1968 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1968 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 23rd edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
Ivan Mauger won his first World title. Fellow countryman Barry Briggs finished second and Pole Edward Jancarz took the bronze medal.

Format changes

The format of the Championship changed again for the 1968 event. It reverted to the 1966 system whereby six riders from the Swedish section would qualify for the World Final direct to be held in Sweden. All other nations had to go through various events to establish the other ten riders to qualify for the final.

First round

Qualification results.

British/Commonwealth qualifying

Top 32 to British/Commonwealth semi-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
25 May	King's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn	Malcolm Simmons	Terry Betts	Ray Wilson
25 May	The Shay, Halifax	Jim Airey	Dave Younghusband	Greg Kentwell
25 May	Brandon Stadium, Coventry	Nigel Boocock	Norman Hunter	Dave Hemus
25 May	Hyde Road, Manchester	Ivan Mauger	Tommy Roper	Charlie Monk
27 May	Brough Park, Newcastle	Ivan Mauger	Barry Briggs	Bert Harkins
27 May	County Ground Stadium, Exeter	Martin Ashby	Jimmy Squibb	Eric Boocock
28 May	West Ham Stadium, London	Norman Hunter	Nigel Boocock	Ivan Mauger
28 May	Leicester Stadium, Leicester	Bill Andrew	Bob Kilby	John Boulger
29 May	Wimborne Road, Poole	John Boulger	Bill Andrew	Geoff Mudge
30 May	Oxford Stadium, Oxford	Colin Gooddy	Terry Betts	Ronnie Genz
30 May	Wimbledon Stadium, London	Martin Ashby	Nigel Boocock	Trevor Hedge
30 May	Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield	Charlie Monk	Colin Pratt	John Dews
31 May	Monmore Green, Wolverhampton	James Bond	Jim Airey	Peter Vandenberg
31 May	Hackney Wick Stadium, London	Barry Briggs	Colin Pratt	Les McGillivray
31 May	Somerton Park, Newport	Cyril Francis	Chris Julian	Eric Boothroyd
31 May	White City, Glasgow	Bob Kilby	Bert Harkins	Jim McMillan
1 June	Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley	Bill Andrew	Trevor Hedge	Reg Luckhurst
1 June	Abeey Stadium, Swindon	Barry Briggs	Bob Kilby	Mike Broadbanks
1 June	Cliftonhill, Coatbridge	Martin Ashby	Ray Wilson	Colin Pratt

Continental qualifying

Top 32 to Continantal semi-finals

Date

Venue

Winner

2nd

3rd

4 May

Second round

Norwegian qualifying (top 8)

1 October 1967
Sandnes Idrettspark, Sandnes
Top 8 to Nordic final 1968

Pos.	Rider	time/note
1	Reidar Eide	1.21.1
2	Oyvind S. Berg	1.22.6
3	Odd Fossengen	1.24.0
4	Sverre Harrfeldt	1.24.0
5	Einar Egedius	sf 1.24.5
6	Sven Svensrud	sf 1.28.2
7	Ulf Lovaas	sf fell
8	Thorbjorn Nygaard	sf fell

Finnish qualifying (top 8)

? & 30 Aug 1967
Eteläpuisto, Tampere & Kärpänen Speedway, Lahti
Top 3 to Nordic final 1968

Pos.	Rider	Points	Total
1	Matti Olin	6+8	14+3
2	Kalevi Lahtinen	8+6	14+2
3	Veikko Metsahuone	4+3	7
4	Jouko Naskali	0+4	4
5	Reijo Tolviander	3+1	4
6	Reima Lohkovouri	0+2	2
7	Olavi Turunen	2+0	2
8	Timo Sinkkonen	1+0	1

Third round

British/Commonwealth Final

11 July 1968
Wimbledon Stadium, London
First 10 to British-Nordic Final plus 1 reserve

Nordic Final

2 June 1968
Selskov Stadium, Hillerød
First 6 to British-Nordic Final, plus 1 reserve

Fourth round

British/Commonwealth/Nordic Final

6 August 1968
West Ham Stadium, London
First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve

Continental Final

21 June 1968
Stroitel Stadium, Ufa
First 8 to European Final plus 1 reserve

Fifth round

Swedish Final

Top 6 to World final, 1 reserve

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
27 May	Malmö Stadion, Malmö	Gunnar Malmqvist	Anders Michanek	Hasse Holmqvist
28 May	Ullevi, Gothenburg	Bernt Persson	Gunnar Malmqvist	Torbjörn Harrysson
30 May	Ryd Motorstadion, Linköping	Ove Fundin	Bengt Jansson	Gunnar Malmqvist

European Final

25 August 1968
Olympic Stadium, Wrocław
First 10 to World Final plus 1 reserve

World Final

6 September 1968
Ullevi, Gothenburg