The 1981 Individual Speedway World Championship was the last of a record 26 times that London's world famous Wembley Stadium hosted the World Final. It also marked the final time that the stadium would be used for any Motorcycle speedway. In future years when the final was held in England, it would be held at the Odsal Stadium in Bradford until the advent of the Speedway Grand Prix series in 1995. The 1981 Final was held before a reported crowd of 92,500, just shy of the Wembley record of 95,000 set at the 1938 World Final.
Bruce Penhall became the first American to win the World Championship since Jack Milne in 1937. As a past World Championship winner at Wembley, the 74-year-old Milne was a special guest at the event and saw Penhall end America's 44 year Individual World Championship drought. Though he remained undefeated until his last ride when he only needed to finish 3rd to win the Championship (he finished that race in second behind his rival Kenny Carter), Penhall was forced to work hard for his maiden World Championship. In both Heat 7 and Heat 14 he was second for over 3½ laps behind Ole Olsen and Tommy Knudsen respectively before passing both in the run to the line. Olsen would defeat Knudsen in a runoff for second and third places after both finished on 12 points. The triple World Champion gaining some revenge on his younger countryman after Knudsen had defeated Olsen in the first heat of the meeting.
In Heat 6, Denmark's future triple World Champion Erik Gundersen set the 4 lap record of 66.8 seconds for the 345 metres (377 yards) long track when he defeated eventual 3rd placed rider Tommy Knudsen (Denmark), Jiří Štancl (Czechoslovakia) and Zenon Plech (Poland). As this was the final speedway meeting at Wembley it will forever be the track record.
New Zealand Qualification
New Zealand Final
- 6 February 1981
Napier- First 8 to Austral-Asian Final
| Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
|---|
| 1 | Ivan Mauger | 3,3,3,3,3 | 15 |
| 2 | Mitch Shirra | 3,3,3,3,2 | 14 |
| 3 | Larry Ross | 3,3,2,2,3 | 13 |
| 4 | Wayne Brown | 1,3,3,3,1 | 11 |
| 5 | Mike Fullerton | 2,2,2,1,3 | 10 |
| 6 | David Bargh | 3,2,1,2,2 | 10 |
| 7 | Tony Briggs | 2,2,2,2,1 | 9 |
| 8 | Greame Beardsley | 1,1,3,2,1 | 8 |
| 9 | John Goodall | 0,1,1,3,3 | 8 |
| 10 | Mark Dekok | 2,1,2,0,0 | 5 |
| 11 | Gavin Rhodes | 2,1,1,1,0 | 5 |
| 12 | Greg Joynt | 0,2,1,0,2 | 5 |
| 13 | Max Brown | 1,0,0,0,2 | 3 |
| 14 | Colin Farquharson | 0,0,0,1,1 | 2 |
| 15 | Alan Crosbie | 0,0,0,1,0 | 1 |
| 16 | Patrick Pawson | 1,0,0,0,- | 1 |
| R1 | Bruce Elvey | 0 | 0 |
| R2 | Kym Mauger | ns | 0 |
Australian Qualification
Australian Final
- February 14, 1981
Brisbane- First 8 to Austral-Asian Final
Intercontinental Round
Norwegian Final
- April 26, 1981
Elgane- First 2 to Nordic final
| Pos. | Rider | Total |
|---|
| 1 | Rolf Gramstad | 15 |
| 2 | Audun Ove Olsen | 13 |
| 3 | Jorn Haufvalstad | 12 |
| 4 | Trodd Skretting | 11 |
| 5 | Dag Haaland | 10 |
| 6 | Ingve Madland | 9 |
| 7 | Terje Tollefsen | 7 |
| 8 | Kurt Ueland | 7 |
| 9 | Geir Aasland | 7 |
| 10 | Roy Otto | 6 |
| 11 | Asgeir Bjerga | 6 |
| 12 | Dagfin Jorgensen | 5 |
| 13 | Sigvart Pedersen | 5 |
| 14 | Kjell Gimre | 5 |
| 15 | Rolf Havirstad | 2 |
| 16 | Oddmund Bye | 0 |
Danish Final
- May 10, 1981
Fredericia- First 6 to Scandinavian final
Nordic Final
- June 2, 1981
Norrköping, Vargarna Speedway- First 6 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve
| Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
|---|
| 1 | Tommy Knudsen | 3,3,3,3,3 | 15 |
| 2 | Hans Nielsen | 2,3,3,2,3 | 13 |
| 3 | Ole Olsen | 2,3,2,3,2 | 12 |
| 4 | Preben Eriksen | 3,2,2,2,3 | 12 |
| 5 | Jan Andersson | 3,2,1,3,2 | 11 |
| 6 | Erik Gundersen | 2,1,3,3,1 | 10+3 |
| 7 | Bo Petersen | 3,3,0,2,2 | 10+ns |
| 8 |  Kai Niemi | 1,1,1,2,3 | 8 |
| 9 | Ari Koponen | E,0,2,1,2 | 5 |
| 10 | Tommy Nilsson | 1,1,2,1,0 | 5 |
| 11 | Hans Danielsson | 1,2,0,1,1 | 5 |
| 12 | Audun Ove Olsen | 1,1,1,1,0 | 4 |
| 13 | Rolf Gramstad | E,2,1,0,1 | 4 |
| 14 | Bernt Persson | 0,F,3,0,- | 3 |
| 15 | Anders Michanek | 2,0,-,-,- | 2 |
| 16 | Pekka Hautamäki | F,0,0,0,1 | 1 |
| 17 | Finn Thomsen (Res) | 0,0 | 0 |
| 18 | Bo Wirebrand (Res) | 0,0 | 0 |
Overseas Final
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
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 |
Continental Round
Continental Final
- July 25, 1981
Prague, Marketa Stadium- First 5 to World final plus 1 reserve
| Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
|---|
| 1 |  Egon Müller | 3,3,3,3,X | 12+2+3 |
| 2 | Aleš Dryml Sr. | 3,0,3,3,3 | 12+3+2 |
| 3 |  Edward Jancarz | 3,2,2,2,3 | 12+2+1 |
| 4 | Jiří Štancl | 2,3,2,3,2 | 12+2+0 |
| 5 | Zenon Plech | 2,3,3,3,1 | 12+E+E |
| 6 | Henryk Olszak | 2,1,2,1,3 | 9+3 |
| 7 | Jan Verner | 0,2,3,2,2 | 9+2 |
| 8 | Marek Kepa | 3,1,1,2,1 | 8 |
| 9 | Roman Jankowski | 1,3,1,1,0 | 6 |
| 10 | Zdeněk Kudrna | 1,1,0,1,3 | 6 |
| 11 | Milan Špinka | 0,2,2,2,- | 6 |
| 12 | Petr Kucera | 2,0,X,1,2 | 5 |
| 13 | Waldemar Bacik | 0,1,1,0,1 | 3 |
| 14 | Marek Towalski | 0,2,0,0,0 | 2 |
| 15 | Georg Hack | 1,X,F,0,- | 1 |
| 16 |  Valerij Gordeev | 1,0,0,0,0 | 1 |
| R1 | Petr Ondrašík | 0,2 | 2 |
| R2 | Antonín Kasper, Jr. | 1 | 1 |
World Final
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
- ↑ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.
ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
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| Speedway World Championship | | |
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| Speedway Grand Prix (SGP) | |
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| See also | |
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