The 1983 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 38th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider. It was the first time the World Final had been held in West Germany.
Final summary A near-capacity crowd of around 50,000 at the long Motodrom Halbemond circuit, saw local favourite Egon Müller became the first German rider to win the World Championship. Australian champion Billy Sanders, scored his best ever World Championship placing by finishing second, with England's 1980 World Champion Michael Lee finishing third.
With both Sanders and former champion Lee in good form, and with the winner of the previous two world finals Bruce Penhall having retired from speedway while on the podium at the 1982 world final, the 1983 final was expected to be one of the most open in years. Others including Kenny Carter, Dennis Sigalos, and Danes Ole Olsen, Hans Nielsen and Erik Gundersen, were all expected to challenge. Like surprise winner Jerzy Szczakiel who won at home in Poland in 1973, Egon Müller was expected to do well in front of his home crowd, but wasn't among the pre-meeting favourites.
In his last world final appearance Ole Olsen, the 1971, 1975 and 1978 World Champion, finished 6th with 10 points. Olsen won his last ride, defeating Gundersen, Czechoslovakia's Jiří Štancl, and American Lance King in heat 18.
First round New Zealand qualification DateEventVenueWinner2nd3rd ??South Island finalOreti Park Speedway, Invercargill Ivan Mauger Larry Ross Alan Mason ??North Island finalMeeanee Speedway, Napier David Bargh Mitch Shirra Craig Pendlebury
British qualification DateVenueWinner2nd3rd Preliminary Round 12 AprilWessex Stadium, Weymouth Kevin Smith Mike Ferreira Melvyn Taylor 15 AprilPowderhall Stadium, Edinburgh Alan Emerson Martin Dixon Bobby Beaton 19 AprilMilton Keynes Stadium, Milton Keynes Charlie McKinna Neil Middleditch Peter Carr 21 AprilOxford Stadium, Oxford Simon Wigg Barry Thomas Sean Willmott 27 AprilLong Eaton Stadium, Long Eaton Colin Richardson David Gagen Joe Owen Quarter-Final 30 AprilKing's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn Simon Wigg Sean Willmott Melvyn Taylor
Swedish qualification Top 6 in each heat to Swedish final
(7 May, Nässjö Motorstadion Nässjö)PosRider Points 1 Hans Danielsson 142 Lennart Bengtsson 123 Björn Andersson 124 Kent Bäär 115 Karl-Erik Claesson 9+36 Dick Jegård 9+27 Per-Ove Gudmundsson 9+18 Lars Hammarberg 89 Börje Klingberg 610 Kenneth Gustafsson 611 Kent Björk 612 Anders Eriksson 513 Jon Hovind 314 Stefan Andersson 315 Håkan Andersson 216 Peder Messing 2
(9 May, Motala Arena Motala)PosRider Points 1 Lillebror Johansson 132 Bernt Persson 123 Conny Samuelsson 124 Tommy Nilsson 115 Ulf Blomqvist 116 Hans Hallén 107 Erik Stenlund 88 Jan Ericsson 89 Magnus Jonsson 810 Börje Ring 611 Per Blom 612 Alf Trofast 513 Sören Brolin 514 Jan Davidsson 415 Eddie Davidsson 116 Sören Karlsson 0
(9 May, Gamla Målilla Motorstadion Målilla)PosRider Points 1 Uno Johansson 132 Pierre Brannefors 123 Mikael Blixt 124 Anders Kling 115 Gert Carlsson 116 Göran Waltersson 107 Mikael Messing 88 Mats Olsson 79 Lars Rosberg 610 Lars Carlsson 611 Åke Fridell 412 Lars Ericsson 413 Karl-Henry Boo 414 Bengt Jansson 415 Steinar Rydén 416 Conny Gustafsson 4
Second round Continental preliminary round DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 23 April Ruhpoldinger Stadion, Ruhpolding Giuseppe Marzotto Petr Kucera Andrzej Huszcza 24 April Napos út, Szeged Milan Špinka Boleslaw Proch Jerzy Rembas 24 April Petišovci Stadium, Lendava Petr Ondrašík Armando Dal Chiele János Oreskó 24 April Anton Treffer Stadion, Neustadt Vladimir Klychkov Piotr Belyaev Peter Wurterle
British semi-finals 8 May Arlington Stadium, Eastbourne Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 John Davis132 Paul Woods123 Dave Jessup10+34 Malcolm Simmons10+25 Gordon Kennett10+16 Phil Collins97 Sean Willmott98 Colin Richardson8+39 Alan Grahame8+210 Joe Owen8+111 Jeremy Doncaster712 John Louis513 Louis Carr414 Kevin Smith315 Neil Middleditch216 Kevin Jolly217 May Leicester Stadium, Leicester Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Peter Collins132 Simon Wigg123 Neil Collins11+34 Michael Lee11+25 Kenny Carter11+16 Chris Morton107 Les Collins9+38 Andy Grahame9+29 Mark Courtney9+f10 Steve Bastable611 Melvyn Taylor512 Reg Wilson413 Malcolm Holloway414 Tim Hunt315 Mike Ferreira216 Nigel Flatman1
Third round Continental quarter-finals Top 32 to Continental semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 6 May Stadion Wiener Neustadt Karl Maier Jiří Štancl Marek Kepa 8 May Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc Mikhail Starostin Bogusław Nowak Rif Saitgareev 8 May Shumen Motopista, Shumen Petr Ondrašík Viktor Kuznetsov Armando Dal Chiele 8 May Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo Egon Muller Roman Jankowski Zenon Plech
Sweden Finals Top 5 over three meetings + Jan Andersson (seeded) to Nordic final R1 (24 May, Kalvholmen Motorstadion, Karlstad) R2 (25 May, Gubbängens IP, Stockholm) R3 (27 May, Snälltorpet, Eskilstuna) Pos. Rider R1R2R3Total1 Tommy Nilsson 131314 402 Pierre Brannefors 101513383 Uno Johansson 12 11 10334 Anders Kling 10128305 Bernt Persson 51014296 Lillebror Johansson 1359277 Karl Erik Claesson 1392248 Hans Danielsson 3911239 Conny Samuelsson 7481910 Gert Carlsson 6841811 Goran Waltersson 8431512 Per Ove Gudmundsson -96 1513 Ulf Blomqvist 8331414 Lennart Bengtsson 1-91015 Hans Hallén 260816 Bent Baar 420617 Dick Jaglard 220418 Mikael Messing 4--4
Norwegian qualifying Elgane Speedway, Varhaug 24 April, top 2 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Points1 Tormod Langli 152 Dag Haland 11+33 Dagfinn Jorgensen 11+24 Roy Otto 11+15 Asgeir Bjerga 106 Jörn Haugvaldstad 97 Geir Aasland 78 Kurt Ueland 79 Sigvart Pedersen 710 Kjell Gimre 611 Tom Fjeldberg 612 Arne Svendsen 613 Ingve Madland 514 Roy Martinsen 415 Lars Otto Holt316 Nils O. Haraldsen 0 Finland Final Iinat Motor Sports Center, Oulu 8 August 1982, top 3 to 1983 Nordic final Pos. Rider Total1 Kai Niemi 152 Ari Koponen 143 Olli Tyrvainen 134 Veijo Tuoriniemi 115 Hannu Lehtonen 116 Pekka Hautamaki 87 Jari Kortelainen 88 Markku Haapala 79 Heimo Kaikko 710 Seppo Keskinen 711 Timo Kiansten 712 Kari Valtonen 413 Ismo Kivela 314 Ari Heinonen 315 Pasi Valtonen 116 Pekka Turkia 117 Markku Parkkari (res) 018 Isto Maja (res) 0 19 Seppo Nykanen (res) 0
Danish Final 9 May 1983 Fjelsted Speedway Stadium, Harndrup First 6 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Total1 Hans Nielsen 152 Erik Gundersen 133 Ole Olsen 12+34 Tommy Knudsen 12+25 Peter Ravn 116 Finn Rune Jensen 87 Preben Eriksen 88 Hans Ove Cristinsen 79 Kent Noer 710 Jens Rasmussen 611 Finn Thomsen 612 Flemming Pedersen 613 Alf Busk 614 Hans Albert Klinge 215 Bent Juul Larsen 116 Kjeld Hansen 0
British Final 1 June 1983 Brandon Stadium, Coventry First 8 to Overseas final
American Final 11 June 1983 Veterans Memorial Stadium, Long Beach First 4 to Overseas final Pos. Rider Total1 Dennis Sigalos 152 Mike Faria 11+33 Lance King 11+24 Shawn Moran 10+35 Rick Miller 10+26 John Cook 10+17 Dubb Ferrell 98 Ron Preston 89 Mike Bast 710 Kelly Moran 711 Bobby Schwartz 712 Brad Oxley 513 Steve Lucero 314 Shawn McConnell 315 Alan Christian 216 Gene Woods 1
Australian Final 21 January 1983 Speedway Park, Adelaide First 2 to Overseas final Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Billy Sanders (3,3,3,3,3) 152 Glyn Taylor (3,2,2,3,3) 133 Phil Crump (3,3,3,X,3) 124 Gary Guglielmi (2,1,3,2,3+3) 11+35 Rod Hunter (2,2,2,3,2+2) 11+26 Danny Kennedy (1,1,3,3,0) 87 Les Sawyer (1,3,1,2,1) 88 Steve Baker (3,0,2,0,2) 79 Mark Fiora (2,2,0,1,2) 710 John Titman (X,2,1,2,2) 711 Steve Regeling (0,3,0,2,1) 612 David Jackson (1,2,0,1,0) 413 Dean Johnson (0,1,1,2,1) 414 Rob Ashton (2,0,1,1,0) 415 Kevin O'Connell (Res) (-,-,2,-,-) 216 Wayne Baxter (0,0,0,0,1) 117 Tony Boyle (Res) (1,-,-,-,-) 118 Chris Higgs (0,0,0,0,0) 0
New Zealand final 21 February 1983 Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch First 2 to overseas final Pos. Rider Total1 Mitch Shirra 142 Larry Ross 143 David Bargh 134 Ivan Mauger 135 Alan Mason 116 Chris Martin 107 Robin Hampton 78 Roger Wright 79 Barry Free 710 Craig Blackett 611 Max Brown 612 Peter Nightingale 513 Craig Williamson 314 Merv Salt 215 Martin Waygang 216 Alan Crosbie 0
Fourth round Continental semi-finals 12 July Rottalstadion, Pocking Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Egon Müller 152 Henny Kroeze 133 Roman Jankowski 104 Zoltan Hajdu 105 Michail Starostin 106 Aleš Dryml Sr. 97 Rif Saitgareev 98 Emil Sova 8+39 Zenon Plech 8+210 Milan Špinka 711 Boguslaw Nowak 712 Ottaviano Righetto 13 Jerzy Rembaz 314 Zoltán Adorján 315 Zbignew Zabialowicz 116 Georg Hack 112 July Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Karl Maier 152 Jiří Štancl 123 Antonín Kasper Jr. 124 Andrzej Huszcza 125 Armando Dal Chiele 116 Valerij Gordeev 107 Viktor Kuznetsov 98 Petr Ondrašík 89 Miroslaw Berlinski 710 Pavel Karnas 711 Marek Kepa 712 Nikolaj Manev 313 Angel Eftimov 314 Stanislav Urban 115 Orlin Jankiev 116 Christian Brandt 117 Janos Oresko (res) 1
Overseas Final 17 July 1983 Hyde Road, Manchester First 10 to the Intercontinental Final plus 1 reserve
Nordic Final 12 June 1983 Elgane Speedway, Varhaug First 6 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve
Fifth round Continental Final 6 August 1983 Rybnik Municipal Stadium, Rybnik First 5 to World Final plus 1 reserve
Intercontinental Final 7 August 1983 White City Stadium, London First 11 to World Final plus 1 reserve
World Final 4 September 1983 Motodrom Halbemond, Norden.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. Referee: () Rolf Randborg
References