1961 Individual Speedway World Championship Explained

The 1961 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 16th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

The final was held outside of Wembley and England for the first time when on the 15 September Ove Fundin retained his title in his home country of Sweden. It was the first time a rider had won three titles and Sweden produced a clean sweep of podium places with Björn Knutson and Göte Nordin finishing second and third.[7]

First round

Qualification results.[8] [9]

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Norwegian qualifying

width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=40pxPoints
1 Aage Hansen 15
2 Oystein Mellerud 13+3
3 Sverre Harrfledt13+2
4 Rolf Westerberg12
5 Oddvar Kristiansen 9
6 Gunnar Skvetne 8
7 Jon Odegaard 8
8 Arne Kristiansen 7
9 Bjarne Sörenbye 7
10 Fred Roger Steen 7
11 Reidar Bakken 6
12 Egil H. Kruke 4
13 Egil Bratvold4
14 Ole Rostad 3
15 2
16 Egil Otto Tobiasen1
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Finnish qualifying

Swedish qualifying

  • Top 15 to Nordic qualifying
width=100Datewidth=280Venuewidth=180Winnerwidth=1802ndwidth=1803rd
30 April Ove FundinRune SörmanderGöran Norlen
1 May Ove FundinBjörn Knutson Arne Carlsson
4 May Sören SjöstenRune SörmanderEvert Andersson
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width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=40pxPoints
1 30
2 26
3 22
4 21
5 21
6 19
7 19
8 19
9 19
10 18
11 18
12 17
13 16
14 15
15 15
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width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=40pxPoints
16 13
17 Inge Gustafsson 9
18 Göran Carlsson 7
19 Kjell Lutteman 7
20 Thore Kindstrand 6
21 Thorvald Karlsson 5
22 Curt Nyqvist 4
23 Kjell Svensson 3
24 Bo Magnusson 1
25 Per-Åke Lundgren 1
26 Hans Hallberg 0
27 0
28 Olle Andersson IV 0

British & Commonwealth qualifying

  • Top 64 riders to British & Commonwealth 2nd Round
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22 MayPete Lansdale
24 MayKen Middleditch
25 MayGeoff Mudge
26 MayEric Hockaday
26 MayKen Adams
26 MayChris Julian
27 MayDick Campbell
27 MayPeter Vandenberg
1 JuneGeorge Hunter
3 JuneHanley Greyhound Stadium, HanleyStan Stevens

Continental qualifying

  • Top 32 to Continental semi-finals
width=100Datewidth=280Venuewidth=200Winnerwidth=2002ndwidth=2003rd
28 May Stanisław Tkocz
28 May Igor Plekhanov
28 May Henryk Żyto
28 May Antonín Kasper Sr.

Second round

British & Commonwealth 2nd round

  • Top 32 riders to British & Commonwealth semi-finals
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3 JulyWimbledon Stadium, London Jim Tebby
4 JulyRay Cresp
5 JulyNew Cross Stadium, London Ken McKinlay
6 JulyMike Broadbanks
6 JulyRay Cresp
7 JulyDanny Dunton
8 JulyNeil Street
8 JulyBob Andrews
8 JulySplit Waterman
8 JulyEric Williams

Nordic Qualifying

width=50% valign=top
width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=40pxPoints
1 15
2 14
3 13
4 12
5 11
6 11
7
8 7
9 6
10 6
11 5
12 5
13 2
14 2
15 Gunnar Skjetne 2
16 Jon Ödegaard 1
width=50% valign=top
width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=40pxPoints
1 14
2 13
3 12
4 11
5 11
6 10
7 9
8 8
9 7
10 7
11 6
12 3
13 3
14 3
15 Olavi Turunen 2
16 Esko Koponen 1

Continental semi-finals

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width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=40pxPoints
1 15
2 13
3 12
4 11
5 10
6 10
7 8
8 8
9 7
10 6
11 6
12 5
13 Zdeněk Dominik 4
14 Jaroslav Volf Jr. 4
15 Johan Hartl 1
16 Jaroslav Volf Sr. 0
width=50% valign=top
width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=40pxPoints
1 14
2 13
3 13
4 12
5 11
6 11
7 10
8 8
9 7
10 4
11 4
12 Libor Dusanek 4
13 Jan Kusiak 2
14 Miloslav Ralis 2
15 Stanislav Kubicek 2
16 2

Third round

British & Commonwealth Semi finals

  • Top 16 to British final
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31 JulyWimbledon Stadium, London Ronnie Moore Barry Briggs Bob Andrews
1 AugustRon How Peter Craven Cyril Maidment
5 AugustRonnie Moore Doug Davies Nigel Boocock
5 AugustBarry Briggs Peter Craven Billy Bales
width=50% valign=top
width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=40pxPoints
1 29
2 Barry Briggs29
3 28
4 24
5 Peter Moore22
6 21
7 21
8 21
9 20
10 19
11 Jack Scott19
12 Doug Davies18
13 18
14 18
15 18
16 17
width=50% valign=top
width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=40pxPoints
17 16
18 16
19 15
20 Split Waterman15
21 9
22 8
23 Dick Fisher8
24 7
25 7
26 7
27 5
28 5
29 4
30 4
31 4
32 0

Nordic Final

width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=50pxTotal
1 14
2 13
3 13
4 12
5 10
6 10
7 8
8 8
9 7
10 7
11 6
12 5
13 3
14 2
15 1
16 2
R1 dnr
R1 dnr

Continental Final

Fourth round

European Final

  • 26 August 1961
  • Praterstadion, Vienna
  • First 7 to World Final plus 1 reserve

British Final

  • 2 September 1961
  • Wembley Stadium, London
  • First 9 to World final plus 1 reserve

World Final

References

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. 7 July 2021.
  3. Web site: World Finals 1936-1994. Speedway Researcher. 7 July 2021.
  4. Web site: History Speedway and Longtrack. Speedway.org. 7 July 2021.
  5. Web site: Speedway riders, history and results. wwosbackup. 7 July 2021.
  6. Web site: World Individual Final – Rider Index. British Speedway. 7 July 2021.
  7. News: Ove Fundin Retains Speedway Title . Coventry Evening Telegraph . 16 September 1961 . 7 July 2021 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
  8. Web site: 1961 World Championship . Metal Speedway . 20 January 2024.
  9. Web site: 1961 World Championship . Speedway.org . 20 January 2024.
  10. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.

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