1983 Individual Speedway World Championship Explained

The 1983 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 38th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1] [2] [3] [4] It was the first time the World Final had been held in West Germany.[5]

Final summary

An near-capacity crowd of around 50,000 at the 400m (1,300feet) long Motodrom Halbemond circuit, saw local favourite Egon Müller became the first German rider to win the World Championship. Australian champion Billy Sanders, scored his best ever World Championship placing by finishing second, with England's 1980 World Champion Michael Lee finishing third.[6]

With both Sanders and former champion Lee in good form, and with the winner of the previous two world finals Bruce Penhall having retired from speedway while on the podium at the 1982 world final, the 1983 final was expected to be one of the most open in years. Others including Kenny Carter, Dennis Sigalos, and Danes Ole Olsen, Hans Nielsen and Erik Gundersen, were all expected to challenge. Like surprise winner Jerzy Szczakiel who won at home in Poland in 1973, Egon Müller was expected to do well in front of his home crowd, but wasn't among the pre-meeting favourites.

In his last world final appearance Ole Olsen, the 1971, 1975 and 1978 World Champion, finished 6th with 10 points. Olsen won his last ride, defeating Gundersen, Czechoslovakia's Jiří Štancl, and American Lance King in heat 18.

First round

New Zealand qualification

width=80Datewidth=150Eventwidth=280Venuewidth=180Winnerwidth=1802ndwidth=1803rd
??South Island finalAlan Mason
??North Island finalCraig Pendlebury

British qualification

width=100Datewidth=280Venuewidth=180Winnerwidth=1802ndwidth=1803rd
Preliminary Round
12 AprilMelvyn Taylor
15 AprilBobby Beaton
19 AprilPeter Carr
21 AprilSean Willmott
27 AprilJoe Owen
Quarter-Final
30 AprilMelvyn Taylor

Swedish qualification

(7 May, Nässjö Motorstadion
Nässjö)
width=20Poswidth=180Rider width=40Points
1 14
2 Lennart Bengtsson 12
3 12
4 Kent Bäär 11
5 Karl-Erik Claesson 9+3
6 Dick Jegård 9+2
7 Per-Ove Gudmundsson 9+1
8 Lars Hammarberg 8
9 6
10 Kenneth Gustafsson 6
11 Kent Björk 6
12 5
13 Jon Hovind 3
14 3
15 Håkan Andersson 2
16 Peder Messing 2
(9 May, Motala Arena
Motala)
width=20Poswidth=180Rider width=40Points
1 Lillebror Johansson 13
2 12
3 12
4 11
5 Ulf Blomqvist 11
6 Hans Hallén 10
7 8
8 Jan Ericsson 8
9 Magnus Jonsson 8
10 Börje Ring 6
11 Per Blom 6
12 Alf Trofast 5
13 Sören Brolin 5
14 Jan Davidsson 4
15 Eddie Davidsson 1
16 Sören Karlsson 0
(9 May, Gamla Målilla Motorstadion
Målilla)
width=20Poswidth=180Rider width=40Points
1 Uno Johansson 13
2 12
3 12
4 11
5 Gert Carlsson 11
6 Göran Waltersson 10
7 Mikael Messing 8
8 Mats Olsson 7
9 Lars Rosberg 6
10 Lars Carlsson 6
11 Åke Fridell 4
12 4
13 Karl-Henry Boo 4
14 4
15 Steinar Rydén 4
16 Conny Gustafsson 4

Second round

Continental preliminary round

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23 April Andrzej Huszcza
24 April Jerzy Rembas
24 April János Oreskó
24 April Peter Wurterle

British semi-finals

width=50% valign=top
width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=40pxPoints
1 John Davis13
2 Paul Woods12
3 Dave Jessup10+3
4 Malcolm Simmons10+2
5 Gordon Kennett10+1
6 Phil Collins9
7 Sean Willmott9
8Colin Richardson8+3
9 Alan Grahame8+2
10 Joe Owen8+1
11 Jeremy Doncaster7
12 John Louis5
13 Louis Carr4
14 Kevin Smith3
15 Neil Middleditch2
16 Kevin Jolly2
width=50% valign=top
width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=40pxPoints
1 Peter Collins13
2 Simon Wigg12
3 Neil Collins11+3
4 Michael Lee11+2
5 Kenny Carter11+1
6 Chris Morton10
7 Les Collins9+3
8Andy Grahame9+2
9 Mark Courtney9+f
10 Steve Bastable6
11 Melvyn Taylor5
12 Reg Wilson4
13 Malcolm Holloway4
14 Tim Hunt3
15 Mike Ferreira2
16 Nigel Flatman1

Third round

Continental quarter-finals

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6 May Marek Kepa
8 May Rif Saitgareev
8 May Armando Dal Chiele
8 May Zenon Plech

Sweden Finals

width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=20pxR1width=20pxR2width=20pxR3width=70pxTotal
1 13131440
2 10151338
3 12 11 1033
4 1012830
5 5101429
6 Lillebror Johansson 135927
7 139224
8 391123
9 74819
10 68418
11 84315
12 -9615
13 83314
14 1-910
15 Hans Hallén 2608
16 Bent Baar 4206
17 Dick Jaglard 2204
18 Mikael Messing 4--4
width=50% valign=top

Norwegian qualifying

width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=40pxPoints
1 15
2 Dag Haland 11+3
3 Dagfinn Jorgensen 11+2
4 Roy Otto 11+1
5 Asgeir Bjerga 10
6 Jörn Haugvaldstad 9
7 Geir Aasland 7
8 Kurt Ueland 7
9 Sigvart Pedersen 7
10 6
11 Tom Fjeldberg 6
12 Arne Svendsen 6
13 Ingve Madland 5
14 Roy Martinsen 4
15 Lars Otto Holt3
16 Nils O. Haraldsen 0
width=50% valign=top

Finland Final

  • Iinat Motor Sports Center, Oulu
  • 8 August 1982, top 3 to 1983 Nordic final
width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=40pxTotal
1 15
2 14
3 13
4 11
5 Hannu Lehtonen 11
6 Pekka Hautamaki 8
7 Jari Kortelainen 8
8 Markku Haapala 7
9 Heimo Kaikko 7
10 Seppo Keskinen 7
11 Timo Kiansten 7
12 Kari Valtonen 4
13 Ismo Kivela 3
14 Ari Heinonen 3
15 Pasi Valtonen 1
16 Pekka Turkia 1
17 Markku Parkkari (res) 0
18 Isto Maja (res) 0
19 Seppo Nykanen (res) 0

Danish Final

width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=70pxTotal
1 15
2 13
3 12+3
4 12+2
5 11
6 8
7 8
8 7
9 7
10 6
11 6
12 6
13 6
14 2
15 1
16 0

British Final

American Final

width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=50pxTotal
1 15
2 11+3
3 11+2
4 10+3
5 10+2
6 10+1
7 9
8 8
9 7
10 7
11 7
12 5
13 3
14 3
15 2
16 1

Australian Final

width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=70pxHeat Scores width=50pxTotal
1 (3,3,3,3,3) 15
2 (3,2,2,3,3) 13
3 (3,3,3,X,3) 12
4 (2,1,3,2,3+3) 11+3
5 (2,2,2,3,2+2) 11+2
6 (1,1,3,3,0) 8
7 (1,3,1,2,1) 8
8 (3,0,2,0,2) 7
9 (2,2,0,1,2) 7
10 (X,2,1,2,2) 7
11 (0,3,0,2,1) 6
12 (1,2,0,1,0) 4
13 (0,1,1,2,1) 4
14 (2,0,1,1,0) 4
15 Kevin O'Connell (Res) (-,-,2,-,-) 2
16 Wayne Baxter (0,0,0,0,1) 1
17 Tony Boyle (Res) (1,-,-,-,-) 1
18 (0,0,0,0,0) 0

New Zealand final

width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=50pxTotal
1 14
2 14
3 13
4 13
5 11
6 10
7 7
8 7
9 7
10 6
11 6
12 5
13 3
14 2
15 2
16 0

Fourth round

Continental semi-finals

width=50% valign=top
width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=40pxPoints
1 15
2 13
3 10
4 10
5 10
6 9
7 9
88+3
9 8+2
10 7
11 7
12
13 3
14 3
15 1
16 1
width=50% valign=top
width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=40pxPoints
1 15
2 12
3 12
4 12
5 11
6 10
7 9
88
9 7
10 7
11 7
12 3
13 3
14 1
15 1
16 1
17 Janos Oresko (res) 1

Overseas Final

Nordic Final

Fifth round

Continental Final

Intercontinental Final

World Final

Notes and References

  1. Web site: World Championship 1936-1994. Edinburgh Speedway. 10 July 2021.
  2. Web site: HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK. Speedway.org. 10 July 2021.
  3. Web site: Speedway riders, history and results. wwosbackup. 10 July 2021.
  4. Web site: WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX. British Speedway. 10 July 2021.
  5. Web site: WORLD FINALS 1936-1994. Speedway Researcher. 10 July 2021.
  6. News: Egon tops the bill with his champion act . Daily Mirror . 5 September 1983 . 4 June 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
  7. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.

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