1982 Individual Speedway World Championship

Motorcycle speedway world championship season February 2024 February 2024 1982 Individual Speedway World Championship 1981 1983 The 1982 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 37th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.http://edinburghspeedway.blogspot.com/2013/04/world-speedway-championships.html World Championship 1936-1994 Edinburgh Speedway 10 July 2021https://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/worldchamps1936to94.pdf WORLD FINALS 1936-1994 Speedway Researcher 10 July 2021http://www.speedway.org/history/ HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK Speedway.org 10 July 2021https://wwosbackup.proboards.com/board/89/world Speedway riders, history and results wwosbackup 10 July 2021https://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/worldfinalindex WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX British Speedway 10 July 2021 The 1982 World Final was held in Los Angeles in the United States. This was the only time the Individual World Final was held outside of England or Europe before the advent of the Speedway Grand Prix series in 1995. The 400 m yd off speedway track for the final was laid out over the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum's existing athletics track. The event was held in front of a crowd of approximately 40,000 people, the largest ever motorcycle speedway attendance in the United States. Controversy Heat 14 of the championship proved to be the most controversial race of the night, and one of the most controversial heats in the whole of speedway history. After a slow start which saw defending champion Bruce Penhall, and England's Kenny Carter in 3rd and 4th places behind 1976 World Champion Peter Collins and Australian Phil Crump, both riders fought their way past Crump and into 2nd and 3rd behind Collins. Carter moved under Penhall into 2nd place at the end of the 2nd lap, and both riders proceeded to bump each other down the front straight with Carter emerging in front. Carter then went wide through turn 1 which allowed Penhall to come back underneath him. Carter then fell coming onto the back straight and went through the fence causing the race to be stopped. Norwegian referee Torrie Kittlesen then excluded Carter from the race for causing the stoppage. Carter protested claiming that Penhall had hit him in the corner causing him to come off his bike and walked back to the start line in an effort to stop the re-run going ahead without him. Officials and his manager Ivan Mauger were then forced to remove Carter from the track. Although not shown in the television broadcast of the event, amateur video footage shot from the stands in turns 1 & 2 vindicated Kittlesen's decision. The footage showed that Penhall and Carter did not touch in the turn and that the Englishman had gone down on his own, though years later the debate still rages on about who was at fault.1982 World Final Heat 14 In a television interview with American broadcaster Ken Squier soon after the heat, Kittlesen told that he excluded Carter as he believed the Englishman had fallen without help from Penhall. He also said that the rough riding such as seen from Penhall and Carter on the front straight was to be expected in a World Final. Phil Crump, who had the best view of the incident as he was directly behind the pair, allegedly agreed with the decision to exclude Carter. Penhall went on to win the re-run from Collins and Crump. In a twist, the result in the re-run ultimately cost Collins' younger brother Les the World Championship in what was his first and only World Final appearance. Had Penhall finished second in Heat 14 behind Peter Collins, and with later results, he and Les Collins could have finished with 13 points each which would have seen the pair in a runoff for the championship. Les Collins had inflicted Penhall's only loss of the meeting when he out-rode the American in Heat 4 in what many believe was a major upset. Additionally, if Penhall had been excluded from Heat 14 and not Carter, Les Collins would have a small chance of winning the title as he had finished with a 2-point lead over third placed American Dennis Sigalos, however Carter would have had a good chance of winning a re-run Heat 14 which would give him a two-point advantage over Les Collins before they met, so Carter would have been favourite. Had Penhall only finished on 11 points he would have had a runoff with fellow American Kelly Moran for third place. In another controversial decision, two races later Kittlesen excluded Czechoslovakia's Václav Verner after a clash with West Germany's Georg Hack, the incident being similar to the Penhall / Carter incident. However, on this occasion it was the rider who stayed on his bike, Verner, who was excluded (though video evidence available to Kittlesen at the time clearly showed Verner's back wheel taking out Hack's front wheel). The controversy did not end there because Penhall then quit speedway immediately to pursue an acting career (specifically for a role in CHiPs). The decision angered many in speedway circles with calls for the American to be stripped of his title.https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000769/19820904/035/0035 Penhall must keep world crown Coventry Evening Telegraph 4 September 1982 British Newspaper Archive subscription 21 January 2025 First round British qualification Top 16 Riders progress to British semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd Preliminary Round 13 AprilWessex Stadium, Weymouth Simon Wigg Ian Clark Dave Perks 25 AprilRye House Stadium, Hoddesdon Bob Garrad Nigel Flatman Steve Naylor 25 AprilBoston Sports Stadium, Boston Colin Cook Mark Courtney Rob Hollingworth 27 AprilCrayford & Bexleyheath Stadium, Crayford Steve Wilcock Mike Ferreira Barry Thomas 29 AprilOxford Stadium, Oxford Derek Harrison Tim Hunt Neil Collins Quarter-Final 7 MayEast of England Arena, Peterborough Simon Wigg Mark Courtney Mike Ferreira Swedish qualification Top 8 in each heat to Swedish final (7 May, Motala Arena, Motala)PosRider Points 1 Lillebror Johansson 122 Lennart Bengtsson 123 Anders Michanek 124 Bernt Persson 105 Åke Fridell 106 Börje Ring 107 Pierre Brannefors 98 Jan Ericsson 99 Conny Samuelsson 810 Per-Ove Gudmundsson 811 Lars Johansson 812 Åke Axelsson 513 Sören Brolin 314 Karl-Erik Claesson 315 Thomas Hydling 216 Peter Danielsson 2 (9 May, Gislaved Motorbana, Gislaved)PosRider Points 1 Richard Hellsén 142 Hans Danielsson 133 Tommy Nilsson 124 Björn Andersson 125 Uno Johansson 106 Tommy Johansson 97 Anders Eriksson 88 Roger Gustavsson 79 Lars Hammarberg 610 Gert Carlsson 611 Lars Rosberg 612 Lars Ericsson 513 Anders Kling 414 Börje Klingberg 415 Ulf Blomqvist 316 Lars-Olov Karlsson 1 Australian qualification DateEventVenueWinner2nd3rd 28 Nov 81Queensland FinalPioneer Park Speedway, Ayr Steve Koppe Merv Janke John Titman 2 Jan Southern Zone Final Western International Raceway, Melbourne Phil Crump Danny Kennedy Terry Tulloch 3 Jan Northern Zone FinalRockhampton Showgrounds, Rockhampton Gary Guglielmi Billy Sanders John Titman New Zealand qualification DateEventVenueWinner2nd3rd 16 Jan South Island FinalRuapuna Speedway, Christchurch Larry Ross Roger Wright Alan Mason 24 Jan North Island FinalKihikihi Speedway, Kihikihi Mitch Shirra David Bargh John Goodall Second round Continental preliminary round DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 24 AprilNED Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam POL Alfred Siekierka CSK Václav Verner CSK Petr Kucera 25 AprilCSK Svítkov Stadium, Pardubice CSK Petr Ondrašík USSR Viktor Kuznetsov CSK Milan Špinka 25 AprilBUL Speedway Stadium, Targovishte POL Roman Jankowski USSR Mikhail Starostin CSK Jan Verner 26 AprilYUG Gradski stadion, Osijek FRG Josef Aigner USSR Valery Gordeev BUL Nikolaj Manev British semi-finals 14 May ENG Hackney Wick Stadium, London Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Les Collins152 John Louis123 Dave Jessup114 Michael Lee115 Paul Woods106 Mike Ferreira97 Kevin Jolly98 Chris Morton89 Gordon Kennett710 Sean Willmott711 Colin Richardson512 Colin Cook413 Kevin Smith414 Robert Henry315 Roger Johns316 Derek Harrison214 May ENG Birchfield Ladbroke Stadium, Birmingham Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Alan Grahame132 Kenny Carter123 Andy Grahame124 Phil Collins125 Malcolm Holloway116 Peter Collins97 Simon Wigg98 John Davis89 Melvyn Taylor810 Mark Courtney711 Steve Bastable612 Ian Cartwright513 Dave Morton214 Rob Hollingworth215 Malcolm Simmons216 Neil Collins1 Third round Continental quarter-finals Top 32 to Continental semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 9 MayAUT Stadion Wiener Neustadt FRG Karl Maier FRG Josef Aigner USSR Valery Gordeev 9 MayFRG Motodrom Halbemond, Norden FRG Egon Muller FRG Georg Hack POL Zenon Plech 9 MayFRG Rhein-Main Arena, Diedenbergen NED Henny Kroeze POL Leonard Raba CSK Václav Verner 9 MayHUN Hajdú Volán Stadion, Debrecen CSK Aleš Dryml Sr. USSR Mikhail Starostin HUN Zoltan Hajdu American Final 12 June 1982 USA Veterans Memorial Stadium, Long Beach First 3 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Dennis Sigalos 3,3,3,3,3 152 Shawn Moran 2,2,3,3,3 13+33 Kelly Moran 3,2,2,3,3 13+24 Scott Autrey 3,3,3,2,2 13+15 John Cook 1,3,1,3,2 106 Mike Faria 2,1,2,2,3 107 Bobby Schwartz 3,3,1,X,1 88 Mike Curosco 0,2,3,1,1 79 Brad Oxley 2,1,0,1,2 610 Alan Christian 2,F,2,1,0 511 Gene Woods 1,0,2,E,1 412 Mike Bast X,2,1,0,0 313 Steve Lucero 1,0,0,2,0 314 Dave Sims 0,E,1,0,1 215 Steve Gresham 1,1,0,-,- 216 Paul Orlandi 0,1,F,-,- 1R1 Keith Christo 2,2 4R2 John Sandona 0,1,0 1 British Final 2 June 1982 ENG Brandon Stadium, Coventry First 8 to Overseas Final plus 1 reserve x P1 7 ENG Andy Grahame 3 3 3 3 2 x P2 9 ENG Alan Grahame 3 2 2 3 3 x P3 14 ENG Kenny Carter 2 3 3 2 2 x 4 12 ENG Phil Collins 2 3 2 1 3 x 5 16 ENG Chris Morton 3 1 3 2 1 x 6 5 ENG Peter Collins 2 3 3 1 1 x 7 4 ENG Les Collins 0 2 2 2 3 x 8 10 ENG Dave Jessup 2 0 3 3 x E 9 2 ENG Michael Lee 3 1 1 2 0 x 10 1 ENG Paul Woods 2 1 1 0 2 x 11 6 ZIM Mike Ferreira 1 0 2 1 2 x 12 13 ENG John Davis 0 0 1 3 1 x 13 15 ENG Simon Wigg 1 2 0 0 1 x 14 11 ENG Malcolm Holloway 1 1 0 1 0 x 15 3 ENG Kevin Jolly 1 0 1 0 0 x 16 8 ENG John Louis 0 0 0 x E E Australian Final 13 March 1982 AUS Exhibition Ground, Brisbane Top 2 to Overseas final Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Billy Sanders 3,3,3,3,3 152 Phil Crump 3,3,3,3,2 143 Gary Guglielmi 1,3,3,3,1 114 Steve Regeling 2,2,1,3,3 115 John Titman 3,2,2,2,2 116 Ron Schleib 1,3,2,1,3 107 Phil Herne 2,2,3,2,1 108 Neil Coddington 3,1,2,0,2 89 Glyn Taylor 2,1,1,2,X 610 Peter Byrne 1,0,0,0,3 411 Les Sawyers 2,X,0,2,0 412 Mark Johns 0,1,0,1,2 413 Graeme Robertson 0,2,0,1,1 414 David Foot 1,1,1,0,1 415 Steve Baker 0,0,2,0,0 216 Peter Carswell 0,0,1,1,0 2 New Zealand Final 27 February 1982 NZL Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch Top 2 to Overseas final Pos. Rider Total1 Larry Ross 152 Ivan Mauger 143 Mitch Shirra 134 David Bargh 125 Alan Mason 116 Roger Wright 107 Max Brown 98 Greame Stapleton 89 Kevin Browne 610 Trevor Chapman 511 Graham Taylor 412 Greg Joynt 413 Gavin Rhodes 414 Lance Begbie 215 Steve Hann 116 Vayne Brown 0R1 Philip McClintock 2R2 Craig Blacket 0 Danish Final 11 May 1982 DEN Fredericia Speedway Stadium, Fredericia First 6 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Total1 Erik Gundersen 13+32 Bo Petersen 13+23 Hans Nielsen 13+14 Ole Olsen 115 Preben Eriksen 106 Tommy Knudsen 107 Finn Thomsen 98 Bent Rasmussen 89 Jens Rasmussen 710 Alf Busk 711 Finn Rune Jensen 512 Helge R. Hansen 413 Jens Henry Nielsen 414 John Eskildsen 315 Hans Albert Klinge 316 Rene Christiansen 0 Norway Final NOR Geiteryggen Speedwaybane, Skien 9 May 1982, top 2 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Points1 Dag Haaland 142 Roy Otto 133 Trond Helge Skretting 124 Sigvart Pedersen 115 Asgeir Berga 116 Geir Aasland 107 Kjell Gimre 88 Lars Otto Holt 79 Terje Tollefsen 710 Roar Rockvaldsen 611 Jörn Haugvaldstad Finland Final FIN Eteläpuisto, Tampere 10 September 1981, top 2 (+1 seeded rider) to 1982 Nordic final Pos. Rider Total1 Kai Niemi 152 Pekka Hautamaki 143 Veijo Tuoriniemi 124 Olli Turkia 115 Seppo Palomaki 106 Ossi Henriksson 107 Hannu Lehtonen 98 Isto Maja 79 Hannu Larronmaa (res) 710 Ari Koponen 511 Seppo Keskinen 512 Ismo Kivela 413 Heikki Makinen 414 Markku Parkkari 115 Esa Jamsalainen 116 Risto Jokinen (res) 117 Esa Mattila 018 Pentti Kallio 019 Kari Yrjanainen (res) 0 Swedish finals SWE Top 4 over three meetings + Jan Andersson (seeded) to Nordic final R1 (25 May, Gamla Målilla Motorstadion, Målilla) R2 (26 May, Gubbängens IP, Stockholm) R3 (27 May, Grevby Motorstadion, Mariestad) Pos. Rider R1 R2 R3 Total1 Richard Hellsén 131311 372 Tommy Nilsson 101313 363 Björn Andersson 91211 324 Lillebror Johansson 10812 31+35 Lennart Bengsson 13810 31+26 Uno Johansson 11712 307 Anders Michanek 7812 278 Jan Ericsson998 269 Hans Danielsson 667 1910 Conny Samuelsson 754 1611 Åke Fridell 4101 1512 Roger Gustavsson 617 1413 Anders Eriksson 922 1314 Börje Ring 255 1215 Per-Ove Gudmundsson 054 916 Pierre Brannefors 800 817 Gert Carlsson 04- 418 Sören Brolin 00- 019 Tommy Johansson 0-- 0 Fourth round Continental semi-finals 13 July FRG Abensberger Stadion, Abensberg Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 POL Viktor Kuznetsov 12+32 POL Marek Kepa 12+23 USSR Rif Saitgareev 114 TCH Václav Verner 105 NED Henny Kroeze 106 FRG Georg Hack 107 POL Leonard Raba 98TCH Jindrich Dominik 89 FRG Christian Brandt 710 POL Wojciech Zabialowicz 611 TCH Petr Kucera 612 USSR Anatolij Maxsimov 513 FRG Alois Wiesböck 414 POL Zenon Plech 415 POL Alfred Siekierka 316 FRG Egon Müller 013 July ITA Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 USSR Valerij Gordeev 132 ITA Francesco Biginato 123 TCH Jiří Štancl 114 TCH Aleš Dryml Sr. 115 POL Edward Jancarz 116 USSR Michail Starostin 107 ITA Gianni Famari 98FRG Josef Aigner 8+39 TCH Emil Sova 8+210 POL Roman Jankowski 8+111 HUN Istvan Sziracky 412 FRG George Gilgenreiner 413 HUN Ferenc Farkas 214 FRG Karl Maier 215 USSR Piotr Belajev (res)216 HUN Zoltan Hajdu 117 HUN Zoltán Adorján 118 FRG Christoph Betzl (res)1 Overseas Final 4 July 1982 ENG White City Stadium, London First 10 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve x P1 2 ENG Dave Jessup 2 3 3 3 2 x P2 16 ENG Kenny Carter 1 2 3 3 3 x P3 12 USA Bruce Penhall 3 3 2 3 0 x 4 10 NZL Larry Ross 2 1 3 1 3 x 5 8 ENG Andy Grahame 1 1 2 3 1 x 6 13 USA Kelly Moran 2 1 1 2 2 x 7 3 USA Dennis Sigalos 0 3 0 2 3 x 8 14 AUS Phil Crump 0 2 3 0 3 x 9 5 ENG Les Collins 3 2 1 0 1 x 3 10 1 ENG Peter Collins 3 0 0 2 2 x 2 11 6 USA Shawn Moran 2 0 1 3 1 x 1 12 9 ENG Alan Grahame 1 3 1 0 1 x 13 11 NZL Ivan Mauger 0 2 2 0 2 x 14 15 AUS Billy Sanders 3 1 0 1 0 x 15 4 ENG Chris Morton 1 0 2 2 0 x 16 7 ENG Phil Collins 0 0 0 1 0 x R1 R1 ENG Michael Lee R2 R2 USA Scott Autrey R3 R3 AUS Gary Guglielmi R4 R4 NZL Mitch Shirra Nordic Final 4 July 1982 DEN Fjelsted Speedway Stadium, Harndrup First 6 to Intercontinental final + 1 reserve Pos. Rider Total1 DEN Hans Nielsen 12+32 DEN Erik Gundersen 12+23 DEN Bo Petersen 11+34 FIN Kai Niemi 11+25 DEN Ole Olsen 11+16 SWE Jan Andersson 10+37 DEN Tommy Knudsen 10+28 SWE Richard Hellsen 10+19 DEN Preben Eriksen 10+010 SWE Lillebror Johansson 611 SWE Bjorn Andersson 512 FIN Ari Koponen 513 SWE Tommy Nilsson 314 FIN Pekka Hautamaki 215 NOR Dag Haaland 116 NOR Roy Otto 1 Fifth round Continental Final 25 July 1982 POL Alfred Smoczyk Stadium, Leszno First 5 to World final plus 1 reserve x P1 1 CSK Jiří Štancl 3 3 3 3 3 x P2 10 POL Edward Jancarz 2 3 3 1 2 x 3 P3 5 CSK Václav Verner 3 1 3 2 2 x 2 4 16 FRG Georg Hack 1 2 1 3 3 x 5 13 USSR Mikhail Starostin 2 0 2 2 3 x 3 6 2 CSK Emil Sova 1 2 1 3 2 x 2 7 15 NED Henny Kroeze 3 0 2 3 0 x 8 9 CSK Aleš Dryml Sr. 1 2 3 2 x X 9 7 USSR Valery Gordeev 2 3 0 2 x X 10 11 USSR Viktor Kuznetsov 0 1 2 1 3 x 11 4 CSK Jiří Dominik 2 3 1 1 x E 12 12 POL Marek Kepa 3 0 0 1 2 x 13 8 POL Leonard Raba 1 1 1 0 1 x 14 3 ITA Francesco Biginato 0 2 0 0 1 x 15 14 USSR Rif Saitgareev 0 0 2 0 1 x 16 6 ITA Gianni Famari 0 1 0 0 x E R1 R1 FRG Christian Brandt R2 R2 POL Roman Jankowski R3 R3 POL Wojciech Żabiałowicz Intercontinental Final 23 July 1982 SWE Vetlanda Motorstadion, Vetlanda First 11 to World final plus 1 reserve x P1 7 ENG Les Collins 3 2 3 3 1 x P2 3 ENG Kenny Carter 2 3 2 2 2 x P3 8 USA Dennis Sigalos 2 3 3 2 0 x 3 4 1 DEN Hans Nielsen 3 1 2 2 2 x 2 5 13 USA Kelly Moran 3 3 0 3 0 x 6 10 USA Bruce Penhall 3 3 1 1 1 x 7 16 ENG Dave Jessup 2 0 3 3 0 x 8 9 FIN Kai Niemi 0 2 0 3 2 x 9 12 AUS Phil Crump 1 1 3 1 1 x 10 2 SWE Jan Andersson 1 1 1 1 3 x 11 11 ENG Peter Collins 2 1 0 0 3 x 3 12 6 ENG Andy Grahame 0 0 1 2 3 x 2 13 4 DEN Bo Petersen 0 2 2 0 2 x 1 14 15 NZL Larry Ross 1 0 0 1 3 x 15 14 DEN Ole Olsen 0 2 1 0 1 x 16 5 DEN Erik Gundersen 1 0 2 0 0 x R1 R1 DEN Tommy Knudsen R2 R2 USA Shawn Moran World Final 28 August 1982 USA Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. 0-7524-2402-5 Referee: (NOR) Torrie Kittlesen Attendance: 40,000 (approx) 1 13 USA Bruce Penhall 2 3 3 3 3 14 2 15 ENG Les Collins 3 3 1 3 3 13 3 4 USA Dennis Sigalos 3 2 2 2 3 12 4 1 USA Kelly Moran 2 1 3 3 2 11 5 8 ENG Kenny Carter 3 3 3 Fx 1 10 6 10 ENG Dave Jessup 3 2 0 3 0 8 7 16 DEN Hans Nielsen 1 0 2 2 3 8 8 5 SWE Jan Andersson 1 2 2 1 2 8 9 12 CZE Jiří Štancl 0 1 3 1 2 7 10 7 POL Edward Jancarz 2 2 1 2 0 7 11 9 GER Georg Hack 2 0 2 1 1 6 12 14 FIN Kai Niemi 0 3 1 0 1 5 13 2 ENG Peter Collins 1 0 0 2 2 5 14 11 AUS Phil Crump 1 1 1 1 0 4 15 6 CZE Václav Verner 0 1 0 x 1 2 16 3 SUN Mikhail Starostin 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 CZE Emil Sova 0 18 ENG Andy Grahame 0 Television During the meeting, scenes for an episode of the American television drama series CHiPs were filmed in the pits. One of the stars of CHiPs was World Champion Bruce Penhall who portrayed cadet–probationary officer Bruce Nelson. The episode centered on Nelson winning the World Final, with Penhall acting as Nelson in between races. Actual television coverage of the meeting was also used in the episode, with dubbed over commentary. The episode, which was episode 5 of season 6 ("Speedway Fever") aired in the USA on November 7, 1982, was Penhall's debut in the series. Penhall later admitted that it felt strange having a bodyguard and having to do make up for shoots in between races, stating that he was nervous enough riding in the World Final in front of his home crowd without the pressure of a television acting debut. References 1982 World Individual Category:1982 in sports in California Category:1982 in American motorsport Category:Speedway competitions in the United States Category:Events at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum