1969 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1969 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 24th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

1969 Individual Speedway World Championship

Previous

1968

Next

1970

The final was sponsored by the Sunday Mirror and held at Wembley. Ivan Mauger retained his title and won £1,000 in prize money. Barry Briggs finished second again after beating Sören Sjösten in a run-off for silver.^[7][8]

Format changes

The format of the Championship changed again for the 1969 event. This time the Swedish riders were pooled with the Continental and European sections that would provide 10 riders for the World Final, while the British and Commonwealth riders would supply 6 riders for the World Final to be held at Wembley Stadium in London.

First round

Qualification results.^[9][10]

Norwegian qualifying 13 October 1968 Kongsberg Idrettsparken, Kongsberg Top 4 (+2 seeded) to Nordic qualification 1969 Pos. Rider Points 1 Reidar Eide 15 2 Oyvind S. Berg 14 3 Per Aulie 13 4 Ulf Lovaas 10 5 Einar Egedius 9 6 Odd Fossengen 9 7 Helge Langli 9 8 Jan Terje Gravningen 8 9 Thorbjorn Nygaard 8 10 Svein Kaasa 6 11 Edgar Stangeland 6 12 Sverre Holm 3 13 Kjell P. Skaeveland 3 14 Per H. Hansen 2 15 Kare Heia 2 16 Thorbjorn Olsen 2

Finnish qualifying (top 8) (2 rounds) 2 Aug & 21 Sep 1968 Eteläpuisto, Tampere & Kärpänen Speedway, Lahti Top 3 (+seeded riders) to Nordic qualification 1969 Pos. Rider Points Total 1 Matti Olin 8+8 16 2 Reima Lohkovuori 6+4 10 3 Jouko Naskali 0+6 6 4 Esko Koponen 4+2 6 5 Jorma Taipale 3+0 3 6 Kauko Reima 0+3 3 7 Juhani Lappi 2+1 3 8 Olavi Tutunen 1+0 1

Swedish qualification

• Top 8 in each heat to Nordic qualification

25 April, Ullevi, Göteborg Pos Rider Points 1 Ove Fundin 15 2 Bengt Brannefors 14 3 Bengt Larsson 13 4 Bo Josefsson 12 5 Conny Samuelsson 10 6 Hans Hallberg 10 7 Benny Lundström 9 8 Sune Stark 7 9 Nils Ringström 7 10 Börje Melin 6 11 Inge Gustafsson 6 12 Willy Friberg 5 13 Ryno Westergren 3 14 Olle Åhnström 2 15 Reine Södergren 1 16 Sören Backlund 0

27 April, Vetlanda Motorstadion Pos Rider Points 1 Bengt Jansson 15 2 Gunnar Malmqvist 14 3 Bengt Svensson 12 4 Sven-Inge Svensson 11 5 Runo Wedin 11 6 Tommy Johansson 9 7 Bo Magnusson 8 8 Jan Simensen 9 9 Åke Andersson 6 10 Sonny Widergren 6 11 Birger Aniander 5 12 Sixten Carlberg 4 13 Jan Strid 4 14 Lennart Michanek 3 15 Arne Hansson 3 16 Lars Jennefors 1

28 April, Ryavallen, Borås Pos Rider Points 1 Bernt Persson 14 2 Göte Nordin 13 3 Per-Olof Söderman 13 4 Sören Sjösten 10 5 Håkan Karlsson 9 6 Olle Nygren 8 7 Börje Olsson 8 8 Bengt Andersson 8 9 Sigvard Johansson 8 10 Per Sjöholm 7 11 Allan Dahlöf 7 12 Stig Pettersson 4 13 Hans Johansson 4 14 Yngve Nilsson 3 15 Käll Haage 3 16 Lennart Karlsson 1

29 April, Avestavallen, Avesta Pos Rider Points 1 Leif Enecrona 12 2 Hasse Holmqvist 11 3 Anders Michanek 11 4 Leif Larsson 8 5 Sven Sigurd 8 6 Christer Löfqvist 8 7 Per-Åke Gerhardsson 6 8 Therje Henriksson 6 9 Tommy Bergqvist 5 10 Lars Jansson 5 11 Egon Stengarn 4 12 Rolf Karlsson 3 13 Lars Eriksson 2 14 Hans Utterström 2 15 Curt Nyqvist 1 16 Jan Holmqvist 0

Continental qualifying

• Top 32 to Continental semi-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
11 May	Speedway Stadion, Ruhpolding	Antoni Woryna	Edward Jancarz	Manfred Poschenreider
11 May	Matija Gubec Stadium, Krško	Jerzy Trzeszkowski	Zdislaw Dobrucki	Gennady Kurilenko
11 May	Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc	Vladimir Smirnov	Zbigniew Podlecki	Paweł Waloszek
11 May	Paul Greifzu Stadium, Stralsund	Viktor Trofimov	Zygmunt Pytko	Jürgen Hehlert

British/Commonwealth qualifying

• Top 32 to British/Commonwealth semi-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
17 May	The Shay, Halifax	Eric Boocock	Charlie Monk	Reg Luckhurst
17 May	Cliftonhill, Coatbridge	Jim McMillan	Bert Harkins	Trevor Hedge
19 May	Brough Park, Newcastle	Eric Boocock	Ray Wilson	Dave Gifford
19 May	County Ground Stadium, Exeter	Barry Briggs	Martin Ashby	Tony Clarke
20 May	Leicester Stadium, Leicester	Martin Ashby	Howard Cole	John Boulger
20 May	West Ham Stadium, London	Norman Hunter	Stan Stevens	Ken McKinlay
21 May	Wimborne Road, Poole	Geoff Mudge	Ivan Mauger	Pete Smith
22 May	Oxford Stadium, Oxford	Eddie Reeves	Pete Smith	Mike Broadbanks
22 May	Wimbledon, London	Ronny Moore	Tony Clarke	Ivan Mauger
22 May	Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield	Arnold Haley	Jim Airey	Nigel Boocock
23 May	Somerton Park, Newport	Sándor Lévai	Frank Shuter	Reg Luckhurst
23 May	Hampden Park, Glasgow	Charlie Monk	Barry Briggs	Jim McMillan
23 May	Hackney Wick Stadium, London	Colin Pratt	Garry Middleton	Pete Smith
23 May	Monmore Green, Wolverhampton	Nigel Boocock	James Bond	Norman Hunter
24 May	Hyde Road, Manchester	Ivan Mauger	Ray Wilson	Chris Pusey
24 May	Brandon Stadium, Coventry	Nigel Boocock	Norman Hunter	Coll Cottrell
1 June	King's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn	Terry Betts	Malcolm Simmons	Martin Ashby
9 June	Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley	Roy Trigg	Bob Andrews	James Bond
11 June	Abbey Stadium, Swindon	Barry Briggs	Jim Airey	Clive Hitch

Second round

Nordic qualification

1 May, Gamla Speedway Track Visby Pos Rider Points 1 Sören Sjösten 13 2 Bernt Persson 13 3 Hasse Holmqvist 13 4 Bengt Larsson 12 5 Gunnar Malmqvist 12 6 Runo Wedin 10 7 Öyvind S. Berg 10 8 Therje Henriksson 8 9 Christer Löfqvist 8 10 Börje Olsson 5 11 Conny Samuelsson 4 12 Bent Nörregaard-Jensen 4 13 Torbjörn Karlsson 4 14 Svein Kaasa 2 15 Jan Höijvind 1 16 Reima Lohkovuori 0

1 May, Kumla Motorstadion Kumla Pos Rider Points 1 Bengt Jansson 13 2 Per-Olof Söderman 13 3 Jan Simensen 13 4 Nils Ringström 12 5 Reidar Eide 11 6 Anders Michanek 11 7 Bengt Andersson 8 8 Sven Sigurd 8 9 Kurt Bögh 7 10 Hans Hallberg 6 11 Ulf Lövaas 5 12 Sven-Inge Svensson 4 13 Bengt Brannefors 3 14 Esko Koponen 2 15 Godtfred Andreasen 2 16 Helge Langli 1

1 May, Gislaved Motorbana Gislaved Pos Rider Points 1 Ove Fundin 15 2 Göte Nordin 14 3 Ole Olsen 13 4 Bo Josefsson 12 5 Odd Fossengen 11 6 Bengt Svensson 10 7 Benny Lundström 8 8 Tommy Johansson 8 9 Sigvard Johansson 6 10 Sune Stark 6 11 Per-Åke Gerhardsson 4 12 Jens Ring 4 13 Matti Olin 3 14 Per Aulie 2 15 Håkan Karlsson 1 16 Leif Enecrona 0

Continental semi-finals

7 June Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slany Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points 1 Antoni Woryna 13 2 Zbigniew Podlecki 11 3 Andrzej Wyglenda 11 4 Jan Mucha 10 5 Edward Jancarz 10 6 Stanislaw Tkocz 9 7 Pawel Waloszek 9 8 Jan Holub I 9 9 Manfred Poschenreider 8 10 Vladimir Smirnov 7 11 Miloslav Verner 7 12 Frantisek Ledecky 7 13 Hans Jürgen Fritz 3 14 Janos Szöke 3 15 Vjatjeslav Baturin 2 16 Antonín Kasper Sr. 1

8 June Polonia Bydgoszcz Stadium, Bydgoszcz Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points 1 Jerzy Trzeszkowski 14 2 Henryk Glucklich 13 3 Andrzej Pogorzelski 11 4 Valerij Klementiev 11 5 Gennadij Kurilenko 9 6 Zygmunt Pytko 9 7 Zbigniew Dobrucki 9 8 Karel Průša 9 9 Gerhard Uhlenbrock 7 10 Václav Verner 6 11 Boris Tschechanvitsch 6 12 Jaroslav Volf 5 13 Viktor Trofimov 5 14 Jiří Štancl 4 15 Peter Liebing 2 16 Drago Perko 0

British semi-finals

24 June Leicester Stadium, Leicester Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points 1 Barry Briggs 14 2 Charlie Monk 11 3 Reg Luckhurst 11 4 Jim McMillan 10 5 Trevor Hedge 10 6 Garry Middleton 9 7 Howard Cole 8 8 Norman Hunter 8 9 Ronnie Moore 7 10 Arnie Haley 7 11 James Bond 7 12 Clive Hitch 6 13 Cyril Maidment 5 14 Jim Airey 4 15 Bert Harkins 2 16 Colin Gooddy 1

26 June Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points 1 Ivan Mauger 14 2 Ray Wilson 14 3 Tommy Roper 12 4 Nigel Boocock 11 5 Roy Trigg 11 6 Eric Boocock 11 7 Ken McKinlay 7 8 Colin Pratt 7 9 Martin Ashby 6 10 Geoff Mudge 6 11 Bruce Cribb 6 12 Terry Betts 5 13 Tony Clarke 5 14 Pete Smith 3 15 John Boulger 1 16 Bob Andrews 1

Third round

Nordic Final

• 4 June 1969
• Linköping Motorstadion Ryd, Linköping
• 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	21
	(1) Torbjörn Harrysson	14	3				3				3				2				3				14	1	3
	(3) Sören Sjösten	14	2						3				3				3				3		14	2	2
	(12) Ove Fundin	14			3					3		3			3						2		14	3	1
4	(14) Reidar Eide	12				3		3					2		1							3	12	4
5	(6) Bernt Persson	10		3				2			2							2			1		10	5
6	(2) Hasse Holmqvist	10	1					1				2				3				3			10	6
7	(4) Bengt Jansson	9	0							2				3				3				1	9	7
8	(11) Per Olof Söderman	9			2				2		1					2						2	9	8
9	(8) Bo Josefsson	6		2						1			1			0			2				6	9	3
10	(13) Gunnar Malmqvist	6				1	2							2		1					0		6	10	2
11	(10) Bengt Larsson	5			1			0						1			2		1				5	11
12	(7) Jan Simensen	2		0					1					0	0					1			2	12
13	(16) Ole Olsen	2				2				0	-						0			-			2	13
14	(5) Odd Fossengen	2		0			0					1					1					0	2	14
15	(9) Göte Nordin	1			0		1						0					-		-			1	15
16	(15) Nils Ringstrom	0				0			0			0						0	0				0	16
R1	(R1) Runo Wedin	3																1		2			3	R1
R2	(R2) Bengt Svensson	0									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

Continental Final

• 27 June 1969
• Stroitel Stadion, Ufa
• 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
	(7) Antoni Woryna	11		2					3					1	2					3			11	1
	(16) Andrzej Wyglenda	10				0				3	3						2			2			10	2
	(2) Edward Jancarz	10	3					2				3				2				0			10	3
4	(14) Valeri Klementiev	9				3		E					0		3							3	9	4
5	(1) Henryk Glucklich	9	0				3				2				1				3				9	5
6	(9) Zbigniew Podlecki	9			3		2						3					0		1			9	6
7	(6) Jan Mucha	9		1				3			1							1			3		9	7
8	(13) Andrzej Pogorzelski	9				2	0							2		3					2		9	8
9	(8) Gennady Kurilenko	9		3						2			2			1			1				9	9
10	(4) Jerzy Trzeszkowski	9	2							1				3				2				1	9	10
11	(5) Stanisław Tkocz	8		E			1					2					3					2	8	11
12	(15) Jan Holub I	8				1			1			1						3	2				8	12
13	(3) Paweł Waloszek	6	1						2				1				1				1		6	13
14	(10) Zygmunt Pytko	3			2			1						E			0		E				3	14
15	(12) Zdislaw Dobrucki	0			F					0		E			E						E		0	15
16	(11) Karel Prusa	0			E				0		E					-						-	0	16
R1	(R1) Gerhard Ulenbrock	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

Fourth round

British/Commonwealth Final

• 5 August 1969
• West Ham Stadium, London
• First 6 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
	(9) Barry Briggs	15			3		3						3					3		3			15	1
	(3) Nigel Boocock	13	3						3				2				3				2		13	2	3
	(6) Ronnie Moore	13		3				2			3							2			3		13	3	2
4	(2) Ivan Mauger	11	0					3				3				3				2			11	4
5	(4) Ken McKinlay	11	2							3				2				1				3	11	5
6	(11) Howard Cole	9			2				1		2					2						2	9	6
7	(16) Arnold Haley	8				3				2	1						2			X			8	7	3
8	(7) Eric Boocock	8		1					2					1	3					1			8	8	2
9	(13) Garry Middleton	8				2	2							3		1					T		8	9	1
10	(10) Charlie Monk	6			1			1						0			1		3				6	10
11	(8) Martin Ashby	4		0						1			1			X			2				4	11
12	(5) Trevor Hedge	4		2			1					1					0					0	4	12
13	(14) Jim McMillan	4				1		0					0		2							1	4	13
14	(15) Colin Pratt	3				E			T			2						0	1				3	14
15	(1) Ray Wilson	3	1				F				1				1				0				3	15
16	(12) Roy Trigg	1			0					E		0			0						1		1	16
R1	(R1) James Bond	0							0														0	R1
R2	(R2) Clive Hitch	0																					0	R2
R3	(R3) Martin Ashby	0																					0	R3
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

• 24 August 1969
• Olching Speedwaybahn, Olching
• 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) Valeri Klementiev	12				0	3							3		3					3		12	1
	(15) Edward Jancarz	12				2			3			3						2	2				12	2
	(2) Torbjörn Harrysson	11	3					3				2				2				1			11	3
4	(4) Andrzej Pogorzelski	11	1							3				2				3				2	11	4
5	(5) Andrzej Wyglenda	9		3			1					1					1					3	9	5
6	(3) Sören Sjösten	9	2						0				3				2				2		9	6
7	(16) Henryk Glucklich	8				1				0	1						3			3			8	7
8	(6) Hasse Holmqvist	8		2				2			3							1			0		8	8
9	(7) Ove Fundin	8		1					1					1	3					2			8	9
10	(8) Jan Mucha	8		0						2			2			1			3				8	10
11	(14) Zbigniew Podlecki	7				3		1					1		1							1	7	11
12	(11) Bengt Jansson	5			3				2		0					0						0	5	12
13	(1) Antoni Woryna	5	0				2				2				0				1				5	13
14	(12) Bernt Persson	5			1					1		0			2						1		5	14
15	(10) Reidar Eide	2			2			0						0			0		0				2	15
16	(9) Per Olof Söderman	0			0		0						0					0		0			0	16
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

• 13 September 1969
• Wembley Stadium, London^[11]

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
	(11) Ivan Mauger	14			3				3		3					3						2	14	1
	(16) Barry Briggs	11				3				2	2						1			3			11	2	3
	(5) Sören Sjösten	11		3			F					2					3					3	11	3	2
4	(2) Nigel Boocock	10	3					2				3				1				1			10	4
5	(9) Hasse Holmqvist	10			2		1						3					2		2			10	5
6	(6) Edward Jancarz	9		1				1			1							3			3		9	6
7	(7) Ove Fundin	9		2					2					2	3					0			9	7
8	(13) Ken McKinlay	7				1	3							3		0					0		7	8
9	(14) Andrzej Pogorzelski	7				0		3					1		2							1	7	9
10	(3) Jan Mucha	7	1						0				2				2				2		7	10
11	(15) Ronnie Moore	6				2			1			1						1	1				6	11
12	(8) Henryk Glücklich	5		0						0			0			2			3				5	12
13	(12) Valeri Klementiev	4			0					3		X			F						1		4	13
14	(1) Torbjörn Harrysson	4	2				2				F				-				-				4	14
15	(4) Andrzej Wyglenda	2	0							1				1				0				0	2	15
16	(10) Howard Cole	1			1			0						0			0		0				1	16
R1	(R1) Zbigniew Podlecki	3													1				2				3	R1
R2	(R2) Arnold Haley	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 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. "Briggs once again". Sunday Mirror. 7 September 1969. Retrieved 9 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Mauger Still King". Sunday Mirror. 14 September 1969. Retrieved 9 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "1969 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
10. "1969 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
11. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5