The 1982 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 37th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
The 1982 World Final was held in Los Angeles in the United States. This was the only time the Individual World Final was held outside of England or Europe before the advent of the Speedway Grand Prix series in 1995.
The speedway track for the final was laid out over the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum's existing athletics track. The event was held in front of a crowd of approximately 40,000 people, the largest ever motorcycle speedway attendance in the United States.
Controversy Heat 14 of the championship proved to be the most controversial race of the night, and one of the most controversial heats in the whole of speedway history. After a slow start which saw defending champion Bruce Penhall, and England's Kenny Carter in 3rd and 4th places behind 1976 World Champion Peter Collins and Australian Phil Crump, both riders fought their way past Crump and into 2nd and 3rd behind Collins. Carter moved under Penhall into 2nd place at the end of the 2nd lap, and both riders proceeded to bump each other down the front straight with Carter emerging in front. Carter then went wide through turn 1 which allowed Penhall to come back underneath him. Carter then fell coming onto the back straight and went through the fence causing the race to be stopped. Norwegian referee Torrie Kittlesen then excluded Carter from the race for causing the stoppage. Carter protested claiming that Penhall had hit him in the corner causing him to come off his bike and walked back to the start line in an effort to stop the re-run going ahead without him. Officials and his manager Ivan Mauger were then forced to remove Carter from the track.
Although not shown in the television broadcast of the event, amateur video footage shot from the stands in turns 1 & 2 vindicated Kittlesen's decision. The footage showed that Penhall and Carter did not touch in the turn and that the Englishman had gone down on his own, though years later the debate still rages on about who was at fault.1982 World Final Heat 14 In a television interview with American broadcaster Ken Squier soon after the heat, Kittlesen told that he excluded Carter as he believed the Englishman had fallen without help from Penhall. He also said that the rough riding such as seen from Penhall and Carter on the front straight was to be expected in a World Final. Phil Crump, who had the best view of the incident as he was directly behind the pair, allegedly agreed with the decision to exclude Carter.
Penhall went on to win the re-run from Collins and Crump. In a twist, the result in the re-run ultimately cost Collins' younger brother Les the World Championship in what was his first and only World Final appearance. Had Penhall finished second in Heat 14 behind Peter Collins, and with later results, he and Les Collins could have finished with 13 points each which would have seen the pair in a runoff for the championship. Les Collins had inflicted Penhall's only loss of the meeting when he out-rode the American in Heat 4 in what many believe was a major upset. Additionally, if Penhall had been excluded from Heat 14 and not Carter, Les Collins would have a small chance of winning the title as he had finished with a 2-point lead over third placed American Dennis Sigalos, however Carter would have had a good chance of winning a re-run Heat 14 which would give him a two-point advantage over Les Collins before they met, so Carter would have been favourite. Had Penhall only finished on 11 points he would have had a runoff with fellow American Kelly Moran for third place.
In another controversial decision, two races later Kittlesen excluded Czechoslovakia's Václav Verner after a clash with West Germany's Georg Hack, the incident being similar to the Penhall / Carter incident. However, on this occasion it was the rider who stayed on his bike, Verner, who was excluded (though video evidence available to Kittlesen at the time clearly showed Verner's back wheel taking out Hack's front wheel).
The controversy did not end there because Penhall then quit speedway immediately to pursue an acting career (specifically for a role in CHiPs). The decision angered many in speedway circles with calls for the American to be stripped of his title.
First round British qualification Top 16 Riders progress to British semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd Preliminary Round 13 AprilWessex Stadium, Weymouth Simon Wigg Ian Clark Dave Perks 25 AprilRye House Stadium, Hoddesdon Bob Garrad Nigel Flatman Steve Naylor 25 AprilBoston Sports Stadium, Boston Colin Cook Mark Courtney Rob Hollingworth 27 AprilCrayford & Bexleyheath Stadium, Crayford Steve Wilcock Mike Ferreira Barry Thomas 29 AprilOxford Stadium, Oxford Derek Harrison Tim Hunt Neil Collins Quarter-Final 7 MayEast of England Arena, Peterborough Simon Wigg Mark Courtney Mike Ferreira
Swedish qualification Top 8 in each heat to Swedish final
(7 May, Motala Arena, Motala)PosRider Points 1 Lillebror Johansson 122 Lennart Bengtsson 123 Anders Michanek 124 Bernt Persson 105 Åke Fridell 106 Börje Ring 107 Pierre Brannefors 98 Jan Ericsson 99 Conny Samuelsson 810 Per-Ove Gudmundsson 811 Lars Johansson 812 Åke Axelsson 513 Sören Brolin 314 Karl-Erik Claesson 315 Thomas Hydling 216 Peter Danielsson 2
(9 May, Gislaved Motorbana, Gislaved)PosRider Points 1 Richard Hellsén 142 Hans Danielsson 133 Tommy Nilsson 124 Björn Andersson 125 Uno Johansson 106 Tommy Johansson 97 Anders Eriksson 88 Roger Gustavsson 79 Lars Hammarberg 610 Gert Carlsson 611 Lars Rosberg 612 Lars Ericsson 513 Anders Kling 414 Börje Klingberg 415 Ulf Blomqvist 316 Lars-Olov Karlsson 1
Australian qualification DateEventVenueWinner2nd3rd 28 Nov 81Queensland FinalPioneer Park Speedway, Ayr Steve Koppe Merv Janke John Titman 2 Jan Southern Zone Final Western International Raceway, Melbourne Phil Crump Danny Kennedy Terry Tulloch 3 Jan Northern Zone FinalRockhampton Showgrounds, Rockhampton Gary Guglielmi Billy Sanders John Titman
New Zealand qualification DateEventVenueWinner2nd3rd 16 Jan South Island FinalRuapuna Speedway, Christchurch Larry Ross Roger Wright Alan Mason 24 Jan North Island FinalKihikihi Speedway, Kihikihi Mitch Shirra David Bargh John Goodall
Second round Continental preliminary round DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 24 April Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam Alfred Siekierka Václav Verner Petr Kucera 25 April Svítkov Stadium, Pardubice Petr Ondrašík Viktor Kuznetsov Milan Špinka 25 April Speedway Stadium, Targovishte Roman Jankowski Mikhail Starostin Jan Verner 26 April Gradski stadion, Osijek Josef Aigner Valery Gordeev Nikolaj Manev
British semi-finals 14 May Hackney Wick Stadium, London Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Les Collins152 John Louis123 Dave Jessup114 Michael Lee115 Paul Woods106 Mike Ferreira97 Kevin Jolly98 Chris Morton89 Gordon Kennett710 Sean Willmott711 Colin Richardson512 Colin Cook413 Kevin Smith414 Robert Henry315 Roger Johns316 Derek Harrison214 May Birchfield Ladbroke Stadium, Birmingham Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Alan Grahame132 Kenny Carter123 Andy Grahame124 Phil Collins125 Malcolm Holloway116 Peter Collins97 Simon Wigg98 John Davis89 Melvyn Taylor810 Mark Courtney711 Steve Bastable612 Ian Cartwright513 Dave Morton214 Rob Hollingworth215 Malcolm Simmons216 Neil Collins1
Third round Continental quarter-finals Top 32 to Continental semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 9 May Stadion Wiener Neustadt Karl Maier Josef Aigner Valery Gordeev 9 May Motodrom Halbemond, Norden Egon Muller Georg Hack Zenon Plech 9 May Rhein-Main Arena, Diedenbergen Henny Kroeze Leonard Raba Václav Verner 9 May Hajdú Volán Stadion, Debrecen Aleš Dryml Sr. Mikhail Starostin Zoltan Hajdu
American Final 12 June 1982 Veterans Memorial Stadium, Long Beach First 3 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Dennis Sigalos 3,3,3,3,3 152 Shawn Moran 2,2,3,3,3 13+33 Kelly Moran 3,2,2,3,3 13+24 Scott Autrey 3,3,3,2,2 13+15 John Cook 1,3,1,3,2 106 Mike Faria 2,1,2,2,3 107 Bobby Schwartz 3,3,1,X,1 88 Mike Curosco 0,2,3,1,1 79 Brad Oxley 2,1,0,1,2 610 Alan Christian 2,F,2,1,0 511 Gene Woods 1,0,2,E,1 412 Mike Bast X,2,1,0,0 313 Steve Lucero 1,0,0,2,0 314 Dave Sims 0,E,1,0,1 215 Steve Gresham 1,1,0,-,- 216 Paul Orlandi 0,1,F,-,- 1R1 Keith Christo 2,2 4R2 John Sandona 0,1,0 1
British Final 2 June 1982 Brandon Stadium, Coventry First 8 to Overseas Final plus 1 reserve
Australian Final 13 March 1982 Exhibition Ground, Brisbane Top 2 to Overseas final Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Billy Sanders 3,3,3,3,3 152 Phil Crump 3,3,3,3,2 143 Gary Guglielmi 1,3,3,3,1 114 Steve Regeling 2,2,1,3,3 115 John Titman 3,2,2,2,2 116 Ron Schleib 1,3,2,1,3 107 Phil Herne 2,2,3,2,1 108 Neil Coddington 3,1,2,0,2 89 Glyn Taylor 2,1,1,2,X 610 Peter Byrne 1,0,0,0,3 411 Les Sawyers 2,X,0,2,0 412 Mark Johns 0,1,0,1,2 413 Graeme Robertson 0,2,0,1,1 414 David Foot 1,1,1,0,1 415 Steve Baker 0,0,2,0,0 216 Peter Carswell 0,0,1,1,0 2
New Zealand Final 27 February 1982 Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch Top 2 to Overseas final Pos. Rider Total1 Larry Ross 152 Ivan Mauger 143 Mitch Shirra 134 David Bargh 125 Alan Mason 116 Roger Wright 107 Max Brown 98 Greame Stapleton 89 Kevin Browne 610 Trevor Chapman 511 Graham Taylor 412 Greg Joynt 413 Gavin Rhodes 414 Lance Begbie 215 Steve Hann 116 Vayne Brown 0R1 Philip McClintock 2R2 Craig Blacket 0
Danish Final 11 May 1982 Fredericia Speedway Stadium, Fredericia First 6 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Total1 Erik Gundersen 13+32 Bo Petersen 13+23 Hans Nielsen 13+14 Ole Olsen 115 Preben Eriksen 106 Tommy Knudsen 107 Finn Thomsen 98 Bent Rasmussen 89 Jens Rasmussen 710 Alf Busk 711 Finn Rune Jensen 512 Helge R. Hansen 413 Jens Henry Nielsen 414 John Eskildsen 315 Hans Albert Klinge 316 Rene Christiansen 0
Norway Final Geiteryggen Speedwaybane, Skien 9 May 1982, top 2 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Points1 Dag Haaland 142 Roy Otto 133 Trond Helge Skretting 124 Sigvart Pedersen 115 Asgeir Berga 116 Geir Aasland 107 Kjell Gimre 88 Lars Otto Holt 79 Terje Tollefsen 710 Roar Rockvaldsen 611 Jörn Haugvaldstad Finland Final Eteläpuisto, Tampere 10 September 1981, top 2 (+1 seeded rider) to 1982 Nordic final Pos. Rider Total1 Kai Niemi 152 Pekka Hautamaki 143 Veijo Tuoriniemi 124 Olli Turkia 115 Seppo Palomaki 106 Ossi Henriksson 107 Hannu Lehtonen 98 Isto Maja 79 Hannu Larronmaa (res) 710 Ari Koponen 511 Seppo Keskinen 512 Ismo Kivela 413 Heikki Makinen 414 Markku Parkkari 115 Esa Jamsalainen 116 Risto Jokinen (res) 117 Esa Mattila 018 Pentti Kallio 019 Kari Yrjanainen (res) 0
Swedish finals Top 4 over three meetings + Jan Andersson (seeded) to Nordic final R1 (25 May, Gamla Målilla Motorstadion, Målilla) R2 (26 May, Gubbängens IP, Stockholm) R3 (27 May, Grevby Motorstadion, Mariestad) Pos. Rider R1 R2 R3 Total1 Richard Hellsén 131311 372 Tommy Nilsson 101313 363 Björn Andersson 91211 324 Lillebror Johansson 10812 31+35 Lennart Bengsson 13810 31+26 Uno Johansson 11712 307 Anders Michanek 7812 278 Jan Ericsson998 269 Hans Danielsson 667 1910 Conny Samuelsson 754 1611 Åke Fridell 4101 1512 Roger Gustavsson 617 1413 Anders Eriksson 922 1314 Börje Ring 255 1215 Per-Ove Gudmundsson 054 916 Pierre Brannefors 800 817 Gert Carlsson 04- 418 Sören Brolin 00- 019 Tommy Johansson 0-- 0
Fourth round Continental semi-finals 13 July Abensberger Stadion, Abensberg Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Viktor Kuznetsov 12+32 Marek Kepa 12+23 Rif Saitgareev 114 Václav Verner 105 Henny Kroeze 106 Georg Hack 107 Leonard Raba 98 Jindrich Dominik 89 Christian Brandt 710 Wojciech Zabialowicz 611 Petr Kucera 612 Anatolij Maxsimov 513 Alois Wiesböck 414 Zenon Plech 415 Alfred Siekierka 316 Egon Müller 013 July Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo Top 8 to Continental final