1966 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1966 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 21st edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

In the final in Gothenburg New Zealander Barry Briggs equalled the record of Ove Fundin by winning his fourth World title. Norwegian Sverre Harrfeldt took silver and Pole Antoni Woryna took bronze.^[7] Ivan Mauger, a 26-year-old New Zealander who had won the European Final qualifier finished fourth.

Format changes

The format of the Championship changed for the 1966 event. With the final to be held in Sweden, six riders from Sweden would be eligible for the World Final by finishing in the top six of the Swedish finals. The remaining Scandinavian riders were pooled in with the British and Commonwealth riders and then the Continental riders, who ultimately would have only 10 places for the World Final.

Two Swedish finals were held during 1966, the three race qualifying for the World Final and another held on 7 October that was separate from the World Championship.^[8]^[9]

First round

Qualification results.^[10]^[11]

British & Commonwealth qualifying

Top 32 to British & Commonwealth semi-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
20 May	Somerton Park, Newport	Nigel Boocock	Jon Erskine	Jack Biggs
20 May	White City, Glasgow	Ron Mountford	Charlie Monk	Eric Boocock
21 May	Old Meadowbank, Edinburgh	George Hunter	Doug Templeton	Norman Hunter
21 May	Brandon Stadium, Coventry	Nigel Boocock	Jim Lightfoot	Bill Andrew
21 May	Hyde Road, Manchester	Brian Brett	Jon Erskine	Cyril Maidment
21 May	Wimbledon Stadium, London	Reg Luckhurst	Bob Dugard	Bob Paulson
23 May	Brough Park, Newcastle	Ivan Mauger	Brian Brett	Mike Broadbank
23 May	County Ground Stadium, Exeter	Ron Mountford	Martin Ashby	Trevor Hedge
24 May	Long Eaton Stadium, Long Eaton	Ray Wilson	Eric Boothroyd	Ivan Mauger
24 May	West Ham Stadium, London	Barry Briggs	Norman Hunter	Malcolm Simmons
25 May	King's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn	David Crane	Cyril Maidment	Peter Moore
25 May	Wimborne Road, Poole	Bill Andrew	Geoff Mudge	Doug Templeton
26 May	Oxford Stadium, Oxford	Eric Boocock	Jimmy Gooch	Jim Lightfoot
26 May	Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield	Billy Bales	Barry Briggs	Charlie Monk
27 May	Hackney Wick Stadium, London	Colin Pratt	Mike Broadbank	Ivan Mauger
27 May	Monmore Green, Wolverhampton	Ken McKinlay	Terry Betts	Peter Jarman
28 May	Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley	Ivor Brown	Peter Vandenberg	Colin Gooddy
28 May	The Shay, Halifax	Eric Boocock	Eric Boothroyd	Colin Pratt
28 May	Abbey Stadium, Swindon	Barry Briggs	Martin Ashby	Arne Pander

Second round

British & Commonwealth semi-finals

13 June
Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley
Top 8 to British final

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Trevor Hedge	12+3
2	Colin Pratt	12+2
3	Mike Broadbank	11+3
4	Norman Hunter	11+2
5	Eric Boocock	11+1
6	Dave Younghusband	11+0
7	Nigel Boocock	10
8	Ken McKinlay	10
9	Martin Ashby	9
10	Cyril Maidment	6
11	Geoff Mudge	5
12	Reg Luckhurst	4
13	Bill Andrew	3
14	Bob Paulson	3
15	Eric Boothroyd	2
16	Ray Wilson	0
17	Ronnie Genz (res)	0

15 June
The Shay, Halifax
Top 8 to British final

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Barry Briggs	15
2	Ron Mountford	12
3	Peter Moore	10+3
4	Roy Trigg	10+2
5	Jimmy Gooch	10+1
6	Brian Brett	10+0
7	George Hunter	9
8	Ivan Mauger	9
9	Terry Betts	7
10	Peter Vandenberg	6
11	Arne Pander	5
12	Jim Lightfoot	5
13	Jon Erskine	4
14	Charlie Monk	4
15	Doug Templeton	2
16	Colin Gooddy	2

Continental qualifying

Top 32 to Continental semi-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
8 May	Abensberger Stadion, Abensberg	Joachim Maj	Andrzej Wyglenda	Andrzej Pogorzelski
8 May	Meissen Speedway Stadium, Meissen	Jan Mucha	Edmund Migoś	Marian Rose
8 May	Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc	Jerzy Trzeszkowski	Zbigniew Podlecki	Farid Szajnurov
8 May	Gradski stadion, Osijek	Gennady Kurilenko	Stanisław Tkocz	Antoni Woryna

Norwegian qualifying

28 October 1965
Dælenenga idrettspark, Oslo
Top 5 to Nordic Final 1966

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Sverre Harrfeldt	15
2	Per Aulie	14
3	Johnny Faafeng	13
4	Thorbjorn Nygaard	12
5	Rolf Westerberg	10
6	Thorbjorn Aulie	10
7	Svein Johnsen	8
8	Ivar Arne Hoffgaard	8
9	Hans R. Gaarder	6
10	Olav Aaen	6
11	Einar Egedius	6
12	Svein Svensrud	4
13	Arne Thorbjornsen	2
14	Jan Terje Gravningen	2
15	Svein Tollefsen	2
16	Lars Skjellfoss	1

Finnish qualifying

30 July 1965
Kärpänen Speedway, Lahti
Top 3 (+1 seeded) to Nordic final 1966

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Kalevi Lahtinen	15
2	Matti Olin	14
3	Heikki Kaprali	12
4	Esko Koponen	12
5	Antero Salasto	10
6	Jouko Naskali	9
7	Timo Sinkkonene	8
8	Reima Lohkovuori	8
9	Veikko Vesa	7
10	Eero Mantila	6
11	Reijo Tolviander	6
12	Juhani Taipale	5
13	Toivo Skytta	3
14	Teijo Naskali	3
15	Teuvo Morjavaara	2
16	Martti Myllyntausta	0

Third round

British & Commonwealth Final

27 June 1966
Wimbledon Stadium, London
First 8 to British/Commonwealth/Scandinavian 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
	(3) Barry Briggs	12	3						3				3				3				F		12	1
	(8) Ivan Mauger	11		3						1			2			3			2				11	2
	(7) Colin Pratt	10		0					2					3	2					3			10	3
4	(9) Mike Broadbank	9			3		3						0					1		2			9	4
5	(1) George Hunter	9	0				2				3				3				1				9	5
6	(6) Nigel Boocock	9		2				0			2							2			3		9	6
7	(15) Brian Brett	8				0			1			1						3	3				8	7	3
8	(4) Ken McKinlay	8	2							3				0				0				3	8	8	2
9	(16) Eric Boocock	8				3				2	1						1			1			8	9	1
10	(2) Trevor Hedge	8	1					2				3				2				F			8	10	0
11	(5) Ron Mountford	7		1			0					2					2					2	7	11
12	(13) Roy Trigg	7				2	1							1		1					2		7	12
13	(14) Norman Hunter	6				1		3					1		0							1	6	13
14	(10) Jimmy Gooch	5			2			1						2			0		0				5	14
15	(12) Dave Younghusband	2			0					E		E			1						1		2	15
16	(11) Peter Moore	1			1				0		0					0						0	1	16
R1	(R1) Martin Ashby	0																					0	R1
R2	(R2) Terry Betts	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

Nordic Final

19 May 1966
Selskov Stadium, Hillerød
First 7 to British/Commonwealth/Scandinavian Final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Kalevi Lahtinen	14
2	Ole Olsen	13
3	Sverre Harrfeldt	12
4	Paul Wissing	12
5	Matti Olin	12
6	Nils Paulsen	8
7	Jonny Faafeng	8
8	Torbjörn Nygaard	7
9	Per Aulie	7
10	Börge Christiansen	7
11	Jan Holm-Nielsen	4
12	Preben Andreasen	4
13	Heikki Kaprali	4
14	Jörgen Mogensen	3
15	Kurt Bøgh	2
16	Jouko Naskali	1
17	Erik Kastebo	1

Continental Semi-finals

22 May
Trud Stadium, Balakovo
Top 8 to Continental final

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Gennady Kurilenko	13
2	Antoni Woryna	11
3	Marian Rose	10
4	Konstanty Pociejkewicz	10
5	Stanislaw Tkocz	10
6	Edmund Migos	10
7	Viktor Trofimov	10
8	Boris Samorodov	9
9	Marian Kaiser	8
10	Vladimir Sokolov	7
11	Jan Mucha	6
12	Peter Leibing	4
13	Antonín Šváb Sr.	4
14	Luboš Tomíček Sr.	3
15	Jan Holub I	3
16	Hans Jürgen Fritz	0

22 May
Rybnik Municipal Stadium, Rybnik
Top 8 to Continental final

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Andrzej Pogorzelski	14
2	Joachim Maj	12
3	Pavel Mareš	12
4	Pawel Waloszek	10
5	Andrzej Wyglenda	10
6	Stanislav Kubíček	9
7	Jaroslav Volf	8
8	Igor Plechanov	8
9	Jerzy Trzeszkowski
10	Zbigniew Podlecki
11	Gabdrakhman Kadyrov
12	Farid Szajnurov
13	Bohumír Bartoněk
14	Manfred Poschenreider
15	Václav Průša
16	Vladimir Kornev

Fourth round

Swedish Qualifying

24 April, Gamla Motorstadion, Målilla
Top 8 to Swedish final

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Per Olof Söderman	15
2	Karl-Erik Andersson	13
3	Olle Nygren	13
4	Bengt Brannefors	10
5	Bo Josefsson	10
6	Gunnar Malmqvist	8
7	Willy Friberg	7
8	Bengt Larsson
9	Bo Magnusson	6
10	Therje Henriksson	6
11	Sune Stark	5
12	Jan Simensen	5
13	Bengt Svensson	5
14	Conny Samuelsson	4
15	Arne Hansson	3
16	Sven Sigurd	1

1 May, Gamla Speedway Track, Visby
Top 8 to Swedish final

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Leif Enecrona	14
2	Göte Nordin	15
3	Leif Larsson	11
4	Torbjörn Harrysson	10
5	Arne Carlsson	10
6	Björn Knutson	9
7	Bengt Jansson	9
8	Kurt Westlund	8
9	Bernt Persson	7
10	Anders Michanek	7
11	Nils Ringström	5
12	Hasse Holmqvist	4
13	Yngve Nilsson	3
14	Ryno Westergren	3
15	Sture Lindblom	2
16	Per-Åke Gerhardsson	2
17	Leif Söderberg	1
18	Lars Jansson	1

Continental Final

25 June 1966
Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný
First 9 to European 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
	(14) Andrzej Pogorzelski	12				3		3					1		2							3	12	1
	(12) Antoni Woryna	11			2					3		2			3						1		11	2
	(13) Konstanty Pociejkewicz	11				2	2							3		2					2		11	3
4	(11) Marian Kaiser	10			0				3		2					3						2	10	4
5	(2) Edmund Migoś	10	3					2				3				0				2			10	5
6	(1) Igor Plechanov	10	2				3				1				1				3				10	6
7	(9) Pawel Waloszek	10			3		1						2					3		1			10	7
8	(7) Stanisław Tkocz	9		3					1					2	0					3			9	8	3
9	(6) Pavel Mareš	9		2				1			3							X			3		9	9	2
10	(8) Marian Rose	9		1						2			3			1			2				9	10
11	(3) Viktor Trofimov	5	1						2				0				2				0		5	11
12	(16) Joachim Maj	4				0				1	0						3			0			4	12
13	(10) Andrzej Wyglenda	3			1			F						1			1		0				3	13
14	(4) Stanislav Kubíček	2	0							0				0				2				0	2	14
15	(5) Boris Samorodov	2		0			0					1					0					1	2	15
16	(15) Gennady Kurilenko	1				1			0			0						0	0				1	16
R1	(R1) Jaroslav Volf	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

British/Commonwealth/Scandinavian Final

14 July 1966
Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield
First 7 to European 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
	(14) Barry Briggs	15				3		3					3		3							3	15	1
	(11) Ivan Mauger	13			3				3		3					3						1	13	2
	(8) Nigel Boocock	12		3						3			2			1			3				12	3
4	(13) Sverre Harrfeldt	10				E	3							2		2					3		10	4
5	(12) George Hunter	10			2					2		3			1						2		10	5
6	(7) Ken McKinlay	10		1					1					3	2					3			10	6
7	(15) Colin Pratt	10				2			2			2						3	1				10	7
8	(5) Mike Broadbank	9		2			1					1					3					2	9	8
9	(6) Brian Brett	6		0				2			1							2			1		6	9
10	(4) Kalevi Lahtinen	6	2							1				1				1				1	6	10
11	(3) Ole Olsen	5	3						F				0				2				0		5	11
12	(2) Torbjörn Nygaard	3	1					1				0				1				0			3	12
13	(16) Nils Paulsen	3				1				0	0						E			2			3	13
14	(9) Jonny Faafeng	2			1		0						1					0		0			2	14
15	(10) Paul Wissing	1			0			0						0			1		E				1	15
16	(1) Börge Christiansen	0	F				-				-				-				-				0	16
R1	(R1) Eric Boocock	0					2				2				0				2				0	R1
R2	(R2) Gordon Guasco	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

Fifth round

Swedish Final

Top 6 to World final

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
31 May	Ryavallen, Borås	Bengt Brannefors	Björn Knutson	Karl-Erik Andersson
1 June	Ryd Motorstadion, Linköping	Björn Knutson	Per-Olof Söderman	Torbjörn Harrysson
2 June	Ullevi, Gothenburg	Björn Knutson	Torbjörn Harrysson	Leif Larsson

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Björn Knutson	41
2	Torbjörn Harrysson	35
3	Leif Enecrona	33
4	Leif Larsson	33
5	Per Olof Söderman	32
6	Göte Nordin	31
7	Bengt Brannefors	27
8	Olle Nygren	26
9	Gunnar Malmqvist	25

Pos.	Rider	Points
10	Bernt Persson	18
11	Karl-Erik Andersson	14
12	Bengt Larsson	13
13	Therje Henriksson	7
14	Bo Josefsson	5
15	Bengt Jansson	4
16	Willy Friberg	4
17	Kurt Westlund	4
18	Arne Carlsson	3

European Final

3 September 1966
Wembley Stadium, London
First 10 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
	(14) Ivan Mauger	14				2		3					3		3							3	14	1
	(16) Barry Briggs	13				3				2	3						3			2			13	2
	(12) Antoni Woryna	11			1					3		3			2						2		11	3
4	(11) Sverre Harrfeldt	10			2				3		1					3						1	10	4
5	(1) Nigel Boocock	10	2				2				2				1				3				10	5
6	(5) Igor Plechanov	10		1			3					2					2					2	10	6
7	(10) Mike Broadbank	9			3			2						2			1		1				9	7
8	(13) Stanisław Tkocz	8				F	1							3		1					3		8	8
9	(15) Andrzej Pogorzelski	8				1			2			1						2	2				8	9
10	(8) Marian Kaiser	7		3						E			2			2			0				7	10
11	(6) Ken McKinlay	6		2				1			0							3			0		6	11
12	(3) Konstanty Pociejkewicz	5	3						F				1				0				1		5	12
13	(2) Edmund Migoś	4	1					0				0				0				3			4	13
14	(7) Brian Brett	3		0					1					1	0					1			3	14
15	(4) George Hunter	2	0							1				0				1				E	2	15
16	(9) Colin Pratt	0			0		0						E					0		0			0	16
R1	(R1) Pawel Waloszek	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

23 September 1966
Ullevi, Gothenburg^[12]

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
	(16) Barry Briggs	15				3				3	3						3			3			15	1
	(11) Sverre Harrfeldt	14			3				3		2					3						3	14	2
	(1) Antoni Woryna	13	3				3				1				3				3				13	3
4	(9) Ivan Mauger	11			2		1						3					3		2			11	4
5	(4) Torbjörn Harrysson	10	2							2				2				2				2	10	5
6	(7) Göte Nordin	9		3					2					3	F					1			9	6
7	(14) Leif Enecrona	8				2		1					2		2							1	8	7
8	(13) Igor Plechanov	8				1	2							1		2					2		8	8
9	(2) Stanisław Tkocz	7	1					3				2				1				0			7	9
10	(3) Björn Knutson	5	E						1				1				E				3		5	10
11	(12) Marian Kaiser	5			0					0		3			1						1		5	11
12	(6) Andrzej Pogorzelski	5		2				2			0							1			0		5	12
13	(8) Mike Broadbank	4		1						1			0			0			2				4	13
14	(10) Leif Larsson	3			1			0						0			2		0				3	14
15	(15) Nigel Boocock	2				0			0			1						0	1				2	15
16	(5) Per Olof Söderman	1		0			X					0					1					0	1	16
R1	(R1) Ken McKinlay	0																					0	R1
R2	(R2) Bengt Brannefors	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

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

↑ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
↑ "World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
↑ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
↑ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
↑ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
↑ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL – RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
↑ "Miss oakley's title". The Times. 24 September 1966. Retrieved 9 July 2021 – via Gale Primary Sources.
↑ "Swedish season". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
↑ "World Championship qualifying". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
↑ "1966 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
↑ "1966 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
↑ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5

[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] "Miss oakley's title". The Times. 24 September 1966. Retrieved 9 July 2021 – via Gale Primary Sources.

[8] "Swedish season". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.

[9] "World Championship qualifying". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.

[10] "1966 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 20 January 2024.

[11] "1966 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 20 January 2024.

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

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Individual Speedway World Championship and Speedway Grand Prix seasons
Speedway World Championship	1936 1937 1938 1939 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
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See also	Medalists Medal Classification Grands Prix SGP riders Super Prix SGP Statistics