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1973 Individual Speedway World Championship

Motorcycle speedway world championship season

The 1973 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 28th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.

The 1973 World Final was won by Polish rider Jerzy Szczakiel following a run-off in with defending champion Ivan Mauger after both riders had finished on 13 points. On the second lap of the run-off, Mauger fell in turn 3 after trying a risky passing move leaving Szczakiel to win easily. Another Polish rider, Zenon Plech finished third. Rank outsider Szczakiel, who had finished last with no points scored in his only other World Final appearance in Sweden in 1971, rode the meeting of his life and was only beaten in his final two rides before defeating Mauger in the run-off.

The final, held at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów, Poland, is believed to have been held in front of the largest crowd in world speedway history, estimated to be around 130,000, though some reports put the size of the crowd as anywhere from 90,000 to 120,000. The previous record for a final was 95,000 during the 1938 Individual Speedway World Championship at Wembley.

Format changes

The format of the Championship changed for the 1973 event. This time the Polish riders were allowed five places in the World Final to be held in Poland. All other nations had to go through the European Final route to provide the remaining 11 riders for the World Final.

First round

British/Commonwealth preliminaries

Riders progress to British/Commonwealth qualifiers

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
29 April	Arlington Stadium, Eastbourne	Gordon Kennett	Paul Gachet	Bobby McNeil
29 April	Boston Sports Stadium, Boston	Graeme Stapleton	John Dews	Russ Osborne
2 May	Odsal Stadium, Bradford	Neil Street	Billy Sanders	Rick France
7 May	Earle Street, Crewe	Mitch Graham	Arthur Price	Les Owen
7 May	Birchfield Ladbroke Stadium, Birmingham	Jim Ryman	Bob Paulson	Ted Howgego

Second round

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=40px	Points
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Finnish qualifying (top 10)

FIN (3 rounds) First (+1 seeded riders) to Nordic qualification 1973
R1 (? '72, Kärpänen Speedway, Lahti)
R2 (26 Aug '72, Kärpänen Speedway, Lahti)
R3 (? '72, Eteläpuisto, Tampere)

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=80px	Points		width=40px	Total (best 2)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Swedish qualifying

Top 8 in each heat to Nordic qualification

(1 May, Gamla Galgberget, Visby)	Pos	Rider
1	Lars Jansson	14
2	Bernt Persson	12
3	Christer Löfqvist	10
4	Jan Simensen	9
5	Sven Nilsson	9
6	Kenneth Selmosson	9
7	Bo Wirebrand	9
8	Karl-Erik Claesson	9
9	Conny Samuelsson	8
10	Håkan Karlsson	7
11	Sören Karlsson	6
12	Bengt Olsson	6
13	Anders Lövgren	4
14	Peter Smith	3
15	Lars Larsson	3
16	Leif Mellberg	2

(1 May, Målilla (Motorbana), Målilla)	Pos	Rider
1	Sören Sjösten	14
2	Bengt Jansson	13
3	Anders Michanek	11
4	Stefan Johansson	11
5	Tommy Johansson	10
6	Leif Johansson	10
7	Bengt Larsson	7
8	Stefan Salmonsson	7
9	Anders Jansson	6
10	Sigvard Johansson	6
11	Roy Dantanus	5
12	Lars-Inge Hultberg	5
13	Tomas Johansson	5
14	Therje Henriksson	4
15	Steve Johansson	4
16	Åke Andersson	2
17	Bertil Andersson	0

(5 May, Motorbanen Hagalund, Lindesberg)	Pos	Rider
1	Hasse Holmqvist	14
2	Tommy Jansson	12
3	Tomas Pettersson	10
4	Stephan Johansson	10
5	Leif Enecrona	9
6	Tommy Nilsson	9
7	Göte Nordin	9
8	Christer Sjösten	8
9	Rolf Johansson	7
10	Åke Dovhed	6
11	Käll Haage	6
12	Lennart Johansson	5
13	Willy Karlsson	4
14	Per-Åke Gerhardsson	4
15	Börje Klingberg	3
16	Hans Johansson	3

Continental qualifying

Rider progress to Continental quarter-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
29 April	YUG Mladost Stadum, Prelog	CSK Zdenek Majstr	CSK Evzen Erban	AUT Jozef Haider
6 May	FRG Motodrom Halbemond, Norden	CSK Jan Hadek	CSK Jiri Dominik	NED Henny Kroeze

British/Commonwealth qualifiers

Top riders progress to British/Commonwealth semi-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
12 May	King's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn	John Louis	Terry Betts	Malcolm Simmons
14 May	Reading Stadium, Reading	Martin Ashby	Mick Bell	Geoff Curtis
16 May	Wimborne Road, Poole	Pete Smith	Ray Wilson	Terry Betts
17 May	Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield	Jim McMillan	Arnie Haley	Doug Wyer
18 May	Monmore Green, Wolverhampton	George Hunter	Ray Wilson	Gary Peterson
18 May	Hackney Wick Stadium, London	Terry Betts	Bob Valentine	Barry Thomas
19 May	The Shay, Halifax	John Boulger	Eric Boocock	Bill Andrew
19 May	Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley	John Louis	Bruce Cribb	Colin Gooddy
19 May	Abbey Stadium, Swindon	Jim McMillan	Doug Wyer	Tony Davey
19 May	Hyde Road, Manchester	Ivan Mauger	Chris Pusey	Eric Broadbelt
21 May	County Ground Stadium, Exeter	Ivan Mauger	Martin Ashby	Bob Coles
22 May	Leicester Stadium, Leicester	John Boulger	Ray Wilson	Bob Kilby
23 May	Somerton Park, Newport	Eric Boocock	Roy Trigg	Gary Peterson
24 May	Wimbledon Stadium, London	Peter Collins	Norman Hunter	Ian Turner
24 May	Oxford Stadium, Oxford	Bob Kilby	Malcolm Ballard	Eric Boocock
25 May	Cliftonhill, Coatbridge	Mick Bell	John Boulger	Chris Julian
26 May	Brandon Stadium, Coventry	Nigel Boocock	Ray Wilson	Bob Kilby
29 May	Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich	Ivan Mauger	Tony Davey	Mick Bell

Third round

Continental quarter-finals

Top 32 to Continental semi-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
10 May	CSK Svítkov Stadium, Pardubice	USSR Vladimir Zapleshny	CSK Jiří Štancl	CSK Miloslav Verner
20 May	HUN Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc	USSR Grigory Khlinovsky	USSR Viktor Trofimov	USSR Aleksandr Pavlov
20 May	FRG Breitenthal Stadium, Krumbach	CSK Milan Špinka	USSR Vladimir Paznikov	CSK Jan Holub I
20 May	YUG Matija Gubec Stadium, Krško	USSR Anatoly Kuzmin	USSR Vladimir Gordeev	CSK Petr Ondrašík

British/Commonwealth semi-finals

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=40px	Points
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

7 June
ENG Wimbledon Stadium, London
Top 8 to British final

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=40px	Points
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Nordic qualification

Top 5 from each meeting to Nordic final

(17 May, SWE Gubbängens IP, Stockholm)	Pos	Rider
1	SWE Bengt Jansson	15
2	SWE Anders Michanek	14
3	SWE Göte Nordin	13
4	NOR Dag Lövaas	12
5	SWE Lars Jansson	11
6	SWE Karl-Erik Claesson	9
7	SWE Kenneth Selmosson	8
8	SWE Sören Sjösten	8
9	DEN Arne Andreasen	7
10	DEN Erik Tillgaard	6
11	SWE Sven Nilsson	4
12	NOR Hans Fuglerud	4
13	NOR Svein Lökken	4
14	DEN Jörn Mogensen	3
15	SWE Rolf Johansson (res)	1
16	FIN Heikki Ahonen	1
17	NOR Öystein Mellerud	0

(27 May, NOR Grenland Arena, Skien)	Pos	Rider
1	SWE Bernt Persson	15
2	SWE Tommy Jansson	13
3	NOR Odd Fossengen	12
4	NOR Öyvind Berg	12
5	SWE Tommy Johansson	11
6	SWE Leif Enecrona	11
7	SWE Tomas Pettersson	8
8	DEN Krause Kjaer	8
9	SWE Bengt Larsson	7
10	NOR Ulf Lövaas	7
11	NOR Helge Langli	5
12	DEN Preben Bollerup	4
13	SWE Stefan Johansson	3
14	SWE Stefan Salmonsson	3

(27 May, DEN Selskov Stadium, Hillerod)	Pos	Rider
1	DEN Ole Olsen	15
2	SWE Christer Löfqvist	14
3	SWE Jan Simensen	13
4	SWE Hasse Holmqvist	11
5	SWE Christer Sjösten	11
6	NOR Edgar Stangeland	11
7	SWE Bo Wirebrand	7
8	NOR Jan Terje Gravningen	7
9	SWE Stephan Johansson	7
10	DEN Kurt Bögh	6
11	SWE Tommy Nilsson	6
12	DEN Bent Nörregaard-Jensen	4
13	SWE Leif Johansson	3
14	NOR Tormod Langli	2
15	NOR Per Herland	1
16	FIN Matti Olin	1

Fourth round

Continental semi-finals

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=40px	Points
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

2 June
TCH Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný
Top 8 to Continental final

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=40px	Points
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

British/Commonwealth Final

21 June 1973
ENG Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield
First 8 to British-Nordic Final

Nordic Final

6 June 1973
SWE Norrköping Motorstadion, Norrköping
First 8 to British-Nordic Final

Fifth round

British/Commonwealth/Nordic Final

1 August 1973
ENG Brandon Stadium, Coventry
First 8 to European Final

Continental Final

23 June 1973
USSR Leningrad Speedway Stadium, Leningrad
First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve

Sixth round

Polish qualifiers

The top five finishers in the Golden Helmet, during the 1973 Polish speedway season gained nominations for the World final.

European Final

19 August 1973
FRG Abensberger Stadion, Abensberg
First 11 to World Final plus 1 reserve

World Final

Final Controversy

The Final was surrounded by controversy, with decisions made by Georg Traunspurger, the referee assigned to the meeting by the FIM, seeming to favour the Polish riders. One of his decisions was to have 2nd reserve Andrzej Wyglenda of Poland race in Heat 16 in front of 1st reserve Tommy Jansson of Sweden (after Bernt Persson of Sweden was unable to ride), making it four Polish riders in the race. In the race, second placed Edward Jancarz, who led for the first three laps, seemed to let Zenon Plech take the lead in the final turn, allowing Plech, who had more points at that stage of the meeting, to collect another three points for the win.

His most controversial decision was to exclude Soviet rider Grigory Khlinovsky from heat 19. Khlinovsky had attempted to pass on the inside of Zenon Plech for the lead going into the back straight of the last lap. As he was passed by the Russian, Plech lost control of his bike and fell. Despite protests from riders and the Soviet officials Khlinovsky was excluded and England's Peter Collins, who was in 3rd place at the time of the crash, was awarded the heat win, Plech, who didn't actually finish the race, was awarded 2nd. The result of the two points he gained for second place allowed Plech to finish a clear third in the championship. Had Khlinovsky been the winner of the heat, he would have ended on 13 points, which would have put him in the run-off for the title with Szczakiel and Mauger.

British television commentator Dave Lanning called the ruling "The craziest piece of speedway regulations in the history of World Championship racing", before adding that "It seems to me that the authorities here in Katowice are making up the rules to suit themselves to get their boys a world title."

Final result

2 September 1973
POL Silesian Stadium, Chorzów
Referee: FRG Georg Traunspurger

References

Oakes, Peter. (1981). "1981 Speedway Yearbook". Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd.
"World Championship 1936-1994".
"WORLD FINALS 1936-1994".
"HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK".
"Speedway riders, history and results".
"WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX".
(3 September 1973). "Unknown Pole wins crown from Mauger". Newcastle Evening Chronicle.
[http://www.defunctspeedway.co.uk/misc%20page%202.htm Katowice 1973]
"1973 World Championship".
"1973 World Championship".
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1eOmHuX2Lk&NR=1 YouTube]
Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. {{ISBN. 0-7524-2402-5

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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