1989 Individual Speedway World Championship

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 fellow Dane Erik Gundersen by scoring a 15-point maximum to take his third World Championship. Nielsen joined fellow Danes Ole Olsen and Erik Gundersen as a three time Speedway World Champion.[5]

Simon Wigg from England finished second with the slick, 400 metres (440 yards) track suiting his long track style. Wigg defeated fellow Englishman Jeremy Doncaster in a run-off for second and third places.[6] 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 finishing fourth in the Australian Championship, he replaced countryman Jamie Fagg in the Commonwealth Final, finishing 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.

Overseas Series

New Zealand Qualification
  • First 3 from New Zealand final to Commonwealth final
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
South Island Final
 ?? Nelson Speedway Mark Thorpe ?? ??
North Island Final
 ?? Wanganui Speedway Gary Allan ?? ??
New Zealand Final
 ?? Western Springs Stadium Larry Ross Gary Allan Mark Thorpe

Australian Qualification
  • First 3 from Australian final to Commonwealth final
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Northern Territory Championship
26.11.1988 Tennant Creek Speedway Jamie Fagg Glen BaxterRobbie War
Victorian Championship
26.12.1988 Olympic Park Speedway Leigh Adams Phil CrumpNigel Alderton
New South Wales Championship
21.12.1988 Liverpool City Raceway Steven Davies Craig Boyce Tony Primmer
South Australian Championship
23 December North Arm Speedway Craig Hodgson Mark Fiora Shane Parker
Queensland Championship
12.11.1988 Rockhampton Showground Troy ButlerSteve RegelinMark Pearce
Western Australian Championship
25.11.1988 Claremont Speedway Glenn DoyleAndy SmithGlyn Taylor
Australian Championship Final
15.01.1989 Newcastle Motordrome Glenn DoyleSteven Davies Jamie Fagg

Swedish Qualification
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Semi-Finals
30 April Målilla Conny Ivarsson Peter Nahlin Mikael Ritterwall
1 May Visby Tony Olsson Per Jonsson Jan Andersson
Final
16 May Nässjö Jimmy Nilsen Per Jonsson Mikael Blixt
17 May Nyköping Per Jonsson Mikael Blixt Jan Andersson
18 May Karlstad Per Jonsson Erik Stenlund Mikael Blixt

Swedish Final
Pos.RiderScoresTotal
1 Per Jonsson13+15+1442
2 Mikael Blixt13+13+1137
3 Jan Andersson11+12+1134
4 Jimmy Nilsen14+11+833
5 Erik Stenlund9+10+1332
6 Tony Olsson11+8+1130
7 Niklas Karlsson7+8+924
8 Peter Karlsson8+9+522
9 Christer Rohlén6+6+820
10 Conny Ivarsson8+4+719
11 Dennis Löfqvist5+7+315
12 Mikael Teurnberg1+4+1015
13 Mikael Ritterwall6+1+310
14 Peter Nahlin4+6+ns10
15 Tommy Nilsson3+5+08
16 Kenneth Lindbyns+ns+55
17 Tommy Lindgren1+1+ns2

Danish Final
Pos.RiderTotal
1 Erik Gundersen14+3
2 Jan O. Pedersen14+2
3 Brian Karger14+1
4 Hans Nielsen12
5 John Jørgensen11
6 Peter Ravn9
7 Allan Johansen9
8 Ole Hansen7+3
9 Kenneth Arnfred7+2
10 Jan Stæchmann6
11 Per Sorensen5
12 John Eskildsen3
13 Jan Jakobsen3
14 Henrik Kristensen3
15 Jens-Henry Nielsen2
16 Jan Petersen (Res)1
17 Torben Hansen0

British Final
  • First 10 to Commonwealth final plus 1 reserve
Pos.RiderPointsDetails
Simon Wigg14(2,3,3,3,3)
Kelvin Tatum12+3(3,3,3,0,3)
Alan Grahame12+2(3,2,1,3,3)
4 Les Collins11(1,3,2,3,2)
5 Andy Phillips10(3,1,3,1,2)
6 Andy Grahame7(2,3,X,2,0)
7 Martin Dugard7(0,2,3,2,0)
8 Neil Collins7(3,2,1,X,1)
9 Andy Smith7(2,0,1,2,2)
10 Jeremy Doncaster7(1,2,2,X,2)
11 Neil Evitts6(2,1,2,X,1)
12 John Davis5(X,0,0,2,3)
13 Mark Courtney5(1,1,1,1,1)
14 Graham Jones4(0,1,0,3,X)
15 Andrew Silver4(1,0,2,1,0)
16Marvyn Cox2(0,X,0,1,1)
17 Neville TatumDNS
18 Simon CrossDNS

American Final

Pos.RiderTotal
1 Sam Ermolenko19+3
2 Shawn Moran19+2
3 Ronnie Correy19+1
4 Lance King17
5 Rick Miller16
6 Bobby Schwartz14
7 Mike Faria14
8 Gary Hicks12
9 Bart Bast12
10 Billy Hamill10
11 Louis Kossuth8
12 Greg Hancock7
13 Ed Castro7
14 Alan Christian7
15 Steve Lucero7
16 Brad Oxley5
17 John Sizemore3
18 Shawn Venables1
19 Scotty Brown1
20 John Kehoe1

Commonwealth Final

Pos.RiderTotal
1 Simon Wigg13
2 Mitch Shirra*12+3
3 Neil Collins12+2
4 Andy Grahame9
5 Kelvin Tatum9
6 Andy Smith9
7 Jeremy Doncaster8
8 Troy Butler*7
9 Andy Phillips7
10 Martin Dugard7
11 Steven Davies7
12 Andy Grahame7
13 Les Collins6
14 Gary Allan5
15 Glenn Doyle0
16 Darren Wilson*0

*Mitch Shirra and Darren Wilson replaced Larry Ross and Mark Thorpe. Troy Butler replaced Jamie Fagg.

Nordic Final

Pos.RiderTotal
1 Hans Nielsen14+3
2 Jan O. Pedersen14+2
3 Erik Gundersen12
4 Peter Ravn10
5 Tony Olsson9
6 John Jørgensen8+3
7 Olli Tyrväinen8+2
8 Erik Stenlund8+1
9 Mikael Blixt7
10 Kai Niemi7
11 Lars Gunnestad6
12 Per Jonsson5
13 Brian Karger5
14 Jimmy Nilsen4
15 Peter Karlsson2
16 Arne Svendsen1

Overseas Final

Pos.RiderTotal
1 Sam Ermolenko13
2 Kelvin Tatum12
3 Ronnie Correy11+3
4 Simon Wigg11+2
5 Andy Grahame9
6 Mitch Shirra9
7 Andy Grahame8
8 Jeremy Doncaster8
9 Andy Smith8
10 Troy Butler6+3
11 Martin Dugard6+2
12 Lance King5
13 Steven Davies5
14 Rick Miller*4
15 Neil Collins4
16 Andy Phillips1

* Rick Miller replaced Shawn Moran. Bobby Schwartz came in as the reserve rider

Continental Final

  • August 12
  • Debrecen, Debrecen Speedway
  • First 5 to World final plus 1 reserve
Pos.RiderTotal
1 Zoltán Adorján14
2 Karl Maier10+
3 Roman Matoušek10+
4 Gerd Riss10+
5 Bohumil Brhel10+
6 Jozsef Petrikovics10+
7 Rif Saitgareev10+
8 Antal Kocso10+
9 Antonín Kasper, Jr.8
10 Sándor Tihanyi8
11 Ryszard Dołomisiewicz7
12 Zdeněk Tesař4
13 Igor Zverev3
14 Wojciech Zaluski (Res)3
15 Igor Dubinin2
16 Pavel Karnas1
17 Roman Jankowski0

Intercontinental Final

Pos.RiderTotal
1 Kelvin Tatum13+3
2 Erik Gundersen13+2
3 Hans Nielsen12+3
4 Mitch Shirra12+2
5 Jan O. Pedersen9
6 Simon Wigg9
7 Tony Olsson8
8 Jeremy Doncaster7
9 Andy Smith6
10 Olli Tyrväinen5+3
11 Ronnie Correy5+2
12 Troy Butler*5+1
13 Andy Grahame5+0
14 Peter Ravn4
15 Alan Grahame3
16 John Jørgensen3
R1 Martin Dugard1
R2 Erik Stenlund0

*Troy Butler replaced the injured Sam Ermolenko. Martin Dugard came in as the reserve rider.

World final

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Hans Nielsen(3,3,3,3,3)15
2 Simon Wigg(1,3,3,3,2)12+3
3 Jeremy Doncaster(3,2,1,3,3)12+2
4 Erik Gundersen(2,3,R,3,3)11
5 Kelvin Tatum(3,3,2,2,Fx)10
6 Mitch Shirra(2,2,3,2,1)10
7 Andy Smith(1,2,2,2,3)10
8 Tony Olsson(1,1,3,1,2)8
9 Gerd Riss(3,1,1,0,Fx)5
10 Roman Matoušek(0,2,0,1,2)5
11 Karl Maier(2,1,1,0,1)5
12 Troy Butler*(2,0,2,0,0)4
13 Olli Tyrväinen(0,0,2,0,2)4
14 Ronnie Correy(0,0,1,2,1)4
15 Zoltán Adorján(1,1,0,1,1)4
16 Bohumil Brhel(0,0,0,1,0)1
R1 Andy Grahamedid not ride-
R2 Jozsef Petrikovicsdid not ride-

* Troy Butler replaced the injured Jan O. Pedersen. Andy Grahame came in as the reserve rider.

Classification

Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos
1 (13) Hans Nielsen 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
2 (6) Simon Wigg 12+3 1 3 3 3 2 12 2
3 (1) Jeremy Doncaster 12+2 3 2 1 3 3 12 3
4 (16) Erik Gundersen 11 2 3 e 3 3 11 4
5 (11) Kelvin Tatum 10 3 3 2 2 Fx 10 5
6 (3) Mitch Shirra 10 2 2 3 2 1 10 6
7 (4) Andy Smith 10 1 2 2 2 3 10 7
8 (15) Tony Olsson 8 1 1 3 1 2 8 8
9 (8) Gerd Riss 5 3 1 1 0 Fx 5 9
10 (14) Roman Matoušek 5 0 2 0 1 2 5 10
11 (5) Karl Maier 5 2 1 1 0 1 5 11
12 (12) Troy Butler 4 2 0 2 0 0 4 12
13 (9) Olli Tyrväinen 4 0 0 2 0 2 4 13
14 (7) Ronnie Correy 4 0 0 1 2 1 4 14
15 (10) Zoltán Adorján 4 1 1 0 1 1 4 15
16 (2) Bohumil Brhel 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 16
(17) Andy Grahame 0 0
(18) Jozsef Petrikovics 0 0
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside

References

  1. "World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  2. "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  3. "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  4. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  5. "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  6. "Nielsen topples King Eric". Sandwell Evening Mail. 4 September 1989. Retrieved 10 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
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