1951 Individual Speedway World Championship Explained

The 1951 Individual Speedway World Championship was the sixth edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5]

Australia's Jack Young won the World Championship. Young won a run-off for the title with British rider Split Waterman and fellow Australian Jack Biggs after all three riders had finished on 12 points.^[6] ^[7]

The 1951 World Final was held before a reported crowd of 93,000 at Wembley Stadium.

First qualifying round

The top 13 riders qualify for the second qualifying round.^[8]

width=100	Date	width=200	Venue	width=250	Winner
31 May		Derek Tailby
2 June		Trevor Redmond
2 June		Tony Lewis
2 June		Hugh Geddes
4 June		Johnny Sargeant

Second qualifying round

Top Qualifiers go forward to the Championship round.^[9]

width=100	Date	width=200	Venue	width=250	Winner
10 July		Eric Williams
10 July		Tom Oakley
10 July		Fred Brand
11 July		Wilf Jay
11 July		Tommy Miller
11 July		Arthur Forrest
12 July		Jack Young
13 July		Geoff Mardon
13 July		Gordon McGregor
13 July		Dick Campbell
16 July		Phil Clarke
16 July		Ken Sharples
16 July		Jim Boyd
21 July		Tommy Miller
21 July		Jack Young
21 July		Bruce Abernethy
21 July		Bob Leverenz

Championship Round

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

width=100	Date	width=200	Venue	width=250	Winner
13 August		Split Waterman
14 August	West Ham Stadium	Bruce Abernethy
15 August		Bob Leverenz
16 August		Freddie Williams
18 August		Bruce Semmens
18 August		Alan Hunt
18 August		Eddie Rigg
31 August		Norman Parker
31 August		Jack Biggs

Scores

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

width=50% valign=top

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=40px	Total pts
1		29
2		27
3		26
4		25
5		25
6		24
7		23
8		23
9		23
10		23
11		23
12		23
13		22
14		22
15		22
16		22
17		21
18		21
19		21
20		20
21		20
22		19
23		19
24		19
25		18
26		17
27		17
28		17
29		17
30		17
31		16
32		16
33		16
34		16
35		15
36		15

width=50% valign=top

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=40px	Total pts
37		15
38		15
39		14
40		13
41		13
42		13
43		13
44		12
45		12
46		12
47		12
48		12
49		12
50		12
51		11
52		10
53		10
54		9
55		9
56		9
57		9
58		9
59		9
60		9
61		6
62		6
63		6
64		6
65		6
66		5
67		4
68		4
69		3
70		2
71		1
72		0

World final

20 September 1951
London, Wembley Stadium

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=40px	Points	width=70px	Heats
1		12+3	(2,2,3,3,2)
2		12+2	(1,3,3,2,3)
3		12+1	(3,3,3,3,0)
4		11	(2,2,2,2,3)
5		10	(0,1,3,3,3)
6		10	(2,0,2,3,3)
7		8	(3,3,1,1,0)
8		7	(3,2,1,0,1)
9		7	(3,1,0,2,1)
10		7	(1,2,2,0,2)
11		6	(1,3,1,0,1)
12		6	(0,1,1,2,2)
13		3	(1,E,2,0,0)
14		3	(0,1,1,1,0)
15		2	(2,0,0,0,-)
16		2	(F,F,0,1,1)
	Dick Bradley (res)	2	(2)
	Geoff Mardon (res)	–	–

Podium

1951 Podium

Notes and References

News: Hunt has ability to take speed title . Birmingham Mail . 20 September 1951 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 10 October 2024 .
Book: Oakes, Peter. 1981 Speedway Yearbook. 1981. 20–21. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. 0-86215-017-5.
Web site: World Championship 1936-1994. Edinburgh Speedway. 5 July 2021.
Web site: WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL – RIDER INDEX. British Speedway. 5 July 2021.
Web site: Speedway riders, history and results. wwosbackup. 5 July 2021.
Web site: WORLD FINALS 1936-1994. Speedway Researcher. 5 July 2021.
Web site: HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK. Speedway.org. 5 July 2021.
News: Speedway . Weekly Dispatch (London) . 27 May 1951 . 4 January 2024 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
News: Pioneer Ron comes to Bristol track . Bristol Evening World . 6 July 1951 . 4 January 2024 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .