# 1978 Individual Speedway World Championship > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/1978_Individual_Speedway_World_Championship > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/1978_Individual_Speedway_World_Championship.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_Individual_Speedway_World_Championship > Source revision: 1338822406 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Motorcycle speedway world championship season 1978 [Individual Speedway World Championship](/source/Individual_Speedway_World_Championship) Previous [1977](/source/1977_Individual_Speedway_World_Championship) Next [1979](/source/1979_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.[1][2][3][4][5] [Ole Olsen](/source/Ole_Olsen_(speedway_rider)) won his third world crown. The final was sponsored by the [Sunday Mirror](/source/Sunday_Mirror) and was attended by 86,500. [Gordon Kennett](/source/Gordon_Kennett) took silver on the day of his 25th birthday and American [Scott Autrey](/source/Scott_Autrey) won the bronze medal run-off defeating [Dave Jessup](/source/Dave_Jessup) and [Jerzy Rembas](/source/Jerzy_Rembas).[6] 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.[7] Qualification results.[8][9] ## 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 Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný Boleslaw Proch Jerzy Kochman Rudi Muts 23 April Kovinar Stadium, Maribor Jan Hádek Sandro Pastoreli Angel Jeftimov ### Swedish qualification - Top 5 in each heat to Swedish final (5 May, Avestavallen, Avesta) Pos Rider Points 1 Anders Michanek 15 2 Christer Sjösten 11 3 Börje Klingberg 11 4 Gert Carlsson 11 5 Tomas Pettersson 10 6 Karl-Erik Claesson 9 7 Roger Björkman 9 8 Åke Fridell 8 9 Lars-Olof Karlsson 7 10 Åke Axelsson 7 11 Leif Johansson 6 12 Peter Johansson 5 13 Therje Henriksson 4 14 Bertil Andersson 2 15 Börje Ohlsson (res) 2 16 Hans Frisk 1 17 Willy Karlsson 0 18 Jan Holmqvist 0 (7 May, Målilla Motorbana, Malilla) Pos Rider Points 1 Tommy Nilsson 15 2 Sören Karlsson 13 3 Stefan Salmonsson 13 4 Lillebror Johansson 11 5 Bo Wirebrand 9+3 6 Lars Ericsson 9+2 7 Olle Nygren 8 8 Sven Nilsson 8 9 Bengt Larsson 6 10 Thord Löwdin 5 11 Kenneth Selmosson 4 12 Weine Ström 4 13 Tommy Johansson 3 14 Björn Persson (res) 3 15 Karl-Fredrik Lindgren 3 16 Bengt Gagner 3 17 Åke Andersson (res) 2 18 Åke Dovhed 0 (7 May, Gamla Galgberget, Visby) Pos Rider Points 1 Jan Andersson 14 2 Conny Samuelsson 13 3 Sören Sjösten 13 4 Hasse Holmqvist 12 5 Bernt Persson 12 6 Lars-Åke Andersson 9+3 7 Rolf Sundberg 9+2 8 Kjell Bergström 7 9 Hans Danielsson 7 10 Jan Davidsson 6 11 Torgil Roth 6 12 Håkan Karlsson 5 13 Richard Hellsén 2 14 Eddie Davidsson 1 ## Third round ### Continental quarter-finals - Top 32 to Continental semi-finals Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd 7 May Castiglione Olona Speedway, Varese Egon Muller Grigory Khlinovsky Jerzy Rembas 7 May Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc Mikhail Starostin Andrzej Huszcza Václav Verner 7 May Breitenthal Stadium, Krumbach Georg Hack Ales Dryml, Sr Nikolay Kornev 7 May Municipal Stadium, Częstochowa Marek Cieślak Jiří Štancl Zdeněk Kudrna ### British qualifying round The British qualifying rounds for the **World Championship** doubled up as qualifying rounds for the [Volkswagen](/source/Volkswagen)/[Daily Mirror](/source/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](/source/Etel%C3%A4puisto), [Tampere](/source/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](/source/Kumla_Motorstadion), [Kumla](/source/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](/source/Fjelsted_Speedway_Stadium), [Harndrup](/source/Harndrup) - First 2 to Nordic Final (Ole Olsen and Finn Thomsen seeded through) 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](/source/Brisbane_Exhibition_Ground), [Brisbane](/source/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](/source/Te_Marua_Speedway), [Wellington](/source/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 ### British semi-finals 12 July Wimborne Road, Poole Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points 1 Tony Davey 12 2 Gordon Kennett 12 3 Dave Jessup 11 4 John Davis 11 5 Steve Bastable 10 6 John Louis 10 7 Malcolm Simmons 10 8 Alan Grahame 9 9 Terry Betts 8 10 Bob Kilby 7 11 Trevor Geer 6 12 Neil Middleditch 4 13 Mike Lanham 4 14 Colin Richardson 4 15 Eric Broadbelt 2 16 Geoff Bouchard 1 13 July Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points 1 Peter Collins 15 2 Chris Morton 13 3 Michael Lee 13 4 Les Collins 10 5 Reg Wilson 10 6 Dave Morton 9 7 Doug Wyer 8 8 Jim McMillan 7 9 Phil Collins 7 10 Bobby Beaton 6 11 Dave Perks 5 12 Ian Cartwright 5 13 Keith White 4 14 Alan Molyneux 4 15 Richard Greer 3 16 Ray Wilson 1 ### 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](/source/Western_Springs_Stadium), [Auckland](/source/Auckland) - First 4 to Intercontinental Final, Ivan Mauger seeded through Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total 1 Mitch Shirra 2,2,3,3,3 13 2 Mick McKeon 3,3,2.5,2,1 11.5 3 John Titman 2,3,T,3,3 11 4 Mike Farrell 3,1,1,3,3 11 5 Mike Fullerton 1,3,3,1,2 10 6 Phil Herne 1,2,2,3,2 10 7 John Boulger 3,3,2,T,1 9 8 Billy Sanders 3,T,3,F,3 9 9 Colin Farquharson 0,2,2,2,2 8 10 Roger Wright 1,1,2.5,1,1 6.5 11 Robert Maxfield 1,1,1,2,1 6 12 Larry Ross 2,E,E,2,2 6 13 James Moore 2,1,1,1,0 5 14 Colin Tucker 0,2,1,0,0 3 15 Allan Brown 0,0,0,0,0 0 16 Lloyd Cross F,-,-,-,- 0 R1 Greg Joynt 0,0,1,T 1 R2 Cliff Anderson 0,0,0 0 ### Nordic Final - 8 June 1978 - [Norrköping Motorstadion](/source/Norrk%C3%B6ping_Motorstadion), [Norrköping](/source/Norrk%C3%B6ping) - First 9 to Intercontnental Final 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 21 (2) Ole Olsen 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1 (7) Bernt Persson 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 2 (9) Finn Thomsen 11 2 2 3 3 1 11 3 3 4 (15) Kai Niemi 11 3 2 2 1 3 11 4 2 5 (4) Ila Teromaa 10 2 3 2 2 1 10 5 6 (8) Tommy Nilsson 10 2 2 2 2 2 10 6 7 (13) Kristian Præstbro 9 1 3 1 1 3 9 7 8 (16) Anders Michanek 8 2 1 2 3 0 8 8 9 (3) Jan Andersson 6 1 0 1 2 2 6 9 3 10 (6) Tom Godal 6 1 1 3 0 1 6 10 2 11 (11) Sören Karlsson 6 3 1 0 0 2 6 11 1 12 (14) Bent Rasmussen 5 0 0 0 2 3 5 12 13 (10) Christer Sjösten 4 0 2 0 1 1 4 13 14 (1) Lars Ericsson 3 0 1 1 1 0 3 14 15 (5) Audun Ove Olsen 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 15 16 (12) Stein Roar Pedersen 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 16 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 21 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 gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside ### Continental semi-finals 28 May Rottalstadion, Pocking Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points 1 Hans Wassermann 15 2 Jiří Štancl 13 3 Marek Cieslak 11 4 Boleslaw Proch 11 5 Emil Sova 10 6 Zdenek Kudrna 9 7 Piotr Pyszny 9 8 Nikolaj Kornev 8 9 Georg Hack 8 10 Aleš Dryml Sr. 7 11 Jerzy Kochman 5 12 Vladimir Paznikov 5 13 Karel Vobornik 3 14 Petr Kucera 2 15 Rudy Muts 2 16 Frits Koppe 1 28 May Motodrom Halbemond, Norden Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points 1 Alois Wiesböck 15 2 Egon Müller 14 3 Ryszard Fabiszewski 12 4 Jan Verner 9 5 Francesco Biginato 9 6 Istvan Sziraczki 9 7 Jerzy Rembas 9 8 Petr Ondrašík 9 9 Boguslav Nowak 8 10 Václav Verner 8 11 Andrzej Huszcza 5 12 Michail Starostin 4 13 Grigory Khlinovsky 4 14 Laszlo Meszaros 3 15 Jan Hadek 1 16 Jiri Jirout 1 ## Fifth round ### British Final - 16 August 1978 - [Brandon Stadium](/source/Brandon_Stadium), [Coventry](/source/Coventry) - First 4 to World Final 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 21 (7) Michael Lee 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 1 (5) Dave Jessup 12 2 3 1 3 3 12 2 (16) Malcolm Simmons 11 0 3 3 2 3 11 3 4 (9) Gordon Kennett 10 2 2 2 3 1 10 4 3 5 (1) Steve Bastable 10 3 1 2 1 3 10 5 2 6 (12) Chris Morton 10 E 2 3 2 3 10 6 1 7 (13) Tony Davey 8 3 0 2 3 0 8 7 8 (15) John Davis 8 2 2 2 2 0 8 8 9 (10) Les Collins 7 3 0 1 1 2 7 9 10 (6) Peter Collins 6 1 3 E E 2 6 10 11 (8) Reg Wilson 6 0 0 3 2 1 6 11 12 (2) Doug Wyer 4 1 2 X 1 E 4 12 13 (14) Alan Grahame 4 1 1 0 0 2 4 13 14 (4) Jim McMillan 3 2 1 0 T 0 3 14 15 (11) John Louis 3 1 0 1 0 1 3 15 16 (3) Dave Morton 3 0 1 1 0 1 3 16 R3 (R3) Mick Bell 1 1 1 R3 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 21 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 gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside ### Continental Final - 2 July 1978 - [Markéta Stadium](/source/Mark%C3%A9ta_Stadium), [Prague](/source/Prague) - First 6 to World Final plus 1 reserve 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 21 (5) Hans Wassermann 14 3 2 3 3 3 14 1 (9) Jiří Štancl 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 2 (11) Marek Cieślak 11 1 3 3 3 1 11 3 4 (16) Petr Ondrašík 11 3 2 1 2 3 11 4 5 (1) Jan Verner 11 3 1 2 2 3 11 5 6 (7) Jerzy Rembas 9 2 0 3 3 1 9 6 7 (8) Zdeněk Kudrna 9 1 3 2 1 2 9 7 8 (2) Boleslaw Proch 8 2 2 2 2 0 8 8 9 (14) Alois Wiesböck 6 2 3 F 1 0 6 9 10 (4) Francesco Biginato 6 1 1 0 2 2 6 10 11 (10) Janosz Sziracky 5 0 1 2 1 1 5 11 12 (13) Nikolay Kornev 4 1 0 1 0 2 4 12 13 (6) Emil Sova 4 0 0 0 1 3 4 13 14 (3) Ryszard Fabiszewski 4 0 2 1 0 1 4 14 15 (12) Egon Muller 2 2 0 E E - 2 15 16 (15) Piotr Pyszny 2 X 1 1 0 0 2 16 R1 (R1) Bogusław Nowak 0 0 R1 R2 (R2) Georg Hack 0 0 R2 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 21 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 gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside ### Intercontinental Final - 2 July 1978 - [Speedway Center](/source/Fredericia_Speedway_Center), [Fredericia](/source/Fredericia) - First 7 to World Final + 1 reserve 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 21 (3) Ole Olsen 13 2 3 2 3 3 13 1 3 (11) Ivan Mauger 13 3 2 2 3 3 13 2 2 (1) Scott Autrey 11 3 X 3 2 3 11 3 3 4 (16) Ila Teromaa 11 3 3 1 1 3 11 4 2 5 (13) Jan Andersson 11 2 2 3 2 2 11 5 1 6 (9) Anders Michanek 10 2 1 3 3 1 10 6 7 (5) John Titman 10 2 3 1 2 2 10 7 8 (6) Bernt Persson 9 3 3 0 2 1 9 8 9 (2) Kai Niemi 8 1 2 2 1 2 8 9 10 (12) Steve Gresham 7 X 1 3 3 X 7 10 11 (4) Finn Thomsen 5 0 2 2 E 1 5 11 12 (15) Mike Farrell 5 1 1 0 1 2 5 12 13 (10) Mick McKeon 3 1 1 1 0 0 3 13 14 (8) Kristian Præstbro 2 0 0 1 0 1 2 14 15 (7) Mitch Shirra 1 1 F - - - 1 15 16 (14) Tommy Nilsson 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 16 R1 (R1) Bert Rasmussen 0 0 0 0 R1 R2 (R2) Tom Jenssen 0 0 0 0 R2 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 21 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 gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside ## World Final - 2 September 1978 - [Wembley Stadium](/source/Wembley_Stadium_(1923)), London[10] 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 21 (15) Ole Olsen 13 3 2 2 3 3 13 1 (13) Gordon Kennett 12 2 3 2 2 3 12 2 (2) Scott Autrey 11 3 2 1 3 2 11 3 3 4 (12) Dave Jessup 11 E 3 3 3 2 11 4 2 5 (9) Jerzy Rembas 11 3 1 3 1 3 11 5 1 6 (1) Malcolm Simmons 10 2 2 2 2 2 10 6 7 (6) Michael Lee 9 3 1 3 2 0 9 7 8 (14) Ivan Mauger 8 F 3 2 0 3 8 8 9 (16) John Titman 7 1 2 F 3 1 7 9 10 (3) Anders Michanek 7 1 3 0 2 1 7 10 11 (4) Ila Teromaa 6 0 1 3 F 2 6 11 12 (11) Jan Verner 5 2 1 1 0 1 5 12 13 (8) Marek Cieślak 5 2 0 1 1 1 5 13 14 (10) Jan Andersson 3 1 0 1 1 0 3 14 15 (7) Jiří Štancl 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 15 16 (5) Petr Ondrašík 0 F 0 0 0 0 0 16 R1 (R1) Steve Bastable 0 0 R1 R2 (R2) Bernt Persson 0 0 R2 R3 (R3) Zdeněk Kudrna 0 0 R3 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 21 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 gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Oakes, Peter (1981). *1981 Speedway Yearbook*. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 20–21. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-86215-017-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-86215-017-5). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["World Championship 1936-1994"](http://edinburghspeedway.blogspot.com/2013/04/world-speedway-championships.html). *Edinburgh Speedway*. Retrieved 10 July 2021. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["WORLD FINALS 1936-1994"](https://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/worldchamps1936to94.pdf) (PDF). *Speedway Researcher*. Retrieved 10 July 2021. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Speedway riders, history and results"](https://wwosbackup.proboards.com/board/89/world). *wwosbackup*. Retrieved 10 July 2021. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX"](https://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/worldfinalindex). *British Speedway*. Retrieved 10 July 2021. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Ole - He's champ"](https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002137/19780903/328/0044). *Sunday Mirror*. 3 September 1978. Retrieved 10 July 2021 – via [British Newspaper Archive](/source/British_Newspaper_Archive). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** "Timelines take a moment". *Speedway Star*. 6 August 2022. p. 47. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["1978 World Championship"](https://dlprezes.pl.tl/World-Speedway-Championship-_-1978.htm). *Metal Speedway*. Retrieved 20 January 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["1978 World Championship"](http://www.speedway.org/history/78.htm#1978). *Speedway.org*. Retrieved 20 January 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). *A History of the World Speedway Championship*. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7524-2402-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7524-2402-5) v t e Individual Speedway World Championship and Speedway Grand Prix seasons Speedway World Championship 1936 1937 1938 1939 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 Speedway Grand Prix (SGP) 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 See also Medalists Medal Classification Grands Prix SGP riders Super Prix SGP Statistics --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [1978 Individual Speedway World Championship](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_Individual_Speedway_World_Championship) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_Individual_Speedway_World_Championship?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.