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1982 Individual Speedway World Championship

Motorcycle speedway world championship season

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 400 m 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. 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

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
13 April	Wessex Stadium, Weymouth	Simon Wigg	Ian Clark	Dave Perks
25 April	Rye House Stadium, Hoddesdon	Bob Garrad	Nigel Flatman	Steve Naylor
25 April	Boston Sports Stadium, Boston	Colin Cook	Mark Courtney	Rob Hollingworth
27 April	Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium, Crayford	Steve Wilcock	Mike Ferreira	Barry Thomas
29 April	Oxford Stadium, Oxford	Derek Harrison	Tim Hunt	Neil Collins
7 May	East 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)	Pos	Rider
1	Lillebror Johansson	12
2	Lennart Bengtsson	12
3	Anders Michanek	12
4	Bernt Persson	10
5	Åke Fridell	10
6	Börje Ring	10
7	Pierre Brannefors	9
8	Jan Ericsson	9
9	Conny Samuelsson	8
10	Per-Ove Gudmundsson	8
11	Lars Johansson	8
12	Åke Axelsson	5
13	Sören Brolin	3
14	Karl-Erik Claesson	3
15	Thomas Hydling	2
16	Peter Danielsson	2

(9 May, Gislaved Motorbana, Gislaved)	Pos	Rider
1	Richard Hellsén	14
2	Hans Danielsson	13
3	Tommy Nilsson	12
4	Björn Andersson	12
5	Uno Johansson	10
6	Tommy Johansson	9
7	Anders Eriksson	8
8	Roger Gustavsson	7
9	Lars Hammarberg	6
10	Gert Carlsson	6
11	Lars Rosberg	6
12	Lars Ericsson	5
13	Anders Kling	4
14	Börje Klingberg	4
15	Ulf Blomqvist	3
16	Lars-Olov Karlsson	1

Australian qualification

Date	Event	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
28 Nov 81	Queensland Final	Pioneer 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 Final	Rockhampton Showgrounds, Rockhampton	Gary Guglielmi	Billy Sanders	John Titman

New Zealand qualification

Date	Event	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
16 Jan	South Island Final	Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch	Larry Ross	Roger Wright	Alan Mason
24 Jan	North Island Final	Kihikihi Speedway, Kihikihi	Mitch Shirra	David Bargh	John Goodall

Second round

Continental preliminary round

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
24 April	NED Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam	POL Alfred Siekierka	CSK Václav Verner	CSK Petr Kucera
25 April	CSK Svítkov Stadium, Pardubice	CSK Petr Ondrašík	USSR Viktor Kuznetsov	CSK Milan Špinka
25 April	BUL Speedway Stadium, Targovishte	POL Roman Jankowski	USSR Mikhail Starostin	CSK Jan Verner
26 April	YUG Gradski stadion, Osijek	FRG Josef Aigner	USSR Valery Gordeev	BUL Nikolaj Manev

British semi-finals

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=40px	Points
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

14 May
ENG Birchfield Ladbroke Stadium, Birmingham
Top 8 to British final

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=40px	Points
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Third round

Continental quarter-finals

Top 32 to Continental semi-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
9 May	AUT Stadion Wiener Neustadt	FRG Karl Maier	FRG Josef Aigner	USSR Valery Gordeev
9 May	FRG Motodrom Halbemond, Norden	FRG Egon Muller	FRG Georg Hack	POL Zenon Plech
9 May	FRG Rhein-Main Arena, Diedenbergen	NED Henny Kroeze	POL Leonard Raba	CSK Václav Verner
9 May	HUN Hajdú Volán Stadion, Debrecen	CSK Aleš Dryml Sr.	USSR Mikhail Starostin	HUN Zoltan Hajdu

American Final

12 June 1982
USA Veterans Memorial Stadium, Long Beach
First 3 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=70px	Heat Scores		width=50px	Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
R1
R2

British Final

2 June 1982
ENG Brandon Stadium, Coventry
First 8 to Overseas Final plus 1 reserve

Australian Final

13 March 1982
AUS Exhibition Ground, Brisbane
Top 2 to Overseas final

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=70px	Heat Scores		width=50px	Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

New Zealand Final

27 February 1982
NZL Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch
Top 2 to Overseas final

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=50px	Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
R1
R2

Danish Final

11 May 1982
DEN Fredericia Speedway Stadium, Fredericia
First 6 to Nordic final

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=70px	Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=40px	Points
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Finland Final

FIN Eteläpuisto, Tampere
10 September 1981, top 2 (+1 seeded rider) to 1982 Nordic final

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=40px	Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

Swedish finals

SWE 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.		width=200px	Rider		width=20px	R1		width=20px	R2		width=20px	R3		width=70px	Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

Fourth round

Continental semi-finals

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=40px	Points
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

13 July
ITA Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo
Top 8 to Continental final

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=40px	Points
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

Overseas Final

4 July 1982
ENG White City Stadium, London
First 10 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve

Nordic Final

4 July 1982
DEN Fjelsted Speedway Stadium, Harndrup
First 6 to Intercontinental final + 1 reserve

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=70px	Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Fifth round

Continental Final

25 July 1982
POL Alfred Smoczyk Stadium, Leszno
First 5 to World final plus 1 reserve

Intercontinental Final

23 July 1982
SWE Vetlanda Motorstadion, Vetlanda
First 11 to World final plus 1 reserve

World Final

28 August 1982
USA Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles.
Referee: (NOR) Torrie Kittlesen
Attendance: 40,000 (approx)

Television

During the meeting, scenes for an episode of the American television drama series CHiPs were filmed in the pits. One of the stars of CHiPs was World Champion Bruce Penhall who portrayed cadet–probationary officer Bruce Nelson. The episode centered on Nelson winning the World Final, with Penhall acting as Nelson in between races. Actual television coverage of the meeting was also used in the episode, with dubbed over commentary. The episode, which was episode 5 of season 6 ("Speedway Fever") aired in the USA on November 7, 1982, was Penhall's debut in the series.

Penhall later admitted that it felt strange having a bodyguard and having to do make up for shoots in between races, stating that he was nervous enough riding in the World Final in front of his home crowd without the pressure of a television acting debut.

References

"World Championship 1936-1994".
"WORLD FINALS 1936-1994".
"HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK".
"Speedway riders, history and results".
"WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX".
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1xAX8iC2kE 1982 World Final Heat 14]
(4 September 1982). "Penhall must keep world crown".
Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. {{ISBN. 0-7524-2402-5

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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