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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An 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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Date Event Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
?? South Island final Oreti Park Speedway, Invercargill Ivan Mauger Larry Ross Alan Mason
?? North Island final Meeanee Speedway, Napier David Bargh Mitch Shirra Craig Pendlebury

British qualification

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Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
Preliminary Round
12 April Wessex Stadium, Weymouth Kevin Smith Mike Ferreira Melvyn Taylor
15 April Powderhall Stadium, Edinburgh Alan Emerson Martin Dixon Bobby Beaton
19 April Milton Keynes Stadium, Milton Keynes Charlie McKinna Neil Middleditch Peter Carr
21 April Oxford Stadium, Oxford Simon Wigg Barry Thomas Sean Willmott
27 April Long Eaton Stadium, Long Eaton Colin Richardson David Gagen Joe Owen
Quarter-Final
30 April King's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn Simon Wigg Sean Willmott Melvyn Taylor

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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Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
23 April   Ruhpoldinger Stadion, Ruhpolding   Giuseppe Marzotto   Petr Kucera   Andrzej Huszcza
24 April   Napos út, Szeged   Milan Špinka   Boleslaw Proch   Jerzy Rembas
24 April   Petišovci Stadium, Lendava   Petr Ondrašík   Armando Dal Chiele   János Oreskó
24 April   Anton Treffer Stadion, Neustadt   Vladimir Klychkov   Piotr Belyaev   Peter Wurterle

British semi-finals

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Pos. Rider Points
1 John Davis 13
2 Paul Woods 12
3 Dave Jessup 10+3
4 Malcolm Simmons 10+2
5 Gordon Kennett 10+1
6 Phil Collins 9
7 Sean Willmott 9
8 Colin Richardson 8+3
9 Alan Grahame 8+2
10 Joe Owen 8+1
11 Jeremy Doncaster 7
12 John Louis 5
13 Louis Carr 4
14 Kevin Smith 3
15 Neil Middleditch 2
16 Kevin Jolly 2
Pos. Rider Points
1 Peter Collins 13
2 Simon Wigg 12
3 Neil Collins 11+3
4 Michael Lee 11+2
5 Kenny Carter 11+1
6 Chris Morton 10
7 Les Collins 9+3
8 Andy Grahame 9+2
9 Mark Courtney 9+f
10 Steve Bastable 6
11 Melvyn Taylor 5
12 Reg Wilson 4
13 Malcolm Holloway 4
14 Tim Hunt 3
15 Mike Ferreira 2
16 Nigel Flatman 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
6 May   Stadion Wiener Neustadt   Karl Maier   Jiří Štancl   Marek Kepa
8 May   Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc   Mikhail Starostin   Bogusław Nowak   Rif Saitgareev
8 May   Shumen Motopista, Shumen   Petr Ondrašík   Viktor Kuznetsov   Armando Dal Chiele
8 May   Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo   Egon Muller   Roman Jankowski   Zenon Plech

Sweden Finals

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Pos. Rider R1 R2 R3 Total
1 Tommy Nilsson 13 13 14 40
2 Pierre Brannefors 10 15 13 38
3 Uno Johansson 12 11 10 33
4 Anders Kling 10 12 8 30
5 Bernt Persson 5 10 14 29
6 Lillebror Johansson 13 5 9 27
7 Karl Erik Claesson 13 9 2 24
8 Hans Danielsson 3 9 11 23
9 Conny Samuelsson 7 4 8 19
10 Gert Carlsson 6 8 4 18
11 Goran Waltersson 8 4 3 15
12 Per Ove Gudmundsson - 9 6 15
13 Ulf Blomqvist 8 3 3 14
14 Lennart Bengtsson 1 - 9 10
15 Hans Hallén 2 6 0 8
16 Bent Baar 4 2 0 6
17 Dick Jaglard 2 2 0 4
18 Mikael Messing 4 - - 4

Norwegian qualifying

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Pos. Rider Points
1 Tormod Langli 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 Kjell Gimre 6
11 Tom Fjeldberg 6
12 Arne Svendsen 6
13 Ingve Madland 5
14 Roy Martinsen 4
15 Lars Otto Holt 3
16 Nils O. Haraldsen 0

Finland Final

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Pos. Rider Total
1 Kai Niemi 15
2 Ari Koponen 14
3 Olli Tyrvainen 13
4 Veijo Tuoriniemi 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

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Pos. Rider Total
1 Hans Nielsen 15
2 Erik Gundersen 13
3 Ole Olsen 12+3
4 Tommy Knudsen 12+2
5 Peter Ravn 11
6 Finn Rune Jensen 8
7 Preben Eriksen 8
8 Hans Ove Cristinsen 7
9 Kent Noer 7
10 Jens Rasmussen 6
11 Finn Thomsen 6
12 Flemming Pedersen 6
13 Alf Busk 6
14 Hans Albert Klinge 2
15 Bent Juul Larsen 1
16 Kjeld Hansen 0

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
    (4) Chris Morton 12 2 2 3 2 3 12 1
    (12) Michael Lee 11 0 3 2 3 3 11 2
    (9) Andy Grahame 10 2 0 2 3 3 10 3 3
4   (5) Kenny Carter 10 2 3 0 3 2 10 4 2
5   (1) Peter Collins 10 1 1 3 2 3 10 5 1
6   (13) John Davis 10 2 2 2 2 2 10 6 0
7   (2) Phil Collins 9 0 3 1 3 2 9 7
8   (15) Les Collins 8 0 2 3 1 2 8 8
9   (3) Paul Woods 7 3 1 1 1 1 7 9
10   (11) Dave Jessup 6 3 3 F M M 6 10
11   (14) Simon Wigg 6 3 0 3 0 E 6 11
12   (6) Gordon Kennett 6 3 1 2 0 0 6 12
13   (16) Colin Richardson 6 1 1 1 2 1 6 13
14   (10) Malcolm Simmons 5 1 2 1 0 1 5 14
15   (7) Sean Willmott 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 15
16   (8) Neil Collins 1 0 0 E 1 0 1 16
R1   (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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Pos. Rider Total
1 Dennis Sigalos 15
2 Mike Faria 11+3
3 Lance King 11+2
4 Shawn Moran 10+3
5 Rick Miller 10+2
6 John Cook 10+1
7 Dubb Ferrell 9
8 Ron Preston 8
9 Mike Bast 7
10 Kelly Moran 7
11 Bobby Schwartz 7
12 Brad Oxley 5
13 Steve Lucero 3
14 Shawn McConnell 3
15 Alan Christian 2
16 Gene Woods 1

Australian Final

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Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 Billy Sanders (3,3,3,3,3) 15
2 Glyn Taylor (3,2,2,3,3) 13
3 Phil Crump (3,3,3,X,3) 12
4 Gary Guglielmi (2,1,3,2,3+3) 11+3
5 Rod Hunter (2,2,2,3,2+2) 11+2
6 Danny Kennedy (1,1,3,3,0) 8
7 Les Sawyer (1,3,1,2,1) 8
8 Steve Baker (3,0,2,0,2) 7
9 Mark Fiora (2,2,0,1,2) 7
10 John Titman (X,2,1,2,2) 7
11 Steve Regeling (0,3,0,2,1) 6
12 David Jackson (1,2,0,1,0) 4
13 Dean Johnson (0,1,1,2,1) 4
14 Rob Ashton (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 Chris Higgs (0,0,0,0,0) 0

New Zealand final

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Pos. Rider Total
1 Mitch Shirra 14
2 Larry Ross 14
3 David Bargh 13
4 Ivan Mauger 13
5 Alan Mason 11
6 Chris Martin 10
7 Robin Hampton 7
8 Roger Wright 7
9 Barry Free 7
10 Craig Blackett 6
11 Max Brown 6
12 Peter Nightingale 5
13 Craig Williamson 3
14 Merv Salt 2
15 Martin Waygang 2
16 Alan Crosbie 0

Fourth round

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Continental semi-finals

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Pos. Rider Points
1   Egon Müller 15
2   Henny Kroeze 13
3   Roman Jankowski 10
4   Zoltan Hajdu 10
5   Michail Starostin 10
6   Aleš Dryml Sr. 9
7   Rif Saitgareev 9
8   Emil Sova 8+3
9   Zenon Plech 8+2
10   Milan Špinka 7
11   Boguslaw Nowak 7
12   Ottaviano Righetto
13   Jerzy Rembaz 3
14   Zoltán Adorján 3
15   Zbignew Zabialowicz 1
16   Georg Hack 1
Pos. Rider Points
1   Karl Maier 15
2   Jiří Štancl 12
3   Antonín Kasper Jr. 12
4   Andrzej Huszcza 12
5   Armando Dal Chiele 11
6   Valerij Gordeev 10
7   Viktor Kuznetsov 9
8   Petr Ondrašík 8
9   Miroslaw Berlinski 7
10   Pavel Karnas 7
11   Marek Kepa 7
12   Nikolaj Manev 3
13   Angel Eftimov 3
14   Stanislav Urban 1
15   Orlin Jankiev 1
16   Christian Brandt 1
17   Janos Oresko (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
    (11) Phil Collins 12 1 3 3 2 3 12 1
    (16) Kenny Carter 11 3 3 0 2 3 11 2 3
    (1) Mitch Shirra 11 2 2 1 3 3 11 3 2
4   (8) Larry Ross 10 3 2 2 3 0 10 4
5   (2) Billy Sanders 10 3 3 3 1 F 10 5
6   (6) Dennis Sigalos 9 0 2 2 2 3 9 6
7   (7) Chris Morton 9 1 2 3 1 2 9 7
8   (4) Andy Grahame 9 1 1 2 3 2 9 8
9   (5) Michael Lee 8 2 3 1 1 1 8 9
10   (15) Lance King 8 2 1 2 1 2 8 10
11   (14) Shawn Moran 7 1 1 3 2 0 7 11
12   (10) Les Collins 6 2 0 0 3 1 6 12
13   (12) John Davis 4 3 0 0 0 1 4 13
14   (3) Peter Collins 3 E 0 1 0 2 3 14
15   (9) Glyn Taylor 2 E 1 0 0 1 2 15
16   (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
    (4) Hans Nielsen 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
    (12) Erik Gundersen 14 3 2 3 3 3 14 2
    (14) Ole Olsen 12 2 3 3 2 2 12 3
4   (5) Peter Ravn 11 3 3 1 3 1 11 4
5   (9) Jan Andersson 11 2 2 2 2 3 11 5
6   (13) Pierre Brannefors 10 3 1 2 2 2 10 6 3
7   (2) Kai Niemi 10 2 1 2 3 2 10 7 2
8   (6) Tommy Knudsen 8 1 2 3 1 1 8 8
9   (15) Finn Rune Jensen 7 1 3 0 F 3 7 9
10   (8) Ari Koponen 5 2 0 1 0 2 5 10
11   (11) Tommy Nilsson 5 0 2 2 1 0 5 11
12   (3) Tormod Langli 3 0 1 0 2 0 3 12
13   (16) Uno Johansson 3 0 1 1 0 1 3 13
14   (10) Olli Tyrväinen 3 1 0 1 1 0 3 14
15   (1) Dag Haaland 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 15
16   (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
    (2) Zenon Plech 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
    (11) Egon Muller 14 3 3 3 2 3 14 2
    (4) Jiří Štancl 12 1 3 3 3 2 12 3
4   (3) Petr Ondrašík 11 2 2 2 3 2 11 4
5   (13) Antonín Kasper Jr. 10 3 3 2 1 1 10 5
6   (16) Karl Maier 9 2 2 1 2 2 9 6 3
7   (14) Henny Kroeze 9 1 1 3 3 1 9 7 2
8   (6) Andrzej Huszcza 8 3 E 2 E 3 8 8
9   (9) Valery Gordeev 7 2 1 1 2 1 7 9
10   (7) Mikhail Starostin 5 2 0 1 2 0 5 10
11   (5) Aleš Dryml Sr. 5 E 2 2 1 0 5 11
12   (8) Zoltan Hajdu 4 1 1 0 0 2 4 12
13   (10) Emil Sova 4 1 2 0 0 1 4 13
14   (1) Rif Saitgareev 3 0 0 0 0 3 3 14
15   (12) Viktor Kuznetsov 2 0 0 1 1 0 2 15
16   (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) Hans Nielsen 14 3 3 3 2 3 14 1
    (8) Michael Lee 12 3 2 3 2 2 12 2
    (7) Erik Gundersen 11 0 3 3 3 2 11 3
4   (14) Dennis Sigalos 10 3 2 2 X 3 10 4
5   (4) Kenny Carter 10 0 3 2 3 2 10 5
6   (13) Billy Sanders 10 1 2 1 3 3 10 6
7   (2) Ole Olsen 9 2 3 3 1 0 9 7
8   (16) Mitch Shirra 9 2 1 2 1 3 9 8
9   (6) Chris Morton 7 2 1 0 2 2 7 9
10   (3) Lance King 7 1 2 1 3 0 7 10
11   (12) Phil Collins 6 2 0 2 1 1 6 11
12   (10) Peter Ravn 6 3 E 0 2 1 6 12
13   (9) Jan Andersson 3 0 1 0 1 1 3 13
14   (11) Pierre Brannefors 3 1 0 1 0 1 3 14
15   (15) Andy Grahame 2 0 1 1 0 0 2 15
16   (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   (12) Egon Müller 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
2   (5) Billy Sanders 12 3 3 2 2 2 12 2
3   (4) Michael Lee 11 3 2 0 3 3 11 3
4   (16) Erik Gundersen 10 3 0 2 3 2 10 4
5   (10) Kenny Carter 10 2 3 3 1 1 10 5
6   (7) Ole Olsen 10 1 3 1 2 3 10 6
7   (13) Hans Nielsen 9 2 2 2 3 e 9 7
8   (1) Dennis Sigalos 8 2 1 3 0 2 8 8
9   (15) Karl Maier 8 1 1 1 2 3 8 9
10   (8) Chris Morton 7 2 1 3 1 0 7 10
11   (3) Mitch Shirra 7 1 2 2 0 2 7 11
12   (2) Lance King 4 0 2 0 2 0 4 12
13   (14) Phil Collins 4 0 1 1 1 1 4 13
14   (6) Antonín Kasper Jr. 3 0 0 1 1 1 3 14
15   (11) Zenon Plech 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 15
16   (9) Jiří Štancl 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 16
  (17) Peter Ravn 0 0
  (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