1966 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1966 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 21st edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

In the final in Göteborg 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.^[7] 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.^[8]^[9]

First Round[]

British & Commonwealth Qualifying - 16 to British & Commonwealth Final

British & Commonwealth Qualifying[]

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Preliminary Round
20 May	Newport	Nigel Boocock		Jack Biggs
20 May	Glasgow	Ron Mountford	Charlie Monk	Eric Boocock
21 May	Edinburgh	George Hunter		Norman Hunter
21 May	Coventry	Nigel Boocock	Jim Lightfoot	Bill Andrew
21 May	Belle Vue	Brian Brett		Cyril Maidment
21 May	Wimbledon	Reg Luckhurst
23 May	Newcastle	Ivan Mauger	Brian Brett	Mike Broadbank
23 May	Exeter	Ron Mountford	Martin Ashby	Trevor Hedge
24 May	Long Eaton	Ray Wilson	Eric Boothroyd	Ivan Mauger
24 May	West Ham	Barry Briggs	Norman Hunter	Malcolm Simmons
25 May	Kings Lynn		Cyril Maidment	Peter Moore
25 May	Poole	Bill Andrew	Geoff Mudge
26 May	Oxford	Eric Boocock	Jimmy Gooch	Jim Lightfoot
26 May	Sheffield	Billy Bales	Barry Briggs	Charlie Monk
27 May	Hackney	Colin Pratt	Mike Broadbank	Ivan Mauger
27 May	Wolverhampton	Ken McKinlay	Terry Betts	Peter Jarman
28 May	Cradley Heath	Ivor Brown	Peter Vandenberg	Colin Gooddy
28 May	Halifax	Eric Boocock	Eric Boothroyd	Colin Pratt
28 May	Swindon	Barry Briggs	Martin Ashby	Arne Pander
Semi-Finals
13 June	Cradley Heath	Trevor Hedge	Colin Pratt	Mike Broadbank
15 June	Halifax	Barry Briggs	Ron Mountford	Peter Moore

Second Round[]

British & Commonwealth Final - 8 to British/Commonwealth/Scandinavian Final
Nordic Final - 8 to British/Commonwealth/Scandinavian Final
Continental Qualifying - 16 to Continental Final

British & Commonwealth Final[]

June 27, 1966
Wimbledon
First 8 to British/Commonwealth/Scandinavian Final plus 1 reserve

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	21
	(3) Barry Briggs	12	3						3				3				3				F		12	1
	(8) Ivan Mauger	11		3						1			2			3			2				11	2
	(7) Colin Pratt	10		0					2					3	2					3			10	3
4	(9) Mike Broadbank	9			3		3						0					1		2			9	4
5	(1) George Hunter	9	0				2				3				3				1				9	5
6	(6) Nigel Boocock	9		2				0			2							2			3		9	6
7	(15) Brian Brett	8				0			1			1						3	3				8	7	3
8	(4) Ken McKinlay	8	2							3				0				0				3	8	8	2
9	(16) Eric Boocock	8				3				2	1						1			1			8	9	1
10	(2) Trevor Hedge	8	1					2				3				2				F			8	10	0
11	(5) Ron Mountford	7		1			0					2					2					2	7	11
12	(13) Roy Trigg	7				2	1							1		1					2		7	12
13	(14) Norman Hunter	6				1		3					1		0							1	6	13
14	(10) Jimmy Gooch	5			2			1						2			0		0				5	14
15	(12) Dave Younghusband	2			0					E		E			1						1		2	15
16	(11) Peter Moore	1			1				0		0					0						0	1	16
R1	(R1) Martin Ashby	0																					0	R1
R2	(R2) Terry Betts	0																					0	R2
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	21

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

Nordic Final[]

19 May 1966
Hillerød
First 8 to British/Commonwealth/Scandinavian Final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Points
1		14
2	Ole Olsen	13
3	Sverre Harrfeldt	12
4		12
5		12
6	Nils Paulsen	8
7		8
8		7
9		7
10		7
11		4
12		4
13		4
14		3
15	Kurt Bøgh	2
16		1
17	Erik Kastebo	1

Continental Qualifying[]

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Quarter-Finals
8 May	Abensberg	Joachim Maj	Andrzej Wyglenda	Andrzej Pogorzelski
8 May	Meissen	Jan Mucha	Edmund Migoś	Marian Rose
8 May	Miskolc	Jerzy Trzeszkowski	Zbigniew Podlecki	Farid Szajnurov
8 May	Osijek	Gennady Kurilenko	Stanisław Tkocz	Antoni Woryna
Semi-Finals
22 May	Balakovo	Gennady Kurilenko	Antoni Woryna	Marian Rose
22 May	Rybnik	Andrzej Pogorzelski	Joachim Maj	Pavel Mares

Third Round[]

Swedish Qualifying - 16 to Swedish Final
Continental Final - 8 to European Final
British/Commonwealth/Scandinavian Final - 8 to European Final

Swedish Qualifying[]

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Semi-Finals
24 April	Målilla	Per Olof Söderman		Olle Nygren
1 May	Visby	Leif Enecrona	Göte Nordin	Leif Larsson

Continental Final[]

June 25, 1966
Slany
First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve

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	21
	(14) Andrzej Pogorzelski	12				3		3					1		2							3	12	1
	(12) Antoni Woryna	11			2					3		2			3						1		11	2
	(13) Konstanty Pociejkewicz	11				2	2							3		2					2		11	3
4	(11) Marian Kaiser	10			0				3		2					3						2	10	4
5	(2) Edmund Migoś	10	3					2				3				0				2			10	5
6	(1) Igor Plechanov	10	2				3				1				1				3				10	6
7	(9) Pawel Waloszek	10			3		1						2					3		1			10	7
8	(7) Stanisław Tkocz	9		3					1					2	0					3			9	8	3
9	(6) Pavel Mares	9		2				1			3							X			3		9	9	2
10	(8) Marian Rose	9		1						2			3			1			2				9	10
11	(3) Viktor Trofimov	5	1						2				0				2				0		5	11
12	(16) Joachim Maj	4				0				1	0						3			0			4	12
13	(10) Andrzej Wyglenda	3			1			F						1			1		0				3	13
14	(4) Stanislav Kubíček	2	0							0				0				2				0	2	14
15	(5) Boris Samorodov	2		0			0					1					0					1	2	15
16	(15) Gennady Kurilenko	1				1			0			0						0	0				1	16
R1	(R1) Jaroslav Volf	0																					0	R1
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	21

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

British/Commonwealth/Scandinavian Final[]

July 14, 1966
Sheffield
First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve

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	21
	(14) Barry Briggs	15				3		3					3		3							3	15	1
	(11) Ivan Mauger	13			3				3		3					3						1	13	2
	(8) Nigel Boocock	12		3						3			2			1			3				12	3
4	(13) Sverre Harrfeldt	10				E	3							2		2					3		10	4
5	(12) George Hunter	10			2					2		3			1						2		10	5
6	(7) Ken McKinlay	10		1					1					3	2					3			10	6
7	(15) Colin Pratt	10				2			2			2						3	1				10	7
8	(5) Mike Broadbank	9		2			1					1					3					2	9	8
9	(6) Brian Brett	6		0				2			1							2			1		6	9
10	(4)	6	2							1				1				1				1	6	10
11	(3) Ole Olsen	5	3						F				0				2				0		5	11
12	(2)	3	1					1				0				1				0			3	12
13	(16) Nils Paulsen	3				1				0	0						E			2			3	13
14	(9)	2			1		0						1					0		0			2	14
15	(10)	1			0			0						0			1		E				1	15
16	(1)	0	F				-				-				-				-				0	16
R1	(R1) Eric Boocock	0					2				2				0				2				0	R1
R2	(R2) Gordon Guasco	0																					0	R2
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	21

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

Fourth Round[]

Swedish Finals - 6 to World Final
European Final - 10 to World Final

Swedish Finals[]

Three races held on 31 May at Borås, 1 June at Linköping and 2 June in Göteborg

Rider	Points
Björn Knutsson	41
Torbjörn Harrysson	35
Leif Enecrona	33
Leif Larsson	33
Per Olof Söderman	32
Göte Nordin	31
	27
Olle Nygren	26
Gunnar Malmqvist	25
Bernt Persson	18
	14
Bengt Larsson	13
	7
Bo Josefsson	5
Bengt Jansson	4
	4
	4
Arne Carlsson	3

European Final[]

September 3, 1966
Wembley
First 10 to World Final plus 1 reserve

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	21
	(14) Ivan Mauger	14				2		3					3		3							3	14	1
	(16) Barry Briggs	13				3				2	3						3			2			13	2
	(12) Antoni Woryna	11			1					3		3			2						2		11	3
4	(11) Sverre Harrfeldt	10			2				3		1					3						1	10	4
5	(1) Nigel Boocock	10	2				2				2				1				3				10	5
6	(5) Igor Plechanov	10		1			3					2					2					2	10	6
7	(10) Mike Broadbank	9			3			2						2			1		1				9	7
8	(13) Stanisław Tkocz	8				F	1							3		1					3		8	8
9	(15) Andrzej Pogorzelski	8				1			2			1						2	2				8	9
10	(8) Marian Kaiser	7		3						E			2			2			0				7	10
11	(6) Ken McKinlay	6		2				1			0							3			0		6	11
12	(3) Konstanty Pociejkewicz	5	3						F				1				0				1		5	12
13	(2) Edmund Migoś	4	1					0				0				0				3			4	13
14	(7) Brian Brett	3		0					1					1	0					1			3	14
15	(4) George Hunter	2	0							1				0				1				E	2	15
16	(9) Colin Pratt	0			0		0						E					0		0			0	16
R1	(R1) Pawel Waloszek	0																					0	R1
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	21

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

World Final[]

September 23, 1966
Göteborg, Ullevi^[10]

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
	(16) Barry Briggs	15				3				3	3						3			3			15	1
	(11) Sverre Harrfeldt	14			3				3		2					3						3	14	2
	(1) Antoni Woryna	13	3				3				1				3				3				13	3
4	(9) Ivan Mauger	11			2		1						3					3		2			11	4
5	(4) Torbjörn Harrysson	10	2							2				2				2				2	10	5
6	(7) Göte Nordin	9		3					2					3	F					1			9	6
7	(14) Leif Enecrona	8				2		1					2		2							1	8	7
8	(13) Igor Plechanov	8				1	2							1		2					2		8	8
9	(2) Stanisław Tkocz	7	1					3				2				1				0			7	9
10	(3) Björn Knutsson	5	E						1				1				E				3		5	10
11	(12) Marian Kaiser	5			0					0		3			1						1		5	11
12	(6) Andrzej Pogorzelski	5		2				2			0							1			0		5	12
13	(8) Mike Broadbank	4		1						1			0			0			2				4	13
14	(10) Leif Larsson	3			1			0						0			2		0				3	14
15	(15) Nigel Boocock	2				0			0			1						0	1				2	15
16	(5) Per Olof Söderman	1		0			X					0					1					0	1	16
R1	(R1) Ken McKinlay	0																					0	R1
R2	(R2)	0																					0	R2
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[]

^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
^ "World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
^ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
^ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
^ "Miss oakley's title". The Times. 24 September 1966. Retrieved 9 July 2021 – via Gale Primary Sources.
^ "Swedish season". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
^ "World Championship qualifying". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5

[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 9 July 2021.

[3] "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 9 July 2021.

[4] "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.

[5] "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 9 July 2021.

[6] "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 9 July 2021.

[7] "Miss oakley's title". The Times. 24 September 1966. Retrieved 9 July 2021 – via Gale Primary Sources.

[8] "Swedish season". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.

[9] "World Championship qualifying". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.

[10] Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

v t Individual Speedway World Championship and Speedway Grand Prix seasons
Speedway World Championship	1936 1937 1938 1939 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
Speedway Grand Prix (SGP)	1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
See also	Medalists Medal Classification Grands Prix SGP riders Super Prix SGP Statistics