{{Short description|5th edition of the World motorcycle speedway championship}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Use British English|date=December 2023}} {{Motorsport season |title = [[Individual Speedway World Championship]] |link = Individual Speedway World Championship |year = 1950 }}
The '''1950 Individual Speedway World Championship''' was the fifth edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.<ref>{{cite book|last=Oakes|first=Peter|title=1981 Speedway Yearbook|year=1981|pages=20–21|publisher=Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd|isbn=0-86215-017-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://edinburghspeedway.blogspot.com/2013/04/world-speedway-championships.html|title=World Championship 1936-1994|website=Edinburgh Speedway|access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/worldchamps1936to94.pdf|title=WORLD FINALS 1936-1994|website=Speedway Researcher|access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.speedway.org/history/|title=HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK|website=Speedway.org|access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/worldfinalindex|title=WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX|website=British Speedway|access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://wwosbackup.proboards.com/board/89/world|title=Speedway riders, history and results|website=wwosbackup|access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref>
The title was won by Welshman [[Freddie Williams (speedway rider)|Freddie Williams]] with the pivotal heat being the heat against Australian [[Graham Warren]]. Warren and Williams both unbeaten met in their third rides and as Warren challenged Williams for the lead he was forced to drop behind Williams. Warren then hit a bump and fell which cost him valuable points and the chance to win the title.<ref>{{cite news |title=Three inches and a bump cost me the title |work=Sport Argus |date=23 September 1950 |access-date=5 July 2021 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000653/19500923/093/0005| via = [[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
[[Ronnie Moore (speedway rider)|Ronnie Moore]] became the youngest finalist at the age of just 17.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mooreparkspeedway.co.nz/ronniemoore.php|title=Profile|website=Moore Park Speedway|access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref>
==First qualifying round== *The top 74 riders qualify for the second qualifying round, where they will be joined by seeded division 2 riders.<ref name=BO>{{cite news |title=World Championship Opens On Monday|work=Bristol Observer |date=10 June 1950 |access-date=2 January 2024 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003328/19500610/010/0010 | via = [[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !width=100|Date !width=200|Venue !width=250|Winner |- | 12 June || [[Stanley Greyhound Stadium (Liverpool)|Stanley Stadium]] || Jack Hughes |- | 12 June || [[Wimborne Road]] || Ray Ellis |- | 13 June || [[Cornish Stadium]] || Hugh Geddes |- | 15 June || [[Oxford Stadium]] || Charlie New |- | 16 June || [[County Ground Stadium]] || Bob McFarlane |- | 16 June || [[Leicester Stadium]] || Les Hewitt |- | 17 June || [[Rayleigh Weir Stadium]]|| Ticker James |- | 17 June || [[Abbey Stadium (Swindon)|Abbey Stadium]]|| Reg Duval |}
==Second qualifying round== *The top 73 riders qualify for the Third qualifying round.<ref name=BO/> {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !width=100|Date !width=200|Venue !width=250|Winner |- | 5 July || [[Highbury Stadium (Fleetwood)]] || Merv Harding |- | 5 July || [[White City Stadium, Glasgow]] || Frank Hodgson |- | 6 July || [[Pennycross Stadium]] || George Wall |- | 6 July || [[Owlerton Stadium]] || Pete Lansdale |- |7 July || [[The Shay]] || Les Hewitt |- |8 July || [[Brandon Stadium]] || Alan Hunt |- |8 July || [[Old Meadowbank]] || Dick Campbell |- |8 July || [[The Firs Stadium]] || Jack Young |}
==Third qualifying round== *The top 2 riders from each meeting qualify for the Championship round, where they will meet 34 seeded division 1 riders.<ref name=BO/> {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !width=100|Date !width=200|Venue !width=300|Winner/2nd |- |25 July || [[Ashfield Stadium]] || Jack Young / Derick Close |- |25 July || [[Banister Court Stadium]] || Merv Harding / Ron Mason |- |25 July || [[Yarmouth Stadium]] || Les Hewitt / Eddie Rigg |- |29 July || [[Sun Street Stadium]] || Junior Bainbridge / Mike Erskine |- |31 July || [[Dudley Wood Stadium]] || Geoff Pymar / Ken Sharples |- |31 July || [[Brough Park Stadium]] || Lindsay Mitchell / Dick Campbell |- |31 July || [[Walthamstow Stadium]] || Jim Boyd / Tommy Miller |}
==Championship round== 9 events in Great Britain.
===Scores=== *Top 16 qualify for World final, 17th & 18th reserves for World final {|width=100% |- |width=50% valign=top| {| class=wikitable !width=25px|Pos. ||width=200px|Rider ||width=40px|Total pts |-align=center {{speedway color|7}} |1 ||align=left|{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Jack Young (speedway rider)|Jack Young]] ||39 |-align=center {{speedway color|7}} |2 ||align=left|{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Graham Warren]] ||37 |-align=center {{speedway color|7}} |3 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Cyril Brine]] ||36 |-align=center {{speedway color|7}} |4 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Jack Parker (speedway rider)|Jack Parker]] ||35 |-align=center {{speedway color|7}} |5 ||align=left|{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Aub Lawson]] ||34 |-align=center {{speedway color|7}} |6 ||align=left|{{flagicon|NZL}} [[Ronnie Moore (speedway rider)|Ronnie Moore]] ||34 |-align=center {{speedway color|7}} |7 ||align=left|{{flagicon|WAL}} [[Freddie Williams (speedway rider)|Freddie Williams]] ||33 |-align=center {{speedway color|7}} |8 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Split Waterman]] ||32 |-align=center {{speedway color|7}} |9 ||align=left|{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Vic Duggan]] ||32 |-align=center {{speedway color|7}} |10 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Dent Oliver]] ||30 |-align=center {{speedway color|7}} |11 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Danny Dunton]] ||30 |-align=center {{speedway color|7}} |12 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Wally Green]] ||29 |-align=center {{speedway color|7}} |13 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Tommy Price (born 1911)|Tommy Price]] ||29 |-align=center {{speedway color|7}} |14 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Ron Clarke (speedway rider)|Ron Clarke]] ||29 |-align=center {{speedway color|7}} |15 ||align=left|{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Arthur Payne (speedway rider)|Arthur Payne]] ||27 |-align=center {{speedway color|7}} |16 ||align=left|{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Jack Biggs]] ||26 |-align=center {{speedway color|6}} |17 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Arthur Forrest (speedway rider)|Arthur Forrest]] ||26 |-align=center {{speedway color|6}} |18 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Cyril Roger]] ||25 |-align=center |19 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Mike Erskine]] ||23 |-align=center |20 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Norman Parker (speedway rider)|Norman Parker]] ||23 |-align=center |21 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Alec Statham]] ||23 |-align=center |22 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Oliver Hart (speedway rider)|Oliver Hart]] ||23 |-align=center |23 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Eddie Rigg]] ||22 |-align=center |24 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Louis Lawson]] ||21 |-align=center |25 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Derick Close]] ||21 |} |width=50% valign=top| {| class=wikitable !width=25px|Pos. ||width=200px|Rider ||width=40px|Total pts |-align=center |26 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[George Wilks]] ||21 |-align=center |27 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Malcolm Craven]] ||20 |-align=center |28 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Alan Hunt (speedway rider)|Alan Hunt]] ||20 |-align=center |29 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Jeff Lloyd]] ||20 |-align=center |30 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Ken Sharples]] ||20 |-align=center |31 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Tommy Miller (speedway rider)|Tommy Miller]] ||19 |-align=center |32 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Bert Roger]] ||17 |-align=center |33 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Geoff Bennett (speedway rider)|Geoff Bennett]] ||16 |-align=center |34 ||align=left|{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Merv Harding]] ||16 |-align=center |35 ||align=left|{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Bill Longley (speedway rider)|Bill Longley]] ||16 |-align=center |36 ||align=left|{{flagicon|NZL}} [[Dick Campbell (speedway rider)|Dick Campbell]] ||15 |-align=center |37 ||align=left|{{flagicon|CAN|1921}} [[Eric Chitty]] ||15 |-align=center |38 ||align=left|{{flagicon|USA}} [[Charles Cullum (speedway rider)|Charles Cullum]] ||15 |-align=center |39 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Ron Mason (speedway rider)|Ron Mason]] ||14 |-align=center |40 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Eric French]] ||13 |-align=center |41 ||align=left|{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Dick Seers]] ||13 |-align=center |42 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Bill Kitchen (speedway rider)|Bill Kitchen]] ||12 |-align=center |43 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Jack Mountford]] ||11 |-align=center |44 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Lindsay Mitchell (speedway rider)|Lindsay Mitchell]] ||10 |-align=center |45 ||align=left|{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Junior Bainbridge]] ||8 |-align=center |46 ||align=left|{{flagicon|NZL}} [[Les Hewitt]] ||6 |-align=center |47 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Billy Hole (speedway rider)|Billy Hole]] ||5 |-align=center |48 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Johnny Hole]] ||4 |-align=center |49 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Dick Bradley]] ||2 |} |}
== World final == *22 September 1950 *{{flagicon|ENG}} London, [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]] *Change: {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Arthur Forrest (speedway rider)|Arthur Forrest]] → {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Mike Erskine]]
{| class=wikitable !width=25px|Pos. ||width=200px|Rider ||width=40px|Points ||width=70px|Heats |-align=center {{speedway color|p1}} |1 ||align=left|{{flagicon|WAL}} [[Freddie Williams (speedway rider)|Freddie Williams]] ||14 ||(3,3,3,2,3) |-align=center {{speedway color|p2}} |2 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Wally Green]] ||13 ||(2,3,3,2,3) |-align=center {{speedway color|p3}} |3 ||align=left|{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Graham Warren]] ||12 ||(3,3,F,3,3) |-align=center |4 ||align=left|{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Aub Lawson]] ||10 ||(2,2,3,1,2) |-align=center |5 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Tommy Price (born 1911)|Tommy Price]] ||8 ||(3,F,3,1,1) |-align=center |6 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Jack Parker (speedway rider)|Jack Parker]] ||8 ||(2,1,2,3,0) |-align=center |7 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Split Waterman]] ||8 ||(1,2,3,1,1) |-align=center |8 ||align=left|{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Jack Young (speedway rider)|Jack Young]] ||7 ||(0,1,2,1,3) |-align=center |9 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Cyril Brine]] ||7 ||(2,2,2,0,1) |-align=center |10 ||align=left|{{flagicon|NZL}} [[Ronnie Moore (speedway rider)|Ronnie Moore]] ||7 ||(X,0,2,3,2) |-align=center |11 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Dent Oliver]] ||6 ||(X,3,1,2,0) |-align=center |12 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Danny Dunton]] ||5 ||(1,0,1,1,2) |-align=center |13 ||align=left|{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Vic Duggan]] ||4 ||(1,1,1,0,1) |-align=center |14 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Ron Clarke (speedway rider)|Ron Clarke]] ||3 ||(1,2,0,0,0) |-align=center |15 ||align=left|{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Jack Biggs]] ||3 ||(0,1,0,0,2) |-align=center |16 ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Arthur Payne (speedway rider)|Arthur Payne]] ||0 ||(0,0,-,0,0) |-align=center | ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Cyril Roger]] (res) ||5 ||(3,2) |-align=center | ||align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Mike Erskine]] (res) ||0 ||(0) |}
===Podium=== [https://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/content/images/2006/04/21/fred_williams_001_420x284.jpg 1950 Podium]: # [[Image:Gold medal blank.svg|16px|Gold]] {{flagicon|WAL}} [[Freddie Williams (speedway rider)|Freddie Williams]] # [[Image:Silver medal blank.svg|16px|Silver]] {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Wally Green]] # [[Image:Bronze medal blank.svg|16px|Bronze]] {{flagicon|AUS}} [[Graham Warren]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Speedway Grand Prix seasons}}
[[Category:Individual Speedway World Championship|1950]] [[Category:1950 in speedway|Individual World Championship]] [[Category:1950 in sport in London|Individual Speedway]] [[Category:1950 in British motorsport|Individual Speedway World Championship]] [[Category:Speedway competitions in the United Kingdom]]