1973 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1973 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 28th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

The 1973 World Final was won by Polish rider Jerzy Szczakiel following a run-off in with defending champion Ivan Mauger after both riders had finished on 13 points. On the second lap of the run-off, Mauger fell in turn 3 after trying a risky passing move leaving Szczakiel to win easily. Another Polish rider, Zenon Plech finished third. Rank outsider Szczakiel, who had finished last with no points scored in his only other World Final appearance in Sweden in 1971, rode the meeting of his life and was only beaten in his final two rides before defeating Mauger in the run-off.[7]

The final, held at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów, Poland, is believed to have been held in front of the largest crowd in world speedway history, estimated to be around 130,000, though some reports put the size of the crowd as anywhere from 90,000 to 120,000.[8] The previous record for a final was 95,000 during the 1938 Individual Speedway World Championship at Wembley.

Format changes

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The format of the Championship changed for the 1973 event. This time the Polish riders were allowed five places in the World Final to be held in Poland. All other nations had to go through the European Final route to provide the remaining 11 riders for the World Final.[9][10]

First round

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British/Commonwealth premilinaries

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  • Riders progress to British/Commonwealth qualifiers
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
29 April Arlington Stadium, Eastbourne Gordon Kennett Paul Gachet Bobby McNeil
29 April Boston Sports Stadium, Boston Graeme Stapleton John Dews Russ Osborne
2 May Odsal Stadium, Bradford Neil Street Billy Sanders Rick France
7 May Earle Street, Crewe Mitch Graham Arthur Price Les Owen
7 May Birchfield Ladbroke Stadium, Birmingham Jim Ryman Bob Paulson Ted Howgego

Second round

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Norwegian qualifying

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Pos. Rider Points
1 Ulf Lövaas 14
2 Dag Lövaas 12
3 Odd Fossengen 11
4 Helge Langli 11
5 Svein Kaasa 9
6 Oyvind S. Berg 9
7 Edgar Stangeland 9
8 Reidar Eide 9
9 Tormod Langli 8
10 Hans Erik Fuglerud 7
11 Johnny Larsen 7
12 Per Hetland 5
13 Svein Lökken 3
14 Kjell Gimre 3
15 Jan Jacobsen 2
16 Öyvind Rökeberg 0

Finnish qualifying (top 10)

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Pos. Rider Points Total (best 2)
1 Matti Olin 8+8+0 16
2 Hannu Känkänen 4+6+8 14
3 Kalevi Lahtinen 6+0+6 12
4 Heikki Ahonen 1+3+4 7
5 Kari Vuoristo 3+2+0 5
6 Pekka Paljakka 0+4+0 4
7 Matti Touru 0+0+3 3
8 Tapio Leppasalko 2+1+0 3
9 Jouko Naskali 0+0+2 2
10 Timo Naskali 0+0+1 1

Swedish qualifying

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  • Top 8 in each heat to Nordic qualification

Continental qualifying

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  • Rider progress to Continental quarter-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
29 April   Mladost Stadum, Prelog   Zdenek Majstr   Evzen Erban   Jozef Haider
6 May   Motodrom Halbemond, Norden   Jan Hadek   Jiri Dominik   Henny Kroeze

British/Commonwealth qualifiers

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  • Top riders progress to British/Commonwealth semi-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
12 May King's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn John Louis Terry Betts Malcolm Simmons
14 May Reading Stadium, Reading Martin Ashby Mick Bell Geoff Curtis
16 May Wimborne Road, Poole Pete Smith Ray Wilson Terry Betts
17 May Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield Jim McMillan Arnie Haley Doug Wyer
18 May Monmore Green, Wolverhampton George Hunter Ray Wilson Gary Peterson
18 May Hackney Wick Stadium, London Terry Betts Bob Valentine Barry Thomas
19 May The Shay, Halifax John Boulger Eric Boocock Bill Andrew
19 May Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley John Louis Bruce Cribb Colin Gooddy
19 May Abbey Stadium, Swindon Jim McMillan Doug Wyer Tony Davey
19 May Hyde Road, Manchester Ivan Mauger Chris Pusey Eric Broadbelt
21 May County Ground Stadium, Exeter Ivan Mauger Martin Ashby Bob Coles
22 May Leicester Stadium, Leicester John Boulger Ray Wilson Bob Kilby
23 May Somerton Park, Newport Eric Boocock Roy Trigg Gary Peterson
24 May Wimbledon Stadium, London Peter Collins Norman Hunter Ian Turner
24 May Oxford Stadium, Oxford Bob Kilby Malcolm Ballard Eric Boocock
25 May Cliftonhill, Coatbridge Mick Bell John Boulger Chris Julian
26 May Brandon Stadium, Coventry Nigel Boocock Ray Wilson Bob Kilby
29 May Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich Ivan Mauger Tony Davey Mick Bell

Third round

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Continental quarter-finals

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  • Top 32 to Continental semi-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
10 May   Svítkov Stadium, Pardubice   Vladimir Zapleshny   Jiri Stancl   Miloslav Verner
20 May   Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc   Grigory Khlinovsky   Viktor Trofimov   Aleksandr Pavlov
20 May   Breitenthal Stadium, Krumbach   Milan Špinka   Vladimir Paznikov   Jan Holub I
20 May   Matija Gubec Stadium, Krsko   Anatoly Kuzmin   Vladimir Gordeev   Petr Ondrašík

British/Commonwealth semi-finals

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Pos. Rider Points
1   Ivan Mauger 14
2   John Louis 13
3   Chris Pusey 12
4   Jim Mcmillan 10
5   Rick France 9
6   Peter Collins 9
7   Bob Valentine 8
8   Tony Davey 8
9   Garry Middleton 8
10   Alan Wilkinson 7
11   Doug Wyer 7
12   Arnie Haley 6
13   Bob Humphreys 6
14   Eric Broadbelt 2
15   Bob Kilby 1
16   Nigel Boocock 0
Pos. Rider Points
1   John Boulger 14
2   Martin Ashby 13
3   Eric Boocock 10
4   Malcolm Simmons 10
5   Ray Wilson 10
6   Terry Betts 10
7   Mick Bell 9
8   Pete Smith 9
9   Roy Trigg 7
10   Gary Peterson 5
11   Barry Thomas 5
12   Malcolm Ballard 5
13   Geoff Maloney 4
14   George Hunter 3
15   Bruce Cribb 3
16   Bill Andrew 1

Nordic qualification

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  • Top 5 from each meeting to Nordic final

Fourth round

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Continental semi-finals

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Pos. Rider Points
1   Grigory Khlinovsky 13
2   Valerij Gordeev 13
3   Václav Verner 12
4   Milan Špinka 12
5   Vladimir Paznikov 12
6   Viktor Trofimov 7
7   Alexander Pavlov 7
8   Josef Angermüller 7
9   Oleg Dziadyk 7
10   Jan Klokocka 7
11   Manfred Poschenreider 6
12   Jan Holub I 6
13   Georgij Ivanov 4
14   Miroslav Rosulek 3
15   Vladimir Tchistiakov (res) 1
16   Yury Dubinin 0
17   Petr Safarik 0
18   Otto Barth (res) 0
Pos. Rider Points
1   Vladimir Gordeev 15
2   Jiří Štancl 13
3   Anatolij Kuzmin 12
4   Vladimir Zaplechny 11
5   Zdeněk Majstr 11
6   Karel Vobornik 10
7   Miroslav Verner 10
8   Petr Ondrašík 8
9   Petr Kucera 6
10   Nikolai Aksjonov 5
11   Gregorij Markatanov 4
12   Henny Kroeze 4
13   Nikolaj Kornev 4
14   Gerhard Uhlenbrock 3
15   Josef Bössner 2
16   Pal Pereny 1

British/Commonwealth Final

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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
    (15) Ray Wilson 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
    (10) Bob Valentine 12 3 3 2 2 2 12 2 3
    (13) Peter Collins 12 2 3 3 2 2 12 3 2
4   (3) John Boulger 12 2 1 3 3 3 12 4 1
5   (2) Ivan Mauger 10 3 1 3 3 T 10 5
6   (7) Eric Boocock 9 2 2 0 3 2 9 6
7   (8) Tony Davey 9 3 2 2 1 1 9 7
8   (16) Rick France 9 1 2 2 1 3 9 8
9   (6) John Louis 7 F 0 3 3 1 7 9
10   (4) Martin Ashby 6 1 3 1 1 0 6 10
11   (5) Garry Middleton 5 1 0 1 0 3 5 11
12   (14) Peter Smith 5 0 2 1 1 1 5 12
13   (9) Terry Betts 4 1 2 F F 1 4 13
14   (11) Mick Bell 4 2 0 0 0 2 4 14
15   (1) Malcolm Simmons 2 0 1 1 0 0 2 15
16   (12) Jim McMillan 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 16
R1   (R1) Chris Pusey 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

Nordic Final

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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) Ole Olsen 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
    (5) Bengt Jansson 14 2 3 3 3 3 14 2
    (7) Anders Michanek 13 1 3 3 3 3 13 3
4   (8) Bernt Persson 12 0 3 3 3 3 12 4
5   (3) Tommy Jansson 10 3 1 2 2 2 10 5
6   (4) Jan Simensen 9 1 2 2 2 2 9 6
7   (13) Reidar Eide 9 3 2 1 2 1 9 7
8   (11) Göte Nordin 8 3 2 1 1 1 8 8 3
9   (1) Christer Löfqvist 8 2 1 2 1 2 8 9 F
10   (9) Lars Jansson 5 2 0 1 0 2 5 10
11   (12) Christer Sjösten 4 F E 2 2 0 4 11
12   (10) Øyvind S. Berg 4 1 1 0 1 1 4 12
13   (2) Dag Lovaas 3 F 2 1 0 0 3 13
14   (15) Hasse Holmqvist 3 2 0 0 1 0 3 14
15   (16) Tommy Johansson 1 1 E E - - 1 15
16   (14) Odd Fossengen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16
R1   (R1) Leif Enecrona 1 0 1 1 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

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British/Commonwealth/Nordic Final

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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
    (13) Anders Michanek 14 3 3 2 3 3 14 1
    (8) Ole Olsen 11 T 3 3 2 3 11 2
    (4) Ivan Mauger 11 1 2 3 3 2 11 3
4   (2) Tommy Jansson 10 2 3 2 1 2 10 4
5   (7) John Boulger 10 2 3 1 3 1 10 5
6   (11) Peter Collins 9 3 2 3 0 1 9 6
7   (16) Ray Wilson 9 E 1 2 3 3 9 7
8   (15) Bernt Persson 9 2 E 3 2 2 9 8
9   (1) Bob Valentine 8 3 2 0 2 1 8 9
10   (6) Reidar Eide 5 1 2 1 1 0 5 10
11   (14) Göte Nordin 5 1 1 2 1 0 5 11
12   (10) Bengt Jansson 3 2 F F 1 E 3 12
13   (9) Jan Simensen 2 1 0 1 0 0 2 13
14   (12) Tony Davey 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 14
15   (3) Eric Boocock 0 0 T - - - 0 15
DQ   (5) John Louis 10 3 1 1 2 3 10 DQ
R1   (R1) Garry Middleton 2 T 0 2 2 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 Final

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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
    (15) Valery Gordeev 13 3 3 2 2 3 13 1
    (4) Grigory Khlinovsky 12 2 3 3 1 3 12 2
    (16) Vladimir Zapleshny 12 2 2 2 3 3 12 3
4   (6) Vladimir Gordeev 11.5 3 3 1/2 3 2 11.5 4
5   (1) Viktor Trofimov 11.5 3 3 1/2 3 2 11.5 5
6   (12) Aleksandr Pavlov 11 3 0 3 2 3 11 6
7   (8) Anatoly Kuzmin 10 2 1 3 3 1 10 7
8   (11) Vladimir Paznikov 10 1 2 3 2 2 10 8
9   (9) Jiri Stancl 8 2 2 2 0 2 8 9
10   (3) Petr Ondrašík 5 1 1 0 2 1 5 10
11   (14) Milan Špinka 5 1 2 1 X 1 5 11
12   (13) Václav Verner 4 0 1 2 1 0 4 12
13   (5) Miloslav Verner 3 1 0 1 1 0 3 13
14   (7) Josef Angermüller 3 0 0 1 1 1 3 14
15   (10) Karol Vobornik 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 15
16   (2) Petr Kučera 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16
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

Sixth round

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Polish qualifiers

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European Final

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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
    (7) Anders Michanek 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
    (5) Ivan Mauger 14 2 3 3 3 3 14 2
    (13) Vladimir Paznikov 12 3 2 1 3 3 12 3
4   (4) Bernt Persson 10 0 3 2 3 2 10 4
5   (9) Vladimir Zapleshny 9 3 0 2 2 2 9 5
6   (16) Peter Collins 9 2 2 3 2 E 9 6
7   (14) Valery Gordeev 8 F 3 3 1 1 8 7
8   (11) Ole Olsen 8 2 2 2 2 - 8 8
9   (1) Grigory Khlinovsky 7 1 1 0 2 3 7 9
10   (3) John Boulger 7 3 1 1 1 1 7 10
11   (2) Ray Wilson 6 2 2 F 1 1 6 11
12   (6) Bengt Jansson 6 1 1 1 1 2 6 12
13   (15) Aleksandr Pavlov 4 1 0 2 0 1 4 13
14   (8) Jiri Stancl 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 14
15   (12) Viktor Trofimov 2 0 1 1 0 0 2 15
16   (10) Anatoly Kuzmin 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 16
R1   (R1) Otto Barth 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

World Final

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Final Controversy

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The Final was surrounded by controversy, with decisions made by Georg Traunspurger, the referee assigned to the meeting by the FIM, seeming to favour the Polish riders. One of his decisions was to have 2nd reserve Andrzej Wyglenda of Poland race in Heat 16 in front of 1st reserve Tommy Jansson of Sweden (after Bernt Persson of Sweden was unable to ride), making it four Polish riders in the race. In the race, second placed Edward Jancarz, who led for the first three laps, seemed to let Zenon Plech take the lead in the final turn, allowing Plech, who had more points at that stage of the meeting, to collect another three points for the win.

His most controversial decision was to exclude Soviet rider Grigory Khlinovsky from heat 19. Khlinovsky had attempted to pass on the inside of Zenon Plech for the lead going into the back straight of the last lap. As he was passed by the Russian, Plech lost control of his bike and fell. Despite protests from riders and the Soviet officials Khlinovsky was excluded and England's Peter Collins, who was in 3rd place at the time of the crash, was awarded the heat win, Plech, who didn't actually finish the race, was awarded 2nd. The result of the two points he gained for second place allowed Plech to finish a clear third in the championship. Had Khlinovsky been the winner of the heat, he would have ended on 13 points, which would have put him in the run-off for the title with Szczakiel and Mauger.[11]

British television commentator Dave Lanning called the ruling "The craziest piece of speedway regulations in the history of World Championship racing", before adding that "It seems to me that the authorities here in Katowice are making up the rules to suit themselves to get their boys a world title."

Final result

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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
    (16) Jerzy Szczakiel 13 3 3 3 2 2 13 1 3
    (8) Ivan Mauger 13 3 1 3 3 3 13 2 F
    (6) Zenon Plech 12 2 3 2 3 2 12 3
4   (7) Ole Olsen 11 1 2 3 2 3 11 4
5   (3) Grigory Khlinovsky 10 2 3 2 3 X 10 5
6   (2) Vladimir Paznikov 8 3 1 2 1 1 8 6
7   (4) Paweł Waloszek 8 1 2 1 1 3 8 7
8   (12) Valery Gordeev 7 2 0 1 3 1 7 8
9   (11) Jan Mucha 7 1 1 1 2 2 7 9
10   (1) Anders Michanek 6 0 3 X 1 2 6 10
11   (9) Edward Jancarz 6 3 1 0 2 0 6 11
12   (13) Peter Collins 6 1 0 2 0 3 6 12
13   (14) John Boulger 6 2 2 1 0 1 6 13
14   (5) Ray Wilson 5 F 2 3 0 F 5 14
15   (10) Vladimir Zapleshny 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 15
16   (15) Bernt Persson 0 F 0 R - - 0 16
R1   (R1) Andrzej Wyglenda 0 0 0 R1
R2   (R2) Tommy Jansson 0 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

References

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  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. ^ "Unknown Pole wins crown from Mauger". Newcastle Evening Chronicle. 3 September 1973. Retrieved 6 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ Katowice 1973
  9. ^ "1973 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  10. ^ "1973 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  11. ^ YouTube
  12. ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5