The 1972 Individual Speedway World Championship.
Attendance was estimated to be around 75,000.
In Heat 5, former four-time champion Barry Briggs was involved in an accident which all but ended his speedway career. Going into the first turn his front wheel was hit by Bernt Persson's bike which caused him to fall. He was then hit by the following Russian riders Grigory Khlinovsky and Valery Gordeev. Briggs suffered a severe hand injury and lost the index finger on his left hand which caused him to temporarily retire from racing. Briggs had been considered one of the pre-meeting favourites and his favouritism had been firmed when he had beaten fellow New Zealander Ivan Mauger in Heat 2.
To the boos of the 75,000 strong Wembley crowd, FIM referee Georg Traunspurger did not exclude Persson, a lucky break for the Swede as he would later go on to finish in second place after losing a runoff with Ivan Mauger who took out his fourth World Championship. Although the rider of the meeting was undoubtedly defending champion Ole Olsen. In his first ride (Heat 4) while challenging Swede Christer Löfqvist for the lead after coming through from the back following a near crash in the first turn, he dramatically fell and would score no points. From there he was untroubled to win his next four rides to finish in a clear third place.
British Qualification
British Final
- August 2, 1972
Coventry- First 5 to World Final
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 |
Scandinavian Qualifications
Scandinavian Final
- 1 June 1972
Norrköping- First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve
| Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
|---|
| 1 | Bengt Jansson | 3,2,3,3,3 | 14 |
| 2 | Anders Michanek | 3,3,3,1,3 | 13 |
| 3 |  Ole Olsen | 3,2,2,3,2 | 12 |
| 4 | Bernt Persson | 1,2,3,2,3 | 11 |
| 5 | Hasse Holmqvist | 2,3,2,2,2 | 11 |
| 6 | Christer Löfqvist | 3,3,3,0,1 | 10 |
| 7 | Jan Simensen | 2,0,2,3,3 | 10 |
| 8 |  Reidar Eide | 1,3,1,2,2 | 9 |
| 9 | Tommy Jansson | 2,1,2,3,E | 8 |
| 10 | Dag Lovaas | 1,1,1,2,0 | 5 |
| 11 | Tommy Johansson | 0,1,0,1,2 | 4 |
| 12 | Oyvind Berg | 1,0,0,1,1 | 3 |
| 13 | Gote Nordin | 0,2,1,0,- | 3 |
| 14 | Leif Enecrona | 0,0,1,1,1 | 3 |
| 15 | Per Olaf Soderman | 2,0,0,0,0 | 2 |
| 16 | Soren Sjosten | 0,1,0,0,- | 1 |
| R1 | Christer Sjosten | E | 0 |
| R2 | Runo Wedin | 0 | 0 |
|
Continental Round
Continental Final
- June 25, 1972
Cherkessk- First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve
| Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
|---|
| 1 | Viktor Trofimov | 2,3,3,3,3 | 14 |
| 2 | Viktor Kalmykov | 3,3,3,2,2 | 13 |
| 3 | Anatoly Kuzmin | 2,2,2,3,3 | 12 |
| 4 | Valery Gordeev | 3,1,1,3,3 | 11 |
| 5 |  Milan Špinka | 1,3,3,2,1 | 10 |
| 6 | Grigory Khlinovsky | 3,2,F,1,3 | 9 |
| 7 |  Pawel Waloszek | 0,3,2,2,2 | 9 |
| 8 | Aleksandr Pavlov | 2,2,2,1,2 | 9 |
| 9 | Zenon Plech | F,2,2,3,F | 7 |
| 10 | Anatoly Mironov | 1,1,1,2,1 | 6 |
| 11 | Zygfryd Friedek | X,1,1,1,2 | 5 |
| 12 | Petr Ondrašík | 3,X,0,0,1 | 4 |
| 13 | Vasily Baturin | F,X,3,X,0 | 3 |
| 14 | Marek Cieślak | 0,1,1,1,0 | 3 |
| 15 | Henryk Glucklich | 2,E,X,0,X | 2 |
| 16 | Edward Jancarz | 1,X,E,E,1 | 2 |
| R1 | Gennadij Kurilenko | 1,0,0,X | 1 |
| R2 | Vladimir Kubanov | 0,0,0 | 0 |
|
World Final
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
- ↑ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.
ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
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| Speedway World Championship | | |
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| Speedway Grand Prix (SGP) | |
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| See also | |
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