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1978 Individual Speedway World Championship

Motorcycle speedway world championship season

The 1978 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 33rd edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.

Ole Olsen won his third world crown. The final was sponsored by the Sunday Mirror and was attended by 86,500. Gordon Kennett took silver on the day of his 25th birthday and American Scott Autrey won the bronze medal run-off defeating Dave Jessup and Jerzy Rembas. Dave Jessup was effectively denied a World title when after leading in heat 3 he suffered a bike malfunction and finished last in the heat. He then scored 11 points from his remaining rides which would have been enough to take the crown if he had won heat 3.

Qualification results.

Second round

Australian qualifying

Top 16 to Australian final

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
? '77	?	Danny Kennedy	Rod Hunter	John McNeill
26 Nov '77	Carina Speedway, Bundaberg	Billy Sanders	Phil Herne	Paul O'Neil
10 Dec '77	Showground Speedway, Sydney	Billy Sanders	Phil Herne	Paul O'Neil
6 Jan	Claremont Speedway, Perth	Lloyd Cross	Les Leisk	Neil Webb
13 Jan	Rowley Park, Adelaide	John Boulger	Tony Boyle	Rob Maxfield
27 Jan	Rowley Park, Adelaide	John Boulger	Danny Kennedy	Tony Boyle
30 Jan	Showground Speedway, Sydney	John Titman	Phil Herne	Billy Sanders

New Zealand qualifying

Top 16 to New Zealand final

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
5 Feb	Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch	Larry Ross	Barry Briggs	James Moore

British preliminary round

Rider progress to British qualifying round

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
16 April	Rye House Stadium, Hoddesdon	Ted Hubbard	Kelvin Mullarkey	Vic Harding
16 April	Boston Sports Stadium, Boston	Steve Weatherley	Tom Owen	Chris Turner
20 April	Cleveland Park, Middlesbrough	Mike Sampson	Phil Collins	Paul Tyrer
23 April	Mildenhall Stadium, Mildenhall	Martin Yeates	Richard Greer	Bob Coles
27 April	Oxford Stadium, Oxford	Dave Perks	Geoff Bouchard	Steve Finch

Continental preliminary round

Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
22 April	CSK Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný	POL Boleslaw Proch	POL Jerzy Kochman	NED Rudi Muts
23 April	YUG Kovinar Stadium, Maribor	CSK Jan Hádek	ITA Sandro Pastoreli	BUL Angel Jeftimov

Swedish qualification

Top 5 in each heat to Swedish final

(5 May, Avestavallen, Avesta)	Pos	Rider
1	Anders Michanek	15
2	Christer Sjösten	11
3	Börje Klingberg	11
4	Gert Carlsson	11
5	Tomas Pettersson	10
6	Karl-Erik Claesson	9
7	Roger Björkman	9
8	Åke Fridell	8
9	Lars-Olof Karlsson	7
10	Åke Axelsson	7
11	Leif Johansson	6
12	Peter Johansson	5
13	Therje Henriksson	4
14	Bertil Andersson	2
15	Börje Ohlsson (res)	2
16	Hans Frisk	1
17	Willy Karlsson	0
18	Jan Holmqvist	0

(7 May, Målilla Motorbana, Malilla)	Pos	Rider
1	Tommy Nilsson	15
2	Sören Karlsson	13
3	Stefan Salmonsson	13
4	Lillebror Johansson	11
5	Bo Wirebrand	9+3
6	Lars Ericsson	9+2
7	Olle Nygren	8
8	Sven Nilsson	8
9	Bengt Larsson	6
10	Thord Löwdin	5
11	Kenneth Selmosson	4
12	Weine Ström	4
13	Tommy Johansson	3
14	Björn Persson (res)	3
15	Karl-Fredrik Lindgren	3
16	Bengt Gagner	3
17	Åke Andersson (res)	2
18	Åke Dovhed	0

(7 May, Gamla Galgberget, Visby)	Pos	Rider
1	Jan Andersson	14
2	Conny Samuelsson	13
3	Sören Sjösten	13
4	Hasse Holmqvist	12
5	Bernt Persson	12
6	Lars-Åke Andersson	9+3
7	Rolf Sundberg	9+2
8	Kjell Bergström	7
9	Hans Danielsson	7
10	Jan Davidsson	6
11	Torgil Roth	6
12	Håkan Karlsson	5
13	Richard Hellsén	2
14	Eddie Davidsson	1

Third round

Continental quarter-finals

Top 32 to Continental semi-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
7 May	ITA Castiglione Olona Speedway, Varese	FRG Egon Muller	USSR Grigory Khlinovsky	POL Jerzy Rembas
7 May	HUN Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc	USSR Mikhail Starostin	POL Andrzej Huszcza	CSK Václav Verner
7 May	FRG Breitenthal Stadium, Krumbach	FRG Georg Hack	CSK Ales Dryml, Sr	USSR Nikolay Kornev
7 May	POL Municipal Stadium, Częstochowa	POL Marek Cieślak	CSK Jiří Štancl	CSK Zdeněk Kudrna

British qualifying round

The British qualifying rounds for the World Championship doubled up as qualifying rounds for the Volkswagen/Daily Mirror Grand Prix. Therefore, many non-British riders rode in these meetings scoring points towards the Volkswagen/Daily Mirror Grand Prix qualification - but their scores didn't count towards World Championship qualification. The top 32 British riders qualified for the British semi-finals.

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
11 May	Wimbledon Stadium, London	Peter Collins	Bob Kilby	Dave Jessup
11 May	Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield	Ivan Mauger	Doug Wyer	Steve Bastable
12 May	Hackney Wick Stadium, London	Dave Jessup	Terry Betts	Finn Thomsen
13 May	Hyde Road, Manchester	Peter Collins	Chris Morton	Bobby Beaton
13 May	King's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn	Michael Lee	John Titman	Malcolm Simmons
13 May	Brandon Stadium, Coventry	Alan Molyneux	Keith White	Billy Sanders
15 May	Smallmead Stadium, Reading	Gordon Kennett	Billy Sanders	John Davis
15 May	County Ground Stadium, Exeter	Phil Crump	Václav Verner	Mike Farrell
15 May	Birchfield Ladbroke Stadium, Birmingham	Ray Wilson	John Titman	Mike Lanham
16 May	Leicester Stadium, Leicester	Scott Autrey	John Titman	Les Collins
17 May	Wimborne Road, Poole	Tony Davey	Václav Verner	Malcolm Simmons
17 May	White City Stadium, London	Kai Niemi	Gordon Kennett	Ila Teromaa
17 May	The Boulevard, Hull	Ivan Mauger	Bobby Beaton	Graham Drury
18 May	Abbey Stadium, Swindon	Peter Collins	Jan Andersson	Dave Perks
18 May	Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich	John Louis	Michael Lee	Tony Davey
19 May	Monmore Green, Wolverhampton	Gordon Kennett	Hans Nielsen	Jim McMillan
19 May	Knowle Stadium, Bristol	Joe Owen	Tormod Langli	Reg Wilson
20 May	Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley	Alan Grahame	John Davis	Bruce Cribb
20 May	The Shay, Halifax	Eric Broadbelt	Ian Cartwright	Phil Collins

Finland Final

First 2 to Nordic Final 1978
FIN 14 August 1977, Eteläpuisto, Tampere

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=50px	Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Norwegian Final

NOR 3 riders to Nordic Final

Swedish Final

30 May 1978
SWE Kumla Motorstadion, Kumla
First 7 to Nordic Final + 1 reserve

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=70px	Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

Danish Final

15 May 1978
DEN Fjelsted Speedway Stadium, Harndrup
First 2 to Nordic Final (Ole Olsen and Finn Thomsen seeded through)

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=50px	Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Australian Final

4 February 1978
AUS Brisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane
To 8 to Australasian Final

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=50px	Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

New Zealand Final

11 February 1978
NZL Te Marua Speedway, Wellington
To 8 to Australasian Final

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=70px	Heat Scores		width=50px	Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Fourth round

British 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

13 July
ENG Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield
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

American selection

No qualifying, the AMA selected two riders to represent the US in the Intercontinental final.

Australasian Final

12 February 1978
NZL Western Springs Stadium, Auckland
First 4 to Intercontinental Final, Ivan Mauger seeded through

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=70px	Heat Scores		width=50px	Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
R1
R2

Nordic Final

8 June 1978
SWE Norrköping Motorstadion, Norrköping
First 9 to Intercontnental Final

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

28 May
FRG Motodrom Halbemond, Norden
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

Fifth round

British Final

16 August 1978
ENG Brandon Stadium, Coventry
First 4 to World Final

Continental Final

2 July 1978
CSK Markéta Stadium, Prague
First 6 to World Final plus 1 reserve

Intercontinental Final

2 July 1978
DEN Speedway Center, Fredericia
First 7 to World Final + 1 reserve

World Final

2 September 1978
ENG Wembley Stadium, London

References

Oakes, Peter. (1981). "1981 Speedway Yearbook". Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd.
"World Championship 1936-1994".
"WORLD FINALS 1936-1994".
"Speedway riders, history and results".
"WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX".
(3 September 1978). "Ole - He's champ". Sunday Mirror.
. (6 August 2022). "Timelines take a moment".
"1978 World Championship".
"1978 World Championship".
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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