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The 1952 Individual Speedway World Championship was the seventh edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.

Australian rider Jack Young became the first rider to win a second title (and the first to win two in a row) when he won his second straight World Championship after scoring 14 points. Second was Welshman Freddie Williams on 13 points, with England's Bob Oakley third on 12 points.

Qualification

Qualification started on 26 May.

Stage 1

Swedish round

• 1952
• Ryd Motorstadion, Linköping
• First 8 to Nordic Final

Stage 2

Continental qualifier

• 15 June 1952
• BBM Stadium, Munich
• First 4 to Continental round

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Fritz Dirtl	15
2	Josef Kamper	14
3	Sven Skoglund	11
4	Tinus Metzelaar	11
5	Leopold Killemeyer	11
6	Albin Siegl	9
7	Åke Lindqvist	8
8	Bob Mark	7
9	Thei Bischops	7
10	Karl Killmeyer	6
11	Josef Hofmeister	6
12	Gerrit Jonker	5
13	Alfred Aberl	5
14	Franz Neubauer	1
15	Reg Morgan	0
16	Walter Dirtl	0

Nordic Final

• 20 June 1952
• Växjö Motorstadion, Växjö
• First 8 to Continental Final

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Basse Hveem	14
2	Bo Andersson	13
3	Rune Sörmander	12
4	Olle Nygren	12
5	Sune Karlsson	10
6	Stig Pramberg	9
7	Göte Olsson	9
8	Kiehn Berthelsen	8
9	Werner Lorentzen	7
10	Evert Fransson	6
11	Reidar Kristoffersen	6
12	Bert Lindarw	5
13	Rolf Naess	5
14	Leo Helminen	2
15	Yrjö Heikkilä	2
16	Morian Hansen	0
17	Helge Brinkeback	dnr

Stage 3

Continental Final

• 22 June 1952
• Falköping Motorbanan, Falköping
• First 8 to International Round

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Rune Sörmander	14
2	Olle Nygren	12
3	Stig Pramberg	11
4	Jim Gregory	11
5	Basse Hveem	11
6	Bo Andersson	11
7	Sune Karlsson	9
8	Fritz Dirtl	7
9	Josef Kamper	7
10	Ron Phillips	6
11	Göte Olsson	6
12	Ken McKinlay	5
13	Sven Skoglund	5
14	Edvin Fredriksen	2
15	Tony Lewis	2
16	Kiehn Berthelsen	0
17	Tinus Metzelaar	dnr

British national round

• Top riders qualify for the International round

Stage 4

International round

• The top 62 riders qualify for the Championship round.

Stage 5

Championship Round

• Top 16 qualify for World final, 17th & 18th reserves for World final

Scores

• Top 16 qualify for World final, 17th & 18th reserves for World final

Pos. Rider Total pts 1 Bob Oakley 28 2 Jack Young 27 3 Split Waterman 27 4 Ronnie Moore 27 5 Freddie Williams 27 6 Ron How 26 7 Dick Bradley 25 8 Cyril Roger 25 9 Arthur Forrest 24 10 Jeff Lloyd 24 11 Brian Crutcher 24 12 Arthur Payne 24 13 Henry Long 23 14 Derick Close 23 15 Bert Roger 23 16 Graham Warren 22 17 Dan Forsberg 22 18 Basse Hveem 22 19 Trevor Redmond 22 20 Alan Hunt 22 21 Olle Nygren 21 22 Cyril Brine 21 23 Ken Sharples 21 24 Tommy Price 21 25 Geoff Mardon 21 26 Eddie Rigg 20 27 Peter Robinson 18 28 Don Cuppleditch 18 29 Harry Bastable 18 30 Chris Boss 17 31 Harry Edwards 16 32 Jack Biggs 16 33 Sune Karlsson 16 34 Eric French 16 35 Willie Wilson 15 36 Eric Williams 15 37 Wally Green 14 38 Pat Clarke 14 39 George Wilks 14 40 Gordon McGregor 13

Pos. Rider Total pts 41 Dick Campbell 13 42 Vic Emms 13 43 Les Tolley 13 44 Ken Adams 13 45 Ron Mountford 13 46 Ken Middleditch 13 47 Geoff Pymar 13 48 Rune Sörmander 12 49 Sid Clark 12 50 Len Williams 11 51 Jack Parker 10 52 Les Hewitt 10 53 Nobby Stock 10 54 Ivor Powell 10 55 Billy Hole 10 56 Tommy Miller 10 57 Terry Small 10 58 Charlie New 9 59 Harold Fairhurst 9 60 Phil Malpass 9 61 Jock Grierson 9 62 Lionel Benson 8 63 Gerald Jackson 8 64 Stig Pramberg 8 65 Tom Oakley 7 66 Fred Brand 7 67 Larry Lazarus 7 68 Louis Lawson 7 69 Reg Duval 6 70 Jim Gregory 6 71 Fred Pawson 6 72 Bruce Semmens 5 73 Bill Gilbert 5 74 Roy Craighead 5 75 Harry Saunders 4 76 George Wall 4 77 Bob Baker 3 78 Fritz Dirtl 2 79 Harry Welch 1

World final

• 18 September 1952
• Wembley Stadium, London

Pos.	Rider	Points	Heats
1	Jack Young	14	(3,3,3,3,2)
2	Freddie Williams	13	(3,2,3,2,3)
3	Bob Oakley	12	(3,3,2,1,3)
4	Ronnie Moore	10	(2,2,3,F,3)
5	Arthur Payne	9	(0,1,2,3,3)
6	Dan Forsberg	9	(2,3,1,3,F)
7	Dick Bradley	9	(3,2,3,1,0)
8	Jeff Lloyd	7	(2,2,0,2,1)
9	Arthur Forrest	7	(1,1,0,3,2)
10	Henry Long	7	(1,0,2,2,2)
11	Brian Crutcher	6	(1,3,1,0,1)
12	Split Waterman	6	(2,1,0,1,2)
13	Graham Warren	5	(0,1,1,2,1)
14	Derick Close	4	(1,0,2,0,1)
15	Cyril Roger	2	(0,Ex,1,1,0)
16	Ron How	0	(0,d,0,0,0)
	Basse Hveem (res)	–	–
	Trevor Redmond (res)	–	–

Classification

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
1	(10) Jack Young	14			3			3						3			3		2				14	1
2	(2) Freddie Williams	13	3					2				3				2				3			13	2
3	(8) Bob Oakley	12		3						3			2			1			3				12	3
4	(3) Ronnie Moore	10	2						2				3				-				3		4	4
5	(4) Arthur Payne	9	0							1				2				3				3	9	5
6	(11) Dan Forsberg	9			2				3		1					3						-	9	6
7	(16) Dick Bradley	9				3				2	3						1			0			9	7
8	(5) Jeff Lloyd	7		2			2					0					2					1	7	8
9	(7) Arthur Forrest	7		1					1					0	3					2			7	9
10	(12) Henry Long	7			1					0		2			2						2		7	10
11	(13) Brian Crutcher	6				1	3							1		0					1		6	11
12	(14) Split Waterman	6				2		1					0		1							2	6	12
13	(9) Graham Warren	5			0		1						1					2		1			5	13
14	(1) Derek Close	4	1				0				2				0				1				4	14
15	(15) Cyril Roger	2				0			-			1						1	0				0	15
16	(6) Ron How	0		0				-			0							0			0		0	16
	(17) Basse Hveem (res)	0																					0
	(18) Trevor Redmond (res)	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

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

Podium

1. Jack Young (Australia)
2. Freddie Williams (Wales)
3. Bob Oakley (England)

References

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 5 July 2021.
3. "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
4. "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
5. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
6. "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL – RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
7. "1952 World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
8. "1952 World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 13 January 2024.

• Individual Speedway World Championship
• 1952 in speedway
• 1952 in London
• 1952 in British motorsport
• Speedway competitions in the United Kingdom