1978 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1978 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 33rd edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Ole Olsen won his third world crown. The final was sponsored by the Sunday Mirror and was attended by 86,500. Gordon Kennett took silver on the day of his 25th birthday and American Scott Autrey won the bronze medal run-off defeating Dave Jessup and Jerzy Rembas.^[6] Dave Jessup was effectively denied a World title when after leading in heat 3 he suffered a bike malfunction and finished last in the heat. He then scored 11 points from his remaining rides which would have been enough to take the crown if he had won heat 3.^[7]

Qualification results.^[8]^[9]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
? '77	?	Danny Kennedy	Rod Hunter	John McNeill
26 Nov '77	Carina Speedway, Bundaberg	Billy Sanders	Phil Herne	Paul O'Neil
10 Dec '77	Showground Speedway, Sydney	Billy Sanders	Phil Herne	Paul O'Neil
6 Jan	Claremont Speedway, Perth	Lloyd Cross	Les Leisk	Neil Webb
13 Jan	Rowley Park, Adelaide	John Boulger	Tony Boyle	Rob Maxfield
27 Jan	Rowley Park, Adelaide	John Boulger	Danny Kennedy	Tony Boyle
30 Jan	Showground Speedway, Sydney	John Titman	Phil Herne	Billy Sanders

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
16 April	Rye House Stadium, Hoddesdon	Ted Hubbard	Kelvin Mullarkey	Vic Harding
16 April	Boston Sports Stadium, Boston	Steve Weatherley	Tom Owen	Chris Turner
20 April	Cleveland Park, Middlesbrough	Mike Sampson	Phil Collins	Paul Tyrer
23 April	Mildenhall Stadium, Mildenhall	Martin Yeates	Richard Greer	Bob Coles
27 April	Oxford Stadium, Oxford	Dave Perks	Geoff Bouchard	Steve Finch

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
22 April	Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný	Boleslaw Proch	Jerzy Kochman	Rudi Muts
23 April	Kovinar Stadium, Maribor	Jan Hádek	Sandro Pastoreli	Angel Jeftimov

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
7 May	Castiglione Olona Speedway, Varese	Egon Muller	Grigory Khlinovsky	Jerzy Rembas
7 May	Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc	Mikhail Starostin	Andrzej Huszcza	Václav Verner
7 May	Breitenthal Stadium, Krumbach	Georg Hack	Ales Dryml, Sr	Nikolay Kornev
7 May	Municipal Stadium, Częstochowa	Marek Cieślak	Jiří Štancl	Zdeněk Kudrna

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
11 May	Wimbledon Stadium, London	Peter Collins	Bob Kilby	Dave Jessup
11 May	Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield	Ivan Mauger	Doug Wyer	Steve Bastable
12 May	Hackney Wick Stadium, London	Dave Jessup	Terry Betts	Finn Thomsen
13 May	Hyde Road, Manchester	Peter Collins	Chris Morton	Bobby Beaton
13 May	King's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn	Michael Lee	John Titman	Malcolm Simmons
13 May	Brandon Stadium, Coventry	Alan Molyneux	Keith White	Billy Sanders
15 May	Smallmead Stadium, Reading	Gordon Kennett	Billy Sanders	John Davis
15 May	County Ground Stadium, Exeter	Phil Crump	Václav Verner	Mike Farrell
15 May	Birchfield Ladbroke Stadium, Birmingham	Ray Wilson	John Titman	Mike Lanham
16 May	Leicester Stadium, Leicester	Scott Autrey	John Titman	Les Collins
17 May	Wimborne Road, Poole	Tony Davey	Václav Verner	Malcolm Simmons
17 May	White City Stadium, London	Kai Niemi	Gordon Kennett	Ila Teromaa
17 May	The Boulevard, Hull	Ivan Mauger	Bobby Beaton	Graham Drury
18 May	Abbey Stadium, Swindon	Peter Collins	Jan Andersson	Dave Perks
18 May	Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich	John Louis	Michael Lee	Tony Davey
19 May	Monmore Green, Wolverhampton	Gordon Kennett	Hans Nielsen	Jim McMillan
19 May	Knowle Stadium, Bristol	Joe Owen	Tormod Langli	Reg Wilson
20 May	Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley	Alan Grahame	John Davis	Bruce Cribb
20 May	The Shay, Halifax	Eric Broadbelt	Ian Cartwright	Phil Collins

1978 Individual Speedway World Championship

Second round

Australian qualifying

New Zealand qualifying

British preliminary round

Continental preliminary round

Swedish qualification

Third round

Continental quarter-finals

British qualifying round

Finland Final

Norwegian Final

Swedish Final

Danish Final

Australian Final

New Zealand Final

Fourth round

British semi-finals

American selection

Australasian Final

Nordic Final

Continental semi-finals

Fifth round

British Final

Continental Final

Intercontinental Final

World Final

References

Related Articles

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Kai Niemi	14
2	Ilkka Teromaa	13
3	Rauli Mäkinen	12
4	Seppo Palomäki	12
5	Markku Helminen	11
6	Pekka Paljakka	10
7	Pekka Hautamäki	9
8	Timo Kiansten	8
9	Olli Turkia	8
10	Veijo Tuoriniemi	6
11	Veli Pekka Kunelius	6
12	Ari Koponen	3
13	Keijo Mylläri	3
14	Esa Mattila	3
15	Raimo Posti	2
16	Jorma Karjalainen	0

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Anders Michanek	14
2	Jan Andersson	14
3	Bernt Persson	11
4	Tommy Nilsson	11
5	Lars Ericsson	10
6	Sören Karlsson	10
7	Christer Sjösten	10
8	Bo Wirebrand	8
9	Bengt Jansson	6
10	Stefan Salomonsson	6
11	Hasse Holmqvist	5
12	Conny Samuelsson	5
13	Borje Klingberg	4
14	Gert Carlsson	3
15	Tommy Pettersson	1
16	Sören Sjösten	1
17	Lars-Åke Andersson	1

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Bent Rasmussen	13+3
2	Kristian Præstbro	13+2
3	Hans Nielsen	12+3
4	Mike Lohmann	12+2
5	Alf Busk	12+1
6	Bo Petersen	10
7	Finn Rune Jensen	9
8	Knud Ellegaard	8
9	Klaus Lohmann	6
10	Kurt Bøgh	4
11	Steen Mastrup	4
12	Arne Kruse	4
13	Erling Rasmussen	3
14	Gunnar Svendsen	3
15	Bent Nørregaard-Jensen	3
16	Jens Kjaer	2

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	John Titman	15
2	Lloyd Cross	13
3	Mick McKeon	12
4	John Boulger	11
5	Mike Farrell	9
6	Phil Herne	9
7	Billy Sanders	9
8	Robert Maxfield	8
9	Glenn McDonald	7
10	Phil Crump	7
11	Wayne Forrest	6
12	Tony Boyle	5
13	Danny Kennedy	4
14	Ricky Day	3
15	Phil Bass	2
16	Stuart Mountford	0

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Larry Ross	3,3,3,3,3	15
2	Barry Briggs	2,3,3,2,2	12
3	Mike Fullerton	1,3,2,3,3	12
4	Mitch Shirra	3,2,E,3,3	11
5	Roger Wright	2,3,3,1,2	11
6	Colin Tucker	3,2,2,2,2	11
7	Colin Farquharson	1,1,3,2,3	10
8	James Moore	3,1,0,0,2	6
9	Allan Brown	0,0,2,3,1	6
10	Greg Joynt	1,2,2,0,0	5
11	Paul Fewinks	2,2,0,1,F	5
12	Max Brown	F,0,1,2,1	4
13	Gavin Miller	2,1,1,0,0	4
14	Cliff Anderson	0,0,1,1,1	3
15	Patrick Pawson	1,E,1,1,0	3
16	Kris Berrigan	0,1,0,0,1	2

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Mitch Shirra	2,2,3,3,3	13
2	Mick McKeon	3,3,2.5,2,1	11.5
3	John Titman	2,3,T,3,3	11
4	Mike Farrell	3,1,1,3,3	11
5	Mike Fullerton	1,3,3,1,2	10
6	Phil Herne	1,2,2,3,2	10
7	John Boulger	3,3,2,T,1	9
8	Billy Sanders	3,T,3,F,3	9
9	Colin Farquharson	0,2,2,2,2	8
10	Roger Wright	1,1,2.5,1,1	6.5
11	Robert Maxfield	1,1,1,2,1	6
12	Larry Ross	2,E,E,2,2	6
13	James Moore	2,1,1,1,0	5
14	Colin Tucker	0,2,1,0,0	3
15	Allan Brown	0,0,0,0,0	0
16	Lloyd Cross	F,-,-,-,-	0
R1	Greg Joynt	0,0,1,T	1
R2	Cliff Anderson	0,0,0	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	21
	(2) Ole Olsen	15	3					3				3				3				3			15	1
	(7) Bernt Persson	14		3					3					3	3					2			14	2
	(9) Finn Thomsen	11			2		2						3					3		1			11	3	3
4	(15) Kai Niemi	11				3			2			2						1	3				11	4	2
5	(4) Ila Teromaa	10	2							3				2				2				1	10	5
6	(8) Tommy Nilsson	10		2						2			2			2			2				10	6
7	(13) Kristian Præstbro	9				1	3							1		1					3		9	7
8	(16) Anders Michanek	8				2				1	2						3			0			8	8
9	(3) Jan Andersson	6	1						0				1				2				2		6	9	3
10	(6) Tom Godal	6		1				1			3							0			1		6	10	2
11	(11) Sören Karlsson	6			3				1		0					0						2	6	11	1
12	(14) Bent Rasmussen	5				0		0					0		2							3	5	12
13	(10) Christer Sjösten	4			0			2						0			1		1				4	13
14	(1) Lars Ericsson	3	0				1				1				1				0				3	14
15	(5) Audun Ove Olsen	1		0			0					1					0					0	1	15
16	(12) Stein Roar Pedersen	1			1					0		0			0						0		1	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

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) Michael Lee	14		3					3					3	3					2			14	1
	(5) Dave Jessup	12		2			3					1					3					3	12	2
	(16) Malcolm Simmons	11				0				3	3						2			3			11	3
4	(9) Gordon Kennett	10			2		2						2					3		1			10	4	3
5	(1) Steve Bastable	10	3				1				2				1				3				10	5	2
6	(12) Chris Morton	10			E					2		3			2						3		10	6	1
7	(13) Tony Davey	8				3	0							2		3					0		8	7
8	(15) John Davis	8				2			2			2						2	0				8	8
9	(10) Les Collins	7			3			0						1			1		2				7	9
10	(6) Peter Collins	6		1				3			E							E			2		6	10
11	(8) Reg Wilson	6		0						0			3			2			1				6	11
12	(2) Doug Wyer	4	1					2				X				1				E			4	12
13	(14) Alan Grahame	4				1		1					0		0							2	4	13
14	(4) Jim McMillan	3	2							1				0				T				0	3	14
15	(11) John Louis	3			1				0		1					0						1	3	15
16	(3) Dave Morton	3	0						1				1				0				1		3	16
R3	(R3) Mick Bell	1																1					1	R3
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

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
	(5) Hans Wassermann	14		3			2					3					3					3	14	1
	(9) Jiří Štancl	14			3		3						3					3		2			14	2
	(11) Marek Cieślak	11			1				3		3					3						1	11	3
4	(16) Petr Ondrašík	11				3				2	1						2			3			11	4
5	(1) Jan Verner	11	3				1				2				2				3				11	5
6	(7) Jerzy Rembas	9		2					0					3	3					1			9	6
7	(8) Zdeněk Kudrna	9		1						3			2			1			2				9	7
8	(2) Boleslaw Proch	8	2					2				2				2				0			8	8
9	(14) Alois Wiesböck	6				2		3					F		1							0	6	9
10	(4) Francesco Biginato	6	1							1				0				2				2	6	10
11	(10) Janosz Sziracky	5			0			1						2			1		1				5	11
12	(13) Nikolay Kornev	4				1	0							1		0					2		4	12
13	(6) Emil Sova	4		0				0			0							1			3		4	13
14	(3) Ryszard Fabiszewski	4	0						2				1				0				1		4	14
15	(12) Egon Muller	2			2					0		E			E						-		2	15
16	(15) Piotr Pyszny	2				X			1			1						0	0				2	16
R1	(R1) Bogusław Nowak	0																					0	R1
R2	(R2) Georg Hack	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

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) Ole Olsen	13	2						3				2				3				3		13	1	3
	(11) Ivan Mauger	13			3				2		2					3						3	13	2	2
	(1) Scott Autrey	11	3				X				3				2				3				11	3	3
4	(16) Ila Teromaa	11				3				3	1						1			3			11	4	2
5	(13) Jan Andersson	11				2	2							3		2					2		11	5	1
6	(9) Anders Michanek	10			2		1						3					3		1			10	6
7	(5) John Titman	10		2			3					1					2					2	10	7
8	(6) Bernt Persson	9		3				3			0							2			1		9	8
9	(2) Kai Niemi	8	1					2				2				1				2			8	9
10	(12) Steve Gresham	7			X					1		3			3						X		7	10
11	(4) Finn Thomsen	5	0							2				2				E				1	5	11
12	(15) Mike Farrell	5				1			1			0						1	2				5	12
13	(10) Mick McKeon	3			1			1						1			0		0				3	13
14	(8) Kristian Præstbro	2		0						0			1			0			1				2	14
15	(7) Mitch Shirra	1		1					F					-	-					-			1	15
16	(14) Tommy Nilsson	1				0		0					0		1							0	1	16
R1	(R1) Bert Rasmussen	0					0								0								0	R1
R2	(R2) Tom Jenssen	0												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

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) Ole Olsen	13				3			2			2						3	3				13	1
	(13) Gordon Kennett	12				2	3							2		2					3		12	2
	(2) Scott Autrey	11	3					2				1				3				2			11	3	3
4	(12) Dave Jessup	11			E					3		3			3						2		11	4	2
5	(9) Jerzy Rembas	11			3		1						3					1		3			11	5	1
6	(1) Malcolm Simmons	10	2				2				2				2				2				10	6
7	(6) Michael Lee	9		3				1			3							2			0		9	7
8	(14) Ivan Mauger	8				F		3					2		0							3	8	8
9	(16) John Titman	7				1				2	F						3			1			7	9
10	(3) Anders Michanek	7	1						3				0				2				1		7	10
11	(4) Ila Teromaa	6	0							1				3				F				2	6	11
12	(11) Jan Verner	5			2				1		1					0						1	5	12
13	(8) Marek Cieślak	5		2						0			1			1			1				5	13
14	(10) Jan Andersson	3			1			0						1			1		0				3	14
15	(7) Jiří Štancl	2		1					0					0	1					0			2	15
16	(5) Petr Ondrašík	0		F			0					0					0					0	0	16
R1	(R1) Steve Bastable	0																					0	R1
R2	(R2) Bernt Persson	0																					0	R2
R3	(R3) Zdeněk Kudrna	0																					0	R3
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