1983 Individual Speedway World Championship

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

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A near-capacity crowd of around 50,000 at the 400 metres (440 yards) 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

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New Zealand qualification

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British qualification

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Swedish qualification

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  • Top 6 in each heat to Swedish final


Second round

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Continental preliminary round

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British semi-finals

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Third round

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Continental quarter-finals

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Sweden Finals

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Pos.RiderR1R2R3Total
1Tommy Nilsson13131440
2Pierre Brannefors10151338
3Uno Johansson12111033
4Anders Kling1012830
5Bernt Persson5101429
6Lillebror Johansson135927
7Karl Erik Claesson139224
8Hans Danielsson391123
9Conny Samuelsson74819
10Gert Carlsson68418
11Goran Waltersson84315
12Per Ove Gudmundsson-9615
13Ulf Blomqvist83314
14Lennart Bengtsson1-910
15Hans Hallén2608
16Bent Baar4206
17Dick Jaglard2204
18Mikael Messing4--4

Norwegian qualifying

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Pos.RiderPoints
1Tormod Langli15
2Dag Haland11+3
3Dagfinn Jorgensen11+2
4Roy Otto11+1
5Asgeir Bjerga10
6Jörn Haugvaldstad9
7Geir Aasland7
8Kurt Ueland7
9Sigvart Pedersen7
10Kjell Gimre6
11Tom Fjeldberg6
12Arne Svendsen6
13Ingve Madland5
14Roy Martinsen4
15Lars Otto Holt3
16Nils O. Haraldsen0

Finland Final

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Pos.RiderTotal
1Kai Niemi15
2Ari Koponen14
3Olli Tyrvainen13
4Veijo Tuoriniemi11
5Hannu Lehtonen11
6Pekka Hautamaki8
7Jari Kortelainen8
8Markku Haapala7
9Heimo Kaikko7
10Seppo Keskinen7
11Timo Kiansten7
12Kari Valtonen4
13Ismo Kivela3
14Ari Heinonen3
15Pasi Valtonen1
16Pekka Turkia1
17Markku Parkkari (res)0
18Isto Maja (res)0
19Seppo Nykanen (res)0

Danish Final

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British Final

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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 21
1 England (4) Chris Morton 12 2 2 3 2 3 12 1
2 England (12) Michael Lee 11 0 3 2 3 3 11 2
3 England (9) Andy Grahame 10 2 0 2 3 3 10 3 3
4 England (5) Kenny Carter 10 2 3 0 3 2 10 4 2
5 England (1) Peter Collins 10 1 1 3 2 3 10 5 1
6 England (13) John Davis 10 2 2 2 2 2 10 6 0
7 England (2) Phil Collins 9 0 3 1 3 2 9 7
8 England (15) Les Collins 8 0 2 3 1 2 8 8
9 England (3) Paul Woods 7 3 1 1 1 1 7 9
10 England (11) Dave Jessup 6 3 3 F M M 6 10
11 England (14) Simon Wigg 6 3 0 3 0 E 6 11
12 England (6) Gordon Kennett 6 3 1 2 0 0 6 12
13 England (16) Colin Richardson 6 1 1 1 2 1 6 13
14 England (10) Malcolm Simmons 5 1 2 1 0 1 5 14
15 England (7) Sean Willmott 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 15
16 England (8) Neil Collins 1 0 0 E 1 0 1 16
R1 England (R1) Kevin Hawkins 1 0 1 1 R1
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 21

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

American Final

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Australian Final

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Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1Billy Sanders(3,3,3,3,3)15
2Glyn Taylor(3,2,2,3,3)13
3Phil Crump(3,3,3,X,3)12
4Gary Guglielmi(2,1,3,2,3+3)11+3
5Rod Hunter(2,2,2,3,2+2)11+2
6Danny Kennedy(1,1,3,3,0)8
7Les Sawyer(1,3,1,2,1)8
8Steve Baker(3,0,2,0,2)7
9Mark Fiora(2,2,0,1,2)7
10John Titman(X,2,1,2,2)7
11Steve Regeling(0,3,0,2,1)6
12David Jackson(1,2,0,1,0)4
13Dean Johnson(0,1,1,2,1)4
14Rob Ashton(2,0,1,1,0)4
15Kevin O'Connell (Res)(-,-,2,-,-)2
16Wayne Baxter(0,0,0,0,1)1
17Tony Boyle (Res)(1,-,-,-,-)1
18Chris Higgs(0,0,0,0,0)0

New Zealand final

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Fourth round

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Continental semi-finals

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Overseas Final

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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 21
1 England (11) Phil Collins 12 1 3 3 2 3 12 1
2 England (16) Kenny Carter 11 3 3 0 2 3 11 2 3
3 New Zealand (1) Mitch Shirra 11 2 2 1 3 3 11 3 2
4 New Zealand (8) Larry Ross 10 3 2 2 3 0 10 4
5 Australia (2) Billy Sanders 10 3 3 3 1 F 10 5
6 United States (6) Dennis Sigalos 9 0 2 2 2 3 9 6
7 England (7) Chris Morton 9 1 2 3 1 2 9 7
8 England (4) Andy Grahame 9 1 1 2 3 2 9 8
9 England (5) Michael Lee 8 2 3 1 1 1 8 9
10 United States (15) Lance King 8 2 1 2 1 2 8 10
11 United States (14) Shawn Moran 7 1 1 3 2 0 7 11
12 England (10) Les Collins 6 2 0 0 3 1 6 12
13 England (12) John Davis 4 3 0 0 0 1 4 13
14 England (3) Peter Collins 3 E 0 1 0 2 3 14
15 Australia (9) Glyn Taylor 2 E 1 0 0 1 2 15
16 United States (13) Mike Faria 1 0 0 1 E F 1 16
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 21

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

Nordic Final

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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 21
1 Denmark (4) Hans Nielsen 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
2 Denmark (12) Erik Gundersen 14 3 2 3 3 3 14 2
3 Denmark (14) Ole Olsen 12 2 3 3 2 2 12 3
4 Denmark (5) Peter Ravn 11 3 3 1 3 1 11 4
5 Sweden (9) Jan Andersson 11 2 2 2 2 3 11 5
6 Sweden (13) Pierre Brannefors 10 3 1 2 2 2 10 6 3
7 Finland (2) Kai Niemi 10 2 1 2 3 2 10 7 2
8 Denmark (6) Tommy Knudsen 8 1 2 3 1 1 8 8
9 Denmark (15) Finn Rune Jensen 7 1 3 0 F 3 7 9
10 Finland (8) Ari Koponen 5 2 0 1 0 2 5 10
11 Sweden (11) Tommy Nilsson 5 0 2 2 1 0 5 11
12 Norway (3) Tormod Langli 3 0 1 0 2 0 3 12
13 Sweden (16) Uno Johansson 3 0 1 1 0 1 3 13
14 Finland (10) Olli Tyrväinen 3 1 0 1 1 0 3 14
15 Norway (1) Dag Haaland 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 15
16 Sweden (7) Anders Kling 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 16
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 21

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

Fifth round

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Continental Final

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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 21
1 Poland (2) Zenon Plech 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
2 West Germany (11) Egon Muller 14 3 3 3 2 3 14 2
3 Czechoslovakia (4) Jiří Štancl 12 1 3 3 3 2 12 3
4 Czechoslovakia (3) Petr Ondrašík 11 2 2 2 3 2 11 4
5 Czechoslovakia (13) Antonín Kasper Jr. 10 3 3 2 1 1 10 5
6 West Germany (16) Karl Maier 9 2 2 1 2 2 9 6 3
7 Netherlands (14) Henny Kroeze 9 1 1 3 3 1 9 7 2
8 Poland (6) Andrzej Huszcza 8 3 E 2 E 3 8 8
9 Soviet Union (9) Valery Gordeev 7 2 1 1 2 1 7 9
10 Soviet Union (7) Mikhail Starostin 5 2 0 1 2 0 5 10
11 Czechoslovakia (5) Aleš Dryml Sr. 5 E 2 2 1 0 5 11
12 Hungary (8) Zoltan Hajdu 4 1 1 0 0 2 4 12
13 Czechoslovakia (10) Emil Sova 4 1 2 0 0 1 4 13
14 Soviet Union (1) Rif Saitgareev 3 0 0 0 0 3 3 14
15 Soviet Union (12) Viktor Kuznetsov 2 0 0 1 1 0 2 15
16 Italy (15) Armando Dal Chiele 2 0 1 0 1 X 2 16
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 21

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

Intercontinental Final

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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 21
1 Denmark (1) Hans Nielsen 14 3 3 3 2 3 14 1
2 England (8) Michael Lee 12 3 2 3 2 2 12 2
3 Denmark (7) Erik Gundersen 11 0 3 3 3 2 11 3
4 United States (14) Dennis Sigalos 10 3 2 2 X 3 10 4
5 England (4) Kenny Carter 10 0 3 2 3 2 10 5
6 Australia (13) Billy Sanders 10 1 2 1 3 3 10 6
7 Denmark (2) Ole Olsen 9 2 3 3 1 0 9 7
8 New Zealand (16) Mitch Shirra 9 2 1 2 1 3 9 8
9 England (6) Chris Morton 7 2 1 0 2 2 7 9
10 United States (3) Lance King 7 1 2 1 3 0 7 10
11 England (12) Phil Collins 6 2 0 2 1 1 6 11
12 Denmark (10) Peter Ravn 6 3 E 0 2 1 6 12
13 Sweden (9) Jan Andersson 3 0 1 0 1 1 3 13
14 Sweden (11) Pierre Brannefors 3 1 0 1 0 1 3 14
15 England (15) Andy Grahame 2 0 1 1 0 0 2 15
16 New Zealand (5) Larry Ross 1 1 E 0 0 0 1 16
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 21

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

World Final

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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 West Germany (12) Egon Müller 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
2 Australia (5) Billy Sanders 12 3 3 2 2 2 12 2
3 England (4) Michael Lee 11 3 2 0 3 3 11 3
4 Denmark (16) Erik Gundersen 10 3 0 2 3 2 10 4
5 England (10) Kenny Carter 10 2 3 3 1 1 10 5
6 Denmark (7) Ole Olsen 10 1 3 1 2 3 10 6
7 Denmark (13) Hans Nielsen 9 2 2 2 3 e 9 7
8 United States (1) Dennis Sigalos 8 2 1 3 0 2 8 8
9 West Germany (15) Karl Maier 8 1 1 1 2 3 8 9
10 England (8) Chris Morton 7 2 1 3 1 0 7 10
11 New Zealand (3) Mitch Shirra 7 1 2 2 0 2 7 11
12 United States (2) Lance King 4 0 2 0 2 0 4 12
13 England (14) Phil Collins 4 0 1 1 1 1 4 13
14 Czechoslovakia (6) Antonín Kasper Jr. 3 0 0 1 1 1 3 14
15 Poland (11) Zenon Plech 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 15
16 Czechoslovakia (9) Jiří Štancl 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 16
Denmark (17) Peter Ravn 0 0
Netherlands (18) Henny Kroeze 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

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  1. "World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  2. "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  3. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  4. "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  5. "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  6. "Egon tops the bill with his champion act". Daily Mirror. 5 September 1983. Retrieved 4 June 2023 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