The 1971 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 26th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Ole Olsen became the first Danish winner of the Championship. His 15 point maximum denied Ivan Mauger from winning a fourth consecutive title. Mauger won the silver medal run-off against Bengt Jansson.[7]

Format changes

The format of the Championship changed again for the 1971 event. This time the Swedish riders were allowed six places in the World Final to be held in Sweden. All other nations had to go through the European Final route to provide the remaining 10 riders for the World Final.

First round

Qualification results.[8][9]

British/Commonwealth qualifying

Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
17 April The Shay, Halifax Dave Younghusband Ronnie Moore Bill Andrew
17 April Abbey Stadium, Swindon Barry Briggs Martin Ashby George Hunter
19 April Reading Stadium, Reading Ivan Mauger Jim Airey Howard Cole
19 April County Ground Stadium, Exeter Eric Boocock Bob Kilby Dave Younghusband
20 April West Ham Stadium, London Reg Luckhurst Nigel Boocock Greg Kentwell
20 April Leicester Stadium, Leicester Ray Wilson Tommy Roper John Boulger
21 April Wimborne Road, Poole Barry Briggs Tony Lomas Martin Ashby
22 April Wimbledon Stadium, London Garry Middleton John Boulger Ronnie Moore
22 April Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield Eric Boocock Brian Leonard Jim Airey
22 April Oxford Stadium, Oxford Martin Ashby Colin Gooddy Charlie Monk
23 April Monmore Green, Wolverhampton Terry Betts Bob Andrews Ivan Mauger
23 April Hampden Park, Glasgow Howard Cole Eric Broadbelt Norman Hunter
24 April Hyde Road, Manchester Ivan Mauger George Hunter Sándor Lévai
24 April Brandon Stadium, Coventry Tony Lomas Alan Cowland Col Cottrell
24 April King's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn Malcolm Simmons Ray Wilson Terry Betts
26 April Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Roy Trigg Garry Middleton Peter Jarman
28 April Brandon Stadium, Coventry Tony Lomas Bruce Cribb Ken McKinlay
30 April Hackney Wick Stadium, London Barry Thomas Garry Middleton Bob Kilby
30 April Somerton Park, Newport Sándor Lévai Nigel Boocock Bill Andrew

Second round

Norwegian qualifying[edit]

Pos. Rider Points
1 Reidar Eide 15
2 Ulf Lovaas 12
3 Svein Kaasa 11
4 Einar Egedius 11
5 Odd Fossengen 10
6 Jan Terje Gravningen 10
7 Jon Odegaard 10
8 Jorn Flatha 9
9 Dag Lovaas 6
10 Dagfinn Dahl 6
11 Johnny Larsen 5
12 Kjell Todnem 5
13 Nils O. Haraldsen 3
14 Thorbjorn Nygaard 3
15 Ragnar Olaisen 2
16 Leif O. Jorgensen 2

Finnish qualifying (top 8)[edit]

Pos. Rider Points Total
1 Kalevi Lahtinen 8+8 16
2 Matti Olin 6+6 12
3 Jouko Naskali 2+3 5
4 Erkki Hannula 4+0 4
5 Pekka Kulmala 0+4 4
6 Reima Lohkovuori 3+1 4
7 Timo Sinkkonen 0+2 2
8 Olavi Turunen 1+0 1

Continental qualifying

Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
8 May Italy Stadio Moretti, Udine Soviet Union Aleksandr Pavlov Poland Jerzy Szczakiel Soviet Union Viktor Trofimov
9 May Czechoslovakia Markéta Stadium, Prague East Germany Hans Jürgen Fritz Czechoslovakia Jiří Štancl East Germany Peter Liebing
9 May Hungary Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc Czechoslovakia Jan Holub I Soviet Union Vladimir Smirnov Poland Henryk Glucklich
9 May West Germany Abensberger Stadion, Abensberg Poland Jan Mucha Poland Andrzej Wyglenda Poland Antoni Woryna

British/Commonwealth semi-finals

Pos. Rider Points
1 New Zealand Ronnie Moore 15
2 Australia John Boulger 13
3 New Zealand Barry Briggs 12
4 England Bob Kilby 10
5 England Arnie Haley 9
6 England Martin Ashby 9
7 Australia Geoff Curtis 8
8 Australia Garry Middleton 7
9 England Tommy Roper 7
10 New Zealand Bruce Cribb 6
11 England Roy Trigg 5
12 Scotland Ken McKinlay 3
13 Scotland George Hunter 2
14 England Colin Gooddy 2
15 England Ian Turner 1
16 England Stan Stevens (res) 0
17 England Alan Sage (res) 0
Pos. Rider Points
1 New Zealand Ivan Mauger 14
2 England Ray Wilson 14
3 England Nigel Boocock 13
4 England Eric Boocock 13
5 Wales Howard Cole 10
6 Scotland Bert Harkins 9
7 England Tony Lomas 9
8 England Dave Younghusband 8
9 England Bob Andrews 8
10 England Malcom Simmons 7
11 England Terry Betts 4
12 England Norman Storer 4
13 Hungary Sándor Lévai 3
14 England Alan Cowland 2
15 Australia Charlie Monk 1
16 England Tony Clarke

Third round

British/Commonwealth 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
1 New Zealand (7) Ivan Mauger 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 1
2 New Zealand (2) Barry Briggs 13 3 2 2 3 3 13 2
3 England (6) Tony Lomas 12 0 3 3 3 3 12 3
4 Scotland (16) Bert Harkins 9 2 2 2 3 0 9 4
5 England (15) Ray Wilson 8 3 1 3 1 0 8 5
6 England (5) Martin Ashby 8 2 2 1 1 2 8 6
7 New Zealand (9) Ronnie Moore 7 1 0 3 2 1 7 7
8 England (13) Dave Younghusband 7 0 3 1 2 1 7 8
9 England (11) Bob Kilby 7 2 2 1 1 1 7 9
10 England (4) Eric Boocock 6 0 3 0 T 3 6 10
11 Australia (12) Jim Airey 6 3 1 0 2 0 6 11
12 England (8) Nigel Boocock 6 1 X 2 0 3 6 12
13 Wales (10) Howard Cole 6 0 1 2 2 1 6 13
14 Australia (1) Geoff Curtis 6 2 1 0 1 2 6 14
15 Australia (3) John Boulger 4 1 0 1 0 2 4 15
16 England (14) Arnold Haley 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 16
New Zealand (17) Bill Andrew 0 0 0
Australia (18) Garry Middleton 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

Nordic 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
1 Denmark (5) Ole Olsen 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 1
2 Norway (1) Reidar Eide 12 3 2 2 3 2 12 2
3 Denmark (11) Bent Nørregaard-Jensen 11 2 T 3 3 3 11 3
4 Denmark (12) Kurt Bøgh 11 3 3 2 1 2 11 4
5 Norway (4) Odd Fossengen 10 2 2 3 3 F 10 5
6 Denmark (7) Niels Weiss Sorensen 10 1 2 2 2 3 10 6
7 Norway (6) Øyvind S. Berg 10 2 2 1 2 3 10 7
8 Denmark (3) Jorn Morgensen 9 0 3 3 2 1 9 8
9 Denmark (2) Bjarne Nyegaard 8 1 3 1 2 1 8 9
10 Denmark (10) Preben Rosenkilde 6 1 0 1 1 3 6 10
11 Norway (9) Svein Kaasa 6 0 1 2 1 2 6 11
12 Finland (14) Kalevi Lahtinen 5 3 1 0 0 1 5 12
13 Norway (8) Edgar Stangeland 4 0 1 1 1 1 4 13
14 Norway (13) Dag Lovaas 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 14
15 Finland (16) Matti Olin 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 15
16 Norway (15) Jan Terje Gravningen 1 0 1 F - - 1 16
R1 Denmark (R1) Flemming Larsen 0 0 0 0 R1
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

Continental semi-finals

Pos. Rider Points
1 East Germany Hans Jürgen Fritz 14
2 Poland Henryk Glücklich 11
3 Czechoslovakia Jan Holub I 11
4 Poland Piotr Bruzda 10.5
5 Poland Stanislaw Kasa 10
6 East Germany Dieter Tetzlaff 10
7 East Germany Horst Krüger 9
8 Czechoslovakia Jiří Štancl 8
9 Soviet Union Vladimir Smirnov 7.5
10 Soviet Union Viktor Kalmykov 6
11 Hungary Janos Szöke 6
12 East Germany Peter Liebing 6
13 East Germany Clemens Bever 6
14 Poland Zbigniew Podlecki 3
15 Czechoslovakia Zbynek Novotny 2
16 Hungary Ferenc Radacsi 0
Pos. Rider Points
1 Soviet Union Gennadij Kurilenko 11
2 Poland Jerzy Szczakiel 11
3 Soviet Union Vladimir Gordeev 11
4 Soviet Union Grigorij Khlynovski 11
5 Soviet Union Anatolij Kuzmin 10
6 Soviet Union Viktor Trofimov 10
7 Poland Jan Mucha 10
8 Poland Paweł Waloszek 9+3
9 Soviet Union Alexander Pavlov 9+2
10 Poland Andrzej Wyglenda 7
11 Czechoslovakia Pavel Mares 6
12 Czechoslovakia Miroslav Verner 5
13 Poland Antoni Woryna 4
14 Czechoslovakia Václav Verner 3
15 Poland Jerzy Trzeszkowski 3
16 Czechoslovakia Milan Špinka 0

Fourth round

Swedish qualifying

British/Commonwealth/Nordic 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
1 New Zealand (2) Ivan Mauger 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 1
2 England (6) Ray Wilson 13 3 2 3 2 3 13 2
3 Denmark (9) Ole Olsen 11 2 3 2 3 1 11 3
4 England (12) Nigel Boocock 11 3 3 2 2 1 11 4
5 Australia (1) Jim Airey 9 2 2 0 3 2 9 5
6 England (16) Eric Boocock 9 1 1 2 2 3 9 6
7 England (4) Tony Lomas 9 1 2 3 1 2 9 7
8 New Zealand (11) Ronnie Moore 9 0 3 1 2 3 9 8
9 New Zealand (10) Barry Briggs 7 1 0 F 3 3 7 9
10 England (8) Dave Younghusband 7 2 0 3 1 1 7 10
11 Denmark (13) Kurt Bøgh 6 2 0 2 0 2 6 11
12 Norway (14) Reidar Eide 4 3 1 0 - 0 4 12
13 England (15) Martin Ashby 3 0 2 1 0 0 3 13
14 Scotland (3) Bert Harkins 3 0 1 1 1 0 3 14
15 England (5) Bob Kilby 2 1 1 0 0 - 2 15
16 Denmark (7) Bent Nørregaard-Jensen 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 16
R1 Norway (R1) Odd Fossengen 1 1 1 R1
R2 Australia (R2) John Boulger 1 1 1 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

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

Continental 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
1 Poland (14) Henryk Glucklich 10 1 3 3 3 0 10 1 3
2 Poland (12) Jan Mucha 10 0 3 3 2 2 10 2 2
3 Soviet Union (7) Gennady Kurilenko 10 1 3 2 1 3 10 3 1
4 Poland (15) Jerzy Szczakiel 10 2 1 1 3 3 10 4 0
5 Soviet Union (11) Grigory Khlinovsky 9 3 0 0 3 3 9 5
6 Soviet Union (3) Viktor Trofimov 9 0 2 1 3 3 9 6
7 Czechoslovakia (1) Jiří Štancl 9 3 1 3 0 2 9 7
8 Soviet Union (13) Valery Gordeev 9 3 2 3 1 X 9 8
9 Poland (4) Pawel Waloszek 9 2 2 1 2 2 9 9
10 Soviet Union (5) Anatoly Kuzmin 8 2 3 2 F 1 8 10
11 Czechoslovakia (2) Jan Holub I 7 1 2 0 2 2 7 11
12 East Germany (6) Horst Krüger 6 3 0 2 1 F 6 12
13 East Germany (8) Dieter Tetzlaff 4 0 1 2 0 1 4 13
14 Poland (10) Stanislaw Kasa 3 2 1 F - - 3 14
15 East Germany (16) Hans Jürgen Fritz 1 0 0 1 F - 1 15
16 Poland (9) Piotr Bruzda 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 16
R1 Czechoslovakia (R1) Miloslav Verner 3 2 0 1 3 R1
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

Fifth round

Swedish Finals

Pos. Rider R1 R2 R3 Total
1 Anders Michanek 14 15 12 41
2 Bengt Jansson 11 11 14 36
3 Bernt Persson 11 14 9 34
4 Leif Enecrona 12 8 11 31
5 Tommy Jansson 10 10 10 30
6 Sören Sjösten 8 7 14 29
7 Göte Nordin 3 12 13 28
8 Hasse Holmqvist 8 10 8 26
9 Lars Jansson 9 7 7 23
Pos. Rider R1 R2 R3 Total
10 Olle Nygren 8 5 6 19
11 Bo Wirebrand 4 4 7 15
12 Runo Wedin 4 7 4 15
13 Bo Josefsson 5 4 2 11
14 Sven-Inge Svensson 5 2 3 10
15 Per Olof Söderman 5 3 1 9
16 Herje Henriksson - 1 0 1
17 Rolf Johansson 0 0 - 0

European 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
1 New Zealand (13) Ivan Mauger 14 3 2 3 3 3 14 1
2 England (7) Ray Wilson 12 3 3 X 3 3 12 2 3
3 Denmark (9) Ole Olsen 12 3 3 3 3 E 12 3 2
4 England (16) Nigel Boocock 12 2 3 3 2 2 12 4 X
5 England (3) Eric Boocock 10 2 2 2 3 1 10 5
6 Australia (12) Jim Airey 9 2 2 3 T 2 9 6
7 Poland (4) Jerzy Szczakiel 7 3 1 2 1 0 7 7
8 New Zealand (14) Ronnie Moore 7 1 3 1 1 1 7 8
9 Soviet Union (5) Vladimir Gordeev 6 2 0 0 1 3 6 9 3
10 Czechoslovakia (2) Jiří Štancl 6 0 2 1 2 1 6 10 2
11 England (11) Tony Lomas 6 1 0 2 1 2 6 11 1
12 Poland (8) Henryk Glucklich 4 1 X 0 0 3 4 12
13 Soviet Union (6) Grigory Khlinovsky 4 0 1 1 2 0 4 13
14 Soviet Union (1) Viktor Trofimov 4 1 1 0 0 2 4 14
15 Poland (15) Jan Mucha 4 F 1 2 F 1 4 15
16 Soviet Union (10) Gennady Kurilenko 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 16
R1 New Zealand (R1) Barry Briggs 2 2 2 R1
R2 Poland (R2) Pawel Waloszek 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
1 Denmark (14) Ole Olsen 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
2 New Zealand (7) Ivan Mauger 12+3 3 1 3 2 3 12 2
3 Sweden (13) Bengt Jansson 12+3 2 3 1 3 3 12 3
4 England (3) Ray Wilson 11 3 3 1 3 1 11 4
5 Sweden (4) Anders Michanek 11 2 2 2 3 2 11 5
6 Sweden (12) Bernt Persson 9 3 1 2 1 2 9 6
7 Australia (5) Jim Airey 8 2 1 3 2 0 8 7
8 Sweden (11) Sören Sjösten 8 2 2 2 1 1 8 8
9 England (1) Nigel Boocock 6 1 2 1 0 2 6 9
10 New Zealand (10) Ronnie Moore 5 1 2 0 1 1 5 10
11 England (6) Eric Boocock 4 0 0 3 1 0 4 11
12 Sweden (9) Leif Enecrona 4 0 0 0 2 2 4 12
13 Czech Republic (2) Jiří Štancl 3 0 1 1 0 1 3 13
14 Sweden (16) Tommy Jansson 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 14
15 Poland (15) Jerzy Szczakiel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15
16 Soviet Union (8) Vladimir Gordeev Dsq 1 3 2 2 3 11 16
Sweden (17) Göte Nordin 0 0
England (18) Tony Lomas 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

Note : Vladimir Gordeev was disqualified after illegal additives were found in his fuel.

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 9 July 2021.
  3. ^ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  4. ^ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  6. ^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Ole Olsen wins world speedway title". Birmingham Daily Post. 11 September 1971. Retrieved 9 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "1971 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  9. ^ "1971 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  10. ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
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