# 1949 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1949 Individual Speedway World Championship was the fourth edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
It was the first running of the event since its suspension in 1939, due to World War II. The World final at London's Wembley Stadium, was held in front of a reported 93,000 strong crowd and the Championship was won Tommy Price.

## First qualifying round

* The top 96 riders qualify for the second qualifying round, where they will be joined by seeded division 2 riders.
| Date | Venue | Winner |
| 16 May | County Ground Stadium | Jack Mountford |
| 18 May | The Shay | Vic Emms |
| 18 May | The Pilot Field | Paddy Mills |
| 18 May | Tamworth Greyhound Stadium | Basse Hveem |
| 19 May | Pennycross Stadium | Bruce Semmens |
| 19 May | Owlerton Stadium | Andy Menzies |
| 20 May | Leicester Stadium | Charlie May |
| 21 May | Sun Street Stadium | Stan Williams |
| 21 May | Hedon Stadium | Billy Hole |
| 21 May | Rayleigh Weir Stadium | Alan Hunt / Will Lowther |

## Second qualifying round

* The top 42 riders qualify for the Third qualifying round.
| Date | Venue | Winner |
| 10 June | Dudley Wood Stadium | Gil Craven |
| 11 June | Brandon Stadium | Ken Le Breton |
| 11 June | Old Meadowbank | Jack Young |
| 11 June | The Firs Stadium | Bob Leverenz |
| 13 June | Knowle Stadium | Fred Tuck |
| 13 June | Walthamstow Stadium | Jim Boyd |

## Third qualifying round

* The top 2 riders from each meeting qualify for the Championship round, where they will meet 32 seeded division 1 riders.
| Date | Venue | Winner/2nd |
| 4 July | Brough Park Stadium | Tommy Price / Ray Duggan |
| 5 July | Ashfield Stadium | Ken Le Breton / Freddie Williams |
| 5 July | Banister Court Stadium | Fred Tuck / Roy Craighead |
| 6 July | Highbury Stadium (Fleetwood) | Charles Cullum / Ken Sharples |
| 6 July | White City Stadium, Glasgow | Geoff Bennett / Gil Craven |

## Championship round

* The top 16 riders qualify for the world final.
| Date | Venue | Winner |
| 8 August | Wimbledon Stadium | Aub Lawson |
| 10 August | New Cross Stadium | Cyril Roger |
| 22 August | Perry Barr Stadium | Graham Warren |
| 25 August | Wembley Stadium | Wilbur Lamoreaux |
| 27 August | Hyde Road Stadium | Dent Oliver |
| 27 August | Odsal Stadium | Tommy Price |
| 30 August | West Ham Stadium | Cliff Watson |
| 2 September | Harringay Stadium | Dent Oliver |

### Scores

* Top 16 qualify for World final, 17th & 18th reserves for World final
| Pos. | Rider | Total pts |
| 1 | Tommy Price | 38 |
| 2 | Graham Warren | 38 |
| 3 | Dent Oliver | 37 |
| 4 | Aub Lawson | 37 |
| 5 | Bill Gilbert | 36 |
| 6 | Wilbur Lamoreaux | 35 |
| 7 | Lloyd Goffe | 34 |
| 8 | Jack Parker | 34 |
| 9 | Bill Kitchen | 33 |
| 10 | Cyril Roger | 31 |
| 11 | Louis Lawson | 30 |
| 12 | Bill Longley | 30 |
| 13 | Norman Parker | 30 |
| 14 | Ken Le Breton | 29 |
| 15 | Cliff Watson | 29 |
| 16 | Ron Clarke | 27 |
| 17 | Oliver Hart | 27 |
| 18 | Alec Statham | 25 |
| 19 | Cyril Brine | 25 |
| Pos. | Rider | Total pts |
| 20 | Malcolm Craven | 25 |
| 21 | Geoff Pymar | 23 |
| 22 | Doug McLachlan | 23 |
| 23 | Geoff Bennett | 20 |
| 24 | Jeff Lloyd | 18 |
| 25 | Mike Erskine | 18 |
| 26 | Ray Duggan | 17 |
| 27 | Charles Cullum | 17 |
| 28 | Eric Chitty | 15 |
| 29 | Split Waterman | 15 |
| 30 | George Wilks | 15 |
| 31 | Eddie Rigg | 14 |
| 32 | Ken Sharples | 14 |
| 33 | Roy Craighead | 13 |
| 34 | Nobby Stock | 13 |
| 35 | Gil Craven | 12 |
| 36 | Jack Biggs | 11 |
| 37 | Bob Harrison | 9 |
| 38 | Stan Dell | 2 |

## World final

* 22 September 1949
* Wembley Stadium, London
| Pos. | Rider | Points | Heats |
| 1 | Tommy Price | 15 | (3,3,3,3,3) |
| 2 | Jack Parker | 14 | (3,3,3,2,3) |
| 3 | Louis Lawson | 13 | (2,2,3,3,3) |
| 4 | Norman Parker | 10 | (3,3,2,2,0) |
| 5 | Wilbur Lamoreaux | 9 | (2,2,3,0,2) |
| 6 | Bill Kitchen | 9 | (3,1,2,2,1) |
| 7 | Ron Clarke | 8 | (1,0,2,3,2) |
| 8 | Aub Lawson | 8 | (1,3,1,1,2) |
| 9 | Bill Longley | 8 | (1,2,2,1,2) |
| 10 | Cyril Roger | 7 | (2,0,1,1,3) |
| 11 | Bill Gilbert | 6 | (2,1,3,0,0) |
| 12 | Graham Warren | 5 | (0,2,0,2,1) |
| 13 | Ken Le Breton | 4 | (1,0,1,1,1) |
| 14 | Lloyd Goffe | 2 | (0,1,0,0,1) |
| 15 | Cliff Watson | 1 | (0,1,0,0,0) |
| 16 | Dent Oliver | 0 | (0,0,-,-,-) |
| | Oliver Hart (res) | 1 | (1,0,0) |
| | Alec Statham (res) | – | – |