1961 Individual Speedway World Championship

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]}

1961 Individual Speedway World Championship

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1960

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1962

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]

Norwegian qualifying 25 June 1960 Idda Idrettsplassen, Kristiansand Top 5 to Nordic qualification 1961 Pos. Rider Points 1 Aage Hansen 15 2 Oystein Mellerud 13+3 3 Sverre Harrfledt 13+2 4 Rolf Westerberg 12 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 Bratvold 4 14 Ole Rostad 3 15 Reidar Eide 2 16 Egil Otto Tobiasen 1

Finnish qualifying 25 September 1960 Eteläpuisto, Tampere First 5 (+seeded riders) to Nordic qualification 1961 Pos. Rider Points 1 Kalevi Lahtinen 15 2 Olavi Turunen 13 3 Timo Laine 11 4 Yrjö Vuorio 11 5 Antti Pajari 10 6 Antero Salasto 10 7 Ilkka Helminen 8 8 Esko Koponen 7 9 Pertti Petersohn 6 10 Martti Assinen 6 11 Raimo Orastie 5 12 Nils Staaf 5 13 Jan Ulfingman 4 14 Valle Seliverstov 4 15 Heikki Yli Orvola 3 16 Osmo Hokkanen 2

Swedish qualifying

• Top 15 to Nordic qualifying

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
30 April	Vetlanda Motorstadion, Vetlanda	Ove Fundin	Rune Sörmander	Göran Norlen
1 May	Gamla Speedway Track, Visby	Ove Fundin	Björn Knutson	Arne Carlsson
4 May	Nya Ullevi, Gothenburg	Sören Sjösten	Rune Sörmander	Evert Andersson

Pos. Rider Points 1 Ove Fundin 30 2 Rune Sörmander 26 3 Björn Knutson 22 4 Evert Andersson 21 5 Arne Carlsson 21 6 Göran Norlén 19 7 Per-Tage Svensson 19 8 Sören Sjösten 19 9 Bert Lindarw 19 10 Joel Jansson 18 11 Leif Larsson 18 12 Göte Nordin 17 13 Bernt Nilsson 16 14 Åke Andersson 15 15 Curt Eldh 15

Pos. Rider Points 16 Olle Segerström 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 Bengt Brannefors 0 28 Olle Andersson IV 0

British & Commonwealth qualifying

• Top 64 riders to British & Commonwealth 2nd Round

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
22 May	County Ground, Exeter	Eric Hockaday	Jim Lightfoot	Pete Lansdale
24 May	Wimborne Road, Poole	Maury Mattingley	Tony Lewis	Ken Middleditch
25 May	Cleveland Park Stadium, Middlesbrough	Dick Campbell	Peter Vandenberg	Geoff Mudge
26 May	Monmore Green Stadium, Wolverhampton	Graham Warren	Harry Edwards	Eric Hockaday
26 May	Rayleigh Weir Stadium, Rayleigh	Johnny Fitzpatrick	Gil Goldfinch	Ken Adams
26 May	Pennycross Stadium, Plymouth	Jack Scott	Tony Lewis	Chris Julian
27 May	Old Meadowbank, Edinburgh	Jim Lightfoot	Doug Templeton	Dick Campbell
27 May	Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley	Harry Bastable	Ivor Brown	Peter Vandenberg
1 June	Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield	Clive Featherby	Clive Cox	George Hunter
3 June	Hanley Greyhound Stadium, Hanley	Maury Mattingley	Ken Adams	Stan Stevens

Continental qualifying

• Top 32 to Continental semi-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
28 May	Gwardia Sports Club Stadium, Poznań	Bohumír Bartoněk	Bedřich Slaný	Stanisław Tkocz
28 May	Pavlovičky Stadion, Liberec	Bronislaw Idzikowski	Farid Szajnurov	Igor Plekhanov
28 May	Matija Gubec Stadium, Krsko	Konstanty Pociejkewicz	Bohumil Rednek	Henryk Żyto
28 May	Abensberger Stadion, Abensberg	Josef Hofmeister	Marian Kaiser	Antonín Kasper Sr.

Second round

British & Commonwealth 2nd round

• Top 32 riders to British & Commonwealth semi-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
3 July	Wimbledon Stadium, London	Ronnie Moore	Ron How	Jim Tebby
4 July	Banister Court Stadium, Southampton	Peter Craven	Barry Briggs	Ray Cresp
5 July	New Cross Stadium, London	Bob Andrews	Split Waterman	Ken McKinlay
6 July	Oxford Stadium, Oxford	Jack Young	Ronnie Genz	Mike Broadbanks
6 July	Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich	Peter Moore	Johnny Chamberlain	Ray Cresp
7 July	Leicester Stadium, Leicester	Ronnie Moore	Ken McKinlay	Danny Dunton
8 July	Abbey Stadium, Swindon	Cyril Maidment	Tadeusz Teodorowicz	Neil Street
8 July	Brandon Stadium, Coventry	Peter Moore	Bob Duckworth	Bob Andrews
8 July	The Firs Stadium, Norwich	Billy Bales	Mike Broadbanks	Split Waterman
8 July	Hyde Road, Manchester	Peter Craven	Gerald Jackson	Eric Williams

Nordic Qualifying

26 May Dælenenga idrettspark, Oslo Top 8 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Points 1 Ove Fundin 15 2 Björn Knutson 14 3 Aage Hansen 13 4 Arne Carlsson 12 5 Bernt Nilsson 11 6 Göran Norlén 11 7 Leif Larsson 8 Joel Jansson 7 9 Reidar Kristoffersen 6 10 Kurt W Petersen 6 11 Sverre Harrfeldt 5 12 Torbjörn Nygaard 5 13 Paul Wissing 2 14 Nils Paulsen 2 15 Gunnar Skjetne 2 16 Jon Ödegaard 1

28 May Helsinki Velodrome, Helsinki Top 8 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Points 1 Per-Tage Svensson 14 2 Rune Sörmander 13 3 Arne Pander 12 4 Evert Andersson 11 5 Göte Nordin 11 6 Kalevi Lahtinen 10 7 Sören Sjösten 9 8 Rolf Westerberg 8 9 Timo Laine 7 10 Yrjö Vuorio 7 11 Antti Pajari 6 12 Åke Andersson 3 13 Curt Eldh 3 14 Bert Lindarw 3 15 Olavi Turunen 2 16 Esko Koponen 1

Continental semi-finals

17 June Linzer Stadion, Linz Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points 1 Josef Hofmeister 15 2 Antonín Kasper Sr. 13 3 Marian Kaiser 12 4 Konstanty Pociejkewicz 11 5 Stanislaw Rurarz 10 6 Bernard Kacperak 10 7 Henryk Zyto 8 8 Kazimierz Bentke 8 9 Valent Medved 7 10 Pawel Waloszek 6 11 Jan Malinowski 6 12 Bohumil Rendek 5 13 Zdeněk Dominik 4 14 Jaroslav Volf Jr. 4 15 Johan Hartl 1 16 Jaroslav Volf Sr. 0

18 June Army Stadium, Warsaw Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points 1 Stanislaw Tkocz 14 2 Mieczyslaw Polukard 13 3 Florian Kapala 13 4 Joachim Maj 12 5 Bronislaw Idzikowski 11 6 Igor Plekhanov 11 7 Bohumír Bartoněk 10 8 Bedrich Slany 8 9 Stefan Kepa 7 10 Adolf Slabon 4 11 Milan Spinka 4 12 Libor Dusanek 4 13 Jan Kusiak 2 14 Miloslav Ralis 2 15 Stanislav Kubicek 2 16 Farid Szajnurov 2

Third round

British & Commonwealth Semi finals

• Top 16 to British final

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
31 July	Wimbledon Stadium, London	Ronnie Moore	Barry Briggs	Bob Andrews
1 August	Banister Court Stadium, Southampton	Ron How	Peter Craven	Cyril Maidment
5 August	Hyde Road, Manchester	Ronnie Moore	Doug Davies	Nigel Boocock
5 August	The Firs Stadium, Norwich	Barry Briggs	Peter Craven	Billy Bales

Pos. Rider Points 1 Ronnie Moore 29 2 Barry Briggs 29 3 Peter Craven 28 4 Cyril Maidment 24 5 Peter Moore 22 6 Bob Andrews 21 7 Ken McKinlay 21 8 Mike Broadbank 21 9 Ron How 20 10 Nigel Boocock 19 11 Jack Scott 19 12 Doug Davies 18 13 Neil Street 18 14 Jack Young 18 15 Ronnie Genz 18 16 Ray Cresp 17

Pos. Rider Points 17 Johnny Chamberlain 16 18 Chum Taylor 16 19 Billy Bales 15 20 Split Waterman 15 21 Jimmy Squibb 9 22 Tadeusz Teodorowicz 8 23 Dick Fisher 8 24 Jack Biggs 7 25 Jack Geran 7 26 Eric Williams 7 27 Jim Tebby 5 28 Alby Golden 5 29 Tony Lewis 4 30 Ian Williams 4 31 Nick Nicholls 4 32 Bob Duckworth 0

Nordic Final

• 11 June 1961
• Gislaved Motorbana, Gislaved
• First 8 to European Final

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Ove Fundin	14
2	Arne Pander	13
3	Björn Knutson	13
4	Per Tage Svensson	12
5	Evert Andersson	10
6	Göte Nordin	10
7	Leif Larsson	8
8	Rune Sörmander	8
9	Göran Norlén	7
10	Arne Carlsson	7
11	Soren Sjosten	6
12	Joel Jansson	5
13	Bernt Nilsson	3
14	Timo Laine	2
15	Rolf Westerberg	1
16	Curt Eldh	2
R1	Aage Hansen	dnr
R1	Kalevi Lahtinen	dnr

Continental Final

• 23 July 1961
• Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slany
• First 7 to European Final, Josef Bössner seeded 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	21
	(2) Florian Kapała	14	3					3				3				2				3			14	1
	(1) Igor Plekhanov	14	2				3				3				3				3				14	2
	(6) Stanisław Tkocz	12		2				2			2							3			3		12	3
4	(8) Henryk Żyto	10		3						1			3			1			2				10	4
5	(7) Josef Hofmeister	9		1					3					3	0					2			9	5
6	(12) Konstanty Pociejkewicz	9			2					2		1			2						2		9	6
7	(4) Kaziemirz Bentke	8	1							X				2				2				3	8	7
8	(15) Marian Kaiser	7				3			2			2						X	-				7	8
9	(11) Mieczysław Połukard	7			X				1		1					3						2	7	9
10	(14) Joachim Maj	7				2		1					2		1							1	7	10
11	(16) Antonín Kasper Sr.	7				1				3	0						2			1			7	11
12	(10) Bedřich Slaný	6			3			0						1			1		1				6	12
13	(9) Stanislaw Rurarz	5			1		2						1					1		0			5	13
14	(3) Bronislaw Idzikowski	3	0						0				0				3				0		3	14
15	(13) Bohumír Bartoněk	1				X	0							0		E					1		1	15
16	(5) Bernard Kacperak	1		0			1					E					0					0	1	16
R1	(R1) Stefan Kepa	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

Fourth round

European Final

• 26 August 1961
• Praterstadion, Vienna
• First 7 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
	(8) Ove Fundin	15		3						3			3			3			3				15	1
	(11) Björn Knutson	14			3				3		3					2						3	14	2
	(3) Igor Plekhanov	11	3						2				1				3				2		11	3
4	(4) Rune Sörmander	10	2							1				3				3				1	10	4
5	(6) Florian Kapała	10		2				3			2							2			1		10	5
6	(12) Stanisław Tkocz	10			1					0		3			3						3		10	6
7	(15) Göte Nordin	9				3			1			2						1	2				9	7
8	(16) Josef Hofmeister	9				2				2	1						1			3			9	8
9	(5) Leif Larsson	8		1			2					1					2					2	8	9
10	(9) Henryk Żyto	7			2		3						2					F		-			7	10
11	(2) Evert Andersson	6	1					2				0				1				2			6	11
12	(10) Per Tage Svensson	3			0			1						2			0		0				3	12
13	(14) Göran Norlén	2				0		0					0		2							0	2	13
14	(7) Mieczysław Połukard	1		0					0					1	-					-			1	14
15	(13) Marian Kaiser	1				1	F							E		E					0		1	15
16	(1) Kaziemirz Bentke	0	NS				NS				NS				NS				NS				0	16
R1	(R1) Josef Bössner	3					1								1					1			3	R1
R2	(R2) Johan Hartl	0	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

British Final

• 2 September 1961
• Wembley Stadium, London
• First 9 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
	(7) Barry Briggs	15		3					3					3	3					3			15	1
	(3) Peter Craven	14	3						2				3				3				3		14	2
	(12) Ronnie Moore	12			3					3		3			2						1		12	3
4	(5) Ken McKinlay	9		0			3					2					1					3	9	4
5	(1) Ron How	9	2				2				2				0				3				9	5
6	(4) Bob Andrews	9	1							2				2				3				1	9	6
7	(16) Ray Cresp	8				1				1	3						2			1			8	7
8	(15) Mike Broadbanks	7				3			1			1						0	2				7	8
9	(14) Cyril Maidment	7				2		3					1		1							0	7	9
10	(9) Ronnie Genz	7			1		1						2					1		2			7	10
11	(6) Jack Young	7		1				1			1							2			2		7	11
12	(11) Doug Davies	5			0				0		0					3						2	5	12
13	(8) Neil Street	5		2						0			0			2			1				5	13
14	(2) Peter Moore	3	0					2				1				0				0			3	14
15	(10) Jack Scott	2			2			0						0			0		0				2	15
16	(13) Nigel Boocock	1				0	0							1		0					0		1	16
R1	(R1) Chum Taylor	0																					0	R1
R2	(R2) Split Waterman	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

• 15 September 1961
• Malmö Stadion, Malmö^[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	21
	(6) Ove Fundin	14		3				3			3							3			2		14	1
	(4) Björn Knutson	12	3							3				3				F				3	12	2	3
	(13) Göte Nordin	12				2	2							2		3					3		12	3	2
4	(15) Barry Briggs	12				1			3			3						2	3				12	4	1
5	(2) Bob Andrews	10	2					2				2				1				3			10	5
6	(16) Ronnie Moore	10				3				1	2						2			2			10	6
7	(3) Florian Kapała	8	0						2				2				3				1		8	7
8	(7) Rune Sörmander	7		2					1					0	3					1			7	8
9	(9) Ron How	7			2		3						1					1		0			7	9
10	(8) Peter Craven	6		F						2			3			0			1				6	10
11	(10) Ken McKinlay	5			3			F						1			1		E				5	11
12	(12) Cyril Maidment	4			1					0		1			2						0		4	12
13	(1) Igor Plekhanov	4	1				0				1				0				2				4	13
14	(5) Ray Cresp	3		F			1					0					F					2	3	14
15	(11) Stanisław Tkocz	3			0				0		0					2						1	3	15
16	(14) Mike Broadbank	2				0		1					0		1							0	2	16
R1	(R1) Jack Young	0																					0	R1
R2	(R2) Leif Larsson	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

References

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 7 July 2021.
3. "World Finals 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
4. "History Speedway and Longtrack". Speedway.org. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
5. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
6. "World Individual Final – Rider Index". British Speedway. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
7. "Ove Fundin Retains Speedway Title". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 16 September 1961. Retrieved 7 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "1961 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
9. "1961 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
10. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5