1960 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1960 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 15th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

The final was held on 17 September, in front of a 70,000 crowd at Wembley Stadium. In an extremely competitive final three riders tied for first place on 14 points before Ove Fundin won the ride off to claim his second world title. In the ride off Fundin defeated defending champion Ronnie Moore and former champion Peter Craven. Craven had earlier set a track record of 68.8 seconds in his first race.^[7]

First Round

Qualification results.^[8]^[9]

Norwegian qualifying

25 June 1959
Geiteryggen Speedwaybane, Skien
Top 7 to Nordic qualification 1960

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Aage Hansen	15
2	Rolf Westerberg	14
3	Thorbjorn Nygaard	12
4	Reidar Kristoffersen	10
5	Roger Steen	10
6	Oddvar Kristiansen	9
7	Arne Kristiansen	9
8	Oystein Mellerud	8
9	Tore Melbye	6
10	Roger Hansen	5
11	Sverre Harrfeldt	5
12	Egil H. Kruke	4
13	Gunnar Skjetne	4
14	Egil Bratvold	2
15	Per Aulie	2
16	Svein Johnsen	2

Finnish qualifying

27 July 1959
Eteläpuisto, Tampere
First 2 (+seeded riders) to Nordic qualification 1960

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Pertti Mikkola	15
2	Kalevi Lahtinen	13
3	Olavi Turunen	13
4	Timo Laine	9
5	Raimo Orastie	9
6	Aulis Lehtonen	9
7	Antti Mattila	8
8	Esko Koponen	7
9	Yrjo Vuori	7
10	Antero Salasto	7
11	Pertti Petersohn	6
12	Valle Seliverstov	5
13	Martti Assinen	4
14	Heikki Sorri	3
15	Nils Staaf	3
16	Martti Koivuoja	2

Swedish qualifying

1 May 1960
Gamla Speedway Track, Visby
Top 8 to Nordic qualification

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Rune Sörmander	14
2	Olle Nygren	12
3	Alf Jonsson	11
4	Curt Eldh	11
5	Sören Sjösten	10
6	Åke Andersson	10
7	Evert Andersson	10
8	Björn Knutson	9
9	Joel Jansson	9
10	Bert Lindarw	5
11	Bengt Brannefors	5
12	Inge Gustafsson	4
13	Thorvald Karlsson	4
14	Olle Andersson	4
15	Per-Tage Svensson	1
16	Per-Åke Lundgren	1
17	Bengt Fransson	0
18	Jan Ekeroth	0

5 May 1960
Hammarby IP, Stockholm
Top 7 to Nordic qualification

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Göran Norlén	15
2	Göte Nordin	13
3	Bertil Strid	11
4	Curt Nyqvist	10
5	Kjell Wårenius	10
6	Bernt Nilsson	10
7	Hans Hallberg	9
8	Bengt Eriksson	7
9	Birger Forsberg	7
10	Agnar Stenlund	6
11	Kjell Lutteman	6
12	Leif Larsson	4
13	Olle Segerström	4
14	Göran Carlsson	4
15	Thore Kindstrand	3
16	Per-Åke Lundgren	1
17	Åke Östblom	0
18	Jan Ekeroth	0

Continental quarter-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
22 May	Kajzerica, Zagreb	Florian Kapała	Jan Malinowski	Joachim Maj
22 May	Pavlovičky Stadion, Liberec	František Richter	Stefan Kepa	Stanislav Svoboda
22 May	Alfred Smoczyk Stadium, Leszno	Bernard Kacperak	Konstanty Pociejkewicz	Pawel Waloszek
30 May	ASKÖ-X-Platz, Vienna	Josef Bössner	Henryk Żyto	Antonín Kasper Sr.

Second round

British & Commonwealth qualifying

Top 64 riders to British second round

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
2 June	Owlerton Stadium	Dennis Newton	Eric Hockaday	Tink Maynard
4 June	Sun Street Stadium	Reg Fearman	Reg Luckhurst	Alan Smith
4 June	Old Meadowbank	Guy Allott	Gil Goldfinch	Tony Robinson
6 June	Stanley Stadium	Peter Vandenberg	Ken Adams	Nick Nicholls
10 June	Rayleigh Weir Stadium	Reg Reeves	Alan Smith	Stan Stevens
10 June	Knowle Stadium	Ernie Baker	Johnny Hole	Maury Mattingley
11 June	Dudley Wood Stadium	Maury Mattingley	Reg Reeves	Gil Goldfinch
11 June	Odsal Stadium	Charlie Barsby	Danny Dunton	Ken Adams
15 June	Wimborne Road	Dennis Newton	Ron Taylor	Alan Kidd

Nordic Qualification

26 May 1960
Selskov Stadium, Hillerød
Top 8 to Nordic final

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Alf Jonsson	14
2	Björn Knutson	12
3	Aage Hansen	13
4	Rune Sörmander	11
5	Sverre Harrfeldt	10
6	Joel Jansson	9
7	Arne Pander	9
8	Evert Andersson	9
9	Erik Kastebo	7
10	Nils Paulsen	6
11	Kurt W. Petersen	6
12	Arne Kristiansen	4
13	Åke Andersson	3
14	Hans Peter Boisen	3
15	Odvar Kristiansen	1
16	Öystein Mellerud	0
17	Curt Eldh	dns

26 May 1960

Helsinki Velodrome, Helsinki

Top 8 to Nordic final

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Olle Nygren	`3
2	Göte Nordin	12
3	Curt Nyqvist	12
4	Kjell Wårenius	10
5	Bernt Nilsson	10
6	Bertil Strid
7	Rolf Westerberg	9
8	Göran Norlén	9
9	Hans Hallberg	7
10	Antti Pajari	6
11	Kalevi Lahtinen	6
12	Thorbjörn Nygaar	5
13	Timo Laine	5
14	Aluis Tuominen	4
15	Valle Seliverstov	2
16	Pertti Mikkola	0

Continental semi-final

26 June 1960
Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný
Top 8 to Continental final

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Stanislav Svoboda	14
2	Jaroslav Volf	12
3	Frantisek Richter	11
4	Mieczyslaw Polukard	11
5	Pawel Waloszek	10
6	Bedrich Slany	9
7	Marian Kaiser	9
8	Stefan Rurarz	9
9	Bronislaw Rogal	8
10	Kazimierz Bentke	7
11	Bohumil Rendek	6
12	Konstanty Pociejkewicz	5
13	Bernard Kasperak	5
14	Bohumír Bartoněk	2
15	Stefan Kępa	2
16	Edmund Migoś	2

26 June
BBM Stadium, Munich
Top 8 to Continental final

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Josef Hofmeister	15
2	Jan Malinowski	13
3	Florian Kapala	13
4	Luboš Tomíček Sr.	12
5	Stefan Kwoczala	10
6	Henryk Zyto	9
7	Joachim Maj	9
8	Josef Seidl	9
9	Antonín Kasper Sr.	7
10	Marian Philipp	6
11	Josef Bössner	5
12	Józef Wieczorek	4
13	Karel Prusa	3
14	Alois Frach	3
15	Zdenek Rott	2
16	Fred Aberl	1
17	Edward Luther	0

Third round

Ove Fundin – seeded to European Final

British & Commonwealth Second round

To 32 to British & Commonwealth semi-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
2 July	Hyde Road	Peter Craven	Dick Fisher	Ronnie Genz
2 July	Abbey Stadium	Chum Taylor	Ray Cresp	Mike Broadbank
4 July	Wimbledon Stadium	Ron How	Jack Young	Alf Hagon
5 July	Banister Court Stadium	Neil Street	Jack Biggs	Bryan Elliott
6 July	New Cross Stadium	Barry Briggs	Neil Street	Ron Johnston
7 July	Foxhall Stadium	Peter Craven	Nigel Boocock	Jim Lightfoot
7 July	Oxford Stadium	Mike Broadbank	Ronnie Genz	Les McGillivray
8 July	Leicester Stadium	Barry Briggs	Ken McKinlay	Jack Geran
9 July	Brandon Stadium	Ken McKinlay	Jack Young	Les Owen
9 July	The Firs Stadium	Ron How	Billy Bales	Aub Lawson

Nordic Final

16 June 1960
Dælenenga idrettspark, Oslo
First 7 to European Final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Olle Nygren	14+3
2	Göte Nordin	14+2
3	Aage Hansen	13
4	Rune Sörmander	12
5	Curt Nyqvist	10
6	Björn Knutson	10
7	Göran Norlén	9
8	Alf Jonsson	9
9	Arne Pander	6
10	Sverre Harrfeldt	5
11	Kjell Warenius	5
12	Evert Andersson	4
13	Bernt Nilsson	3
14	Hans Hallberg	2
15	Rolf Westerberg	2
16	Joel Jansson	2
R1	Bertil Strid	0

Continental Final

3 July 1960
Stadion Wien, Vienna
First 8 to European Final

Fourth round

Ronnie Moore – seeded to World Final

British & Commonwealth semi finals

Top 9 riders based on points accumulated over two rides would progress to world final

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
8 August	Wimbledon Stadium	Peter Craven	Barry Briggs	Eric Williams
13 August	Brandon Stadium	Ron How	Peter Moore	Aub Lawson
13 August	The Firs Stadium	Peter Craven	Ken McKinlay	Bob Andrews
16 August	Banister Court Stadium	Ken McKinlay	Jack Young]	Ron How

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Peter Craven	30
2	Ron How	28
3	Ken McKinlay	28
4	Barry Briggs	24
5	Peter Moore	24
6	Jack Young	24
7	Ron Johnston	23
8	Eric Williams	23
9	Aub Lawson	23
10	Bryan Elliott	22
11	Chum Taylor	20
12	Bob Andrews	19
13	Jack Biggs	17
14	Tadeusz Teodorowicz	15
15	Mike Broadbank	15
16	Nigel Boocock	15

Pos.	Rider	Points
17	Les McGillivray	14
18	Split Waterman	13
19	George White	13
20	Ian Williams	12
21	Jack Unstead	11
22	Les Owen	10
23	Ray Cresp	8
24	Billy Bales	8
25	Alf Hagon	7
26	Jack Geran	7
27	Neil Street	7
28	Ronnie Genz	5
29	Gerry Jackson	5
30	Dick Fisher	4
31	Ron Mountford	4
32	Gordon McGregor	3

European Final

14 August 1960
Olympic Stadium, Wrocław
First 6 to World Final plus 1 reserve

World Final

17 September 1960
Wembley Stadium, London,^[10]

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 7 July 2021.
^ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
^ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL – RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
^ "Ove Fundin Wins The 1960 World Speedway Title". Birmingham Daily Post. 19 September 1960. Retrieved 7 July 2021. – via British Newspaper Archive
^ "1960 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
^ "1960 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5