Wimbledon Internationale

The Wimbledon Internationale sponsored by Embassy was an individual motorcycle speedway event that was hosted annually at Wimbledon Stadium in London, England.^[1][2]

Wimbledon Internationale

Category	motorcycle speedway
Country	United Kingdom
Inaugural season	1961
Folded	1982

History

The event was first run during July 1961, as compensation to the British public for losing the rights to host the Speedway World Championship every year. The first final of the event was awarded to Harringay Stadium^[3] by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme but passed to Wimbledon permanently from 1962. The event was significant because it attracted entries from most of the world's leading riders. In 1961, there were ten qualifying events.^[4]

It was discontinued after the 1981 edition.

Past winners

Year	First	Second	Third
1961	Ove Fundin	Ronnie Moore	Peter Craven
1962	Ove Fundin[5]	Barry Briggs	Peter Craven
1963	Ove Fundin	Björn Knutson	Sverre Harrfeldt
1964	Barry Briggs	Ken McKinlay	Ove Fundin
1965	Charlie Monk	Björn Knutson	Göte Nordin
1966	Göte Nordin	Barry Briggs	Ove Fundin
1967	Göte Nordin	Torbjörn Harrysson	Ivan Mauger
1968	Nigel Boocock	Bengt Jansson	Barry Briggs
1969	Trevor Hedge	Ivan Mauger	Barry Briggs
1970	Ivan Mauger	Trevor Hedge	Ronnie Moore
1971	Ivan Mauger	Garry Middleton	Ronnie Moore
1972	Ivan Mauger	Ronnie Moore	Bengt Jansson
1973	Ole Olsen	Anders Michanek	Tommy Jansson
1974	Peter Collins	Ray Wilson	Ole Olsen
1975	Ole Olsen	Phil Crump	Ray Wilson
1976	Malcolm Simmons	Chris Morton	Michael Lee
1977	Edward Jancarz	Larry Ross	Phil Crump
1978	Peter Collins	Malcolm Simmons	John Davis
1979	Michael Lee	John Davis	Edward Jancarz
1980	Dave Jessup	Bruce Penhall	Hans Nielsen
1981	Hans Nielsen	Kenny Carter	Jan Andersson

References

1. "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
2. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 134. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
3. "Bees' Pair Disappoint in Harringay Final". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 3 July 1961. Retrieved 29 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "Internationale". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 10 June 1961. Retrieved 20 December 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "Fundin zips to victory". Streatham News. 15 June 1962. Retrieved 20 December 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.