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1961 Individual Speedway World Championship
Motorcycle speedway world championship season
Motorcycle speedway world championship season
The 1961 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 16th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
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.
First round
Qualification results.
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Finnish qualifying
- 25 September 1960
- FIN Eteläpuisto, Tampere
- First 5 (+seeded riders) to Nordic qualification 1961
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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 |
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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 | POL Gwardia Sports Club Stadium, Poznań | CSK Bohumír Bartoněk | CSK Bedřich Slaný | POL Stanisław Tkocz |
| 28 May | CSK Pavlovičky Stadion, Liberec | POL Bronislaw Idzikowski | USSR Farid Szajnurov | USSR Igor Plekhanov |
| 28 May | YUG Matija Gubec Stadium, Krško | POL Konstanty Pociejkewicz | CSK Bohumil Rednek | POL Henryk Żyto |
| 28 May | FRGAbensberger Stadion, Abensberg | FRG Josef Hofmeister | POL Marian Kaiser | CSK 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
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- 28 May
- FIN Helsinki Velodrome, Helsinki
- Top 8 to Nordic final
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Continental semi-finals
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- 18 June
- POL Army Stadium, Warsaw
- Top 8 to Continental final
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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 |
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Nordic Final
- 11 June 1961
- SWE Gislaved Motorbana, Gislaved
- First 8 to European Final
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Continental Final
- 23 July 1961
- CSK Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný
- First 7 to European Final, Josef Bössner seeded to European final
Fourth round
European Final
- 26 August 1961
- AUT Praterstadion, Vienna
- First 7 to World Final plus 1 reserve
British Final
- 2 September 1961
- ENG Wembley Stadium, London
- First 9 to World final plus 1 reserve
World Final
- 15 September 1961
- SWE Malmö Stadion, Malmö
References
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".
- (16 September 1961). "Ove Fundin Retains Speedway Title". Coventry Evening Telegraph.
- "1961 World Championship".
- "1961 World Championship".
- Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. {{ISBN. 0-7524-2402-5
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