1985 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1985 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 40th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.

Odsal Stadium, the new home of international speedway in England after the demise of the Wembley Stadium and White City Stadium tracks, was chosen by the FIM to host the 1985 Final on 31 August 1985; the first time that the final had been held in England at a venue other than Wembley.

A crowd of around 30,000 attended the 1985 Final, which was won by defending champion Erik Gundersen from fellow Dane Hans Nielsen and surprise third placing Sam Ermolenko of the United States. All three riders finished the meeting on 13 points and were forced into a run-off to decide the podium placings. The only English rider in the field, 21-year-old Kelvin Tatum, finished 8th with 8 points in his first World Final. He won his first race, but later admitted that he let the occasion get to him which affected his riding.

First round British qualification Riders progress to British semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd Preliminary Round 11 AprilRye House Stadium, Hoddesdon Mike Ferreira Jamie Luckhurst Andrew Silver 17 AprilLong Eaton Stadium, Long Eaton Trevor Banks Dave Perks Louis Carr 18 AprilCleveland Park Stadium, Middlesbrough Steve Wilcock Geoff Pusey Mike Spink 19 AprilEast of England Arena, Peterborough Carl Blackbird Tim Hunt Kevin Hawkins 19 AprilPowderhall Stadium, Edinburgh David Blackburn Bruce Cribb Paul Thorp Quarter-Final 27 AprilKing's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn Carl Blackbird Melvyn Taylor Tim Hunt

Swedish qualification Top 6 in each heat to Swedish final

(4 May, Gubbängens IP Stockholm)PosRider Points 1 Tommy Nilsson 142 Patrik Karlsson 143 Erik Stenlund 124 Lars Andersson 125 Jimmie Magnusson 106 Åke Fridell 97 Conny Ivarsson 98 Uno Johansson 99 Mikael Teurnberg 610 Kent Rickardsson 511 Kenneth Nyström 512 Roger Sundberg 313 Peder Messing 314 Anders Nilsson 315 Magnus Jonsson 216 Mikael Löfqvist 1

(4 May, Gamla Målilla Motorstadion Målilla)PosRider Points 1 Per Jonsson 142 Anders Kling 143 Mikael Blixt 124 Bengt Jansson 105 Jan Lundgren 96 Hans Wahlström 97 Dennis Löfqvist 88 Lars Hammarberg 89 Kjell Nielsen 710 Alf Trofast 611 Tony Gudbrand 612 Roland Dannö 413 Jan Davidsson 414 Mikael Reinholdsson 215 Roger Gustavsson 116 Stefan Andersson 0

(5 May, Grevby Motorstadion Mariestad)PosRider Points 1 Jimmy Nilsen 152 Per-Ove Gudmundsson 123 Richard Hellsén 124 Christer Rohlén 115 Börje Ring 106 Pierre Brannefors 97 Tony Olsson 98 Tommy Lindgren 89 Lillebror Johansson 810 Johan Zackrisson 611 Kent Björk 612 Johan Staaf 613 Mats Olsson 314 Mikael Messing 315 Kari Virta 116 Bo Arrhén 1

Australian qualification DateEventVenueWinner2nd3rd 3 Nov 84Northern Territory FinalTennant Creek Speedway David Jackson Brent Knott Glen Baxter 24 November 84Queensland FinalPioneer Park, Ayr Steve Regeling Stan Bear Steve Koppe 1 Dec 84South Australian Final Riverview Speedway, Murray Bridge Mark Fiora Steve Baker Darryl Branford 7 Dec 84Western Australian FinalClaremont Speedway, Perth Mick McKenna 16 Dec 84New South Wales FinalMeeanee Speedway, Napier Billy Sanders Gary Guglielmi Rudy Muts 23 Dec 84 Victorian FinalOlympic Park, Mildura Phil Crump Rod Hunter Bill Barret

Second round Continental preliminary round Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 21 April Rhein-Main Arena, Diedenbergen Klaus Lausch Hubert Diener Stanislav Urban 21 April Speedway Stadium, Targovishte Angel Jeftimov Igor Stolyarov Grzegorz Dzikowski 21 April KS Apator Stadium, Toruń Leonard Raba Wojciech Żabiałowicz Antonín Kasper Jr. 21 April Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc Viktor Kuznetsov Wojciech Załuski József Petrikovics

British semi-finals 19 May The Shay, Halifax Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Kenny Carter14+32 John Davis14+23 Neil Collins124 Phil Collins105 Neil Evitts96 Peter Collins97 Tim Hunt98 Andy Campbell89 Mark Courtney710 Sean Willmott711 Peter Carr512 Richard Knight513 Louis Carr414 Kevin Jolly315 Carl Blackbird216 Kenny McKinna217 Ian Sutcliffe (res)022 May Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Andy Grahame142 Kelvin Tatum133 Simon Cross124 Chris Morton125 Andy Smith116 Les Collins97 Alan Grahame88 Dave Jessup79 Steve Bastable710 Jamie Luckhurst611 Melvyn Taylor512 Mike Spink513 Jeremy Doncaster514 Bruce Cribb215 David Backburn216 Paul Woods217 John Bostin018 Nigel Leaver0

Third round Continental quarter-finals Top 32 to Continental semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 1 May Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo Armando Castagna Grzegorz Dzikowski Valentino Furlanetto 1 May Matija Gubec Stadium, Krško Antonín Kasper Jr. Armando Dal Chiele Laszlo Bodi 1 May Hansa Stadium, Bremen Klaus Lausch Václav Verner Zdenek Schneiderwind 5 May Stadion Wiener Neustadt Zoltan Adorjan Sandor Tihanyi Andrzej Huszcza

American Final 8 June 1985 Veterans Memorial Stadium, Long Beach First 5 to Overseas final

New Zealand Final - No final, David Bargh seeded direct to Overseas final

Australian Final 5 January 1985 Pioneer Park, Ayr First 2 to Overseas final Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Billy Sanders (3,3,3,3,3) 152 Phil Crump (X,3,2,2,3) 113 Stan Bear (2,2,2,2,3) 114 Mark Fiora (2,2,3,2,2) 115 Steve Regeling (1,3,0,3,3) 106 Alan Rivett (3,1,3,1,2) 107 Gary Guglielmi (3,3,X,2,X) 88 Rod Hunter (1,1,3,1,2) 89 Steve Koppe (3,2,1,X,1) 710 Ray Palmer (0,0,2,2,2) 611 David Jackson (1,2,2,0,1) 612 Steve Baker (2,0,1,1,0) 413 Rudy Muts (2,1,0,0,F) 314 Brent Nott (1,1,F,X,X) 215 Darryl Branfort (0,0,1,1,0) 216 Bill Barett (0,X,X,0,0) 0R1 Craig Drennan (3,1) 418 Mal Bedkoper (1) 1

British Final 6 June 1985 Brandon Stadium, Coventry First 7 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve

Norwegian Final 1 May 1985 Elgane Speedway, Varhaug Top 1 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Total1 Einar Kyllingstad 152 Roy Otto 143 Dag Haaland 114 Ingvar Skogland 115 Erlend Skretting 106 Kjel Arvid Gimre 107 Per Leveng 98 Arnt Forland 99 Willi Tjessem 710 Robert Langaland 711 Gjermund Aas 412 Aasger Bjerga 313 Jan Slaatter 314 Kurt Ueland 315 Geir Aasland 316 Gunnar Tunaem 1

Finland Final Eteläpuisto, Tampere 12 August 1984, top 2 (+1 seeded rider) to 1985 Nordic final Pos. Rider Total1 Kai Niemi 152 Ari Koponen 143 Juha Moksunen 11+34 Pekka Hautamaki 11+25 Olli Tyrvainen 106 Markku Haapala 97 Henry Kivela 98 Hannu Lehtonen 89 Mikael Back 610 Seppo Keskinen 611 Heimo Kaikko 612 Aarre Soivuori 413 Roy Malminheimo 314 Aki Ala Riihimaki 315 Esa Mattila 216 Ismo Kivela 217 Ari Heinonen (res) 1

Swedish Finals Top 5 to Nordic final R1 (20 May, Örebro Motorstadion, Örebro) R2 (21 May, Gislaved Motorbana, Gislaved) R3 (22 May, Linköping Motorstadion, Linköping) Pos. Rider R1R2R3Total1 Tommy Nilsson121513 402 Jimmy Nilsen 111312363 Richard Hellsén 12 10 13354 Per Jonsson 81015335 Erik Stenlund 14108326 Christer Rohlén 7108257 Pierre Brannefors 9122238 Lars Andersson 957219 Patrik Karlsson 4961910 Hans Wahlström 9341611 Börje Ring 3481512 Bengt Jansson 437 1413 Jimmie Magnusson 1481314 Anders Kling 3641315 Ake Fridell 82-1016 Tony Olsson 530817 Conny Ivarsson 004 418 Jan Lundgren 011119 Alf Trofast -1-120 Lars Mammarberg 1--1

Danish Final 5 May 1985 Brovst Speedway Center, Brovst First 7 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Total1 Hans Nielsen 152 Erik Gundersen 13+33 Preben Eriksen 13+24 Tommy Knudsen 115 Finn Rune Jensen 106 Jan O. Pedersen 107 John Jørgensen 108 Jens Rasmussen 99 Fleming Pedersen 610 John Eskildsen 611 Bo Petersen 612 Sam Nikolajsen 313 Brian Jacobsen 214 Aksel Jepsen 215 Per Sorensen 216 Frank Andersen 1R1 Helge Hansen 1

Fourth round Continental semi-finals 9 June Speedway Žarnovica, Žarnovica Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Egon Müller 132 Klaus Lausch 123 Armando Castagna 114 Lubomir Jedek 105 Aleš Dryml Sr. 106 Grzegorz Dzikowski 107 Václav Verner 108 Petr Vandírek 99 Giorgio Zaramella 710 Zenon Plech 611 Stanislav Urban 612 Michail Starostin 413 Piotr Pyszny 414 Valentino Furlanetto 315 Zdeněk Schneiderwind 316 Oleg Volokhov 29 June Hajdú Volán Stadion, Debrecen Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Zoltán Adorján 142 Viktor Kuznetsov 123 Sandor Tihanyi 114 Zoltan Hajdu 115 Antonín Kasper Jr. 106 Heinrich Schatzer 97 Karl Maier 98 Laszlo Bodi 89 Andrzej Huszcza 710 Armando Dal Chiele 711 Ottaviano Righetto 512 Petr Kucera 313 Zdislaw Rutecki 214 Henny Kroeze 215 Rif Saitgareev 216 Vladimir Trofimov 1

Overseas Final 14 July 1985 Odsal Stadium, Bradford First 10 to the Intercontinental Final plus 1 reserve David Bargh seeded direct to Overseas Final by the New Zealand Auto Cycle Union

Nordic Final 9 June 1985 Fjelsted Speedway Stadium, Harndrup First 6 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve

Fifth round Continental Final 21 July 1985 Rottalstadion, Pocking First 5 plus one reserve to the World Final

Intercontinental Final 3 August 1985 Vetlanda Motorstadion, Vetlanda First 11 plus one reserve to the World Final

World Final 31 August 1985 Bradford, Odsal StadiumBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. Referee: () Torrie Kittlesen

References