygren (2,3,3,3,2) 13+2
4 Australia Jack Young (3,1,3,3,1) 11
5 England Split Waterman (2,1,3,1,2) 9
6 New Zealand Barry Briggs (1,2,2,2,2) 9
7 England Eddie Rigg (0,3,2,2,0) 7
8 England Fred Brand (3,1,0,2,1) 7
9 Australia Jack Biggs (1,3,1,1,1) 7
10 England Arthur Forrest (0,1,0,2,3) 5
11 England Tommy Price (1,0,2,0,2) 5
12 New Zealand Geoff Mardon (2,2,1,0,0) 5
13 New Zealand Trevor Redmond (0,2,1,1,1) 5
14 Australia Aub Lawson (2,0,0,2,0) 4
15 England Peter Craven (F,0,0,0,3) 3
16 Sweden Ove Fundin (1,0,1,0,F) 2
R1 England Alan Hunt did not ride –
R2 Wales Freddie Williams did not ride –

Classification[]

Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos
1 New Zealand (14) Ronnie Moore 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
2 England (6) Brian Crutcher 13+3 3 2 2 3 3 13 2
3 Sweden (11) Olle Nygren 13+2 2 3 3 3 2 13 3
4 Australia (10) Jack Young 11 3 1 3 3 1 11 4
5 England (15) Split Waterman 9 2 1 3 1 2 9 5
6 New Zealand (7) Barry Briggs 9 1 2 2 2 2 9 6
7 England (5) Eddie Rigg 7 0 3 2 2 0 7 7
8 England (4) Fred Brand 7 3 1 0 2 1 7 8
9 Australia (16) Jack Biggs 7 1 3 1 1 1 7 9
10 England (1) Arthur Forrest 5 0 1 0 1 3 5 10
11 England (3) Tommy Price 5 1 0 2 0 2 5 11
12 New Zealand (8) Geoff Mardon 5 2 2 1 0 0 5 12
13 New Zealand (13) Trevor Redmond 5 0 2 1 1 1 5 13
14 Australia (2) Aub Lawson 4 2 0 0 2 0 4 14
15 England (9) Peter Craven 3 - 0 0 0 3 3 15
16 Sweden (12) Ove Fundin 2 1 0 1 0 - 2 16
England (17) Alan Hunt 0 0
Wales (18) Freddie Williams 0 0
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside

References[]

  1. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  2. ^ "World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  3. ^ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  4. ^ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  6. ^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Moore Wins World Speedway Title". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 17 September 1954. Retrieved 5 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Profile". Moore Park Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  9. ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
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