The 1989 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 44th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider. It was the second time the championship was held in West Germany after previously being held in Norden in 1983.
The World Final was held at the Olympic Stadium in Munich. Hans Nielsen made up for his 1988 run-off defeat to Erik Gundersen by scoring a 15-point maximum to take his third World Championship. Nielsen joined fellow Danes Ole Olsen and Erik Gundersen as a three time speedway world champion.
Simon Wigg from England finished second with the slick, 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 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 British qualification Top 32 riders to British semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 8 April Arena Essex Raceway, Purfleet Andy Buck Martin Goodwin Neville Tatum 8 April Loomer Road Stadium, Chesterton Louis Carr Nigel Crabtree Graham Jones 13 April Cleveland Park Stadium, Middlesbrough Les Collins Sean WilsonMark Courtney
Second Round Austrian Final Riders progress to Continental qualification 1989 3 rounds Pos. Rider Total1 Heinrich Schatzer 402 Walter Nebel 363 Robert Funk 354 Andreas Bossner 335 Thomas Stadler 336 Toni Pilotto 327 Siegfried Eder 318 Christian Hochtl 219 Anton Wannasek 710 Manfred Trisko 611 Paul Ager 412 Josef Faching 213 Thaddaus Walach 214 Hans Kogler 215 Erich Hackl 116 Rainer Selb 117 Franz Penz 0
West German Final 2 October 1988 Holsteinring, Brokstedt Riders progress to Continental qualification 1989 Pos. Rider Scores Total1 Klaus Lausch 3,3,3,3,2 14+32 Tommy Dunker 3,3,2,3,3 14+23 Karl Maier 2,2,3,3,2 124 Gerd Riss E,3,3,2,3 115 Carsten Pelzmann 3,2,2,2,1 106 Andre Pollehn 2,1,2,2,1 87 Klaus Freundorfer 1,3,3,F,- 78 Peter Schrock 0,2,0,2,3 79 Peter Hehlert 3,0,1,1,2 710 Andreas Rahn 1,0,1,1,3 611 Andreas Marynowski 1,2,2,F,- 512 Andreas Schapfl 2,1,1,E,0 413 Hans Faltermeier 2,0,0,F,1 314 Michael Domes 1,F,0,0,2 315 Alois Bachhuber 0,1,1,1,0 316 Egon Muller F,-,-,-,- 0R1 Bernhard Osterlocher 1,0,3,1,1 6
Hungarian Final
5 rounds, riders progress to Continental qualification 1989 Pos. Rider Total1 Zoltán Adorján 562 Antal Kocso 493 Róbert Nagy 474 Zoltan Hajdu 475 József Petrikovics 466 Sándor Tihanyi 457 Robert Csilik 388 Sandor Ujhelyi 309 Janoš Sereš 3010 Janoš Bologh 2811 Andraš Kovacs 2612 Sandor Kabai 1913 Atilla Kovacs 1514 Laszlo Bodi 12
Yugoslavian Final
8 rounds, riders progress to Continental qualification 1989 Pos. Rider Total1 Zvonko Pavlič 1102 Artur Horvat 963 Gregor Pintar 834 Franc Kalin 795 Kreso Omerzel 786 Martin Peterca 767 Darko Tominač 708 Zdravko Tominač 629 Andrej Matjašeč 5710 Lazar Csaba 5411 Goran Hoblaj 5412 Igor Hauptman 3313 Rudi Spitaler 2714 Zelkjo Feher 2315 Drago Dolinšek 2216 Josip Lehki 1017 Mitja Pungašič] 818 Niko Klavzar 619 Gorazd Vinšek 1
Czechoslovak Final Riders progress to Continental qualification 1989 6 rounds Pos. Rider Total1 Roman Matoušek 762 Antonín Kasper Jr. 723 Zdenek Schneiderwind 684 Lubomír Jedek 635 Petr Vandírek 546 Bohumil Brhel 537 Stanislav Urban 538 Pavel Karnas 399 Josef Fejfar 3810 Jan Schinagl 3511 Jan Holub II 2612 Zdeněk Tesař 2613 Bořivoj Hádek 2514 Jiří Svoboda 2315 Vladimír Kalina 2116 Jindřich Dominik 1617 Václav Milík, Sr. 1018 Ladislav Hrádecký 1019 Karel Průša 10
Soviet Union Final 2 October 1988 Rivne Speedway Stadium, Rivne Rriders progress to Continental Qualification 1989 Pos. Rider Scores Total1 Vladimir Trofimov 3,3,3,3,3 152 Rif Saitgareev 3,3,3,2,3143 Rinat Mardanshin 3,2,2,3,2124 Mikhail Starostin 2,2,2,3,2115 Pavel Chernov 2,1,3,2,2106 Igor Dubinin E,3,2,3,197 Flyur Kalimullin 3,0,0,1,378 Igor Zverev 1,E,3,2,179 Arkady Kononec 1,0,1,1,3610 Andrej Korzhevoy 1,3,1,0,1611 Oleg Volokhov 1,2,1,0,2612 Valery Sokolov 2,2,F,1,1613 Grigory Kharchenko 0,1,1,2,0414 Aleksandr Pawlov 2,F,0,1,- 315 Fjodor Zakharov 0,T,2,0,-216 Ruslan Koval ns
Nederlands/Belgium Final
4 rounds, riders progress to Continental Qualification Pos. Rider Scores Total1 Henk Steman 24+22+20+24 902 Rene Elzinga 21+21+24+23 893 Robert Jan Munnecom 19+24+23+22 884 Peter Seur 17+19+22+20 785 Ron Koppe 20+20+19+19 786 Rikus Gorter 18+14+17+21 707 Ron Van Dam 15+17+18+17 678 Rob Steman 22+18+21+ns 619 Fokke Van Der Walle 16+13+14+15 5810 Henk Bangma 8+15+16+18 5711 Patrick Pino 14+11+15+16 5612 John Lispet 13+12+13+9 4713 Henny Kroeze 23+23+ns+ns 4614 Rias Kazemeier 9+10+11+10 4015 Gerard Kok 10+ns+12+12 3416 Harry Kuipers 6+8+8+11 3317 Hilbert Tel ns+7+10+13 3018 Rene Van Merkenstein 7+9+9+2 2719 Mans Kok 3+6+ns+7 1620 Wil Stroes ns+16+ns+ns 1621 Jim Groen ns+ns+7+8 1522 Rob Dolman ns+ns+ns+14 1423 Jan Dijkema 12+ns+ns+ns 1224 Chris Slager 11+ns+ns+ns 1125 Roy Wervaard 5+5+ns+ns 1026 Herman Hulseboch ns+ns+5+4 927 Han Hendriks 4+4+ns+ns 828 Jan Tjassing ns+ns+3+1 429 Martinus Bikema +ns+ns+ns+6 630 Jacco Valentejn +ns+ns+ns+5 531 Michel Bolt ns+ns+ns+3 3
Australian qualification DateChampionshipVenueWinner2nd3rd26 Nov '88Northern Territory Tennant Creek Speedway Jamie Fagg Glen Baxter Robbie War 26 Dec '88Victorian Olympic Park, Mildura Leigh Adams Phil Crump Nigel Alderton21 Dec '88New South WalesLiverpool City Raceway, Green Valley Stephen Davies Craig Boyce Tony Primmer 23 Dec '88South AustralianNorth Arm Speedway, Gillman Craig Hodgson Mark Fiora Shane Parker 12 Nov '88QueenslandRockhampton Showground Troy Butler Steve Regeling Mark Pearce 25 Nov '88Western AustralianClaremont Speedway, Perth Glenn Doyle Andy Smith+ Glyn Taylor + Rode as a guest
British semi-finals 5 May Oxford Stadium, Oxford Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Simon Wigg132 John Davis12+33 Andrew Silver12+24 Jeremy Doncaster115 Martin Dugard116 Marvyn Cox107 Mark Courtney98 Andy Grahame99 Neville Tatum610 Carl Blackbird511 Dave Mullett512 Richard Knight413 Gordon Kennett414 Alan Mogridge315 Andy Buck216 Daz Summer217 Kevin Pitts (res)28 May Monmore Green Stadium, Wolverhampton Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Alan Grahame13+32 Andy Smith13+23 Kelvin Tatum114 Les Collins105 Neil Collins106 Neil Evitts107 Graham Jones108 Andy Phillips8+29 Simon Cross8+210 Martin Goodwin711 Sean Wilson712 Chris Morton513 Gary Chessell314 Nigel Crabtree315 Louis Carr216 Paul Thorp017 Ade Hoole (res)0
Third round Continental preliminary round Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 22 April Polonia Bydgoszcz Stadium Piotr Świst Jacek Gomólski Václav Milík Sr. 23 April Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný Stanislav Urban Andrzej Marynowski Bohumil Brhel 22 April Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc Jozsef Petrikovics Robert Csillik Janos Seres 7 May Matija Gubec Stadium, Krško Antoni Skupień Zdenek Tesar Jan Schinagl
Swedish qualification Top 8 in each heat to Swedish final
(30 April, Målilla Motorbana, Målilla)PosRider Points 1 Conny Ivarsson 122 Peter Nahlin 123 Mikael Ritterwall 104 Niklas Karlsson 95 Dennis Löfqvist 96 Tommy Nilsson 97 Jimmy Nilsen 98 Erik Stenlund 99 Kenneth Lindby 910 Christer Jonsson 911 Stefan Andersson 712 Tony Gudbrand 613 Lars Andersson 414 Tomas Karlsson 215 Tony Samuelsson 116 Kent Danielsson 117 Tony Zetterström (res)118 Christer Johansson Esk (res) 1
(1 May, Gamla Galgberget, Visby)PosRider Points 1 Tony Olsson 132 Per Jonsson 133 Jan Andersson 124 Mikael Teurnberg 115 Christer Rohlén 106 Peter Karlsson 87 Mikael Blixt 88 Tommy Lindgren 79 Kenneth Nyström 610 Claes Ivarsson 611 Tony Rickardsson 612 Mikael Löfqvist 513 Jörgen Johansson 414 Kristian Hultgren 415 Patrik Karlsson 316 Bo Arrhén 217 Patric Eriksson (res) 218 Jan Bergqvist (res) 1
British Final 21 May Brandon Stadium, Coventry 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)
Australian Final 15 January, Newcastle Motordrome Winner (+ Stephen Davies & Troy Butler seeded) to Commonwealth final Pos. Rider Total1 Glenn Doyle 132 Stephen Davies 123 Jamie Fagg 114 Mick Poole 115 Steve Regeling 116 Phil Crump 107 Craig Boyce 108 Troy Butler 79 Leigh Adams 610 Glyn Baxter 611 Craig Hodgson 612 Glyn Taylor 613 Chris Watson 514 Mark Fiora 315 Shane Parker 216 Tony Primmer 117 Brian Nixon (res) 0
New Zealand Final First 2 (+ Mitch Shirra seeded) to Commonwealth final 28 January, Western Springs Stadium Pos. Rider Total1 Larry Ross 152 Gary Allan 143 Mark Thorpe 124 Nathan Murray 125 Stephen Rose 106 Craig Wilkie 97 John Roberts 88 Justin Monk 79 Mark Jamieson 610 Greg Fisher 611 David Claydon 612 Rex Brosnan 513 Richard Davdison 314 Bradley Sockton 315 Darren Hopewell 216 Scott Mitchell 117 Geoff Tomkins 1
Fourth Round Continental quarter-finals To 32 to Continental semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 14 May Stadion Wiener Neustadt Sandor Tihanyi Zoltán Adorján Armando Castagna 3 June Zielona Góra Speedway Stadium Antal Kocso Ryszard Franczyszyn Andrzej Huszcza 4 June Svítkov Stadium, Pardubice Pavel Karnas Jozsef Petrikovics Roman Matoušek 3 June Anton Treffer Stadion, Neustadt Donau Karl Maier Zoltan Hajdu Gerd Riss
American Final 3 June, Top 4 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve Veterans Memorial Stadium, Long Beach Pos. Rider Total1 Sam Ermolenko 19+32 Shawn Moran 19+23 Ronnie Correy 19+14 Lance King 175 Rick Miller 166 Bobby Schwartz 147 Mike Faria 148 Gary Hicks 129 Bart Bast 1210 Billy Hamill 1011 Louis Kossuth 812 Greg Hancock 713 Ed Castro 714 Alan Christian 715 Steve Lucero 716 Brad Oxley 517 John Sizemore 318 Shawn Venables 119 Scotty Brown 120 John Kehoe 1
Commonwealth Final 4 June Belle Vue Stadium, Manchester First 12 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Total1 Simon Wigg 132 Mitch Shirra 12+33 Neil Collins 12+24 Andy Grahame 95 Kelvin Tatum 96 Andy Smith 97 Jeremy Doncaster 88 Troy Butler 79 Andy Phillips 710 Martin Dugard 711 Stephen Davies 712 Andy Grahame 713 Les Collins 614 Gary Allan 515 Glenn Doyle 016 Darren Wilson* 0 *Darren Wilson replaced Larry Ross.
Swedish Final R1 (16 May, Nässjö Motorstadion, Nässjö) R2 (17 May, Nyköpings Motorstadion, Nyköping) R3 (18 May, Kalvholmen Motorstadion, Karlstad) First 6 to Nordic Final