1989 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1989 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 45th Speedway World Championship held since it was first held in 1936. It was the second time the championship was held in West Germany after previously being held in Norden in 1983.

1989 Individual Speedway World Championship
Previous: 1988 Next: 1990

Summary

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 3rd World Championship. Neilsen joined Ove Fundin (Sweden), Barry Briggs and Ivan Mauger (New Zealand), Ole Olsen and Erik Gundersen (Denmark), as a three time Speedway World Champion.

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.

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
?? Tennant Creek Speedway Jamie Fagg Glen Baxter??
Victorian Championship
?? Olympic Park Speedway Leigh Adams Phil Crump??
New South Wales Championship
?? Liverpool City Raceway Steven Davies Craig Boyce Mick Poole
South Australian Championship
23 December North Arm Speedway Craig Hodgson Mark Fiora Shane Parker
Queensland Championship
?? Rockhampton Showground Troy Butler????
Western Australian Championship
?? Claremont Speedway Glenn Doyle????
Australian Championship Final
?? 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 Sörensen5
12 John Eskildsen3
13 Jan Jakobsen3
14 Henrik Kristensen3
15 Jens-Henry Nielsen2
16 Jan Petersen (Res)1
17 Torben Hansen0

British Final
Pos.RiderTotal
1 Simon Wigg14
2 Kelvin Tatum12+3
3 Alan Grahame12+2
4 Les Collins11
5 Andy Phillips10
6 Andy Grahame7
7 Martin Dugard7
8 Neil Collins7
9 Andy Smith7
10 Jeremy Doncaster7
11 Neil Evitts6
12 John Davis5
13 Mark Courtney5
14 Graham Jones4
15 Andrew Silver2
16 Marvyn Cox2

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 Matousek10+
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 Dolomisiewicz7
12 Zdenek Tesar4
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 Eric Stenlund0

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

World final
  • September 2, 1989
  • Munich, Olympic Stadium[1]
  • Referee: () Henry van den Boomen
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 Matousek(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 Matousek 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. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
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