1972 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1972 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 27th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

The 1972 final attendance at Wembley Stadium was 75,000. New Zealander Ivan Mauger joined Barry Briggs on four title wins (2nd only behind Ove Fundin) by defeating Bernt Persson in a run-off after both riders finished on 13 points.^[7]

In heat five, Briggs was involved in an accident which all but ended his speedway career. Going into the first turn his front wheel was hit by Bernt Persson's bike which caused him to fall. He was then hit by the Russian riders Grigory Khlinovsky and Valery Gordeev. Briggs suffered a severe hand injury and lost the index finger on his left hand which caused him to temporarily retire from racing. Briggs had been considered one of the pre-meeting favourites and his favouritism had been firmed when he had beaten fellow New Zealander Ivan Mauger in heat 2.

To the boos of the 75,000 strong Wembley crowd, FIM referee Georg Traunspurger did not exclude Persson. Defending champion Ole Olsen was unlucky not to retain his title because in his first ride (heat 4) while challenging Swede Christer Löfqvist he fell and would score no points. He won his next four rides to finish in a clear third place.

First Round[]

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

British/Commonwealth Qualifying[]

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Preliminary Round
15 April	Canterbury		Malcolm Ballard	Brian Foote
16 April	Rye House
21 April	Peterborough		Phil Crump	Kevin Holden
27 April	Barrow-in-Furness		Alan Wilkinson	Malcolm Shakespeare
28 April	Workington		George Major
20 May	Halifax	Eric Boocock	Bob Kilby	Ray Wilson
20 May	Kings Lynn	Terry Betts	Malcolm Simmons	Howard Cole
20 May	Belle Vue	Ivan Mauger	Chris Pusey	Jim McMillan
22 May	Reading	Ronnie Moore	Dave Jessup	Mick Bell
22 May	Exeter	Howard Cole	Bob Kilby	Barry Briggs
25 May	Oxford	Terry Betts	Garry Middleton	Malcolm Simmons
25 May	Sheffield	Arnold Haley	Ivan Mauger	Bobby Beaton
25 May	Wimbledon	Ronnie Moore	Bob Andrews	Barry Briggs
25 May	Ipswich			George Hunter
26 May	Hackney	Geoff Curtis	Barry Thomas	Chris Pusey
26 May	Wolverhampton		Peter Collins	Norman Hunter
27 May	Swindon	Barry Briggs	Martin Ashby	Phil Crump
27 May	Cradley Heath	Bob Andrews	Arnold Haley	Bob Kilby
27 May	Coventry	Nigel Boocock	Tony Lomas	John Louis
30 May	Poole	Nigel Boocock	Geoff Curtis	Howard Cole
2 June	Glasgow	Bobby Beaton	Jim McMillan	John Louis
2 June	Newport	Bruce Cribb		Mike Broadbanks
6 June	Leicester	Dave Jessup	Ivan Mauger	Malcolm Shakespeare
Semi-Finals
20 June	Leicester	Terry Betts	Ronnie Moore	Arnold Haley
22 June	Sheffield	Ivan Mauger	Jim McMillan	John Boulger

Scandinavian Qualifying[]

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Qualifications
27 April	Stockholm	Anders Michanek		Hasse Holmqvist
30 April	Malilla	Jan Simensen	Tommy Johansson	Per Olof Söderman
1 May	Visby	Christer Löfqvist	Tommy Jansson	Leif Enecrona
1 May	Lindesberg	Bernt Persson	Sören Sjösten
11 May	Gislaved	Bernt Persson	Tommy Jansson	Torbjörn Harrysson
11 May	Avesta	Hasse Holmqvist	Sören Sjösten	Tommy Johansson
12 May	Linköping	Anders Michanek	Reidar Eide	Bengt Jansson

Continental Qualifying[]

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Qualifying Round
7 May	Maribor	Petr Ondrašík	Jan Verner
11 May	Udine
Quarter-Finals
21 May	Miskolc			Aleksandr Pavlov
21 May	Liberec	Viktor Trofimov	Yury Dubinin	Jan Mucha
21 May	Abensberg	Henryk Glucklich	Jan Holub I	Grigory Khlinovsky
21 May	Gorzów Wielkopolski	Edward Jancarz	Zenon Plech	Valery Gordeev
Semi-Finals
3 June	Prague	Edward Jancarz	Milan Špinka	Zenon Plech
4 June	Bydgoszcz	Marek Cieślak	Paweł Waloszek	Henryk Glucklich

Third Round[]

Nordic Final - 8 to European Final
Continental Final - 8 to European Final

Nordic Final[]

1 June 1972
Norrköping
First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Bengt Jansson	3,2,3,3,3	14
2	Anders Michanek	3,3,3,1,3	13
3	Ole Olsen	3,2,2,3,2	12
4	Bernt Persson	1,2,3,2,3	11
5	Hasse Holmqvist	2,3,2,2,2	11
6	Christer Löfqvist	3,3,3,0,1	10
7	Jan Simensen	2,0,2,3,3	10
8	Reidar Eide	1,3,1,2,2	9
9	Tommy Jansson	2,1,2,3,E	8
10	Dag Lovaas	1,1,1,2,0	5
11	Tommy Johansson	0,1,0,1,2	4
12	Øyvind S. Berg	1,0,0,1,1	3
13	Göte Nordin	0,2,1,0,-	3
14	Leif Enecrona	0,0,1,1,1	3
15	Per Olof Söderman	2,0,0,0,0	2
16	Sören Sjösten	0,1,0,0,-	1
R1	Christer Sjösten	E	0
R2		0	0

Continental Final[]

June 25, 1972
Cherkessk
First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Viktor Trofimov	2,3,3,3,3	14
2	Viktor Kalmykov	3,3,3,2,2	13
3	Anatoly Kuzmin	2,2,2,3,3	12
4	Valery Gordeev	3,1,1,3,3	11
5	Milan Špinka	1,3,3,2,1	10
6	Grigory Khlinovsky	3,2,F,1,3	9
7	Paweł Waloszek	0,3,2,2,2	9
8	Aleksandr Pavlov	2,2,2,1,2	9
9	Zenon Plech	F,2,2,3,F	7
10		1,1,1,2,1	6
11	Zygfryd Friedek	X,1,1,1,2	5
12	Petr Ondrašík	3,X,0,0,1	4
13		F,X,3,X,0	3
14	Marek Cieślak	0,1,1,1,0	3
15	Henryk Glucklich	2,E,X,0,X	2
16	Edward Jancarz	1,X,E,E,1	2
R1	Gennady Kurilenko	1,0,0,X	1
R2		0,0,0	0

Fourth Round[]

European Final - 11 to World Final
British/Commonwealth Final - 5 to World Final

British/Commonwealth Final[]

August 2, 1972
Coventry
First 5 to World 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
	(6) Ivan Mauger	14		3				3			3							2			3		14	1
	(12) Nigel Boocock	12			3					2		2			3						2		12	2
	(4) Barry Briggs	11	1							3				3				1				3	11	3	3
4	(8) John Louis	11		2						1			3			3			2				11	4	E
5	(9) Eric Boocock	10			2		2						1					3		2			10	5	3
6	(2) Jim McMillan	10	3					1				3				0				3			10	6	2
7	(15) Terry Betts	9				3			2			1						0	3				9	7
8	(10) Ray Wilson	7			T			2						1			3		1				7	8
9	(11) Dave Jessup	7			1				3		T					2						1	7	9
10	(13) John Boulger	7				0	3							2		1					1		7	10
11	(3) Martin Ashby	6	2						1				2				1				0		6	11
12	(16) Arnold Haley	5				1				0	1						2			1			5	12
13	(5) Garry Middleton	4		1			1					0					0					2	4	13
14	(1) Peter Collins	3	0				E				2				1				0				3	14
15	(7) Trevor Hedge	2		0					E					0	2					0			2	15
16	(14) Ronnie Moore	2				2		E					0		0							0	2	16
R1	(R1)	0			0																		0	R1
R2	(R2) Norman Hunter	0									F												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

European Final[]

September 3, 1972
Wroclaw
First 11 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
	(12) Paweł Waloszek	13			3					1		3			3						3		13	1
	(8) Ole Olsen	11		3						3			2			1			2				11	2
	(13) Anders Michanek	11				3	3							1		3					1		11	3
4	(16) Aleksandr Pavlov	10				1				0	3						3			3			10	4
5	(4) Anatoly Kuzmin	10	2							2				3				3				0	10	5
6	(3) Grigory Khlinovsky	9	3						3				3				0				0		9	6
7	(10) Christer Löfqvist	8			2			1						2			2		1				8	7
8	(11) Viktor Trofimov	8			1				2		2					2						1	8	8
9	(2) Bernt Persson	7	1					3				1				0				2			7	9
10	(6) Valery Gordeev	7		2				2			E							1			2		7	10
11	(14) Viktor Kalmykov	7				2		F					1		2							2	7	11
12	(5) Jan Simensen	6		F			2					0					1					3	6	12
13	(15) Milan Špinka	5				0			1			2						0	2				5	13
14	(9) Bengt Jansson	3			0		E						0					2		1			3	14
15	(1) Hasse Holmqvist	2	F				E				1				1				0				2	15
16	(7) Reidar Eide	0		E					0					0	0					0			0	16
R1	(R1) Tommy Jansson	0																					0	R1
R2	(R2) Zenon Plech	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[]

16 September 1972
London, Wembley Stadium^[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	21
	(6) Ivan Mauger	13		2				3			2							3			3		13	1	3
	(13) Bernt Persson	13				2	3							3		3					2		13	2	2
	(16) Ole Olsen	12				F				3	3						3			3			12	3
4	(15) Christer Löfqvist	11				3			2			3						0	3				11	4
5	(14) John Louis	11				1		2					3		2							3	11	5
6	(7) Aleksandr Pavlov	8		1					3					0	3					1			8	6
7	(4) Anders Michanek	8	X							2				2				2				2	8	7
8	(3) Paweł Waloszek	6	3						1				0				1				1		6	8
9	(8) Viktor Trofimov	6		0						0			2			2			2				6	9
10	(12) Nigel Boocock	6			2					1		2			1						0		6	10
11	(10) Viktor Kalmykov	6			1			1						1			2		1				6	11
12	(11) Anatoly Kuzmin	4			3				0		0					1						0	4	12
13	(1) Grigory Khlinovsky	4	2				1				1				0				0				4	13
14	(5) Barry Briggs	3		3			F					-					-					-	3	14
15	(2) Eric Boocock	2	X					0				0				0				2			2	15
16	(9) Valery Gordeev	2			0		0						1					1		0			2	16
R1	(R1) Jan Simensen	2					2										0						2	R1
R2	(R2) Jim McMillan	2										1										1	2	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

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.
^ "4-Timer Mauger". Sunday Mirror. 17 September 1972. 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] "4-Timer Mauger". Sunday Mirror. 17 September 1972. 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