1983 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1983 Individual Speedway World Championship was the first time the World Final had been held in West Germany.

1983 Individual Speedway World Championship
Previous: 1982 Next: 1984

Final summary

An almost capacity crowd of around 50,000 at the 400 metres (440 yards) long Motodrom Halbemond saw local favourite Egon Müller became the first German rider to win the World Championship. As of 2016 he is the only German to have obtained the honour. Australian Champion Billy Sanders, in career best form and always at his best on the longer tracks like those in his native Australia, 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 (England), Dennis Sigalos (United States), 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, "The Great Dane" Ole Olsen, the 1971, 1975 and 1978 World Champion, finished 6th with 10 points. He fittingly won his last ride, defeating Gundersen, Czechoslovakia's Jiří Štancl, and American Lance King in Heat 18.

New Zealand Qualification
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
South Island Final
?? Invercargill Ivan Mauger Larry Ross Alan Mason
North Island Final
?? Napier David Bargh Mitch Shirra Craig Pendlebury
New Zealand Final
26 February Christchurch Mitch Shirra Larry Ross David Bargh

New Zealand Final
Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Mitch Shirra14
2 Larry Ross14
3 David Bargh13
4 Ivan Mauger13
5 Alan Mason11
6 Chris Martin10
7 Robin Hampton7
8 Roger Wright7
9 Barry Free7
10 Craig Blackett6
11 Max Brown6
12 Peter Nightingale5
13 Craig Williamson3
14 Merv Salt2
15 Martin Waygang2
16 Alan Crosbie0
R1 Graham McEwan0
R2 Steve Hann0

British Qualification
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Preliminary Round
3 April Kings Lynn Simon Wigg Sean Willmott Melvyn Taylor
12 April Weymouth Kevin Smith Mike Ferreira Melvyn Taylor
15 April Edinburgh Alan Emerson Martin Dixon Bobby Beaton
19 April Milton Keynes Charlie McKinna Neil Middleditch Peter Carr
21 April Oxford Simon Wigg Barry Thomas Sean Willimott
27 April Long Eaton Colin Richardson David Gagen Joe Owen
Semi-Finals
8 May Eastbourne John Davis Paul Woods Dave Jessup
17 May Leicester Peter Collins Simon Wigg Neil Collins
Final
1 June Coventry Chris Morton Michael Lee Andy Grahame

British Final
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21
(4) Chris Morton 12 2 2 3 2 3 12 1
(12) Michael Lee 11 0 3 2 3 3 11 2
(9) Andy Grahame 10 2 0 2 3 3 10 3 3
4 (5) Kenny Carter 10 2 3 0 3 2 10 4 2
5 (1) Peter Collins 10 1 1 3 2 3 10 5 1
6 (13) John Davis 10 2 2 2 2 2 10 6 0
7 (2) Phil Collins 9 0 3 1 3 2 9 7
8 (15) Les Collins 8 0 2 3 1 2 8 8
9 (3) Paul Woods 7 3 1 1 1 1 7 9
10 (11) Dave Jessup 6 3 3 F M M 6 10
11 (14) Simon Wigg 6 3 0 3 0 E 6 11
12 (6) Gordon Kennett 6 3 1 2 0 0 6 12
13 (16) Colin Richardson 6 1 1 1 2 1 6 13
14 (10) Malcolm Simmons 5 1 2 1 0 1 5 14
15 (7) Sean Willimott 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 15
16 (8) Neil Collins 1 0 0 E 1 0 1 16
R1 (R1) Kevin Hawkins 1 0 1 1 R1
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside

Swedish Qualification
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Semi-Finals
7 May Nassjo Hans Danielsson Bjorn Andersson Lennart Bengtsson
9 May Motala Lillebror Johansson Bernt Persson Conny Samuelsson
9 May Malilla Uno Johansson Pierre Brannefors Mikael Blixt
Final
24 May Karlstad Tommy Nilsson Lillebror Johansson Karl Eric Claesson
25 May Gubbangen Pierre Brannefors Tommy Nilsson Anders Kling
27 May Eskilstuna Bernt Persson Tommy Nilsson Pierre Brannefors

Sweden Final
  • First 4 to Scandinavian final
Pos.RiderTotal
1 Tommy Nilsson40
2 Pierre Brannefors38
3 Uno Johansson33
4 Anders Kling30
5 Bernt Persson29
6 Lillebror Johansson27
7 Karl Erik Claesson24
8 Hans Danielsson23
9 Conny Samuelsson19
10 Gert Carlsson18
11 Goran Waltersson15
12 Per Ove Gudmundsson15
13 Ulf Blomqvist14
14 Lennart Bengtsson10
15 Hans Hallen8
16 Bent Baar6
17 Dick Jaglard4
18 Mikael Messing4

Intercontinental Round
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Australian Final
21 January AdelaideBilly SandersGlyn TaylorPhil Crump
Danish Final
9 May Fjelsted Hans Nielsen Erik Gundersen Ole Olsen
American Final
11 June Long Beach Dennis Sigalos Mike Faria Lance King
Scandinavian Final
12 June Elgane Hans Nielsen Erik Gundersen Ole Olsen
Overseas Final
17 July Belle Vue Phil Collins Kenny Carter Mitch Shirra
Intercontinental Final
7 August White City Hans Nielsen Michael Lee Erik Gundersen

Australian Final
  • January 21, 1983
  • Adelaide
  • Referee: () Sam Bass
  • First 2 to Overseas final
Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Billy Sanders(3,3,3,3,3)15
2 Glyn Taylor(3,2,2,3,3)13
3 Phil Crump(3,3,3,X,3)12
4 Gary Guglielmi(2,1,3,2,3+3)11+3
5 Rod Hunter(2,2,2,3,2+2)11+2
6 Danny Kennedy(1,1,3,3,0)8
7 Les Sawyer(1,3,1,2,1)8
8 Steve Baker(3,0,2,0,2)7
9 Mark Fiora(2,2,0,1,2)7
10 John Titman(X,2,1,2,2)7
11 Steve Regeling(0,3,0,2,1)6
12 David Jackson(1,2,0,1,0)4
13 Dean Johnson(0,1,1,2,1)4
14 Rob Ashton(2,0,1,1,0)4
15 Kevin O'Connell (Res)(-,-,2,-,-)2
16 Wayne Baxter(0,0,0,0,1)1
17 Tony Boyle (Res)(1,-,-,-,-)1
18 Chris Higgs(0,0,0,0,0)0

Danish Final
  • May 9, 1983
  • Fjelsted
  • First 6 to Scandinavian final
Pos.RiderTotal
1 Hans Nielsen15
2 Erik Gundersen13
3 Ole Olsen12+3
4 Tommy Knudsen12+2
5 Peter Ravn11
6 Finn Rune Jensen8
7 Preben Eriksen8
8 Hans Ove Cristinsen7
9 Kent Noer7
10 Jens Rasmussen6
11 Finn Thomsen6
12 Flemming Petersen6
13 Alf Busk6
14 Hans Albert Klinge2
15 Bent Juul Larsen1
16 Kjeld Hansen0

American Final
Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Dennis Sigalos(3,3,3,3,3)15
2 Mike Faria11+3
3 Lance King11+2
4 Shawn Moran10+3
5 Rick Miller10+2
6 John Cook10+1
7 Dubb Ferrell9
8 Ron Preston8
9 Mike Bast7
10 Kelly Moran7
11 Bobby Schwartz7
12 Brad Oxley5
13 Steve Lucero3
14 Shawn McConnell3
15 Alan Christian2
16 Gene Woods1

Scandinavian Final
  • June 12, 1983
  • Elgane
  • First 6 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21
(4) Hans Nielsen 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
(12) Erik Gundersen 14 3 2 3 3 3 14 2
(14) Ole Olsen 12 2 3 3 2 2 12 3
4 (5) Peter Ravn 11 3 3 1 3 1 11 4
5 (9) Jan Andersson 11 2 2 2 2 3 11 5
6 (13) Pierre Brannefors 10 3 1 2 2 2 10 6 3
7 (2) Kai Niemi 10 2 1 2 3 2 10 7 2
8 (6) Tommy Knudsen 8 1 2 3 1 1 8 8
9 (15) Finn Rune Jensen 7 1 3 0 F 3 7 9
10 (8) Ari Koponen 5 2 0 1 0 2 5 10
11 (11) Tommy Nilsson 5 0 2 2 1 0 5 11
12 (3) Tormod Langli 3 0 1 0 2 0 3 12
13 (16) Uno Johansson 3 0 1 1 0 1 3 13
14 (10) Olli Tyrvainen 3 1 0 1 1 0 3 14
15 (1) Dag Haaland 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 15
16 (7) Anders Kling 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 16
R1 (R1) Bjorn Andersson 0 0 R1
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside

Overseas Final
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21
(11) Phil Collins 12 1 3 3 2 3 12 1
(16) Kenny Carter 11 3 3 0 2 3 11 2 3
(1) Mitch Shirra 11 2 2 1 3 3 11 3 2
4 (8) Larry Ross 10 3 2 2 3 0 10 4
5 (2) Billy Sanders 10 3 3 3 1 F 10 5
6 (6) Dennis Sigalos 9 0 2 2 2 3 9 6
7 (7) Chris Morton 9 1 2 3 1 2 9 7
8 (4) Andy Grahame 9 1 1 2 3 2 9 8
9 (5) Michael Lee 8 2 3 1 1 1 8 9
10 (15) Lance King 8 2 1 2 1 2 8 10
11 (14) Shawn Moran 7 1 1 3 2 0 7 11
12 (10) Les Collins 6 2 0 0 3 1 6 12
13 (12) John Davis 4 3 0 0 0 1 4 13
14 (3) Peter Collins 3 E 0 1 0 2 3 14
15 (9) Glyn Taylor 2 E 1 0 0 1 2 15
16 (13) Mike Faria 1 0 0 1 E F 1 16
R1 (R1) Paul Woods 0 0 R1
R2 (R2) Alan Mason 0 0 R2
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside

Intercontinental Final
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21
(1) Hans Nielsen 14 3 3 3 2 3 14 1
(8) Michael Lee 12 3 2 3 2 2 12 2
(7) Erik Gundersen 11 0 3 3 3 2 11 3
4 (14) Dennis Sigalos 10 3 2 2 X 3 10 4
5 (4) Kenny Carter 10 0 3 2 3 2 10 5
6 (13) Billy Sanders 10 1 2 1 3 3 10 6
7 (2) Ole Olsen 9 2 3 3 1 0 9 7
8 (16) Mitch Shirra 9 2 1 2 1 3 9 8
9 (6) Chris Morton 7 2 1 0 2 2 7 9
10 (3) Lance King 7 1 2 1 3 0 7 10
11 (12) Phil Collins 6 2 0 2 1 1 6 11
12 (10) Peter Ravn 6 3 E 0 2 1 6 12
13 (9) Jan Andersson 3 0 1 0 1 1 3 13
14 (11) Pierre Brannefors 3 1 0 1 0 1 3 14
15 (15) Andy Grahame 2 0 1 1 0 0 2 15
16 (5) Larry Ross 1 1 E 0 0 0 1 16
R1 (R1) Kai Niemi 0 0 R1
R2 (R2) Shawn Moran 0 0 R2
R3 (R3) Les Collins 0 0 R3
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside

Continental Round
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Preliminary Round
23 April Ruhpolding Giuseppe Marzotto Petr Kucera Andrzej Huszcza
24 April Szeged Milan Špinka Boleslaw Proch Jerzy Rembas
24 April Lendava Petr Ondrašík Armando Dal Chiele János Oreskó
24 April Neustadt Donau Vladimir Klychkov Piotr Belyaev Peter Wurterle
Quarter-Finals
6 May Wiener Neustadt Karl Maier Jiří Štancl Marek Kepa
8 May Miskolc Mikhail Starostin Boguslaw Nowak Rif Saitgareev
8 May Shumen Petr Ondrašík Viktor Kuznetsov Armando Dal Chiele
8 May Lonigo Egon Muller Roman Jankowski Zenon Plech
Semi-Finals
12 July Pocking Egon Muller Henny Kroeze Roman Jankowski
12 July Slany Karl Maier Jiří Štancl Antonín Kasper Jr.
Final
6 August Rybnik Zenon Plech Egon Muller Jiří Štancl

Continental Final
  • 6 August 1983
  • Rybnik
  • First 5 to World Final plus 1 reserve
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21
(2) Zenon Plech 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
(11) Egon Muller 14 3 3 3 2 3 14 2
(4) Jiří Štancl 12 1 3 3 3 2 12 3
4 (3) Petr Ondrašík 11 2 2 2 3 2 11 4
5 (13) Antonín Kasper Jr. 10 3 3 2 1 1 10 5
6 (16) Karl Maier 9 2 2 1 2 2 9 6 3
7 (14) Henny Kroeze 9 1 1 3 3 1 9 7 2
8 (6) Andrzej Huszcza 8 3 E 2 E 3 8 8
9 (9) Valery Gordeev 7 2 1 1 2 1 7 9
10 (7) Mikhail Starostin 5 2 0 1 2 0 5 10
11 (5) Aleš Dryml Sr. 5 E 2 2 1 0 5 11
12 (8) Zoltan Hajdu 4 1 1 0 0 2 4 12
13 (10) Emil Sova 4 1 2 0 0 1 4 13
14 (1) Rif Saitgareev 3 0 0 0 0 3 3 14
15 (12) Viktor Kuznetsov 2 0 0 1 1 0 2 15
16 (15) Armando Dal Chiele 2 0 1 0 1 X 2 16
R1 (R1) Miroslaw Berlinski 0 0 R1
R2 (R2) Boguslaw Nowak 0 0 R2
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside

World Final
  • September 4, 1983
  • Norden, Motodrom Halbemond[1]
  • Referee: () Rolf Randborg
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos
1 (12) Egon Müller 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
2 (5) Billy Sanders 12 3 3 2 2 2 12 2
3 (4) Michael Lee 11 3 2 0 3 3 11 3
4 (16) Erik Gundersen 10 3 0 2 3 2 10 4
5 (10) Kenny Carter 10 2 3 3 1 1 10 5
6 (7) Ole Olsen 10 1 3 1 2 3 10 6
7 (13) Hans Nielsen 9 2 2 2 3 e 9 7
8 (1) Dennis Sigalos 8 2 1 3 0 2 8 8
9 (15) Karl Maier 8 1 1 1 2 3 8 9
10 (8) Chris Morton 7 2 1 3 1 0 7 10
11 (3) Mitch Shirra 7 1 2 2 0 2 7 11
12 (2) Lance King 4 0 2 0 2 0 4 12
13 (14) Phil Collins 4 0 1 1 1 1 4 13
14 (6) Antonín Kasper Jr. 3 0 0 1 1 1 3 14
15 (11) Zenon Plech 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 15
16 (9) Jiří Štancl 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 16
(17) Peter Ravn 0 0
(18) Henny Kroeze 0 0
Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside

References
  1. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
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