The 1949 Individual Speedway World Championship was the fourth edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

It was the first running of the event since its suspension in 1939, due to World War II. The World final at London's Wembley Stadium, was held in front of a reported 93,000 strong crowd and the Championship was won Tommy Price.[7]

First qualifying round

Date Venue Winner
16 May County Ground Stadium Jack Mountford
18 May The Shay Vic Emms
18 May The Pilot Field Paddy Mills
18 May Tamworth Greyhound Stadium Basse Hveem
19 May Pennycross Stadium Bruce Semmens
19 May Owlerton Stadium Andy Menzies
20 May Leicester Stadium Charlie May
21 May Sun Street Stadium Stan Williams
21 May Hedon Stadium Billy Hole
21 May Rayleigh Weir Stadium Alan Hunt / Will Lowther

Second qualifying round

Date Venue Winner
10 June Dudley Wood Stadium Gil Craven
11 June Brandon Stadium Ken Le Breton
11 June Old Meadowbank Jack Young
11 June The Firs Stadium Bob Leverenz
13 June Knowle Stadium Fred Tuck
13 June Walthamstow Stadium Jim Boyd

Third qualifying round

Date Venue Winner/2nd
4 July Brough Park Stadium Tommy Price / Ray Duggan
5 July Ashfield Stadium Ken Le Breton / Freddie Williams
5 July Banister Court Stadium Fred Tuck / Roy Craighead
6 July Highbury Stadium (Fleetwood) Charles Cullum / Ken Sharples
6 July White City Stadium, Glasgow Geoff Bennett / Gil Craven

Championship round

Date Venue Winner
8 August Wimbledon Stadium Aub Lawson
10 August New Cross Stadium Cyril Roger
22 August Perry Barr Stadium Graham Warren
25 August Wembley Stadium Wilbur Lamoreaux
27 August Hyde Road Stadium Dent Oliver
27 August Odsal Stadium Tommy Price
30 August West Ham Stadium Cliff Watson
2 September Harringay Stadium Dent Oliver

Scores

Pos. Rider Total pts
1 England Tommy Price 38
2 Australia Graham Warren 38
3 England Dent Oliver 37
4 Australia Aub Lawson 37
5 England Bill Gilbert 36
6 United States Wilbur Lamoreaux 35
7 England Lloyd Goffe 34
8 England Jack Parker 34
9 England Bill Kitchen 33
10 England Cyril Roger 31
11 England Louis Lawson 30
12 Australia Bill Longley 30
13 Australia Norman Parker 30
14 Australia Ken Le Breton 29
15 Australia Cliff Watson 29
16 England Ron Clarke 27
17 England Oliver Hart 27
18 England Alec Statham 25
19 England Cyril Brine 25
Pos. Rider Total pts
20 England Malcolm Craven 25
21 England Geoff Pymar 23
22 Australia Doug McLachlan 23
23 England Geoff Bennett 20
24 England Jeff Lloyd 18
25 England Mike Erskine 18
26 Australia Ray Duggan 17
27 United States Charles Cullum 17
28 Canada Eric Chitty 15
29 England Split Waterman 15
30 England George Wilks 15
31 England Eddie Rigg 14
32 England Ken Sharples 14
33 England Roy Craighead 13
34 England Nobby Stock 13
35 England Gil Craven 12
36 Australia Jack Biggs 11
37 England Bob Harrison 9
38 England Stan Dell 2

World final

Pos. Rider Points Heats
1 England Tommy Price 15 (3,3,3,3,3)
2 England Jack Parker 14 (3,3,3,2,3)
3 England Louis Lawson 13 (2,2,3,3,3)
4 England Norman Parker 10 (3,3,2,2,0)
5 United States Wilbur Lamoreaux 9 (2,2,3,0,2)
6 England Bill Kitchen 9 (3,1,2,2,1)
7 England Ron Clarke 8 (1,0,2,3,2)
8 Australia Aub Lawson 8 (1,3,1,1,2)
9 Australia Bill Longley 8 (1,2,2,1,2)
10 England Cyril Roger 7 (2,0,1,1,3)
11 England Bill Gilbert 6 (2,1,3,0,0)
12 Australia Graham Warren 5 (0,2,0,2,1)
13 Australia Ken Le Breton 4 (1,0,1,1,1)
14 England Lloyd Goffe 2 (0,1,0,0,1)
15 Australia Cliff Watson 1 (0,1,0,0,0)
16 England Dent Oliver 0 (0,0,-,-,-)
England Oliver Hart (res) 1 (1,0,0)
England Alec Statham (res)  –  –

References

  1. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  2. ^ "World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  3. ^ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  4. ^ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  5. ^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Price Wins World Speedway Title For England". Western Daily Press. 23 September 1949. Retrieved 5 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ a b c d "World Championship". Hastings and St Leonards Observer. 14 May 1949. Retrieved 2 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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