1981 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1981 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 36th edition of the official Motorcycle speedway World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3][4][5]

It was also the last of a record 26 times that London's world famous Wembley Stadium hosted the World Final. It also marked the final time that the stadium would be used for any speedway. In future years when the final was held in England, it would be held at the Odsal Stadium in Bradford until the advent of the Speedway Grand Prix series in 1995. The 1981 Final was held before a reported crowd of 92,500, just shy of the Wembley record of 95,000 set at the 1938 World Final.

Bruce Penhall became the first American to win the World Championship since Jack Milne in 1937. As a past World Championship winner at Wembley, the 74-year-old Milne was a special guest at the event and saw Penhall end America's 44 year Individual World Championship drought. Though he remained undefeated until his last ride when he only needed to finish 3rd to win the Championship (he finished that race in second behind his rival Kenny Carter), Penhall was forced to work hard for his maiden World Championship. In both Heat 7 and Heat 14 he was second for over 3½ laps behind Ole Olsen and Tommy Knudsen respectively before passing both in the run to the line. Olsen would defeat Knudsen in a runoff for second and third places after both finished on 12 points. The triple World Champion gaining some revenge on his younger countryman after Knudsen had defeated Olsen in the first heat of the meeting.

In Heat 6, Erik Gundersen set a new four lap record of 66.8 seconds for the track and as this was the final speedway meeting at Wembley it will forever be the track record.

First round

New Zealand qualification

Event Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
South Island Final19 JanRuapuna Speedway, ChristchurchLarry RossTony BriggsIvan Mauger
North Island Final?Awapuni Speedway, GisborneWayne BrownColin FarquharsonMartin Weygang

Australian qualification

Event Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
Southern Zone Final16 JanSpeedway Park, AdelaidePhil CrumpJohn BoulgerMick McKeon
Northern Zone Final12 FebExhibition Ground, BrisbaneGary GuglielmiNeil CoddingtonBilly Sanders

British qualification

Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
Preliminary Round
7 AprilWessex Stadium, WeymouthNeil MiddleditchSimon WiggKevin Smith
10 AprilEast of England Arena, PeterboroughLouis CarrKevin HawkinsNicky Allott
12 AprilRye House Stadium, HoddesdonKeith WhiteMelvyn TaylorBob Garrad
12 AprilBoston Sports Stadium, BostonSteve LomasDavid GagenEric Broadbelt
14 AprilCrayford & Bexleyheath Stadium, CrayfordBarry ThomasIan GledhillDave Morton
Quarter-Final
27 AprilBrough Park, NewcastleEric BroadbeltKevin HawkinsNeil Middleditch

Second round

Continental preliminary round

  • Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
25 April Petišovci Stadium, Lendava Herbert Szerecz Alois Wiesböck Mariusz Okoniewski
26 April Breitenthal Stadium, Krumbach Ferenc Farkaš Jan Verner Henny Kroeze
26 April Shumen Motopista, Shumen Henryk Olszak Ladislav Hradecky Andrzej Huszcza
26 April Speedway Žarnovica, Žarnovica Waldemar Bacik Andreas Niedemaier Kurt Prastbo

Australian Final

Pos.RiderTotal
1Billy Sanders14
2Phil Crump12
3John Titman10
4Danny Kennedy10
5Phil Herne9
6Gary Guglielmi8
7Steve Regeling8
8Mick McKeon8
9John Boulger7
10Robert Maxfield7
11Steve Koppe7
12Neil Coddington7
13Tim Nunan6
14Bob Chitchcock3
15Glenn McDonald2
16Lou Sansom2

New Zealand Final

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1Ivan Mauger3,3,3,3,315
2Mitch Shirra3,3,3,3,214
3Larry Ross3,3,2,2,313
4Wayne Brown1,3,3,3,111
5Mike Fullerton2,2,2,1,310
6David Bargh3,2,1,2,210
7Tony Briggs2,2,2,2,19
8Greame Beardsley1,1,3,2,18
9John Goodall0,1,1,3,38
10Mark Dekok2,1,2,0,05
11Gavin Rhodes2,1,1,1,05
12Greg Joynt0,2,1,0,25
13Max Brown1,0,0,0,23
14Colin Farquharson0,0,0,1,12
15Alan Crosbie0,0,0,1,01
16Patrick Pawson1,0,0,0,-1
R1Bruce Elvey00
R2Kym Maugerns0

Swedish qualification

  • Top 8 in each heat to Swedish final

British semi-finals

Pos.RiderPoints
1Dave Jessup13
2Steve Bastable13
3Gordon Kennett12
4John Davis11
5Phil Collins11
6Kevin Jolly9
7Kevin Smith9
8Malcolm Simmons9
9Roger Johns8
10Bob Garrad6
11Paul Woods5
12Dave Morton4
13Neil Middleditch4
14Nigel Flatman3
15Andy Grahame2
16Alan Molyneux0
Pos.RiderPoints
1Les Collins14
2Chris Morton13
3Kenny Carter13
4Michael Lee11
5Melvyn Taylor11
6John Louis9
7Ian Cartwright9
8Eric Broadbelt8
9Alan Grahame7
10Kevin Hawkins6
11Jim McMillan6
12Joe Owen5
13Peter Prinsloo3
14Doug Wyer3
15Reg Wilson2
16Ian Gledhill0

Third round

Continental quarter-finals

Top 32 to Continental semi-finals

Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
10 May Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo Henny Kroeze Georg Hack Aleš Dryml Sr.
10 May Breitwangbahn, Bopfingen Egon Muller Zenon Plech Valery Gordeev
10 May Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc Roman Jankowski Zdeněk Kudrna Zoltan Adorjan
10 May Stadion Wiener Neustadt Jerzy Rembas Andrzej Huszcza Mikhail Starostin

Australasian Final

Pos.RiderTotal
1 Ivan Mauger15
2 Danny Kennedy11+3
3 Larry Ross11+2
4 Phil Herne11+1
5 Billy Sanders10+3
6 Phil Crump10+2
7 Gary Guglielmi9
8 Mitch Shirra8
9 John Titman7
10 Mick McKeon7
11 Tony Briggs6
12 Wayne Brown5
13 David Bargh2
14 Steve Regeling2
15 Mike Fullerton1
16 Graeme Beardsley1
17 Robert Maxfield (res)1

American 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) Bruce Penhall 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
(9) Dennis Sigalos 13 3 1 3 3 3 13 2 3
(3) Kelly Moran 13 2 3 2 3 3 13 3 2
4 (5) Scott Autrey 10 2 0 3 2 3 10 4 3
5 (16) Shawn Moran 10 3 3 2 1 1 10 5 2
6 (13) Alan Christian 10 1 2 3 3 1 10 6 1
7 (15) Denny Pyeatt 10 2 2 2 2 2 10 7 0
8 (2) Mike Faria 8 0 3 1 2 2 8 8
9 (8) Bobby Schwartz 7 3 2 1 0 1 7 9
10 (11) Steve Gresham 7 2 1 1 1 2 7 10
11 (6) David De Temple 6 1 2 0 1 2 6 11
12 (4) Brad Oxley 4 1 1 2 0 0 4 12
13 (14) Keith Chrisco 4 0 1 0 2 1 4 13
14 (10) Steve Columbo 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 14
15 (12) Jefrey Tomlin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15
16 (7) Dubb Ferrell 0 0 F - - - 0 16
R1 (R1) Bobby McLain 1 1 0 1 R1
R2 (R2) Dan McConnell 1 1 1 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

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
(3) Steve Bastable 13 2 3 3 3 2 13 1 3
(2) Kenny Carter 13 3 2 3 2 3 13 2 2
(5) John Louis 13 3 3 2 2 3 13 3 1
4 (4) Les Collins 12 1 3 3 3 2 12 4
5 (10) Chris Morton 10 3 3 2 1 1 10 5
6 (6) Dave Jessup 9 2 1 1 2 3 9 6
7 (16) Michael Lee 8 3 1 3 0 1 8 7
8 (15) Ian Cartwright 7 2 0 1 1 3 7 8
9 (13) Malcolm Simmons 6 0 2 1 3 0 6 9 3
10 (11) Eric Broadbelt 6 0 2 2 1 1 6 10 2
11 (9) Phil Collins 6 2 0 2 0 2 6 11 1
12 (7) Melvyn Taylor 5 1 1 0 3 0 5 12
13 (1) John Davis 5 - 1 0 2 2 5 13
14 (12) Gordon Kennett 5 1 2 0 1 1 5 14
15 (14) Kevin Smith 2 1 0 1 0 0 2 15
16 (8) Kevin Jolly 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16
R1 (R1) Keith White 0 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

Norwegian Final

Pos.RiderTotal
1Rolf Gramstad15
2Audun Ove Olsen13
3Jorn Haufvalstad12
4Trond Helge Skretting11
5Dag Haaland10
6Ingve Madland9
7Terje Tollefsen7
8Kurt Ueland7
9Geir Aasland7
10Roy Otto6
11Asgeir Bjerga6
12Dagfin Jorgensen5
13Sigvart Pedersen5
14Kjell Gimre5
15Rolf Havirstad2
16Oddmund Bye0

Danish Final

Pos.RiderTotal
1Ole Olsen15
2Bo Petersen13
3Erik Gundersen12+3
4Tommy Knudsen12+2
5Hans Nielsen12+1
6Jens Henry Nielsen8+3
7Finn Thomsen8+2
8Preben Eriksen8+1
9Finn Rune Jensen7
10Mikael Lohmann7
11Bent Rasmussen5
12Steen Mastrup5
13Hans Ove Christiansen4
14Bent Juul Larsen3
15Svend Lund0
16Klaus Lohman0
R1Finn Lundahl1

Finland Final

Pos.RiderTotal
1Kai Niemi15
2Ari Koponen14
3Veijo Tuoriniemi12
4Olli Tyrvainen10
5Veli Pekka Kunelius10
6Ilkka Teromaa9
7Pekka Hautamaki8
8Timo Kiansten7
9Markku Parkkari7
10Ossi Henriksson6
11Veikko Haapamaki6
12Hannu Larronmaa5
13Pekka Turkia4
14Markku Haapala3
15Ari Heinonen1
16Kari Yrjanainen (res)1
17Jarmo Puttonen (res)1
18Seppo Palomaki1
19Heimo Kaikko (res)0

Swedish Final

Pos.RiderTotal
1Anders Michanek12
2Tommy Nilsson11+3
3Hans Danielsson11+2
4Bernt Persson11+1
5Bo Wirebrand10+3
6Börje Klingberg10+2
7Richard Hellsén9
8Björn Andersson8
9Lennart Bengtsson7
10Tommy Johansson7
11Pierre Brannefors6
12Åke Fridell6
13Gerd Carlsson4
14Lars Rosberg4
15Lillebror Johansson3
16Karl-Erik Claesson1

Fourth round

Continental semi-finals

Pos.RiderPoints
1 Zenon Plech12
2 Georg Hack12
3 Milan Špinka11
4 Valerij Gordeev11
5 Jiří Štancl11
6 Aleš Dryml Sr.9
7 Egon Müller9
8 Waldemar Bacik8+3
9 Jan Verner8+2
10 Jan Hadek7
11 George Gilgenreiner (res)5
12 Josef Aigner4
13 Christoph Betzl4
14 Henny Kroeze4
15 Anatolij Maximov3
16 Viktor Kuznetsov1
17 Piotr Pyszny0
18 Wolfgang Mayr0
Pos.RiderPoints
1 Edward Jancarz11
2 Jerzy Rembas11
3 Zdenek Kudrna11
4 Roman Jankowski10
5 Marek Kepa10
6 Petr Kucera10
7 Grigory Khlinovsky10
8 Marek Towalski9+3
9 Henryk Olszak9+2
10 Alois Wiesböck7
11 Michail Starostin6
12 Andrzej Huszcza4
13 Pavel Khlynovski3
14 Václav Verner2
15 Heinrich Schatzer2
16 Jozsef Sziraczki1

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
(14) Dave Jessup 13 3 3 3 3 1 13 1
(7) Chris Morton 11 2 1 3 2 3 11 2
(9) Bruce Penhall 10 3 2 2 3 X 10 3 3
4 (13) Kelly Moran 10 1 3 1 2 3 10 4 2
5 (15) Dennis Sigalos 10 2 2 3 1 2 10 5 1
6 (11) Larry Ross 9 2 3 3 1 0 9 6
7 (10) John Louis 9 0 1 2 3 3 9 7
8 (4) Michael Lee 9 2 2 0 2 3 9 8
9 (16) Kenny Carter 8 0 3 1 2 2 8 9
10 (5) Ivan Mauger 8 3 1 1 1 2 8 10
11 (1) Les Collins 7 3 0 2 1 1 7 11
12 (8) Steve Bastable 6 1 1 1 3 0 6 12
13 (6) Ian Cartwright 4 0 2 0 0 2 4 13
14 (2) Scott Autrey 4 1 0 2 0 1 4 14
15 (12) Danny Kennedy 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 15
16 (3) Phil Herne 0 0 0 0 0 E 0 16
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

Nordic Final

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Tommy Knudsen3,3,3,3,315
2 Hans Nielsen2,3,3,2,313
3 Ole Olsen2,3,2,3,212
4 Preben Eriksen3,2,2,2,312
5 Jan Andersson3,2,1,3,211
6 Erik Gundersen2,1,3,3,110+3
7 Bo Petersen3,3,0,2,210+ns
8 Kai Niemi1,1,1,2,38
9 Ari KoponenE,0,2,1,25
10 Tommy Nilsson1,1,2,1,05
11 Hans Danielsson1,2,0,1,15
12 Audun Ove Olsen1,1,1,1,04
13 Rolf GramstadE,2,1,0,14
14 Bernt Persson0,F,3,0,-3
15 Anders Michanek2,0,-,-,-2
16 Pekka HautamäkiF,0,0,0,11
17 Finn Thomsen (Res)0,00
18 Bo Wirebrand (Res)0,00

Fifth round

Continental Final

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Egon Müller3,3,3,3,X12+2+3
2 Aleš Dryml Sr.3,0,3,3,312+3+2
3 Edward Jancarz3,2,2,2,312+2+1
4 Jiří Štancl2,3,2,3,212+2+0
5 Zenon Plech2,3,3,3,112+E+E
6 Henryk Olszak2,1,2,1,39+3
7 Jan Verner0,2,3,2,29+2
8 Marek Kepa3,1,1,2,18
9 Roman Jankowski1,3,1,1,06
10 Zdeněk Kudrna1,1,0,1,36
11 Milan Špinka0,2,2,2,-6
12 Petr Kucera2,0,X,1,25
13 Waldemar Bacik0,1,1,0,13
14 Marek Towalski0,2,0,0,02
15 Georg Hack1,X,F,0,-1
16 Valery Gordeev1,0,0,0,01
R1 Petr Ondrašík0,22
R2 Antonín Kasper, Jr.11

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
(14) Bruce Penhall 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
(10) Erik Gundersen 12 3 2 3 1 3 12 2
(4) Hans Nielsen 11 3 2 2 2 2 11 3 3
4 (8) Kenny Carter 11 3 1 2 3 2 11 4 2
5 (16) Dave Jessup 10 1 3 3 0 3 10 5
6 (15) Tommy Knudsen 9 2 1 2 3 1 9 6
7 (3) Michael Lee 8 1 3 1 3 F 8 7
8 (5) Jan Andersson 8 1 1 3 2 1 8 8
9 (11) Chris Morton 8 2 2 2 2 0 8 9
10 (12) Larry Ross 7 1 0 1 2 3 7 10
11 (2) Ole Olsen 6 2 1 0 1 2 6 11
12 (13) Preben Eriksen 5 0 2 1 F 2 5 12
13 (9) Ivan Mauger 4 0 3 0 1 0 4 13
14 (7) John Louis 4 2 0 0 1 1 4 14
15 (6) Dennis Sigalos 1 0 0 1 0 F 1 15
16 (1) Kelly Moran 0 F 0 0 E 0 0 16
R1 (R1) Bo Petersen 0 0 R1
R2 (R2) Les Collins 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

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 (11) Bruce Penhall 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 1
2 (3) Ole Olsen 12+3 2 2 3 2 3 12 2
3 (2) Tommy Knudsen 12+2 3 2 2 2 3 12 3
4 (10) Erik Gundersen 11 2 3 0 3 3 11 4
5 (5) Kenny Carter 11 3 2 3 e 3 11 5
6 (12) Jan Andersson 9 1 2 1 3 2 9 6
7 (7) Egon Müller 9 1 1 3 2 2 9 7
8 (16) Dave Jessup 7 3 3 e e 1 7 8
9 (15) Hans Nielsen 6 2 0 0 2 2 6 9
10 (9) Michael Lee 5 0 3 2 0 f 5 10
11 (8) Chris Morton 5 2 1 1 1 0 5 11
12 (1) Edward Jancarz 5 1 1 1 1 1 5 12
13 (4) Larry Ross 4 0 t 1 3 0 4 13
14 (13) Aleš Dryml Sr. 3 0 0 2 0 1 3 14
15 (6) Zenon Plech 3 f 0 2 1 0 3 15
16 (14) Jiří Štancl 3 1 1 0 0 1 3 16
Res (17) Henryk Olszak 0 0 0 Res
Res (18) Preben Eriksen 0 0 Res
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. "World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  2. "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  3. "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  4. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  5. "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  6. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
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