1989 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1989 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 44th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3] It was the second time the championship was held in West Germany after previously being held in Norden in 1983.[4]

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 third World Championship.[5] Nielsen joined fellow Danes Ole Olsen and Erik Gundersen as a three time Speedway World Champion.[6]

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.[7] 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 being seeded to the Commonwealth Final, he finished 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.

First Round (Overseas Series)

New Zealand Qualification

First 2 from New Zealand final to Commonwealth final (Mitch Shirra seed to Commonwealth Final)

Final Western Springs Stadium, 28 January

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Larry Ross	15
2	Gary Allan	14
3	Mark Thorpe	12
4	Nathan Murray	12
5	Stephen Rose	10
6	Craig Wilkie	9
7	John Roberts	8
8	Justin Monk	7
9	Mark Jamieson	6
10	Greg Fisher	6
11	David Claydon	6
12	Rex Brosnan	5
13	Richard Davdison	3
14	Bradley Sockton	3
15	Darren Hopewell	2
16	Scott Mitchell	1
17	Geoff Tomkins	1

Australian Qualification

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Northern Territory Championship
26.11.1988	Tennant Creek Speedway	Jamie Fagg	Glen Baxter	Robbie War
Victorian Championship
26.12.1988	Olympic Park Speedway	Leigh Adams	Phil Crump	Nigel Alderton
New South Wales Championship
21.12.1988	Liverpool City Raceway	Stephen Davies	Craig Boyce	Tony Primmer
South Australian Championship
23 December	North Arm Speedway	Craig Hodgson	Mark Fiora	Shane Parker
Queensland Championship
12.11.1988	Rockhampton Showground	Troy Butler	Steve Regeling	Mark Pearce
Western Australian Championship
25.11.1988	Claremont Speedway	Glenn Doyle	Andy Smith	Glyn Taylor

Winner of Australian final to Commonwealth final (Stephen Davies & Troy Butler seeded to Commonwealth Final)
Final Newcastle Motordrome, 15 January

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Glenn Doyle	13
2	Stephen Davies	12
3	Jamie Fagg	11
4	Mick Poole	11
5	Steve Regeling	11
6	Phil Crump	10
7	Craig Boyce	10
8	Troy Butler	7
9	Leigh Adams	6
10	Glyn Baxter	6
11	Craig Hodgson	6
12	Glyn Taylor	6
13	Chris Watson	5
14	Mark Fiora	3
15	Shane Parker	2
16	Tony Primmer	1
17	Brian Nixon (res)	0

Swedish Qualification

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd 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

May 16, 17 & 18
SWE Nässjö, Nyköping & Karlstad
First 5 to Nordic Final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Scores	Total
1	Per Jonsson	13+15+14	42
2	Mikael Blixt	13+13+11	37
3	Jan Andersson	11+12+11	34
4	Jimmy Nilsen	14+11+8	33
5	Erik Stenlund	9+10+13	32
6	Tony Olsson	11+8+11	30
7	Niklas Karlsson	7+8+9	24
8	Peter Karlsson	8+9+5	22
9	Christer Rohlén	6+6+8	20
10	Conny Ivarsson	8+4+7	19
11	Dennis Löfqvist	5+7+3	15
12	Mikael Teurnberg	1+4+10	15
13	Mikael Ritterwall	6+1+3	10
14	Peter Nahlin	4+6+ns	10
15	Tommy Nilsson	3+5+0	8
16	Kenneth Lindby	ns+ns+5	5
17	Tommy Lindgren	1+1+ns	2

Danish Final

May 19
Vojens, Speedway Center
First 6 to Nordic final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Erik Gundersen	14+3
2	Jan O. Pedersen	14+2
3	Brian Karger	14+1
4	Hans Nielsen	12
5	John Jørgensen	11
6	Peter Ravn	9
7	Allan Johansen	9
8	Ole Hansen	7+3
9	Kenneth Arnfred	7+2
10	Jan Stæchmann	6
11	Per Sorensen	5
12	John Eskildsen	3
13	Jan Jakobsen	3
14	Henrik Kristensen	3
15	Jens-Henry Nielsen	2
16	Jan Pedersen (Res)	1
17	Torben Hansen	0

British Final

May 21
Coventry, Brandon Stadium

First 10 to Commonwealth final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Points	Details
	Simon Wigg	14	(2,3,3,3,3)
	Kelvin Tatum	12+3	(3,3,3,0,3)
	Alan Grahame	12+2	(3,2,1,3,3)
4	Les Collins	11	(1,3,2,3,2)
5	Andy Phillips	10	(3,1,3,1,2)
6	Andy Grahame	7	(2,3,X,2,0)
7	Martin Dugard	7	(0,2,3,2,0)
8	Neil Collins	7	(3,2,1,X,1)
9	Andy Smith	7	(2,0,1,2,2)
10	Jeremy Doncaster	7	(1,2,2,X,2)
11	Neil Evitts	6	(2,1,2,X,1)
12	John Davis	5	(X,0,0,2,3)
13	Mark Courtney	5	(1,1,1,1,1)
14	Graham Jones	4	(0,1,0,3,X)
15	Andrew Silver	4	(1,0,2,1,0)
16	Marvyn Cox	2	(0,X,0,1,1)
17	Neville Tatum	DNS
18	Simon Cross	DNS

American Final

June 3
Long Beach, Veterans Memorial Stadium
First 4 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Sam Ermolenko	19+3
2	Shawn Moran	19+2
3	Ronnie Correy	19+1
4	Lance King	17
5	Rick Miller	16
6	Bobby Schwartz	14
7	Mike Faria	14
8	Gary Hicks	12
9	Bart Bast	12
10	Billy Hamill	10
11	Louis Kossuth	8
12	Greg Hancock	7
13	Ed Castro	7
14	Alan Christian	7
15	Steve Lucero	7
16	Brad Oxley	5
17	John Sizemore	3
18	Shawn Venables	1
19	Scotty Brown	1
20	John Kehoe	1

Second Round

Commonwealth Final

June 4
Manchester, Belle Vue Stadium
First 12 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Simon Wigg	13
2	Mitch Shirra	12+3
3	Neil Collins	12+2
4	Andy Grahame	9
5	Kelvin Tatum	9
6	Andy Smith	9
7	Jeremy Doncaster	8
8	Troy Butler	7
9	Andy Phillips	7
10	Martin Dugard	7
11	Stephen Davies	7
12	Andy Grahame	7
13	Les Collins	6
14	Gary Allan	5
15	Glenn Doyle	0
16	Darren Wilson*	0

*Darren Wilson replaced Larry Ross.

Third Round

Continental semi final 1

24 June, Rybnik, Poland
First 8 to Continental final

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Zdeněk Tesař	14
2	Antal Kocso	12
3	Rif Saitgareev	11
4	Roman Jankowski	10
5	Antonín Kasper, Jr.	10
6	Ryszard Franczyszyn	10
7	Gerd Riss	9
8	Bohumil Brhel	10
9	Karl Maier	8
10	Andreas Marynowski	7
11	Zoltan Hajdu	6
12	Stanisław Urban	4
13	Armando Dal Chiele	4
14	Sandor Ujhelyi	3
15	Andrzej Huszcza	2
16	Giorgio Zaramella	0

Continental semi final 2

25 June, Rovno, Soviet Union
First 8 to Continental final

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Roman Matoušek	14
2	Petr Vandirek	12
3	Ryszard Dołomisiewicz	11
4	Igor Dubinin	11
5	Zoltán Adorján	10
6	Sándor Tihanyi	9
7	Armando Castagna	9
8	József Petrikovics	9
9	Pavel Karnas	8
10	Igor Zverev	6
11	Wojciech Załuski	5
12	Zbigniew Krakowski	5
13	Róbert Nagy	4
14	Vladimir Trofimov	4
15	Václav Milík Sr.	1
16	Heinrich Schatzer	1

Nordic Final

June 4
Tampere, Ratinan stadion
First 7 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Hans Nielsen	14+3
2	Jan O. Pedersen	14+2
3	Erik Gundersen	12
4	Peter Ravn	10
5	Tony Olsson	9
6	John Jørgensen	8+3
7	Olli Tyrväinen	8+2
8	Erik Stenlund	8+1
9	Mikael Blixt	7
10	Kai Niemi	7
11	Lars Gunnestad	6
12	Per Jonsson	5
13	Brian Karger	5
14	Jimmy Nilsen	4
15	Peter Karlsson	2
16	Arne Svendsen	1

Overseas Final

June 25
Coventry, Brandon Stadium
First 9 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Sam Ermolenko	13
2	Kelvin Tatum	12
3	Ronnie Correy	11+3
4	Simon Wigg	11+2
5	Andy Grahame	9
6	Mitch Shirra	9
7	Andy Grahame	8
8	Jeremy Doncaster	8
9	Andy Smith	8
10	Troy Butler	6+3
11	Martin Dugard	6+2
12	Lance King	5
13	Stephen Davies	5
14	Rick Miller*	4
15	Neil Collins	4
16	Andy Phillips	1

* Rick Miller replaced Shawn Moran. Bobby Schwartz came in as the reserve rider

Fourth Round

Continental Final

August 12
Debrecen, Debrecen Speedway
First 5 to World final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Zoltán Adorján	14
2	Karl Maier	10+
3	Roman Matoušek	10+
4	Gerd Riss	10+
5	Bohumil Brhel	10+
6	József Petrikovics	10+
7	Rif Saitgareev	10+
8	Antal Kocso	10+
9	Antonín Kasper, Jr.	8
10	Sándor Tihanyi	8
11	Ryszard Dołomisiewicz	7
12	Zdeněk Tesař	4
13	Igor Zverev	3
14	Wojciech Załuski (Res)	3
15	Igor Dubinin	2
16	Pavel Karnas	1
17	Roman Jankowski	0

Intercontinental Final

August 13
Bradford, Odsal Stadium[8]
First 11 to World final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Kelvin Tatum	13+3
2	Erik Gundersen	13+2
3	Hans Nielsen	12+3
4	Mitch Shirra	12+2
5	Jan O. Pedersen	9
6	Simon Wigg	9
7	Tony Olsson	8
8	Jeremy Doncaster	7
9	Andy Smith	6
10	Olli Tyrväinen	5+3
11	Ronnie Correy	5+2
12	Troy Butler*	5+1
13	Andy Grahame	5+0
14	Peter Ravn	4
15	Alan Grahame	3
16	John Jørgensen	3
R1	Martin Dugard	1
R2	Erik Stenlund	0

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

World final

September 2, 1989
Munich, Olympic Stadium[9]
Referee: () Henry van den Boomen

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
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 Matoušek	(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 Grahame	did not ride	-
R2	József Petrikovics	did 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 Matoušek	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) József 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

"World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
"HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
"WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
"Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
Oakes, Peter (1990). Speedway Yearbook 1990. Front Page Books. p. 5. ISBN 0-948882-15-8.
"WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
"Nielsen topples King Eric". Sandwell Evening Mail. 4 September 1989. Retrieved 10 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Oakes, Peter (1990). Speedway Yearbook 1990. Front Page Books. pp. 7–9. ISBN 0-948882-15-8.
Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5

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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] "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.

[4] "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 July 2021.

[5] Oakes, Peter (1990). Speedway Yearbook 1990. Front Page Books. p. 5. ISBN 0-948882-15-8.

[6] "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 July 2021.

[7] "Nielsen topples King Eric". Sandwell Evening Mail. 4 September 1989. Retrieved 10 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[8] Oakes, Peter (1990). Speedway Yearbook 1990. Front Page Books. pp. 7–9. ISBN 0-948882-15-8.

[9] Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5