1982 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1982 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 37th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3][4][5]

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 metres (440 yards) 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

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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.[6] 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).

First round

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British qualification

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  • Top 16 Riders progress to British semi-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
Preliminary Round
13 April Wessex Stadium, Weymouth Simon Wigg Ian Clark Dave Perks
25 April Rye House Stadium, Hoddesdon Bob Garrad Nigel Flatman Steve Naylor
25 April Boston Sports Stadium, Boston Colin Cook Mark Courtney Rob Hollingworth
27 April Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium, Crayford Steve Wilcock Mike Ferreira Barry Thomas
29 April Oxford Stadium, Oxford Derek Harrison Tim Hunt Neil Collins
Quarter-Final
7 May East of England Arena, Peterborough Simon Wigg Mark Courtney Mike Ferreira

Swedish qualification

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  • Top 8 in each heat to Swedish final

Australian qualification

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Date Event Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
28 Nov 81 Queensland Final Pioneer 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 Final Rockhampton Showgrounds, Rockhampton Gary Guglielmi Billy Sanders John Titman

New Zealand qualification

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Date Event Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
16 Jan South Island Final Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch Larry Ross Roger Wright Alan Mason
24 Jan North Island Final Kihikihi Speedway, Kihikihi Mitch Shirra David Bargh John Goodall

Second round

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Continental preliminary round

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Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
24 April   Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam   Alfred Siekierka   Václav Verner   Petr Kucera
25 April   Svítkov Stadium, Pardubice   Petr Ondrašík   Viktor Kuznetsov   Milan Špinka
25 April   Speedway Stadium, Targovishte   Roman Jankowski   Mikhail Starostin   Jan Verner
26 April   Gradski stadion, Osijek   Josef Aigner   Valery Gordeev   Nikolaj Manev

British semi-finals

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Pos. Rider Points
1 Les Collins 15
2 John Louis 12
3 Dave Jessup 11
4 Michael Lee 11
5 Paul Woods 10
6 Mike Ferreira 9
7 Kevin Jolly 9
8 Chris Morton 8
9 Gordon Kennett 7
10 Sean Willmott 7
11 Colin Richardson 5
12 Colin Cook 4
13 Kevin Smith 4
14 Robert Henry 3
15 Roger Johns 3
16 Derek Harrison 2
Pos. Rider Points
1 Alan Grahame 13
2 Kenny Carter 12
3 Andy Grahame 12
4 Phil Collins 12
5 Malcolm Holloway 11
6 Peter Collins 9
7 Simon Wigg 9
8 John Davis 8
9 Melvyn Taylor 8
10 Mark Courtney 7
11 Steve Bastable 6
12 Ian Cartwright 5
13 Dave Morton 2
14 Rob Hollingworth 2
15 Malcolm Simmons 2
16 Neil Collins 1

Third round

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Continental quarter-finals

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  • Top 32 to Continental semi-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
9 May   Stadion Wiener Neustadt   Karl Maier   Josef Aigner   Valery Gordeev
9 May   Motodrom Halbemond, Norden   Egon Muller   Georg Hack   Zenon Plech
9 May   Rhein-Main Arena, Diedenbergen   Henny Kroeze   Leonard Raba   Václav Verner
9 May   Hajdú Volán Stadion, Debrecen   Aleš Dryml Sr.   Mikhail Starostin   Zoltan Hajdu

American Final

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Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 Dennis Sigalos 3,3,3,3,3 15
2 Shawn Moran 2,2,3,3,3 13+3
3 Kelly Moran 3,2,2,3,3 13+2
4 Scott Autrey 3,3,3,2,2 13+1
5 John Cook 1,3,1,3,2 10
6 Mike Faria 2,1,2,2,3 10
7 Bobby Schwartz 3,3,1,X,1 8
8 Mike Curosco 0,2,3,1,1 7
9 Brad Oxley 2,1,0,1,2 6
10 Alan Christian 2,F,2,1,0 5
11 Gene Woods 1,0,2,E,1 4
12 Mike Bast X,2,1,0,0 3
13 Steve Lucero 1,0,0,2,0 3
14 Dave Sims 0,E,1,0,1 2
15 Steve Gresham 1,1,0,-,- 2
16 Paul Orlandi 0,1,F,-,- 1
R1 Keith Christo 2,2 4
R2 John Sandona 0,1,0 1

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
    (7) Andy Grahame 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 1
    (9) Alan Grahame 13 3 2 2 3 3 13 2
    (14) Kenny Carter 12 2 3 3 2 2 12 3
4   (12) Phil Collins 11 2 3 2 1 3 11 4
5   (16) Chris Morton 10 3 1 3 2 1 10 5
6   (5) Peter Collins 10 2 3 3 1 1 10 6
7   (4) Les Collins 9 0 2 2 2 3 9 7
8   (10) Dave Jessup 8 E 2 0 3 3 8 8
9   (2) Michael Lee 7 3 1 1 2 0 7 9
10   (1) Paul Woods 6 2 1 1 0 2 6 10
11   (6) Mike Ferreira 6 1 0 2 1 2 6 11
12   (13) John Davis 5 0 0 1 3 1 5 12
13   (15) Simon Wigg 4 1 2 0 0 1 4 13
14   (11) Malcolm Holloway 3 1 1 0 1 0 3 14
15   (3) Kevin Jolly 2 1 0 1 0 0 2 15
16   (8) John Louis 0 0 0 0 E E 0 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

Australian Final

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Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 Billy Sanders 3,3,3,3,3 15
2 Phil Crump 3,3,3,3,2 14
3 Gary Guglielmi 1,3,3,3,1 11
4 Steve Regeling 2,2,1,3,3 11
5 John Titman 3,2,2,2,2 11
6 Ron Schleib 1,3,2,1,3 10
7 Phil Herne 2,2,3,2,1 10
8 Neil Coddington 3,1,2,0,2 8
9 Glyn Taylor 2,1,1,2,X 6
10 Peter Byrne 1,0,0,0,3 4
11 Les Sawyers 2,X,0,2,0 4
12 Mark Johns 0,1,0,1,2 4
13 Graeme Robertson 0,2,0,1,1 4
14 David Foot 1,1,1,0,1 4
15 Steve Baker 0,0,2,0,0 2
16 Peter Carswell 0,0,1,1,0 2

New Zealand Final

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Pos. Rider Total
1 Larry Ross 15
2 Ivan Mauger 14
3 Mitch Shirra 13
4 David Bargh 12
5 Alan Mason 11
6 Roger Wright 10
7 Max Brown 9
8 Greame Stapleton 8
9 Kevin Browne 6
10 Trevor Chapman 5
11 Graham Taylor 4
12 Greg Joynt 4
13 Gavin Rhodes 4
14 Lance Begbie 2
15 Steve Hann 1
16 Vayne Brown 0
R1 Philip McClintock 2
R2 Craig Blacket 0

Danish Final

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Pos. Rider Total
1 Erik Gundersen 13+3
2 Bo Petersen 13+2
3 Hans Nielsen 13+1
4 Ole Olsen 11
5 Preben Eriksen 10
6 Tommy Knudsen 10
7 Finn Thomsen 9
8 Bent Rasmussen 8
9 Jens Rasmussen 7
10 Alf Busk 7
11 Finn Rune Jensen 5
12 Helge R. Hansen 4
13 Jens Henry Nielsen 4
14 John Eskildsen 3
15 Hans Albert Klinge 3
16 Rene Christiansen 0

Norway Final

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Pos. Rider Points
1 Dag Haaland 14
2 Roy Otto 13
3 Trond Helge Skretting 12
4 Sigvart Pedersen 11
5 Asgeir Berga 11
6 Geir Aasland 10
7 Kjell Gimre 8
8 Lars Otto Holt 7
9 Terje Tollefsen 7
10 Roar Rockvaldsen 6
11 Jörn Haugvaldstad

Finland Final

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Pos. Rider Total
1 Kai Niemi 15
2 Pekka Hautamaki 14
3 Veijo Tuoriniemi 12
4 Olli Turkia 11
5 Seppo Palomaki 10
6 Ossi Henriksson 10
7 Hannu Lehtonen 9
8 Isto Maja 7
9 Hannu Larronmaa (res) 7
10 Ari Koponen 5
11 Seppo Keskinen 5
12 Ismo Kivela 4
13 Heikki Makinen 4
14 Markku Parkkari 1
15 Esa Jamsalainen 1
16 Risto Jokinen (res) 1
17 Esa Mattila 0
18 Pentti Kallio 0
19 Kari Yrjanainen (res) 0

Swedish finals

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Pos. Rider R1 R2 R3 Total
1 Richard Hellsén 13 13 11 37
2 Tommy Nilsson 10 13 13 36
3 Björn Andersson 9 12 11 32
4 Lillebror Johansson 10 8 12 31+3
5 Lennart Bengsson 13 8 10 31+2
6 Uno Johansson 11 7 12 30
7 Anders Michanek 7 8 12 27
8 Jan Ericsson 9 9 8 26
9 Hans Danielsson 6 6 7 19
10 Conny Samuelsson 7 5 4 16
11 Åke Fridell 4 10 1 15
12 Roger Gustavsson 6 1 7 14
13 Anders Eriksson 9 2 2 13
14 Börje Ring 2 5 5 12
15 Per-Ove Gudmundsson 0 5 4 9
16 Pierre Brannefors 8 0 0 8
17 Gert Carlsson 0 4 - 4
18 Sören Brolin 0 0 - 0
19 Tommy Johansson 0 - - 0

Fourth round

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Continental semi-finals

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Pos. Rider Points
1   Viktor Kuznetsov 12+3
2   Marek Kepa 12+2
3   Rif Saitgareev 11
4   Václav Verner 10
5   Henny Kroeze 10
6   Georg Hack 10
7   Leonard Raba 9
8   Jindrich Dominik 8
9   Christian Brandt 7
10   Wojciech Zabialowicz 6
11   Petr Kucera 6
12   Anatolij Maxsimov 5
13   Alois Wiesböck 4
14   Zenon Plech 4
15   Alfred Siekierka 3
16   Egon Müller 0
Pos. Rider Points
1   Valerij Gordeev 13
2   Francesco Biginato 12
3   Jiří Štancl 11
4   Aleš Dryml Sr. 11
5   Edward Jancarz 11
6   Michail Starostin 10
7   Gianni Famari 9
8   Josef Aigner 8+3
9   Emil Sova 8+2
10   Roman Jankowski 8+1
11   Istvan Sziracky 4
12   George Gilgenreiner 4
13   Ferenc Farkas 2
14   Karl Maier 2
15   Piotr Belajev (res) 2
16   Zoltan Hajdu 1
17   Zoltán Adorján 1
18   Christoph Betzl (res) 1

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
    (2) Dave Jessup 13 2 3 3 3 2 13 1
    (16) Kenny Carter 12 1 2 3 3 3 12 2
    (12) Bruce Penhall 11 3 3 2 3 0 11 3
4   (10) Larry Ross 10 2 1 3 1 3 10 4
5   (8) Andy Grahame 8 1 1 2 3 1 8 5
6   (13) Kelly Moran 8 2 1 1 2 2 8 6
7   (3) Dennis Sigalos 8 0 3 0 2 3 8 7
8   (14) Phil Crump 8 0 2 3 0 3 8 8
9   (5) Les Collins 7 3 2 1 0 1 7 9 3
10   (1) Peter Collins 7 3 0 0 2 2 7 10 2
11   (6) Shawn Moran 7 2 0 1 3 1 7 11 1
12   (9) Alan Grahame 6 1 3 1 0 1 6 12
13   (11) Ivan Mauger 6 0 2 2 0 2 6 13
14   (15) Billy Sanders 5 3 1 0 1 0 5 14
15   (4) Chris Morton 5 1 0 2 2 0 5 15
16   (7) Phil Collins 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 16
R1   (R1) Michael Lee 0 0 R1
R2   (R2) Scott Autrey 0 0 R2
R3   (R3) Gary Guglielmi 0 0 R3
R4   (R4) Mitch Shirra 0 0 R4
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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Pos. Rider Total
1   Hans Nielsen 12+3
2   Erik Gundersen 12+2
3   Bo Petersen 11+3
4   Kai Niemi 11+2
5   Ole Olsen 11+1
6   Jan Andersson 10+3
7   Tommy Knudsen 10+2
8   Richard Hellsen 10+1
9   Preben Eriksen 10+0
10   Lillebror Johansson 6
11   Bjorn Andersson 5
12   Ari Koponen 5
13   Tommy Nilsson 3
14   Pekka Hautamaki 2
15   Dag Haaland 1
16   Roy Otto 1

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) Jiří Štancl 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
    (10) Edward Jancarz 11 2 3 3 1 2 11 2 3
    (5) Václav Verner 11 3 1 3 2 2 11 3 2
4   (16) Georg Hack 10 1 2 1 3 3 10 4
5   (13) Mikhail Starostin 9 2 0 2 2 3 9 5 3
6   (2) Emil Sova 9 1 2 1 3 2 9 6 2
7   (15) Henny Kroeze 8 3 0 2 3 0 8 7
8   (9) Aleš Dryml Sr. 8 1 2 3 2 X 8 8
9   (7) Valery Gordeev 7 2 3 0 2 X 7 9
10   (11) Viktor Kuznetsov 7 0 1 2 1 3 7 10
11   (4) Jiří Dominik 7 2 3 1 1 E 7 11
12   (12) Marek Kepa 6 3 0 0 1 2 6 12
13   (8) Leonard Raba 4 1 1 1 0 1 4 13
14   (3) Francesco Biginato 3 0 2 0 0 1 3 14
15   (14) Rif Saitgareev 3 0 0 2 0 1 3 15
16   (6) Gianni Famari 1 0 1 0 E 0 1 16
R1   (R1) Christian Brandt 0 0 R1
R2   (R2) Roman Jankowski 0 0 R2
R3   (R3) Wojciech Żabiałowicz 0 0 R3
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
    (7) Les Collins 12 3 2 3 3 1 12 1
    (3) Kenny Carter 11 2 3 2 2 2 11 2
    (8) Dennis Sigalos 10 2 3 3 2 0 10 3 3
4   (1) Hans Nielsen 10 3 1 2 2 2 10 4 2
5   (13) Kelly Moran 9 3 3 0 3 0 9 5
6   (10) Bruce Penhall 9 3 3 1 1 1 9 6
7   (16) Dave Jessup 8 2 0 3 3 0 8 7
8   (9) Kai Niemi 7 0 2 0 3 2 7 8
9   (12) Phil Crump 7 1 1 3 1 1 7 9
10   (2) Jan Andersson 7 1 1 1 1 3 7 10
11   (11) Peter Collins 6 2 1 0 0 3 6 11 3
12   (6) Andy Grahame 6 0 0 1 2 3 6 12 2
13   (4) Bo Petersen 6 0 2 2 0 2 6 13 1
14   (15) Larry Ross 5 1 0 0 1 3 5 14
15   (14) Ole Olsen 4 0 2 1 0 1 4 15
16   (5) Erik Gundersen 3 1 0 2 0 0 3 16
R1   (R1) Tommy Knudsen 0 0 R1
R2   (R2) Shawn Moran 0 0 R2
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   (13) Bruce Penhall 14 2 3 3 3 3 14 1
2   (15) Les Collins 13 3 3 1 3 3 13 2
3   (4) Dennis Sigalos 12 3 2 2 2 3 12 3
4   (1) Kelly Moran 11 2 1 3 3 2 11 4
5   (8) Kenny Carter 10 3 3 3 Fx 1 10 5
6   (10) Dave Jessup 8 3 2 0 3 0 8 6
7   (16) Hans Nielsen 8 1 0 2 2 3 8 7
8   (5) Jan Andersson 8 1 2 2 1 2 8 8
9   (12) Jiří Štancl 7 0 1 3 1 2 7 9
10   (7) Edward Jancarz 7 2 2 1 2 0 7 10
11   (9) Georg Hack 6 2 0 2 1 1 6 11
12   (14) Kai Niemi 5 0 3 1 0 1 5 12
13   (2) Peter Collins 5 1 0 0 2 2 5 13
14   (11) Phil Crump 4 1 1 1 1 0 4 14
15   (6) Václav Verner 2 0 1 0 x 1 2 15
16   (3) Mikhail Starostin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16
  (17) Emil Sova 0 0
  (18) Andy Grahame 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

Television

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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

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  1. ^ "World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  2. ^ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  3. ^ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  5. ^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  6. ^ 1982 World Final Heat 14
  7. ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5