In the 1954 Individual Speedway World Championship was the ninth edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Ronnie Moore a 21-year-old New Zealander won his first World Championship with a 15-point maximum in front of a 90,000 attendance. He defeated his main rival Olle Nygren in the final heat. Nygren then lost the silver medal ride off to Wembley's teenager Brian Crutcher.[7] Moore's success was made all the more remarkable because he rode the meeting while still recovering from a broken leg.[8] Moore's win made him New Zealand's first ever World Champion in all forms of motor racing.
Qualification
Qualification started on 1 May.[9][10]
Stage 1
Swedish round
- Top 16 to Swedish final
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Stage 2
Swedish final
- 9 May 1954
- Örebro Motorstadion Adolfsberg, Örebro
- Top 8 to Nordic final, 3 to Continental qualification
| Pos. | Rider | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Olle Nygren | 14 |
| 2 | Göte Olsson | 12 |
| 3 | Ove Fundin | 12 |
| 4 | Rune Sörmander | 11 |
| 5 | Dan Forsberg | 10 |
| 6 | Joel Jansson | 10 |
| 7 | Sune Karlsson | 10 |
| 8 | Georg Duneborn | 8 |
| 9 | Per Olof Söderman | 8 |
| 10 | Olle Segerström | 7 |
| 11 | Rune Stenström | 6 |
| 12 | Thorsten Carlsson | 4 |
| 13 | Allan Nilsson | 2 |
| 14 | Bertil Carlsson II | 2 |
| 15 | Evert Hägg | 2 |
| 16 | Harry Lindgren | 1 |
Continental Qualification
- 23 May 1954
- Altes Stadion Abensberg, Abensberg
- 8 to Continental semifinal
| Pos. | Rider | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14+3 | |
| 2 | 14+2 | |
| 3 | 14+1 | |
| 4 | 11 | |
| 5 | 11 | |
| 6 | 9 | |
| 7 | 9 | |
| 8 | 7 | |
| 9 | 5 | |
| 10 | 5 | |
| 11 | 4 | |
| 12 | 4 | |
| 13 | 3 | |
| 14 | 3 | |
| 15 | 3 | |
| 16 | 0 |
Stage 3
Nordic Final
- 3 June 1954
Dælenenga idrettspark, Oslo- First 8 to Continental final
| Pos. | Rider | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | |
| 2 | 14 | |
| 3 | 12 | |
| 4 | 10 | |
| 5 | 10 | |
| 6 | 9 | |
| 7 | 9 | |
| 8 | 9 | |
| 9 | 7 | |
| 10 | 6 | |
| 11 | 6 | |
| 12 | 5 | |
| 13 | 4 | |
| 14 | 2 | |
| 15 | 1 | |
| 16 | 1 |
Continental semi-final
- 13 June 1954
Niederrheinstadion, Oberhausen- 8 to Continental final
| Pos. | Rider | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | |
| 2 | 12 | |
| 3 | 11 | |
| 4 | 11 | |
| 5 | 10 | |
| 6 | 8 | |
| 7 | 8 | |
| 8 | 8 | |
| 9 | 7 | |
| 10 | 7 | |
| 11 | 5 | |
| 12 | 5 | |
| 13 | 4 | |
| 14 | 4 | |
| 15 | 2 | |
| 16 | 1 |
Stage 4
British round
- Top 24 to Championship Round[11]
| Date | Venue | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 1 July | Foxhall Stadium | Tommy Miller |
| 1 July | Oxford Stadium | Peter Robinson |
| 5 July | County Ground Stadium | Goog Hoskin |
| 5 July | Wimborne Road | Ken Middleditch |
| 6 July | Banister Court Stadium | Charlie May |
| 8 July | Pennycross Stadium | Brian McKeown |
| 9 July | Knowle Stadium | Dick Bradley |
| 9 July | Leicester Stadium | Ken McKinlay |
| 9 July | The Stadium, Motherwell | Derek Close |
| 10 July | Brandon Stadium | Ernie Brecknell |
| 10 July | Old Meadowbank | Ken McKinlay |
| 10 July | Rayleigh Weir Stadium | Peter Clark |
| 10 July | Abbey Stadium | Bob Roger |
Continental Final
- 20 June 1954[12]
Ryd Motorstadion, Linköping- First 8 to Championship Round
| Pos. | Rider | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | |
| 2 | 14 | |
| 3 | 12 | |
| 4 | 10 | |
| 5 | 9 | |
| 6 | 9 | |
| 7 | 9 | |
| 8 | 9 | |
| 9 | 8 | |
| 10 | 7 | |
| 11 | 6 | |
| 12 | 4 | |
| 13 | 3 | |
| 14 | 3 | |
| 15 | 2 | |
| 16 | 1 | |
| 17 | 1 |
Stage 5
Championship Round
- Top 16 qualify for World final, 17th & 18th reserves for World final
| Date | Venue | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 14 August | Hyde Road Stadium | Peter Craven |
| 14 August | Perry Barr Stadium | Jack Young |
| 16 August | Wimbledon Stadium | Barry Briggs |
| 18 August | Harringay Stadium | Split Waterman |
| 21 August | The Firs Stadium | Aub Lawson |
| 26 August | Wembley Stadium | Edie Rigg |
| 31 August | West Ham Stadium | Jack Young |
| 1 September | Odsal Stadium | Arthur Forrest |
Scores
- Top 16 qualify for World final, 17th-18th reserves for World final
World final
- 16 September 1954
London, Wembley Stadium[13]
| Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (3,3,3,3,3) | 15 | |
| 2 | (3,2,2,3,3) | 13+3 | |
| 3 | (2,3,3,3,2) | 13+2 | |
| 4 | (3,1,3,3,1) | 11 | |
| 5 | (2,1,3,1,2) | 9 | |
| 6 | (1,2,2,2,2) | 9 | |
| 7 | (0,3,2,2,0) | 7 | |
| 8 | (3,1,0,2,1) | 7 | |
| 9 | (1,3,1,1,1) | 7 | |
| 10 | (0,1,0,2,3) | 5 | |
| 11 | (1,0,2,0,2) | 5 | |
| 12 | (2,2,1,0,0) | 5 | |
| 13 | (0,2,1,1,1) | 5 | |
| 14 | (2,0,0,2,0) | 4 | |
| 15 | (F,0,0,0,3) | 3 | |
| 16 | (1,0,1,0,F) | 2 | |
| R1 | did not ride | – | |
| R2 | did not ride | – | |
Classification
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | 13+3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | 13+2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
| 12 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 12 | ||||||||||||||||
| 13 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 13 | ||||||||||||||||
| 14 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 14 | ||||||||||||||||
| 15 | 3 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 15 | ||||||||||||||||
| 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | 2 | 16 | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 |
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
- ↑ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
- ↑ "World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ↑ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ↑ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ↑ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ↑ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ↑ "Moore Wins World Speedway Title". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 17 September 1954. Retrieved 5 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ "Profile". Moore Park Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ↑ "1954 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- ↑ "1954 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- ↑ "104 riders in Wembley bid". Weekly Dispatch (London). 20 June 1954. Retrieved 11 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ "Monarchs bid for help went unheeded". Edinburgh Evening News. 1 July 1954. Retrieved 12 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5