1972 Individual Speedway World Championship

In Heat 5, former four-time champion Barry Briggs was involved in an accident which all but ended his speedway career. Going into the first turn his front wheel was hit by Bernt Persson's bike which caused him to fall. He was then hit by the following Russian riders Grigory Khlinovsky and Valery Gordeev. Briggs suffered a severe hand injury and lost the index finger on his left hand which caused him to temporarily retire from racing. Briggs had been considered one of the pre-meeting favourites and his favouritism had been firmed when he had beaten fellow New Zealander Ivan Mauger in Heat 2.

1972 Individual Speedway World Championship
Previous: 1971 Next: 1973

The 1972 Individual Speedway World Championship.

Attendance was estimated to be around 75,000.

To the boos of the 75,000 strong Wembley crowd, FIM referee Georg Traunspurger did not exclude Persson, a lucky break for the Swede as he would later go on to finish in second place after losing a runoff with Ivan Mauger who took out his fourth World Championship. Although the rider of the meeting was undoubtedly defending champion Ole Olsen. In his first ride (Heat 4) while challenging Swede Christer Löfqvist for the lead after coming through from the back following a near crash in the first turn, he dramatically fell and would score no points. From there he was untroubled to win his next four rides to finish in a clear third place.

British Qualification
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Preliminary Round
15 April Canterbury Bob Young Malcolm Ballard Brian Foote
16 April Rye House Dave Kennett Bob Humphreys Barry Crowson
21 April Peterborough Geoff Maloney Phil Crump Kevin Holden
27 April Barrow-in-Furness John Harrhy Alan Wilkinson Malcolm Shakespeare
28 April Workington Alan Knapkin George Major Russ Dent
20 May Halifax Eric Boocock Bob Kilby Ray Wilson
20 May Kings Lynn Terry Betts Malcolm Simmons Howard Cole
20 May Belle Vue Ivan Mauger Chris Pusey Jim McMillan
22 May Reading Ronnie Moore Dave Jessup Mick Bell
22 May Exeter Howard Cole Bob Kilby Barry Briggs
25 May Oxford Terry Betts Garry Middleton Malcolm Simmons
25 May Sheffield Arnold Haley Ivan Mauger Bobby Beaton
25 May Wimbledon Ronnie Moore Bob Andrews Barry Briggs
25 May Ipswich David Kennett John Harrhy George Hunter
26 May Hackney Geoff Curtis Barry Thomas Chris Pusey
26 May Wolverhampton Dave Gifford Peter Collins Norman Hunter
27 May Swindon Barry Briggs Martin Ashby Phil Crump
27 May Cradley Heath Bob Andrews Arnold Haley Bob Kilby
27 May Coventry Nigel Boocock Tony Lomas John Louis
30 May Poole Nigel Boocock Geoff Curtis Howard Cole
2 June Glasgow Bobby Beaton Jim McMillan John Louis
2 June Newport Bruce Cribb Tony Clarke Mike Broadbanks
6 June Leicester Dave Jessup Ivan Mauger Malcolm Shakespeare
Semi-Finals
20 June Leicester Terry Betts Ronnie Moore Arnold Haley
22 June Sheffield Ivan Mauger Jim McMillan John Boulger
Final
2 August Coventry Ivan Mauger Nigel Boocock Barry Briggs

British Final
  • August 2, 1972
  • Coventry
  • First 5 to World Final
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 21
(6) Ivan Mauger 14 3 3 3 2 3 14 1
(12) Nigel Boocock 12 3 2 2 3 2 12 2
(4) Barry Briggs 11 1 3 3 1 3 11 3 3
4 (8) John Louis 11 2 1 3 3 2 11 4 E
5 (9) Eric Boocock 10 2 2 1 3 2 10 5 3
6 (2) Jim McMillan 10 3 1 3 0 3 10 6 2
7 (15) Terry Betts 9 3 2 1 0 3 9 7
8 (10) Ray Wilson 7 T 2 1 3 1 7 8
9 (11) Dave Jessup 7 1 3 T 2 1 7 9
10 (13) John Boulger 7 0 3 2 1 1 7 10
11 (3) Martin Ashby 6 2 1 2 1 0 6 11
12 (16) Arnold Haley 5 1 0 1 2 1 5 12
13 (5) Garry Middleton 4 1 1 0 0 2 4 13
14 (1) Peter Collins 3 0 E 2 1 0 3 14
15 (7) Trevor Hedge 2 0 E 0 2 0 2 15
16 (14) Ronnie Moore 2 2 E 0 0 0 2 16
R1 (R1) Pete Bailey 0 0 0 R1
R2 (R2) Norman Hunter 0 F 0 R2
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 21

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

Scandinavian Qualifications
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Qualifications
27 April Stockholm Anders Michanek Karl-Eric Claesson Hans Holmqvist
30 April Malilla Jan Simensen Tommy Johansson Per Olaf Soderman
1 May Visby Christer Löfqvist Tommy Jansson Leif Enecrona
1 May Lindesberg Bernt Persson Soren Sjosten Lars Jansson
11 May Gislaved Bernt Persson Tommy Jansson Torbjorn Harrysson
11 May Avesta Hans Holmqvist Soren Sjosten Tommy Johansson
12 May Linköping Anders Michanek Reidar Eide Bengt Jansson
Final
1 June Norrköping Bengt Jansson Anders Michanek Ole Olsen

Scandinavian Final
  • 1 June 1972
  • Norrköping
  • First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve
Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Bengt Jansson3,2,3,3,314
2 Anders Michanek3,3,3,1,313
3 Ole Olsen3,2,2,3,212
4 Bernt Persson1,2,3,2,311
5 Hasse Holmqvist2,3,2,2,211
6 Christer Löfqvist3,3,3,0,110
7 Jan Simensen2,0,2,3,310
8 Reidar Eide1,3,1,2,29
9 Tommy Jansson2,1,2,3,E8
10 Dag Lovaas1,1,1,2,05
11 Tommy Johansson0,1,0,1,24
12 Oyvind Berg1,0,0,1,13
13 Gote Nordin0,2,1,0,-3
14 Leif Enecrona0,0,1,1,13
15 Per Olaf Soderman2,0,0,0,02
16 Soren Sjosten0,1,0,0,-1
R1 Christer SjostenE0
R2 Runo Wedin00

Continental Round
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Qualifying Round
7 May Maribor Petr Ondrašík Jan Verner Sandor Csato
11 May Udine Draško Oreško Gunther Walla Nedialko Nedialkov
Quarter-Finals
21 May Miskolc Janosh Szőke Oleg Dzyadyk Aleksandr Pavlov
21 May Liberec Viktor Trofimov Yuri Dubinin Jan Mucha
21 May Abensberg Henryk Glucklich Jan Holub I Grigory Klinovsky
21 May Gorzów Wielkopolski Edward Jancarz Zenon Plech Valery Gordeev
Semi-Finals
3 June Prague Edward Jancarz Milan Špinka Zenon Plech
4 June Bydgoszcz Marek Cieślak Pawel Waloszek Henryk Glucklich
Continental Final
25 June Cherkessk Viktor Trofimov Viktor Kalmykov Anatoly Kuzmin
European Final
3 September Wroclaw Pawel Waloszek Ole Olsen Anders Michanek

Continental Final
  • June 25, 1972
  • Cherkessk
  • First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve
Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Viktor Trofimov2,3,3,3,314
2 Viktor Kalmykov3,3,3,2,213
3 Anatoly Kuzmin2,2,2,3,312
4 Valery Gordeev3,1,1,3,311
5 Milan Špinka1,3,3,2,110
6 Grigory Khlinovsky3,2,F,1,39
7 Pawel Waloszek0,3,2,2,29
8 Aleksandr Pavlov2,2,2,1,29
9 Zenon PlechF,2,2,3,F7
10 Anatoly Mironov1,1,1,2,16
11 Zygfryd FriedekX,1,1,1,25
12 Petr Ondrašík3,X,0,0,14
13 Vasily BaturinF,X,3,X,03
14 Marek Cieślak0,1,1,1,03
15 Henryk Glucklich2,E,X,0,X2
16 Edward Jancarz1,X,E,E,12
R1 Gennadij Kurilenko1,0,0,X1
R2 Vladimir Kubanov0,0,00

European Final
  • September 3, 1972
  • Wroclaw
  • First 11 to World Final plus 1 reserve
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 21
(12) Pawel Waloszek 13 3 1 3 3 3 13 1
(8) Ole Olsen 11 3 3 2 1 2 11 2
(13) Anders Michanek 11 3 3 1 3 1 11 3
4 (16) Aleksandr Pavlov 10 1 0 3 3 3 10 4
5 (4) Anatoly Kuzmin 10 2 2 3 3 0 10 5
6 (3) Grigory Khlinovsky 9 3 3 3 0 0 9 6
7 (10) Christer Löfqvist 8 2 1 2 2 1 8 7
8 (11) Viktor Trofimov 8 1 2 2 2 1 8 8
9 (2) Bernt Persson 7 1 3 1 0 2 7 9
10 (6) Valery Gordeev 7 2 2 E 1 2 7 10
11 (14) Viktor Kalmykov 7 2 F 1 2 2 7 11
12 (5) Jan Simensen 6 F 2 0 1 3 6 12
13 (15) Milan Špinka 5 0 1 2 0 2 5 13
14 (9) Bengt Jansson 3 0 E 0 2 1 3 14
15 (1) Hasse Holmqvist 2 F E 1 1 0 2 15
16 (7) Reidar Eide 0 E 0 0 0 0 0 16
R1 (R1) Tommy Jansson 0 0 R1
R2 (R2) Zenon Plech 0 0 R2
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 21

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

World Final
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 21
(6) Ivan Mauger 13 2 3 2 3 3 13 1 3
(13) Bernt Persson 13 2 3 3 3 2 13 2 2
(16) Ole Olsen 12 F 3 3 3 3 12 3
4 (15) Christer Löfqvist 11 3 2 3 0 3 11 4
5 (14) John Louis 11 1 2 3 2 3 11 5
6 (7) Aleksandr Pavlov 8 1 3 0 3 1 8 6
7 (4) Anders Michanek 8 X 2 2 2 2 8 7
8 (3) Paweł Waloszek 6 3 1 0 1 1 6 8
9 (8) Viktor Trofimov 6 0 0 2 2 2 6 9
10 (12) Nigel Boocock 6 2 1 2 1 0 6 10
11 (10) Viktor Kalmykov 6 1 1 1 2 1 6 11
12 (11) Anatoly Kuzmin 4 3 0 0 1 0 4 12
13 (1) Grigory Khlinovsky 4 2 1 1 0 0 4 13
14 (5) Barry Briggs 3 3 F - - - 3 14
15 (2) Eric Boocock 2 X 0 0 0 2 2 15
16 (9) Valery Gordeev 2 0 0 1 1 0 2 16
R1 (R1) Jan Simensen 2 2 0 2 R1
R2 (R2) Jim McMillan 2 1 1 2 R2
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 21

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
  1. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
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