1938 Individual Speedway World Championship Explained

The 1938 Individual Speedway World Championship was the third edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]}

The Championship was won by the 28 year-old Australian Arthur 'Bluey' Wilkinson, in front of a new record crowd for speedway of 95,000. The newspapers reported that despite extra police one of the worst traffic jams of the year resulted after the meeting was over and that the air was thick with petrol fumes.^[8]

Qualifying round

• The top 28 riders over the 13 qualifying rounds would qualify for the Championship round.

width=100	Date	width=200	Venue	width=250	Winner
11 May		Tiger Hart
18 May		Frank Goulden
24 May		Tiger Hart
26 May		Billy Lamont & Tommy Allott
4 June		Wal Morton
7 June		Doug Wells
11 June		Doug Wells
21 June		Bluey Wilkinson
23 June		Cordy Milne
9 July		Tommy Croombs
16 July		Jack Milne
18 July		Wilbur Lamoreaux
20 July		Jack Milne

Championship round

width=100	Date	width=200	Venue	width=250	Winner
30 July	Hyde Road	Wilbur Lamoreaux
5 August	Knowle Stadium	Cordy Milne
8 August	Wimbledon Stadium	Geoff Pymar
17 August	New Cross Stadium	Bluey Wilkinson
18 August	Wembley Stadium	Jack Milne & Wilbur Lamoreaux
20 August	Harringay Stadium	Lionel Van Praag
23 August	West Ham Stadium	Bluey Wilkinson & Jack Milne

Points

The top 16 riders and 1 reserve, over the 7 Championship rounds would qualify for the World final.^[9]

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=40px	Qual Points	width=50px	c/f
1		53	8
2		52	7
3		50	7
4		49	7
5		49	7
6		40	6
7		37	5
8		37	5
9		36	5
10		35	5
11		34	5
12		34	5
13		31	4
14		29	4
15		29	4
16		27	4

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=40px	Qual Points	width=50px	c/f
17		26	4
18		25
19		25
20		24
21		17
22		16
23		16
24		13
25		12
26		12
27		7
28		4

World final

• 1 September 1938
• Wembley Stadium, London
• Attendance: 95,000 (all-time Wembley speedway attendance record)

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=40px	c/f	width=40px	Final Points	width=70px	Final Heats	width=50px	Total Points
1		8	14	(3,3,3,3,2)	22
2		7	14	(3,3,2,3,3)	21
3		7	13	(3,1,3,3,3)	20
4		7	11	(3,2,2,1,3)	18
5		6	9	2,2,1,2,2)	15
6		7	8	(1,3,3,0,1)	15
7		5	8	(2,3,0,0,3)	13
8		5	8	(1,2,2,3,0)	13
9		5	7	(2,1,0,2,2)	12
10		4	6	(2,2,2,0,0)	10
11		5	5	(1,0,2,1,1)	10
12	Jack Ormston (res)	4	5	(3,2)	9
13		4	4	(1,0,1,2,0)	8
14		4	4	(0,1,1,1,1)	8
15		5	2	(0,1,0,1,0)	7
16		5	2	(0,0,1,0,1)	7
17		4	0	(0,0,0,-,-)	4

Notes and References

1. Book: Oakes, Peter. 1981 Speedway Yearbook. 1981. 20–21. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. 0-86215-017-5.
2. Web site: World Championship 1936-1994. Edinburgh Speedway. 5 July 2021.
3. Web site: WORLD FINALS 1936-1994. Speedway Researcher. 5 July 2021.
4. Web site: HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK. Speedway.org. 5 July 2021.
5. Web site: WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX. British Speedway. 5 July 2021.
6. Web site: Speedway riders, history and results. wwosbackup. 5 July 2021.
7. Book: Oakes, Peter . Speedway Yearbook 1990 . 1990 . 13 . Front Page Books . 0-948882-15-8.
8. News: World Speedway Championship . Dundee Evening Telegraph . 2 September 1938 . 5 July 2021 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
9. Web site: 1938 season results . Speedway Researcher . 1 January 2024.