1989 Individual Speedway World Championship Explained
The 1989 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 44th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1] [2] [3] It was the second time the championship was held in West Germany after previously being held in Norden in 1983.[4]
The World Final was held at the Olympic Stadium in Munich. Hans Nielsen made up for his 1988 run-off defeat to Erik Gundersen by scoring a 15-point maximum to take his third World Championship.[5] Nielsen joined fellow Danes Ole Olsen and Erik Gundersen as a three time speedway world champion.[6]
Simon Wigg from England finished second with the slick, 400m (1,300feet) track suiting his long track style. Wigg defeated fellow Englishman Jeremy Doncaster in a run-off for second and third places.[7] In what would prove to be his last World Final before his career ending crash in the World Team Cup Final at the Odsal Stadium in England just two weeks later, Erik Gundersen finished in fourth place. His chances of an outright second-place finish (after having finished second behind Nielsen in Heat 4) ended when his bike's engine seized while leading heat 9 causing him to not finish the race. In a sad twist, it was also seized engine in Heat 1 of the World Team Cup Final that would cause Gundersen's career ending crash.
Australian rider Troy Butler had a lucky passage to the World Final. After being seeded to the Commonwealth Final, he finished eighth to qualify for the Overseas Final. He then finished tenth in the Overseas Final to be the first reserve for the Intercontinental Final. He then got a start in the Intercontinental Final at Bradford when Overseas champion Sam Ermolenko injured his back in a horrific Long track motorcycle racing crash and was forced to withdraw (the American would be out for over 6 months). Butler would finish twelfth in the IC Final to become a reserve for the World Final where he once again came in as an injury replacement when Dane Jan O. Pedersen was forced to pull out. The 1986 Australian Champion ultimately finished twelfth in Munich, finishing with 4 points (two second places) from his 5 rides.
First round
British qualification
- Top 32 riders to British semi-finals
Second Round
Austrian Final
- Riders progress to Continental qualification 1989
- 3 rounds
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=50px | Total |
---|
1 | | 40 |
2 | | 36 |
3 | | 35 |
4 | | 33 |
5 | | 33 |
6 | | 32 |
7 | | 31 |
8 | | 21 |
9 | | 7 |
10 | | 6 |
11 | | 4 |
12 | | 2 |
13 | | 2 |
14 | | 2 |
15 | | 1 |
16 | | 1 |
17 | | 0 | |
West German Final
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=70px | Scores | width=50px | Total |
---|
1 | | 3,3,3,3,2 | 14+3 |
2 | | 3,3,2,3,3 | 14+2 |
3 | | 2,2,3,3,2 | 12 |
4 | | E,3,3,2,3 | 11 |
5 | | 3,2,2,2,1 | 10 |
6 | Andre Pollehn | 2,1,2,2,1 | 8 |
7 | | 1,3,3,F,- | 7 |
8 | | 0,2,0,2,3 | 7 |
9 | | 3,0,1,1,2 | 7 |
10 | | 1,0,1,1,3 | 6 |
11 | | 1,2,2,F,- | 5 |
12 | | 2,1,1,E,0 | 4 |
13 | | 2,0,0,F,1 | 3 |
14 | | 1,F,0,0,2 | 3 |
15 | | 0,1,1,1,0 | 3 |
16 | | F,-,-,-,- | 0 |
R1 | | 1,0,3,1,1 | 6 | |
Hungarian Final
- 5 rounds, riders progress to Continental qualification 1989
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=50px | Total |
---|
1 | | 56 |
2 | | 49 |
3 | | 47 |
4 | | 47 |
5 | | 46 |
6 | | 45 |
7 | | 38 |
8 | | 30 |
9 | | 30 |
10 | | 28 |
11 | | 26 |
12 | | 19 |
13 | | 15 |
14 | | 12 | |
Yugoslavian Final
- 8 rounds, riders progress to Continental qualification 1989
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=50px | Total |
---|
1 | | 110 |
2 | | 96 |
3 | | 83 |
4 | | 79 |
5 | | 78 |
6 | | 76 |
7 | | 70 |
8 | | 62 |
9 | | 57 |
10 | | 54 |
11 | | 54 |
12 | | 33 |
13 | Rudi Spitaler | 27 |
14 | Zelkjo Feher | 23 |
15 | Drago Dolinšek | 22 |
16 | Josip Lehki | 10 |
17 | Mitja Pungašič] | 8 |
18 | Niko Klavzar | 6 |
19 | Gorazd Vinšek | 1 | |
Czechoslovakian Final
- Riders progress to Continental qualification 1989
- 6 rounds
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=50px | Total |
---|
1 | | 76 |
2 | | 72 |
3 | | 68 |
4 | | 63 |
5 | | 54 |
6 | | 53 |
7 | | 53 |
8 | | 39 |
9 | | 38 |
10 | | 35 |
11 | | 26 |
12 | | 26 |
13 | | 25 |
14 | | 23 |
15 | | 21 |
16 | | 16 |
17 | | 10 |
18 | | 10 |
19 | | 10 | |
Soviet Union Final
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=70px | Scores | width=50px | Total |
---|
1 | | 3,3,3,3,3 | 15 |
2 | | 3,3,3,2,3 | 14 |
3 | | 3,2,2,3,2 | 12 |
4 | | 2,2,2,3,2 | 11 |
5 | | 2,1,3,2,2 | 10 |
6 | | E,3,2,3,1 | 9 |
7 | | 3,0,0,1,3 | 7 |
8 | | 1,E,3,2,1 | 7 |
9 | | 1,0,1,1,3 | 6 |
10 | | 1,3,1,0,1 | 6 |
11 | | 1,2,1,0,2 | 6 |
12 | | 2,2,F,1,1 | 6 |
13 | | 0,1,1,2,0 | 4 |
14 | | 2,F,0,1,- | 3 |
15 | Fjodor Zakharov | 0,T,2,0,- | 2 |
16 | Ruslan Koval | ns | | |
Nederlands/Belgium Final
- 4 rounds, riders progress to Continental Qualification
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=70px | Scores | width=50px | Total |
---|
1 | | 24+22+20+24 | 90 |
2 | | 21+21+24+23 | 89 |
3 | | 19+24+23+22 | 88 |
4 | | 17+19+22+20 | 78 |
5 | | 20+20+19+19 | 78 |
6 | | 18+14+17+21 | 70 |
7 | | 15+17+18+17 | 67 |
8 | | 22+18+21+ns | 61 |
9 | | 16+13+14+15 | 58 |
10 | | 8+15+16+18 | 57 |
11 | | 14+11+15+16 | 56 |
12 | | 13+12+13+9 | 47 |
13 | | 23+23+ns+ns | 46 |
14 | | 9+10+11+10 | 40 |
15 | | 10+ns+12+12 | 34 |
16 | | 6+8+8+11 | 33 |
17 | | ns+7+10+13 | 30 |
18 | | 7+9+9+2 | 27 |
19 | | 3+6+ns+7 | 16 |
20 | | ns+16+ns+ns | 16 |
21 | | ns+ns+7+8 | 15 |
22 | | ns+ns+ns+14 | 14 |
23 | | 12+ns+ns+ns | 12 |
24 | Chris Slager | 11+ns+ns+ns | 11 |
25 | Roy Wervaard | 5+5+ns+ns | 10 |
26 | Herman Hulseboch | ns+ns+5+4 | 9 |
27 | Han Hendriks | 4+4+ns+ns | 8 |
28 | Jan Tjassing | ns+ns+3+1 | 4 |
29 | Martinus Bikema | +ns+ns+ns+6 | 6 |
30 | Jacco Valentejn | +ns+ns+ns+5 | 5 |
31 | Michel Bolt | ns+ns+ns+3 | 3 | |
Australian qualification
width=100 | Date | width=200 | Championship | width=250 | Venue | width=150 | Winner | width=150 | 2nd | width=150 | 3rd |
---|
26 Nov '88 | Northern Territory | Tennant Creek Speedway | | | Robbie War |
26 Dec '88 | Victorian | | | | Nigel Alderton |
21 Dec '88 | New South Wales | Liverpool City Raceway, Green Valley | | | Tony Primmer |
23 Dec '88 | South Australian | | | | Shane Parker |
12 Nov '88 | Queensland | | | | | Mark Pearce |
25 Nov '88 | Western Australian | | | Andy Smith+ | Glyn Taylor | |
+ Rode as a guest
British semi-finals
width=50% valign=top |
| width=50% valign=top |
| |
Third round
Continental preliminary round
- Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals
width=100 | Date | width=280 | Venue | width=180 | Winner | width=180 | 2nd | width=180 | 3rd |
---|
22 April | | | | |
23 April | | | | |
22 April | | | | |
7 May | | | | | |
Swedish qualification
- Top 8 in each heat to Swedish final
(30 April, Målilla Motorbana, Målilla) |
---|
width=30 | Pos | width=200 | Rider | width=50 | Points |
---|
1 | | 12 |
2 | | 12 |
3 | Mikael Ritterwall | 10 |
4 | Niklas Karlsson | 9 |
5 | Dennis Löfqvist | 9 |
6 | | 9 |
7 | | 9 |
8 | | 9 |
9 | Kenneth Lindby | 9 |
10 | Christer Jonsson | 9 |
11 | | 7 |
12 | Tony Gudbrand | 6 |
13 | Lars Andersson | 4 |
14 | Tomas Karlsson | 2 |
15 | Tony Samuelsson | 1 |
16 | Kent Danielsson | 1 |
17 | Tony Zetterström (res) | 1 |
18 | Christer Johansson Esk (res) | 1 | |
(1 May, Gamla Galgberget, Visby) |
---|
width=30 | Pos | width=200 | Rider | width=50 | Points |
---|
1 | | 13 |
2 | | 13 |
3 | | 12 |
4 | | 11 |
5 | | 10 |
6 | | 8 |
7 | | 8 |
8 | Tommy Lindgren | 7 |
9 | Kenneth Nyström | 6 |
10 | | 6 |
11 | | 6 |
12 | Mikael Löfqvist | 5 |
13 | Jörgen Johansson | 4 |
14 | Kristian Hultgren | 4 |
15 | Patrik Karlsson | 3 |
16 | Bo Arrhén | 2 |
17 | Patric Eriksson (res) | 2 |
18 | Jan Bergqvist (res) | 1 | |
British Final
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=40px | Points | width=70px | Details |
---|
| | 14 | (2,3,3,3,3) |
| | 12+3 | (3,3,3,0,3) |
| | 12+2 | (3,2,1,3,3) |
4 | | 11 | (1,3,2,3,2) |
5 | | 10 | (3,1,3,1,2) |
6 | | 7 | (2,3,X,2,0) |
7 | | 7 | (0,2,3,2,0) |
8 | | 7 | (3,2,1,X,1) |
9 | | 7 | (2,0,1,2,2) |
10 | | 7 | (1,2,2,X,2) |
11 | | 6 | (2,1,2,X,1) |
12 | | 5 | (X,0,0,2,3) |
13 | | 5 | (1,1,1,1,1) |
14 | | 4 | (0,1,0,3,X) |
15 | | 4 | (1,0,2,1,0) |
16 | | 2 | (0,X,0,1,1) | |
Australian Final
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=70px | Total |
---|
1 | | 13 |
2 | | 12 |
3 | | 11 |
4 | | 11 |
5 | | 11 |
6 | | 10 |
7 | | 10 |
8 | | 7 |
9 | | 6 |
10 | | 6 |
11 | | 6 |
12 | | 6 |
13 | | 5 |
14 | | 3 |
15 | | 2 |
16 | | 1 |
17 | Brian Nixon (res) | 0 | |
New Zealand Final
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=70px | Total |
---|
1 | | 15 |
2 | | 14 |
3 | | 12 |
4 | Nathan Murray | 12 |
5 | Stephen Rose | 10 |
6 | Craig Wilkie | 9 |
7 | John Roberts | 8 |
8 | Justin Monk | 7 |
9 | Mark Jamieson | 6 |
10 | Greg Fisher | 6 |
11 | David Claydon | 6 |
12 | Rex Brosnan | 5 |
13 | Richard Davdison | 3 |
14 | Bradley Sockton | 3 |
15 | Darren Hopewell | 2 |
16 | Scott Mitchell | 1 |
17 | Geoff Tomkins | 1 | |
Fourth Round
Continental quarter-finals
- To 32 to Continental semi-finals
width=100 | Date | width=280 | Venue | width=180 | Winner | width=180 | 2nd | width=180 | 3rd |
---|
14 May | | | | |
3 June | | | | |
4 June | | | | |
3 June | | | | | |
American Final
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=70px | Total |
---|
1 | | 19+3 |
2 | | 19+2 |
3 | | 19+1 |
4 | | 17 |
5 | | 16 |
6 | | 14 |
7 | | 14 |
8 | | 12 |
9 | | 12 |
10 | | 10 |
11 | | 8 |
12 | | 7 |
13 | | 7 |
14 | | 7 |
15 | | 7 |
16 | | 5 |
17 | | 3 |
18 | | 1 |
19 | | 1 |
20 | | 1 | |
Commonwealth Final
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=70px | Total |
---|
1 | | 13 |
2 | | 12+3 |
3 | | 12+2 |
4 | | 9 |
5 | | 9 |
6 | | 9 |
7 | | 8 |
8 | | 7 |
9 | | 7 |
10 | | 7 |
11 | | 7 |
12 | | 7 |
13 | | 6 |
14 | | 5 |
15 | | 0 |
16 | Darren Wilson* | 0 | |
Swedish Final
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=70px | Scores | width=50px | Total |
---|
1 | | 13+15+14 | 42 |
2 | | 13+13+11 | 37 |
3 | | 11+12+11 | 34 |
4 | | 14+11+8 | 33 |
5 | | 9+10+13 | 32 |
6 | | 11+8+11 | 30 |
7 | | 7+8+9 | 24 |
8 | | 8+9+5 | 22 |
9 | | 6+6+8 | 20 |
10 | | 8+4+7 | 19 |
11 | | 5+7+3 | 15 |
12 | | 1+4+10 | 15 |
13 | | 6+1+3 | 10 |
14 | | 4+6+ns | 10 |
15 | | 3+5+0 | 8 |
16 | | ns+ns+5 | 5 |
17 | | 1+1+ns | 2 | |
Norway Final
- Vinsvollbanen, Drammen
- 30 August 1987, top 1 (+1 seeded) to Nordic final 1988
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=40px | Points |
---|
1 | Lars Gunnestad | 14+3 |
2 | Tor Einar Hielm | 14+2 |
3 | | 11 |
4 | Ingvar Skogland | 10 |
5 | Gjermund Aas | 10 |
6 | Willy Tjessem | 8 |
7 | Atle Knutsen | 8 |
8 | Arne Svendsen | 8 |
9 | Ronny Erga | 6 | |
Finland Final
- 28 August 1988, top 1 (+1 seeded) to Nordic Final 1989
- Kotkan Motor Center, Karhula
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=70px | Heat Scores | width=50px | Total |
---|
1 | | 3,3,3,3,3 | 15 |
2 | | 3,3,3,2,3 | 14 |
3 | | 3,3,1,3,2 | 12+3 |
4 | | 2,2,3,3,2 | 12+2 |
5 | Aki Ala Riihimaki | 2,3,3,2,1 | 11 |
6 | Janne Moksunen | 2,2,2,E,3 | 9 |
7 | Jonko Jarvi | 0,1,2,2,3 | 8 |
8 | Roy Malminhelmo | 3,2,2,X,1 | 8 |
9 | Janne Koivula | 1,1,1,1,2 | 6 |
10 | Jari Moisio | 2,0,0,3,F | 5 |
11 | Ossi Henriksson | 1,1,2,1,0 | 5 |
12 | Tomi Havu | 0,F,0,2,2 | 4 |
13 | Olli Turkia | 1,2,0,1,- | 4 |
14 | Esa Reijo | 1,1,1,E,1 | 4 |
15 | Petri Hurmisniemi | 0,0,1,0,- | 1 |
16 | Esa Einola | 0,-,-,-,- | 0 |
R1 | Jarno Kosonen | 1 | 1 |
R2 | Jouni Ala Koskela | 0 | 0 |
R3 | Kaj Kujala | 0,0,0 | 0 |
R4 | Markku Haapala | X | 0 | |
Danish Final
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=70px | Total |
---|
1 | | 14+3 |
2 | | 14+2 |
3 | | 14+1 |
4 | | 12 |
5 | | 11 |
6 | | 9 |
7 | | 9 |
8 | | 7+3 |
9 | | 7+2 |
10 | | 6 |
11 | | 5 |
12 | | 3 |
13 | | 3 |
14 | | 3 |
15 | | 2 |
16 | Jan Pedersen (Res) | 1 |
17 | | 0 | |
Fifth Round
Continental semi-finals
width=50% valign=top |
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=40px | Points |
---|
1 | | 14 | 2 | | 12 | 3 | | 11 | 4 | | 10 | 5 | | 10 | 6 | | 10 | 7 | | 9 | 8 | | 10 | 9 | | 8 | 10 | | 7 | 11 | | 6 | 12 | | 4 | 13 | | 4 | 14 | | 3 | 15 | | 2 | 16 | | 0 | |
| width=50% valign=top |
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=40px | Points |
---|
1 | | 14 | 2 | | 12 | 3 | | 11 | 4 | | 11 | 5 | | 10 | 6 | | 9 | 7 | | 9 | 8 | | 9 | 9 | | 8 | 10 | | 6 | 11 | | 5 | 12 | | 5 | 13 | Róbert Nagy | 4 | 14 | | 4 | 15 | | 1 | 16 | | 1 | |
| |
Nordic Final
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=70px | Total |
---|
1 | | 14+3 |
2 | | 14+2 |
3 | | 12 |
4 | | 10 |
5 | | 9 |
6 | | 8+3 |
7 | | 8+2 |
8 | | 8+1 |
9 | | 7 |
10 | | 7 |
11 | | 6 |
12 | | 5 |
13 | | 5 |
14 | | 4 |
15 | | 2 |
16 | | 1 | |
Overseas Final
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=70px | Total |
---|
1 | | 13 |
2 | | 12 |
3 | | 11+3 |
4 | | 11+2 |
5 | | 9 |
6 | | 9 |
7 | | 8 |
8 | | 8 |
9 | | 8 |
10 | | 6+3 |
11 | | 6+2 |
12 | | 5 |
13 | | 5 |
14 | Rick Miller* | 4 |
15 | | 4 |
16 | | 1 | |
Sixth Round
Continental Final
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=70px | Total |
---|
1 | | 14 |
2 | | 10+ |
3 | | 10+ |
4 | | 10+ |
5 | | 10+ |
6 | | 10+ |
7 | | 10+ |
8 | | 10+ |
9 | | 8 |
10 | | 8 |
11 | | 7 |
12 | | 4 |
13 | | 3 |
14 | Wojciech Załuski (Res) | 3 |
15 | | 2 |
16 | | 1 |
17 | | 0 | |
Intercontinental Final
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=70px | Total |
---|
1 | | 13+3 |
2 | | 13+2 |
3 | | 12+3 |
4 | | 12+2 |
5 | | 9 |
6 | | 9 |
7 | | 8 |
8 | | 7 |
9 | | 6 |
10 | | 5+3 |
11 | | 5+2 |
12 | Troy Butler* | 5+1 |
13 | | 5+0 |
14 | | 4 |
15 | | 3 |
16 | | 3 |
R1 | | 1 |
R2 | | 0 | |
World Final
width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=70px | Heat Scores | width=50px | Total |
---|
| 1 | | (3,3,3,3,3) | 15 |
| 2 | | (1,3,3,3,2) | 12+3 |
| 3 | | (3,2,1,3,3) | 12+2 |
4 | | (2,3,R,3,3) | 11 |
5 | | (3,3,2,2,Fx) | 10 |
6 | | (2,2,3,2,1) | 10 |
7 | | (1,2,2,2,3) | 10 |
8 | | (1,1,3,1,2) | 8 |
9 | | (3,1,1,0,Fx) | 5 |
10 | | (0,2,0,1,2) | 5 |
11 | | (2,1,1,0,1) | 5 |
12 | Troy Butler* | (2,0,2,0,0) | 4 |
13 | | (0,0,2,0,2) | 4 |
14 | | (0,0,1,2,1) | 4 |
15 | | (1,1,0,1,1) | 4 |
16 | | (0,0,0,1,0) | 1 |
R1 | | did not ride | - |
R2 | | did not ride | - |
|
Classification
Notes and References
- Web site: World Championship 1936-1994. Edinburgh Speedway. 10 July 2021.
- Web site: HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK. Speedway.org. 10 July 2021.
- Web site: WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX. British Speedway. 10 July 2021.
- Web site: Speedway riders, history and results. wwosbackup. 10 July 2021.
- Book: Oakes, Peter . Speedway Yearbook 1990 . 1990 . 5 . Front Page Books . 0-948882-15-8.
- Web site: WORLD FINALS 1936-1994. Speedway Researcher. 10 July 2021.
- News: Nielsen topples King Eric. Sandwell Evening Mail . 4 September 1989 . 10 July 2021 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
- Book: Oakes, Peter . Speedway Yearbook 1990 . 1990 . 7–9 . Front Page Books . 0-948882-15-8.
- Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.