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1978 Individual Speedway World Championship

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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]

Second round

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Australian qualifying

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  • Top 16 to Australian final
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

New Zealand qualifying

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  • Top 16 to New Zealand final
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
5 Feb Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch Larry Ross Barry Briggs James Moore

British preliminary round

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  • Rider progress to British qualifying round
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

Continental preliminary round

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  • Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
22 April Czechoslovakia Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slany Poland Boleslaw Proch Poland Jerzy Kochman Netherlands Rudi Muts
23 April Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Kovinar Stadium, Maribor Czechoslovakia Jan Hadek Italy Sandro Pastoreli Bulgaria Angel Jeftimov

Swedish qualification

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  • Top 5 in each heat to Swedish final

Third round

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Continental quarter-finals

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  • Top 32 to Continental semi-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
7 May Italy Castiglione Olona Speedway, Varese West Germany Egon Muller Soviet Union Grigory Khlinovsky Poland Jerzy Rembas
7 May Hungary Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc Soviet Union Mikhail Starostin Poland Andrzej Huszcza Czechoslovakia Václav Verner
7 May West Germany Breitenthal Stadium, Krumbach West Germany Georg Hack Czechoslovakia Ales Dryml, Sr Soviet Union Nikolay Kornev
7 May Poland Municipal Stadium, Częstochowa Poland Marek Cieślak Czechoslovakia Jiří Štancl Czechoslovakia Zdeněk Kudrna

British qualifying round

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The British qualifying rounds for the World Championship doubled up as qualifying rounds for the Volkswagen/Daily Mirror Grand Prix. Therefore, many non-British riders rode in these meetings scoring points towards the Volkswagen/Daily Mirror Grand Prix qualification - but their scores didn't count towards World Championship qualification. The top 32 British riders qualified for the British semi-finals.

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

Finland Final

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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

Norwegian Final

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  • Norway 3 riders to Nordic Final

Swedish Final

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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

Danish Final

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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

Australian Final

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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

New Zealand Final

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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

Fourth round

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British semi-finals

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Pos. Rider Points
1 Tony Davey 12
2 Gordon Kennett 12
3 Dave Jessup 11
4 John Davis 11
5 Steve Bastable 10
6 John Louis 10
7 Malcolm Simmons 10
8 Alan Grahame 9
9 Terry Betts 8
10 Bob Kilby 7
11 Trevor Geer 6
12 Neil Middleditch 4
13 Mike Lanham 4
14 Colin Richardson 4
15 Eric Broadbelt 2
16 Geoff Bouchard 1
Pos. Rider Points
1 Peter Collins 15
2 Chris Morton 13
3 Michael Lee 13
4 Les Collins 10
5 Reg Wilson 10
6 Dave Morton 9
7 Doug Wyer 8
8 Jim McMillan 7
9 Phil Collins 7
10 Bobby Beaton 6
11 Dave Perks 5
12 Ian Cartwright 5
13 Keith White 4
14 Alan Molyneux 4
15 Richard Greer 3
16 Ray Wilson 1

American selection

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  • No qualifying, the AMA selected two riders to represent the US in the Intercontinental final.

Australasian Final

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Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 New Zealand Mitch Shirra 2,2,3,3,3 13
2 Australia Mick McKeon 3,3,2.5,2,1 11.5
3 Australia John Titman 2,3,T,3,3 11
4 Australia Mike Farrell 3,1,1,3,3 11
5 New Zealand Mike Fullerton 1,3,3,1,2 10
6 Australia Phil Herne 1,2,2,3,2 10
7 Australia John Boulger 3,3,2,T,1 9
8 Australia Billy Sanders 3,T,3,F,3 9
9 New Zealand Colin Farquharson 0,2,2,2,2 8
10 New Zealand Roger Wright 1,1,2.5,1,1 6.5
11 Australia Robert Maxfield 1,1,1,2,1 6
12 New Zealand Larry Ross 2,E,E,2,2 6
13 New Zealand James Moore 2,1,1,1,0 5
14 New Zealand Colin Tucker 0,2,1,0,0 3
15 New Zealand Allan Brown 0,0,0,0,0 0
16 Australia Lloyd Cross F,-,-,-,- 0
R1 New Zealand Greg Joynt 0,0,1,T 1
R2 New Zealand Cliff Anderson 0,0,0 0

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
1 Denmark (2) Ole Olsen 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
2 Sweden (7) Bernt Persson 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 2
3 Denmark (9) Finn Thomsen 11 2 2 3 3 1 11 3 3
4 Finland (15) Kai Niemi 11 3 2 2 1 3 11 4 2
5 Finland (4) Ila Teromaa 10 2 3 2 2 1 10 5
6 Sweden (8) Tommy Nilsson 10 2 2 2 2 2 10 6
7 Denmark (13) Kristian Præstbro 9 1 3 1 1 3 9 7
8 Sweden (16) Anders Michanek 8 2 1 2 3 0 8 8
9 Sweden (3) Jan Andersson 6 1 0 1 2 2 6 9 3
10 Norway (6) Tom Godal 6 1 1 3 0 1 6 10 2
11 Sweden (11) Sören Karlsson 6 3 1 0 0 2 6 11 1
12 Denmark (14) Bent Rasmussen 5 0 0 0 2 3 5 12
13 Sweden (10) Christer Sjösten 4 0 2 0 1 1 4 13
14 Sweden (1) Lars Ericsson 3 0 1 1 1 0 3 14
15 Norway (5) Audun Ove Olsen 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 15
16 Norway (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

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 semi-finals

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Pos. Rider Points
1 West Germany Hans Wassermann 15
2 Czechoslovakia Jiří Štancl 13
3 Poland Marek Cieslak 11
4 Poland Boleslaw Proch 11
5 Czechoslovakia Emil Sova 10
6 Czechoslovakia Zdenek Kudrna 9
7 Poland Piotr Pyszny 9
8 Soviet Union Nikolaj Kornev 8
9 West Germany Georg Hack 8
10 Czechoslovakia Aleš Dryml Sr. 7
11 Poland Jerzy Kochman 5
12 Soviet Union Vladimir Paznikov 5
13 Czechoslovakia Karel Vobornik 3
14 Czechoslovakia Petr Kucera 2
15 Netherlands Rudy Muts 2
16 Netherlands Frits Koppe 1
Pos. Rider Points
1 West Germany Alois Wiesböck 15
2 West Germany Egon Müller 14
3 Poland Ryszard Fabiszewski 12
4 Czechoslovakia Jan Verner 9
5 Italy Francesco Biginato 9
6 Hungary Istvan Sziraczki 9
7 Poland Jerzy Rembas 9
8 Czechoslovakia Petr Ondrašík 9
9 Poland Boguslav Nowak 8
10 Czechoslovakia Václav Verner 8
11 Poland Andrzej Huszcza 5
12 Soviet Union Michail Starostin 4
13 Soviet Union Grigory Khlinovsky 4
14 Hungary Laszlo Meszaros 3
15 Czechoslovakia Jan Hadek 1
16 Czechoslovakia Jiri Jirout 1

Fifth round

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British Final

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

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

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

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

Intercontinental Final

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

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

[edit]
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
1 Denmark (15) Ole Olsen 13 3 2 2 3 3 13 1
2 England (13) Gordon Kennett 12 2 3 2 2 3 12 2
3 United States (2) Scott Autrey 11 3 2 1 3 2 11 3 3
4 England (12) Dave Jessup 11 E 3 3 3 2 11 4 2
5 Poland (9) Jerzy Rembas 11 3 1 3 1 3 11 5 1
6 England (1) Malcolm Simmons 10 2 2 2 2 2 10 6
7 England (6) Michael Lee 9 3 1 3 2 0 9 7
8 New Zealand (14) Ivan Mauger 8 F 3 2 0 3 8 8
9 Australia (16) John Titman 7 1 2 F 3 1 7 9
10 Sweden (3) Anders Michanek 7 1 3 0 2 1 7 10
11 Finland (4) Ila Teromaa 6 0 1 3 F 2 6 11
12 Czechoslovakia (11) Jan Verner 5 2 1 1 0 1 5 12
13 Poland (8) Marek Cieślak 5 2 0 1 1 1 5 13
14 Sweden (10) Jan Andersson 3 1 0 1 1 0 3 14
15 Czechoslovakia (7) Jiří Štancl 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 15
16 Czechoslovakia (5) Petr Ondrašík 0 F 0 0 0 0 0 16
R1 England (R1) Steve Bastable 0 0 R1
R2 Sweden (R2) Bernt Persson 0 0 R2
R3 Czechoslovakia (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

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 10 July 2021.
  3. ^ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  5. ^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Ole - He's champ". Sunday Mirror. 3 September 1978. Retrieved 10 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Timelines take a moment". Speedway Star. 6 August 2022. p. 47.
  8. ^ "1978 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  9. ^ "1978 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  10. ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
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