The 1952 Individual Speedway World Championship was the seventh edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3][4][5]

Australian rider Jack Young became the first rider to win a second title (and the first to win two in a row) when he won his second straight World Championship after scoring 14 points. Second was Welshman Freddie Williams on 13 points, with England's Bob Oakley third on 12 points.[6]

Qualification

Qualification started on 26 May.[7][8]

Stage 1

Swedish round

Pos. Rider Points
1 Rune Sörmander 14+3
2 Sune Karlsson 14+2
3 Bert Lindarw 10
4 Helge Brinkeback 9
5 Göte Olsson 9
6 Stig Pramberg 9
7 Evert Fransson 8
8 Olle Nygren 8
9 Bo Andersson 8
10 Einar Lindqvist 7
11 Linus Eriksson 6
12 Lars-Erik Österberg 5
13 Lars Thaung 4
14 Eskil Carlsson 3
15 Lennart Carlström 2
16 Kjell Carlsson 2
17 Joel Jansson 1

Stage 2

Continental qualifier

Pos. Rider Points
1 Austria Fritz Dirtl 15
2 Austria Josef Kamper 14
3 Sweden Sven Skoglund 11
4 Netherlands Tinus Metzelaar 11
5 Austria Leopold Killemeyer 11
6 West Germany Albin Siegl 9
7 Sweden Åke Lindqvist 8
8 Scotland Bob Mark 7
9 Netherlands Thei Bischops 7
10 Austria Karl Killmeyer 6
11 West Germany Josef Hofmeister 6
12 Netherlands Gerrit Jonker 5
13 West Germany Alfred Aberl 5
14 West Germany Franz Neubauer 1
15 England Reg Morgan 0
16 Austria Walter Dirtl 0

Nordic Final

Pos. Rider Points
1 Norway Basse Hveem 14
2 Sweden Bo Andersson 13
3 Sweden Rune Sörmander 12
4 Sweden Olle Nygren 12
5 Sweden Sune Karlsson 10
6 Sweden Stig Pramberg 9
7 Sweden Göte Olsson 9
8 Denmark Kiehn Berthelsen 8
9 Norway Werner Lorentzen 7
10 Sweden Evert Fransson 6
11 Norway Reidar Kristoffersen 6
12 Sweden Bert Lindarw 5
13 Norway Rolf Naess 5
14 Finland Leo Helminen 2
15 Finland Yrjö Heikkilä 2
16 Denmark Morian Hansen 0
17 Sweden Helge Brinkeback dnr

Stage 3

Continental Final

Pos. Rider Points
1 Sweden Rune Sörmander 14
2 Sweden Olle Nygren 12
3 Sweden Stig Pramberg 11
4 England Jim Gregory 11
5 Norway Basse Hveem 11
6 Sweden Bo Andersson 11
7 Sweden Sune Karlsson 9
8 Austria Fritz Dirtl 7
9 Austria Josef Kamper 7
10 Australia Ron Phillips 6
11 Sweden Göte Olsson 6
12 Scotland Ken McKinlay 5
13 Sweden Sven Skoglund 5
14 Norway Edvin Fredriksen 2
15 England Tony Lewis 2
16 Denmark Kiehn Berthelsen 0
17 Netherlands Tinus Metzelaar dnr

British national round

Date Venue Winner
26 May County Ground Stadium Goog Hoskin
29 May Penarth Road Stadium Gerald Pugh
29 May Foxhall Stadium Noel Watson
30 May Monmore Green Stadium Benny King
31 May Aldershot Stadium Jock Grierson
31 May Abbey Stadium Harry Bastable

Stage 4

International round

Date Venue Winner
7 July Wimborne Road Ken Middleditch
8 July Yarmouth Stadium Cyril Roger
9 July White City Stadium, Glasgow Tommy Miller
10 July Oxford Stadium Harry Saunders
11 July The Stadium, Motherwell Tommy Miller
14 July Stanley Stadium Peter Robinson
19 July Ashfield Stadium Ron Johnston
19 July Brandon Stadium Vic Emms
19 July Old Meadowbank Ron Mountford
19 July Sun Street Stadium Ken Adams
25 July Dudley Wood Stadium Les Tolley
25 July Leicester Stadium Arthur Payne

Stage 5

Championship Round

Date Venue Winner
11 August Wimbledon Stadium Ronnie Moore
12 August West Ham Stadium Jack Young
14 August Wembley Stadium Jeff Lloyd
16 August Hyde Road Stadium Ron How
16 August Odsal Stadium Arthur Forrest
23 August Perry Barr Stadium Arthur Payne
23 August The Firs Stadium Bob Oakley
27 August New Cross Stadium Split Waterman
29 August Knowle Stadium Dick Bradley
29 August Harringay Stadium Jack Biggs

Scores

Pos. Rider Total pts
1 England Bob Oakley 28
2 Australia Jack Young 27
3 England Split Waterman 27
4 New Zealand Ronnie Moore 27
5 Wales Freddie Williams 27
6 England Ron How 26
7 England Dick Bradley 25
8 England Cyril Roger 25
9 England Arthur Forrest 24
10 England Jeff Lloyd 24
11 England Brian Crutcher 24
12 Australia Arthur Payne 24
13 South Africa Henry Long 23
14 England Derick Close 23
15 England Bert Roger 23
16 Australia Graham Warren 22
17 Sweden Dan Forsberg 22
18 Norway Basse Hveem 22
19 New Zealand Trevor Redmond 22
20 England Alan Hunt 22
21 Sweden Olle Nygren 21
22 England Cyril Brine 21
23 England Ken Sharples 21
24 England Tommy Price 21
25 New Zealand Geoff Mardon 21
26 England Eddie Rigg 20
27 England Peter Robinson 18
28 England Don Cuppleditch 18
29 England Harry Bastable 18
30 England Chris Boss 17
31 England Harry Edwards 16
32 Australia Jack Biggs 16
33 Sweden Sune Karlsson 16
34 England Eric French 16
35 Scotland Willie Wilson 15
36 Wales Eric Williams 15
37 England Wally Green 14
38 England Pat Clarke 14
39 England George Wilks 14
40 Scotland Gordon McGregor 13
Pos. Rider Total pts
41 New Zealand Dick Campbell 13
42 England Vic Emms 13
43 England Les Tolley 13
44 England Ken Adams 13
45 England Ron Mountford 13
46 England Ken Middleditch 13
47 England Geoff Pymar 13
48 Sweden Rune Sörmander 12
49 England Sid Clark 12
50 England Len Williams 11
51 England Jack Parker 10
52 New Zealand Les Hewitt 10
53 England Nobby Stock 10
54 England Ivor Powell 10
55 England Billy Hole 10
56 Scotland Tommy Miller 10
57 England Terry Small 10
58 New Zealand Charlie New 9
59 New Zealand Harold Fairhurst 9
60 England Phil Malpass 9
61 Scotland Jock Grierson 9
62 Australia Lionel Benson 8
63 England Gerald Jackson 8
64 Sweden Stig Pramberg 8
65 Wales Tom Oakley 7
66 England Fred Brand 7
67 Scotland Larry Lazarus 7
68 England Louis Lawson 7
69 England Reg Duval 6
70 England Jim Gregory 6
71 England Fred Pawson 6
72 England Bruce Semmens 5
73 England Bill Gilbert 5
74 England Roy Craighead 5
75 England Harry Saunders 4
76 England George Wall 4
77 England Bob Baker 3
78 Austria Fritz Dirtl 2
79 England Harry Welch 1

World final

Nr. 3 Bob Oakley winning a race in the Netherlands in 1949
Pos. Rider Points Heats
1 Australia Jack Young 14 (3,3,3,3,2)
2 Wales Freddie Williams 13 (3,2,3,2,3)
3 England Bob Oakley 12 (3,3,2,1,3)
4 New Zealand Ronnie Moore 10 (2,2,3,F,3)
5 Australia Arthur Payne 9 (0,1,2,3,3)
6 Sweden Dan Forsberg 9 (2,3,1,3,F)
7 England Dick Bradley 9 (3,2,3,1,0)
8 England Jeff Lloyd 7 (2,2,0,2,1)
9 England Arthur Forrest 7 (1,1,0,3,2)
10 South Africa Henry Long 7 (1,0,2,2,2)
11 England Brian Crutcher 6 (1,3,1,0,1)
12 England Split Waterman 6 (2,1,0,1,2)
13 Australia Graham Warren 5 (0,1,1,2,1)
14 England Derick Close 4 (1,0,2,0,1)
15 England Cyril Roger 2 (0,Ex,1,1,0)
16 England Ron How 0 (0,d,0,0,0)
Norway Basse Hveem (res) – –
New Zealand Trevor Redmond (res) – –

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 Australia (10) Jack Young 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 1
2 Wales (2) Freddie Williams 13 3 2 3 2 3 13 2
3 England (8) Bob Oakley 12 3 3 2 1 3 12 3
4 New Zealand (3) Ronnie Moore 10 2 2 3 - 3 4 4
5 Australia (4) Arthur Payne 9 0 1 2 3 3 9 5
6 Sweden (11) Dan Forsberg 9 2 3 1 3 - 9 6
7 England (16) Dick Bradley 9 3 2 3 1 0 9 7
8 England (5) Jeff Lloyd 7 2 2 0 2 1 7 8
9 England (7) Arthur Forrest 7 1 1 0 3 2 7 9
10 South Africa (12) Henry Long 7 1 0 2 2 2 7 10
11 England (13) Brian Crutcher 6 1 3 1 0 1 6 11
12 England (14) Split Waterman 6 2 1 0 1 2 6 12
13 Australia (9) Graham Warren 5 0 1 1 2 1 5 13
14 England (1) Derek Close 4 1 0 2 0 1 4 14
15 England (15) Cyril Roger 2 0 - 1 1 0 0 15
16 England (6) Ron How 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 16
Norway (17) Basse Hveem (res) 0 0
New Zealand (18) Trevor Redmond (res) 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

Podium

  1. Gold Australia Jack Young (Australia)
  2. Silver Wales Freddie Williams (Wales)
  3. Bronze England Bob Oakley (England)

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. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  6. ^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL – RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  7. ^ "1952 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  8. ^ "1952 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
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