The 1986 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 41st edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
Hans Nielsen finally won his first world title after finishing in second place during the two previous Championships. He lost his first ride to arch rival and defending champion Erik Gundersen but then won his next four rides to be crowned the champion. Fellow Dane Jan O. Pedersen took silver and England's Kelvin Tatum took the bronze while Gundersen faded into tenth place.
It was the fourth final to be held at the Silesian Stadium in Poland.
First round British qualification Riders progress to British semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd Preliminary Round 9 April Wimbledon Stadium, London Dave Jessup Andrew Silver Roger Johns 13 April Berrington Lough Stadium, Berwick Paul Thorp Rob Grant Paul Stead 13 April Boston Sports Stadium, Boston Doug Wyer Les Collins Andy Hines 15 April Wimborne Road, Poole Steve Schofield Neil Middleditch Eric Monaghan 22 April Milton Keynes Stadium, Milton Keynes Malcolm Simmons Barry Thomas Andy Campbell Quarter-Final 27 April King's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn Andy Campbell Steve Schofield Les Collins
Second round British semi-finals 11 May Abbey Stadium, Swindon Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Alan Grahame142 Phil Collins103 Richard Knight104 Kelvin Tatum 105 Malcolm Simmons96 John Davis97 Andrew Silver98 Marvyn Cox99 Peter Collins10 Andy Smith11 Neil Collins12 Peter Carr13 Sean Willmott14 Steve Schofield15 Martin Hagon18 May Odsal Stadium, Bradford Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Simon Wigg142 Jeremy Doncaster143 Neil Evitts134 Chris Morton 115 Simon Cross106 Paul Thorp 97 Kenny Carter88 Carl Blackbird89 Louis Carr810 Les Collins711 Andy Grahame612 Kenny McKinna513 Andy Campbell314 Alan Mogridge315 Andy Hines116 Michael Lee0
Swedish qualification Top 8 in heat 1, top 7 in heat 2 to Swedish final
(1 May, Gislaved Motorbana, Gislaved)PosRider Points 1 Tommy Nilsson 152 Per Jonsson `33 Patrik Karlsson 124 Conny Ivarsson 115 Dennis Löfqvist 106 Roland Dannö 107 Anders Kling 98 Tommy Lindgren 89 Patrik Åhlund 710 Mikael Löfqvist 511 Christer Jonsson 512 Jan Ericsson 413 Lars Hammarberg 314 Johan Zackrisson 315 Thomas Ek 316 Claes Ivarsson 2
(9 May, Kalvholmen Motorstadion, Karlstad)PosRider Points 1 Tony Olsson 142 Jimmy Nilsen 13+33 Mikael Blixt 13+24 Kenneth Nyström 125 Christer Rohlén 96 Mikael Teurnberg 97 Uno Johansson 8+38 Lillebror Johansson 8+29 Pierre Brannefors 610 Hans Wahlström 611 Lars Andersson 512 Per-Ove Gudmundsson 513 Johan Staaf 514 Börje Ring 515 Mikael Messing 216 Kent Rickardsson 117 Hans Hallén 0
Australian qualification DateVenueWinner2nd3rd Queensland Championship Dec 1985Pioneer Park, Ayr John Titman Troy Butler Steve Regeling New South Wales Championship Dec 1985 Newcastle Motordrome, Tomago Stephen Davies Chris Watson ? Northern Territory Championship Dec 1985Arunga Park Speedway Brent Nott David Jackson ? Victorian Championship Dec 1985 Olympic Park, Mildura Phil Crump John McNeil ? South Australian Championship Dec 1985 North Arm Speedway, Adelaide Steve Baker Mark Fiora ? Western Australian Championship Dec 1985Claremont Speedway, Perth Mick McKeon Glyn Taylor David Cheshire
Third round Continental preliminary round DateVenueWinner2nd3rd Preliminary Round 11 May Abensberger Stadion, Abensberg Roman Matoušek Heinz Huber Erich Shafferer 11 May Speedway Stadium, Targovishte Valery Gordeev Armando Dal Chiele Ladislav Hradecky 11 May Ilirija Sports Park, Ljubljana Zenon Plech Rinat Mardanshin Zbignew Blazejczak 11 May Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc Petr Kucera Gianni Famari József Petrikovics
Australian Final
Top 4 to Commonwealth Final plus 1 reserve
New Zealand Final 25 January 1986 Gisborne Speedway, Gisborne Top 3 to Commonwealth Final Pos. Rider Total1 David Bargh 14+32 Larry Ross 14+23 Mitch Shirra 12+34 Mike Fullerton 12+25 Kym Mauger 116 Chris Martin97 Trevor Chapman 98 Craig Monk 79 Peter Nightingale 610 Spencer Timmo 511 Mike Hollows 512 Craig Blackett 413 Craig Wilkkie414 Lee Chappell 315 Steve Brown 316 Jamie Martin 1
British Final 1 June 1986 Brandon Stadium, Coventry Top 9 to Commonwealth Final plus 1 reserve
Danish Final 8 May 1986 Hele Fyns Speedway Center, Fjelsted Top 5 to Nordic Final plus 1 reserve Tommy Knudsen seeded to Nordic Final Pos. Rider Total1 Hans Nielsen 142 Erik Gundersen 13+33 Bo Petersen 13+24 Jan O. Pedersen 125 John Jørgensen 126 Sam Nikolajsen77 Per Sørensen 78 John Eskildsen 79 Jens Rasmussen 710 Peter Glanz 511 Tommy Knudsen 512 Peter Ravn 513 Fleming Pedersen414 Kurt Hansen 415 Preben Eriksen 316 Aksel Jepsen 0
Norwegian Final Elgane Speedway, Varhaug Top 1 (+1 seeded) to Nordic final Pos. Rider Points1 Ingvar Skogland 142 Robert Langeland 133 Arnt Førland 124 Per Magne Levang 115 Thor Gunnar Halvorsröd 96 Gjermund Aas 9 Finland Final Varkaus Speedway Stadion, Varkaus 18 August 1985, top 2 (+1 seeded rider) to 1986 Nordic final Pos. Rider Total1 Ari Koponen 142 Juha Moksunen 13+33 Roy Malminheimo 13+24 Olli Tyrvainen 13+15 Pekka Hautamaki 126 Aki Ala Riihimaki 97 Janne Moksunen 88 Veijo Tuoriniemi 89 Ossi Henriksson 810 Heimo Kaikko 711 Esa Reijo 412 Aarre Soivuori 313 Marko Hyyrylainen 314 Mikael Back 215 Markku Haapala 216 Hannu Lehtonen 0
Swedish Finals Top 4 to Nordic Final plus 1 reserve Jan Andersson seeded to Nordic Final R1 (21 May, Snälltorpet, Eskilstuna) R2 (22 May, Nässjö Motorstadion, Nässjö) R3 (23 May, Sannaheds Motorstadion, Kumla) Pos. Rider R1R2R3Tota1 Tommy Nilsson 141312 392 Jimmy Nilsen 101311 343 Mikael Blixt 8149 314 Erik Stenlund 91110 305 Kenneth Nyström 11611 286 Conny Ivarsson 1098 277 Per Jonsson 5138 268 Tony Olsson 6108 249 Roland Dannö 1158 2410 Dennis Löfqvist 1065 2111 Christer Rohlén 649 1912 Mikael Teurnberg 636 1513 Uno Johansson 563 1414 Tommy Lindgren 725 1415 Patrik Karlsson 146 1116 Anders Kling 010 1
Fourth round Continental quarter-finals Top 32 to Continental semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 24 May Polonia Bydgoszcz Stadium, Bydgoszcz Wojciech Żabiałowicz Grzegorz Dzikowski Rif Saitgareev 25 May Markéta Stadium, Prague Viktor Kuznetsov Antonín Kasper, Jr. Petr Vandirek 26 May Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam Roman Matoušek Roman Jankowski Armando Castagna 29 May Olching Speedwaybahn, Olching Heinrich Schatzer József Petrikovics Mikhail Starostin
American Final 23 June 1986 Veterans Memorial Stadium, Long Beach Top 5 + 1 reserve to the Overseas Final
Commonwealth Final 8 June 1986 Hyde Road, Manchester Top 11 to the Overseas Final plus 1 reserve
Fifth round Continental semi-finals 8 June Ellermühle Stadium, Landshut Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Viktor Kuznetsov 132 Georg Hack 12+33 Michail Starostin 12+24 Antonín Kasper Jr. 12+15 Karl Maier 116 Heinrich Schatzer 107 Petr Vandírek 98 Klaus Lausch 8+39 Zoltán Adorján 8+210 Pavel Karnas 611 Vladimir Trofimov 612 Sandor Tihanyi 513 Zenon Plech 414 Andrzej Huszcza 315 Zbigniew Blazejczak 116 József Petrikovics 08 June Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Armando Castagna 122 Stanislav Urban 10+33 Roman Matoušek 10+24 Valerij Gordeev 10+15 Wojciech Zabialowicz 10+06 Ryszard Dolomisiewicz 97 Maciej Jaworek 98 Nikolaj Manev 89 Lubomir Jedek 710 Francesco Biginato 711 Zdeněk Schneiderwind 712 Rif Saitgareev 13 Ryszard Franczyszyn 14 Roman Jankowski 15 Paolo Salvatelli 16 Grzegorz Dzikowski
Nordic Final 4 July 1986 Kumla Motorstadion, Kumla Top 7 to Intercontinental Final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Total1 Hans Nielsen 142 Jimmy Nilsen 133 Jan O. Pedersen 114 Erik Gundersen 105 Jan Andersson 106 Tommy Knudsen107 Tommy Nilsson 98 Bo Petersen 99 Kai Niemi 910 John Jørgensen 811 Erik Stenlund 612 Einar Kyllingstad 313 Ari Koponen314 Mikael Blixt 215 Juha Moksunen 216 Ingvar Skogland 0Res Kenneth Nyström 1
Overseas Final 19 June 1986 Brandon Stadium, Coventry Top 9 to Intercontinental Final plus 1 reserve
Sixth round Continental Final 20 July 1986 Stadion Wiener Neustadt, Wiener Neustadt Top 4 to World Final plus 1 reserve Ryszard Dołomisiewicz seeded to World Final
Intercontinental Final 20 July 1986 Odsal Stadium, Bradford Top 11 to World Final plus 1 reserve
World Final 30 August 1986 Silesian Stadium, Chorzów
References