The 1984 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 39th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
Without former champions Ivan Mauger, Ole Olsen, Peter Collins, Michael Lee, and Bruce Penhall, the 1984 World Final, held for the eighth time at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden, was seen by some as the battle of the second tier riders. Though history would ultimately prove the first and second placed riders as among the best Motorcycle speedway has ever seen, winning every World Final between them until the end of the 1980s.
Dane Erik Gundersen won his first Speedway World Championship from countryman Hans Nielsen who defeated American Lance King in a run-off for second and third places. Defending champion Egon Müller of West Germany could not reproduce his 1983 World Final form and finished 14th with just 3 points from his 5 rides. 1983 runner-up Billy Sanders of Australia, the track record holder at Ullevi, fared marginally better, finishing 11th with just 5 points.
First round British qualification DateVenueWinner2nd3rd Preliminary Round 8 AprilMildenhall Stadium, Mildenhall Richard Knight Kevin Jolly Robert Henry 8 AprilBoston Sports Stadium, Boston Dave Perks Colin Cook Steve Lomas 10 AprilWessex Stadium, Weymouth Marvyn Cox Martin Yeates Alun Rossiter 13 AprilPowderhall Stadium, Edinburgh Kenny McKinna Dave Trownson Charlie McKinna 17 AprilMilton Keynes Stadium, Milton Keynes Trevor Banks Barry Thomas Keith White Quarter-Final 29 AprilThe Shay, Halifax Kevin Jolly Marvyn Cox Barry Thomas
Swedish qualification Top 6 in each heat to Swedish final
(6 May, Gamla Målilla Motorstadion Målilla)PosRider Points 1 Björn Andersson 142 Anders Kling 133 Alf Trofast 114 Hans Danielsson 115 Mikael Blixt 116 Lillebror Johansson 107 Kenneth Nyström 108 Erik Stenlund 99 Hans Wahlström 710 Tony Gudbrand 611 Thomas Hydling 512 Conny Ivarsson 513 Gert Carlsson 414 Dick Jegård 215 Tommy Celander 116 Roger Gustavsson 0
(5 May, Linköping Motorstadion Linköping)PosRider Points 1 Jan Andersson 152 Per Jonsson 143 Uno Johansson 114 Mikael Aniander 115 Tommy Johansson 116 Patrik Karlsson 87 Göran Waltersson 88 Lars Andersson 89 Jan Davidsson 810 [Jan Ericsson 711 Tony Olsson 712 Mikael Reinholdsson 413 Åke Fridell 314 Bengt Jansson 215 Sören Brolin 216 Mats Olsson 0
(6 May, Orionparken StadiumHallstavik)PosRider Points 1 Pierre Brannefors 152 Leif Wahlman 133 Mikael Messing 124 Tommy Nilsson 125 Magnus Jonsson 116 Lars Hammarberg 97 Börje Ring 98 Per-Ove Gudmundsson 99 Ulf Blomqvist 710 Lars Ericsson 611 Patric Ericsson 612 Kent Rickardsson 413 Niclas Johansson 314 Jimmie Magnusson 215 Stefan Karlsson 116 Mikael Löfqvist 1
Second round Continental preliminary round DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 22 April Matija Gubec Stadium, Krško Edward Jancarz Georg Gilgenreiner Jerzy Rembas 22 April Hajdú Volán Stadion, Debrecen Jiří Štancl Wojciech Żabiałowicz János Oreskó 22 April Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný Václav Verner Maciej Jaworek Stanislav Urban 22 April Olching Speedwaybahn, Olching Josef Aigner Peter Wurtele Armando Castagna
British semi-finals 16 May Wimborne Road, Poole Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Michael Lee152 Chris Morton133 Phil Collins124 Les Collins115 Dave Jessup96 Jeremy Doncaster97 Mark Courtney98 John Davis89 Gordon Kennett810 Kevin Smith711 Kevin Jolly612 Colin Richardson513 Kenny McKinna414 Alun Rossiter315 Barry Thomas116 John Barker025 May Oxford Stadium, Oxford Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Neil Evitts12+32 Andy Grahame12+23 Kenny Carter 114 Martin Yeates105 John Louis106 Alan Grahame107 Malcolm Simmons108 Peter Collins99 Simon Wigg810 Marvyn Cox711 Steve Bastable712 Neil Collins513 Richard Knight314 Dave Perks315 Colin Cook216 Sean Willmott1
Third round Continental quarter-finals Top 32 to Continental semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 5 May Stadion Wybrzeże, Gdańsk Antonín Kasper Jr. Boleslaw Proch Petr Ondrašík 5 May Ellermühle Stadium, Landshut Egon Muller Karl Maier Jiří Štancl 6 May Stadion Wiener Neustadt Josef Aigner Andrzej Huszcza Alois Wiesböck 6 May Napos út, Szeged Mikhail Starostin Edward Jancarz Aleš Dryml Sr.
British Final 20 June 1984 Brandon Stadium, Coventry First 8 to Overseas final
American Final 9 June 1984 Veterans Memorial Stadium, Long Beach, First 3 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve
Australian Final 29 January 1984 Olympic Park, Mildura First 2 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Phil Crump (3,3,3,3,3) 152 Billy Sanders (3,2,3,2,3) 133 Gary Guglielmi (F,3,3,3,2) 114 John Titman (3,3,2,1,1) 105 Rod Hunter (0,2,2,3,3) 106 Steve Regeling (1,3,0,3,2) 97 Steve Baker (2,F,1,2,3) 88 Stan Bear (2,1,0,2,2) 79 Glyn Taylor (3,2,0,F,1) 610 Mark Fiora (1,1,3,0,0) 511 David Jackson (2,2,1,F,X) 512 Ray Palmer (2,X,2,0,1) 513 Brent Nott (0,2,2,1,0) 514 David Cheshire (1,0,0,1,2) 415 Ashley Norton (F,-,-,-,-) 016 John McNeill (-,-,-,-,-) 0R1 Greg Barrett (1,1,1,0) 318 Chris Schmidt (0,1,0,1,0) 2
New Zealand Final 4 February 1984 Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch First 2 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Total1 Mitch Shirra 152 Larry Ross 143 David Bargh 134 Barry Briggs 115 Alan Mason 116 Peter Nightingale 97 Chris Martin 98 Mike Fullerton 89 Robin Hampton 710 Alan Fisher 611 Greg de Kok 512 Steve Duckworth 513 Alan Crosbie 414 Wayne Brown 215 Greg Holloway 116 Mark Richards 0
Danish Final
Fladbro Speedway, Randers Top 6 to Nordic final DateWinner2nd3rd 6 MayBo Petersen Erik Gundersen Hans Nielsen
Norwegian Final Geiteryggen Speedwaybane, Skien 11 May 1984, first 2 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Total1 Tormod Langli 152 Einar Kyllingstad 13+33 Roy Otto13+24 Ingvar Skogland 115 Dag Haland 116 Arne Svendsen 97 Kurt Ualand88 Willy Tjessem 89 Asgeir Bjerga 710 Geir Aasland 7 Finland Final Yyterin speedwaystadion, Pori 25 August 1983, top 1 (+2 seeded riders) to 1984 Nordic final Pos. Rider Total1 Ari Koponen 152 Juha Moksunen 143 Olli Tyrvainen 134 Kai Niemi 115 Pekka Hautamaki 116 Heimo Kaikko 117 Esa Mattila 98 Jorma Reima 89 Seppo Keskinen 810 Henry Kivela 511 Ossi Henriksson 312 Hannu Larronmaa 313 Harri Lankinen 314 Pentti Kallio (res) 315 Veli Pekka Kunelius 216 Rauli Makinen 117 Isto Maja 0
Swedish Finals Top 5 to Nordic final R1 (22 May, Sannaheds Motorstadion, Kumla) R2 (23 May, Ljungheden, Vastervik) R3 (24 May, Ullevi, Gothenburg) Pos. Rider R1R2R3Total1 Jan Andersson 151514 442 Pierre Brannefors 121414403 Björn Andersson 13 12 11364 Mikael Blixt 11129325 Tommy Nilsson 12108306 Leif Wahlman 710825+37 Per Jonsson 861125+28 Patrik Karlsson 897249 Hans Danielsson 8882410 Alf Trofast 6882211 Uno Johansson 4681812 Anders Kling 534 1213 Göran Waltersson 224814 Magnus Jonsson 420615 Lillebror Johansson 5--516 Mikael Aniander 0303
Fourth round Continental semi-finals 10 June Motodrom Halbemond, Norden Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Egon Müller 142 Jiří Štancl 123 Karl Maier 124 Václav Verner 125 Peter Würtele 106 Georg Hack 107 Josef Aigner 98 Henny Kroeze 89 Andrzej Huszcza 710 Armando Dal Chiele 711 Roman Jankowski 512 Leonard Raba 413 Igor Stolyarov 414 Jan Krzystyniak 315 Armando Castagna 316 Emil Sova 010 June Speedway Žarnovica, Žarnovica Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Zenon Kasprzak 132 Petr Ondrašík 113 Lubomir Jedek 114 Michail Starostin 115 Aleš Dryml Sr. 106 Edward Jancarz 97 Zdeněk Schneiderwind 98 Zenon Plech 8+39 Boleslaw Proch 8+210 Istvan Rusz 8+111 Antonín Kasper Jr. 612 Wojciech Zabialowicz 513 Fritz Bauer 514 Petr Kucera 415 Gennady Potechin 1
Nordic Final 12 June 1984 Norrköping Motorstadion, Norrköping First 6 +1 reserve to Intercontinental final
Overseas Final 15 July 1984 Hyde Road, Manchester First 10 to the Intercontinental Final plus 1 reserve
Fifth round Continental Final 22 July 1984 Rivne Speedway Stadium, Rivne First 5 to World Final plus 1 reserve
Intercontinental Final 20 July 1984 Vojens Speedway Center, Vojens First 11 to World Final plus 1 reserve
World Final 1 September 1984 Ullevi, Gothenburg.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.
References