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.
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. 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.
Qualification results.

Second round

Australian qualifying

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

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

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

Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals

Date

Venue

Winner

2nd

3rd

22 April

Swedish qualification

Top 5 in each heat to Swedish final

Third round

Continental quarter-finals

Top 32 to Continental semi-finals

Date

Venue

Winner

2nd

3rd

7 May

British qualifying round

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

First 2 to Nordic Final 1978
14 August 1977, Eteläpuisto, Tampere

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

3 riders to Nordic Final

Swedish Final

30 May 1978
Kumla Motorstadion, Kumla
First 7 to Nordic Final + 1 reserve

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

15 May 1978
Fjelsted Speedway Stadium, Harndrup
First 2 to Nordic Final

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

4 February 1978
Brisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane
To 8 to Australasian Final

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

11 February 1978
Te Marua Speedway, Wellington
To 8 to Australasian Final

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

American selection

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

Australasian Final

12 February 1978
Western Springs Stadium, Auckland
First 4 to Intercontinental Final, Ivan Mauger seeded through

Pos.

Rider

Heat Scores

Total

Nordic Final

8 June 1978
Norrköping Motorstadion, Norrköping
First 9 to Intercontnental Final

Fifth round

British Final

16 August 1978
Brandon Stadium, Coventry
First 4 to World Final

Continental Final

2 July 1978
Markéta Stadium, Prague
First 6 to World Final plus 1 reserve

Intercontinental Final

2 July 1978
Speedway Center, Fredericia
First 7 to World Final + 1 reserve

World Final

2 September 1978
Wembley Stadium, London