1936 Individual Speedway World Championship


The 1936 Individual Speedway World Championship was the first ever Speedway World Championship and was won by Lionel Van Praag of Australia. It was the first of a record 26 times that London's Wembley Stadium would host the World Final with the last being in 1981.
Despite being unbeaten in the Final, Australian Bluey Wilkinson only finished third as the Championship was decided by bonus points accumulated in previous rounds plus the score from the final. Van Praag defeated England's Eric Langton in a runoff to be declared the inaugural Speedway World Champion.
As they lined up at the tapes for the runoff, Langton broke them which would ordinarily lead to disqualification. However, Van Praag stated he did not want to win the title by default and insisted that a race should take place. At the restart Langton made it to the first bend in front and led until the final bend on the last lap when Van Praag darted through the smallest of gaps to win by less than wheel length.
Afterwards, controversial allegations were abound that the two riders had 'fixed' the match race, deciding between them that the first person to the first bend would win the race and the Championship and split the prize money; Langton led into the first bend but was overtaken by Van Praag. Van Praag reportedly paid Langton £50 "conscience money" after the race for going back on the agreement.
  1. Lionel Van Praag
  2. Eric Langton
  3. Bluey Wilkinson

    World final

Pos.RiderSemi-Final PointsFinal PointsFinal HeatsTotal Points
1 Lionel Van Praag121426
2 Eric Langton131326
3 Bluey Wilkinson101525
4 Cordy Milne91120
5 Frank Charles12820
6 Dicky Case9817
7 Jack Ormston9817
8 Vic Huxley10717
9 George Newton12416
10 Jack Milne9615
11 Morian Hansen10515
12 Bob Harrison10515
13 Wal Phillips7512
14 Jack Parker12--12
15 Ginger Lees7411
16 Arthur Atkinson639
17 Bill Pitcher628
18 Norman Parker617