1971 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1971 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 26th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Ole Olsen became the first Danish winner of the Championship. His 15 point maximum denied Ivan Mauger from winning a fourth consecutive title. Mauger won the silver medal run-off against Bengt Jansson.^[7]

Format changes[]

The format of the Championship changed again for the 1971 event. This time the Swedish riders were allowed six places in the World Final to be held in Sweden. All other nations had to go through the European Final route to provide the remaining 10 riders for the World Final.

First Round[]

British/Commonwealth Qualifying - 16 to British/Commonwealth Final
Continental Qualifying - 16 to Continental Final
Swedish Qualifying - 16 to Swedish Finals

British/Commonwealth Qualifying[]

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Preliminary Round
17 April	Halifax	Dave Younghusband	Ronnie Moore	Bill Andrew
17 April	Swindon	Barry Briggs	Martin Ashby	George Hunter
19 April	Reading	Ivan Mauger	Jim Airey	Howard Cole
19 April	Exeter	Eric Boocock	Bob Kilby	Dave Younghusband
20 April	West Ham	Reg Luckhurst	Nigel Boocock
20 April	Leicester	Ray Wilson	Tommy Roper	John Boulger
21 April	Poole	Barry Briggs	Tony Lomas	Martin Ashby
22 April	Wimbledon	Garry Middleton	John Boulger	Ronnie Moore
22 April	Sheffield	Eric Boocock	Brian Leonard	Jim Airey
22 April	Oxford	Martin Ashby	Colin Gooddy	Charlie Monk
23 April	Wolverhampton	Terry Betts	Bob Andrews	Ivan Mauger
23 April	Glasgow	Howard Cole	Eric Broadbelt	Norman Hunter
24 April	Belle Vue	Ivan Mauger	George Hunter	Sándor Lévai
24 April	Coventry	Tony Lomas	Alan Cowland
24 April	Kings Lynn	Malcolm Simmons	Ray Wilson	Terry Betts
26 April	Cradley Heath	Roy Trigg	Garry Middleton	Peter Jarman
28 April	Coventry	Tony Lomas	Bruce Cribb	Ken McKinlay
30 April	Hackney	Barry Thomas	Garry Middleton	Bob Kilby
30 April	Newport	Sándor Lévai	Nigel Boocock	Bill Andrew
Semi-Finals
18 May	West Ham	Ronnie Moore	John Boulger	Barry Briggs
20 May	Sheffield	Ivan Mauger	Ray Wilson	Nigel Boocock

Swedish Qualifying[]

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Qualifications
1 May	Visby	Bengt Jansson	Leif Enecrona	Bo Wirebrand
1 May	Gislaved	Göte Nordin	Bernt Persson	Hasse Holmqvist
2 May	Malilla	Sören Sjösten	Anders Michanek
3 May	Malmö	Per Olof Söderman	Olle Nygren	Bo Josefsson

Continental Qualifying[]

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Quarter-Finals
8 May	Udine	Aleksandr Pavlov	Jerzy Szczakiel	Viktor Trofimov
9 May	Prague	Hans Jürgen Fritz	Jiří Štancl
9 May	Miskolc	Jan Holub I	Vladimir Smirnov	Henryk Glucklich
9 May	Abensberg	Jan Mucha	Andrzej Wyglenda	Antoni Woryna
Semi-Finals
5 June	Gustrow	Hans Jürgen Fritz	Henryk Glucklich	Jan Holub I
6 June	Gorzów Wielkopolski	Gennady Kurilenko	Jerzy Szczakiel	Vladimir Gordeev

Second Round[]

British/Commonwealth Final - 12 to British/Commonwealth/Nordic final
Nordic Final - 4 to British/Commonwealth/Nordic final

British/Commonwealth Final[]

June 16, 1971
Coventry
First 12 to British-Nordic Final

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	(7) Ivan Mauger	14		3					3					3	3					2			14	1
2	(2) Barry Briggs	13	3					2				2				3				3			13	2
3	(6) Tony Lomas	12		0				3			3							3			3		12	3
4	(16) Bert Harkins	9				2				2	2						3			0			9	4
5	(15) Ray Wilson	8				3			1			3						1	0				8	5
6	(5) Martin Ashby	8		2			2					1					1					2	8	6
7	(9) Ronnie Moore	7			1		0						3					2		1			7	7
8	(13) Dave Younghusband	7				0	3							1		2					1		7	8
9	(11) Bob Kilby	7			2				2		1					1						1	7	9
10	(4) Eric Boocock	6	0							3				0				T				3	6	10
11	(12) Jim Airey	6			3					1		0			2						0		6	11
12	(8) Nigel Boocock	6		1						X			2			0			3				6	12
13	(10) Howard Cole	6			0			1						2			2		1				6	13
14	(1) Geoff Curtis	6	2				1				0				1				2				6	14
15	(3) John Boulger	4	1						0				1				0				2		4	15
16	(14) Arnold Haley	1				1		0					0		0							0	1	16
	(17) Bill Andrew	0																0					0
	(18) Garry Middleton	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

Nordic Final[]

June 6, 1971
Hillerød
First 4 to British-Nordic Final

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
	(5) Ole Olsen	14		3			3					3					3					2	14	1
	(1) Reidar Eide	12	3				2				2				3				2				12	2
	(11) Bent Nørregaard-Jensen	11			2				T		3					3						3	11	3
4	(12) Kurt Bøgh	11			3					3		2			1						2		11	4
5	(4) Odd Fossengen	10	2							2				3				3				F	10	5
6	(7)	10		1					2					2	2					3			10	6
7	(6) Øyvind S. Berg	10		2				2			1							2			3		10	7
8	(3)	9	0						3				3				2				1		9	8
9	(2)	8	1					3				1				2				1			8	9
10	(10)	6			1			0						1			1		3				6	10
11	(9)	6			0		1						2					1		2			6	11
12	(14)	5				3		1					0		0							1	5	12
13	(8) Edgar Stangeland	4		0						1			1			1			1				4	13
14	(13) Dag Lovaas	2				2	0							0		0					0		2	14
15	(16)	1				1				0	0						0			0			1	15
16	(15) Jan Terje Gravningen	1				0			1			F						-	-				1	16
R1	(R1)	0																0	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

Third Round[]

British/Commonwealth/Nordic Final - 8 to European Final
Continental Final - 8 to European Final

British/Commonwealth/Nordic Final[]

July 30, 1971
Glasgow
First 8 to European Final

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
	(2) Ivan Mauger	14	3					3				3				3				2			14	1
	(6) Ray Wilson	13		3				2			3							2			3		13	2
	(9) Ole Olsen	11			2		3						2					3		1			11	3
4	(12) Nigel Boocock	11			3					3		2			2						1		11	4
5	(1) Jim Airey	9	2				2				0				3				2				9	5
6	(16) Eric Boocock	9				1				1	2						2			3			9	6
7	(4) Tony Lomas	9	1							2				3				1				2	9	7
8	(11) Ronnie Moore	9			0				3		1					2						3	9	8
9	(10) Barry Briggs	7			1			0						F			3		3				7	9
10	(8) Dave Younghusband	7		2						0			3			1			1				7	10
11	(13) Kurt Bøgh	6				2	0							2		0					2		6	11
12	(14) Reidar Eide	4				3		1					0		-							0	4	12
13	(15) Martin Ashby	3				0			2			1						0	0				3	13
14	(3) Bert Harkins	3	0						1				1				1				0		3	14
15	(5) Bob Kilby	2		1			1					0					0					-	2	15
16	(7) Bent Nørregaard-Jensen	1		0					0					1	0					0			1	16
R1	(R1) Odd Fossengen	1													1								1	R1
R2	(R2) John Boulger	1																				1	1	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

Continental Final[]

June 26, 1971
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) Henryk Glucklich	10				1		3					3		3							0	10	1	3
	(12) Jan Mucha	10			0					3		3			2						2		10	2	2
	(7) Gennady Kurilenko	10		1					3					2	1					3			10	3	1
4	(15) Jerzy Szczakiel	10				2			1			1						3	3				10	4	0
5	(11) Grigory Khlinovsky	9			3				0		0					3						3	9	5
6	(3) Viktor Trofimov	9	0						2				1				3				3		9	6
7	(1) Jiří Štancl	9	3				1				3				0				2				9	7
8	(13) Valery Gordeev	9				3	2							3		1					X		9	8
9	(4) Pawel Waloszek	9	2							2				1				2				2	9	9
10	(5) Anatoly Kuzmin	8		2			3					2					F					1	8	10
11	(2) Jan Holub I	7	1					2				0				2				2			7	11
12	(6)	6		3				0			2							1			F		6	12
13	(8) Dieter Tetzlaff	4		0						1			2			0			1				4	13
14	(10)	3			2			1						F			-		-				3	14
15	(16) Hans Jürgen Fritz	1				0				0	1						F			-			1	15
16	(9) Piotr Bruzda	1			1		0						0					0		0			1	16
R1	(R1)	3															2		0	1			3	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

Fourth Round[]

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

Swedish Finals[]

Three races held on 1 June at Eskilstuna, 2 June at Norrköping and 3 June in Stockholm

Rider	Points
Anders Michanek	41
Bengt Jansson	36
Bernt Persson	31
Leif Enecrona	31
Tommy Jansson	30
Sören Sjösten	29
Göte Nordin	28
Hasse Holmqvist	26
	24
Olle Nygren	19
Bo Wirebrand	15
	14
Bo Josefsson	12
Per Olof Söderman	11
	10
	1
	0

European Final[]

August 21, 1971
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
	(13) Ivan Mauger	14				3	2							3		3					3		14	1
	(7) Ray Wilson	12		3					3					X	3					3			12	2	3
	(9) Ole Olsen	12			3		3						3					3		E			12	3	2
4	(16) Nigel Boocock	12				2				3	3						2			2			12	4	X
5	(3) Eric Boocock	10	2						2				2				3				1		10	5
6	(12) Jim Airey	9			2					2		3			T						2		9	6
7	(4) Jerzy Szczakiel	7	3							1				2				1				0	7	7
8	(14) Ronnie Moore	7				1		3					1		1							1	7	8
9	(5) Vladimir Gordeev	6		2			0					0					1					3	6	9	3
10	(2) Jiří Štancl	6	0					2				1				2				1			6	10	2
11	(11) Tony Lomas	6			1				0		2					1						2	6	11	1
12	(8) Henryk Glucklich	4		1						X			0			0			3				4	12
13	(6) Grigory Khlinovsky	4		0				1			1							2			0		4	13
14	(1) Viktor Trofimov	4	1				1				0				0				2				4	14
15	(15) Jan Mucha	4				F			1			2						F	1				4	15
16	(10) Gennady Kurilenko	1			0			0						1			0		0				1	16
R1	(R1) Barry Briggs	2													2								2	R1
R2	(R2) Pawel Waloszek	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

World Final[]

September 10, 1971
Göteborg, Ullevi^[8]
Referee: Georg Traunspurger

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	(14) Ole Olsen	15				3		3					3		3							3	15	1
2	(7) Ivan Mauger	12+3		3					1					3	2					3			12	2
3	(13) Bengt Jansson	12+3				2	3							1		3					3		12	3
4	(3) Ray Wilson	11	3						3				1				3				1		11	4
5	(4) Anders Michanek	11	2							2				2				3				2	11	5
6	(12) Bernt Persson	9			3					1		2			1						2		9	6
7	(5) Jim Airey	8		2			1					3					2					0	8	7
8	(11) Sören Sjösten	8			2				2		2					1						1	8	8
9	(1) Nigel Boocock	6	1				2				1				0				2				6	9
10	(10) Ronnie Moore	5			1			2						0			1		1				5	10
11	(6) Eric Boocock	4		0				0			3							1			0		4	11
12	(9) Leif Enecrona	4			0		0						0					2		2			4	12
13	(2) Jiří Štancl	3	0					1				1				0				1			3	13
14	(16) Tommy Jansson	1				1				0	0						0			0			1	14
15	(15) Jerzy Szczakiel	0				0			0			0						0	0				0	15
16	(8) Vladimir Gordeev	Dsq		1						3			2			2			3				11	16
	(17) Göte Nordin	0																					0
	(18) Tony Lomas	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

Note : Vladimir Gordeev was disqualified after illegal additives were found in his fuel.

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.
^ "ole Olsen wins world speedway title". Birmingham Daily Post. 11 September 1971. Retrieved 9 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ 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] "ole Olsen wins world speedway title". Birmingham Daily Post. 11 September 1971. Retrieved 9 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.

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

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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