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 Final 19 Jan Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch Larry Ross Tony Briggs Ivan Mauger
North Island Final ? Awapuni Speedway, Gisborne Wayne Brown Colin Farquharson Martin Weygang

Australian qualification

Event Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
Southern Zone Final 16 Jan Speedway Park, Adelaide Phil Crump John Boulger Mick McKeon
Northern Zone Final 12 Feb Exhibition Ground, Brisbane Gary Guglielmi Neil Coddington Billy Sanders

British qualification

Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
Preliminary Round
7 April Wessex Stadium, Weymouth Neil Middleditch Simon Wigg Kevin Smith
10 April East of England Arena, Peterborough Louis Carr Kevin Hawkins Nicky Allott
12 April Rye House Stadium, Hoddesdon Keith White Melvyn Taylor Bob Garrad
12 April Boston Sports Stadium, Boston Steve Lomas David Gagen Eric Broadbelt
14 April Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium, Crayford Barry Thomas Ian Gledhill Dave Morton
Quarter-Final
27 April Brough Park, Newcastle Eric Broadbelt Kevin Hawkins Neil Middleditch

Second round

Continental preliminary round

Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
25 April Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Petišovci Stadium, Lendava Austria Herbert Szerecz West Germany Alois Wiesböck Poland Mariusz Okoniewski
26 April West Germany Breitenthal Stadium, Krumbach Hungary Ferenc Farkaš Czechoslovakia Jan Verner Netherlands Henny Kroeze
26 April Bulgaria Shumen Motopista, Shumen Poland Henryk Olszak Czechoslovakia Ladislav Hradecky Poland Andrzej Huszcza
26 April Czechoslovakia Speedway Žarnovica, Žarnovica West Germany Waldemar Bacik West Germany Andreas Niedemaier West Germany Kurt Prastbo

Australian Final

Pos. Rider Total
1 Billy Sanders 14
2 Phil Crump 12
3 John Titman 10
4 Danny Kennedy 10
5 Phil Herne 9
6 Gary Guglielmi 8
7 Steve Regeling 8
8 Mick McKeon 8
9 John Boulger 7
10 Robert Maxfield 7
11 Steve Koppe 7
12 Neil Coddington 7
13 Tim Nunan 6
14 Bob Chitchcock 3
15 Glenn McDonald 2
16 Lou Sansom 2

New Zealand Final

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 Ivan Mauger 3,3,3,3,3 15
2 Mitch Shirra 3,3,3,3,2 14
3 Larry Ross 3,3,2,2,3 13
4 Wayne Brown 1,3,3,3,1 11
5 Mike Fullerton 2,2,2,1,3 10
6 David Bargh 3,2,1,2,2 10
7 Tony Briggs 2,2,2,2,1 9
8 Greame Beardsley 1,1,3,2,1 8
9 John Goodall 0,1,1,3,3 8
10 Mark Dekok 2,1,2,0,0 5
11 Gavin Rhodes 2,1,1,1,0 5
12 Greg Joynt 0,2,1,0,2 5
13 Max Brown 1,0,0,0,2 3
14 Colin Farquharson 0,0,0,1,1 2
15 Alan Crosbie 0,0,0,1,0 1
16 Patrick Pawson 1,0,0,0,- 1
R1 Bruce Elvey 0 0
R2 Kym Mauger ns 0

Swedish qualification

British semi-finals

Pos. Rider Points
1 Dave Jessup 13
2 Steve Bastable 13
3 Gordon Kennett 12
4 John Davis 11
5 Phil Collins 11
6 Kevin Jolly 9
7 Kevin Smith 9
8 Malcolm Simmons 9
9 Roger Johns 8
10 Bob Garrad 6
11 Paul Woods 5
12 Dave Morton 4
13 Neil Middleditch 4
14 Nigel Flatman 3
15 Andy Grahame 2
16 Alan Molyneux 0
Pos. Rider Points
1 Les Collins 14
2 Chris Morton 13
3 Kenny Carter 13
4 Michael Lee 11
5 Melvyn Taylor 11
6 John Louis 9
7 Ian Cartwright 9
8 Eric Broadbelt 8
9 Alan Grahame 7
10 Kevin Hawkins 6
11 Jim McMillan 6
12 Joe Owen 5
13 Peter Prinsloo 3
14 Doug Wyer 3
15 Reg Wilson 2
16 Ian Gledhill 0

Third round

Continental quarter-finals

Top 32 to Continental semi-finals

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

Australasian Final

Pos. Rider Total
1 New Zealand Ivan Mauger 15
2 Australia Danny Kennedy 11+3
3 New Zealand Larry Ross 11+2
4 Australia Phil Herne 11+1
5 Australia Billy Sanders 10+3
6 Australia Phil Crump 10+2
7 Australia Gary Guglielmi 9
8 New Zealand Mitch Shirra 8
9 Australia John Titman 7
10 Australia Mick McKeon 7
11 New Zealand Tony Briggs 6
12 New Zealand Wayne Brown 5
13 New Zealand David Bargh 2
14 Australia Steve Regeling 2
15 New Zealand Mike Fullerton 1
16 New Zealand Graeme Beardsley 1
17 Australia 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 United States (1) Bruce Penhall 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
2 United States (9) Dennis Sigalos 13 3 1 3 3 3 13 2 3
3 United States (3) Kelly Moran 13 2 3 2 3 3 13 3 2
4 United States (5) Scott Autrey 10 2 0 3 2 3 10 4 3
5 United States (16) Shawn Moran 10 3 3 2 1 1 10 5 2
6 United States (13) Alan Christian 10 1 2 3 3 1 10 6 1
7 United States (15) Denny Pyeatt 10 2 2 2 2 2 10 7 0
8 United States (2) Mike Faria 8 0 3 1 2 2 8 8
9 United States (8) Bobby Schwartz 7 3 2 1 0 1 7 9
10 United States (11) Steve Gresham 7 2 1 1 1 2 7 10
11 United States (6) David De Temple 6 1 2 0 1 2 6 11
12 United States (4) Brad Oxley 4 1 1 2 0 0 4 12
13 United States (14) Keith Chrisco 4 0 1 0 2 1 4 13
14 United States (10) Steve Columbo 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 14
15 United States (12) Jefrey Tomlin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15
16 United States (7) Dubb Ferrell 0 0 F - - - 0 16
R1 United States (R1) Bobby McLain 1 1 0 1 R1
R2 United States (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
1 England (3) Steve Bastable 13 2 3 3 3 2 13 1 3
2 England (2) Kenny Carter 13 3 2 3 2 3 13 2 2
3 England (5) John Louis 13 3 3 2 2 3 13 3 1
4 England (4) Les Collins 12 1 3 3 3 2 12 4
5 England (10) Chris Morton 10 3 3 2 1 1 10 5
6 England (6) Dave Jessup 9 2 1 1 2 3 9 6
7 England (16) Michael Lee 8 3 1 3 0 1 8 7
8 England (15) Ian Cartwright 7 2 0 1 1 3 7 8
9 England (13) Malcolm Simmons 6 0 2 1 3 0 6 9 3
10 England (11) Eric Broadbelt 6 0 2 2 1 1 6 10 2
11 England (9) Phil Collins 6 2 0 2 0 2 6 11 1
12 England (7) Melvyn Taylor 5 1 1 0 3 0 5 12
13 England (1) John Davis 5 - 1 0 2 2 5 13
14 England (12) Gordon Kennett 5 1 2 0 1 1 5 14
15 England (14) Kevin Smith 2 1 0 1 0 0 2 15
16 England (8) Kevin Jolly 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16
R1 England (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. Rider Total
1 Rolf Gramstad 15
2 Audun Ove Olsen 13
3 Jorn Haufvalstad 12
4 Trond Helge Skretting 11
5 Dag Haaland 10
6 Ingve Madland 9
7 Terje Tollefsen 7
8 Kurt Ueland 7
9 Geir Aasland 7
10 Roy Otto 6
11 Asgeir Bjerga 6
12 Dagfin Jorgensen 5
13 Sigvart Pedersen 5
14 Kjell Gimre 5
15 Rolf Havirstad 2
16 Oddmund Bye 0

Danish Final

Pos. Rider Total
1 Ole Olsen 15
2 Bo Petersen 13
3 Erik Gundersen 12+3
4 Tommy Knudsen 12+2
5 Hans Nielsen 12+1
6 Jens Henry Nielsen 8+3
7 Finn Thomsen 8+2
8 Preben Eriksen 8+1
9 Finn Rune Jensen 7
10 Mikael Lohmann 7
11 Bent Rasmussen 5
12 Steen Mastrup 5
13 Hans Ove Christiansen 4
14 Bent Juul Larsen 3
15 Svend Lund 0
16 Klaus Lohman 0
R1 Finn Lundahl 1

Finland Final

Pos. Rider Total
1 Kai Niemi 15
2 Ari Koponen 14
3 Veijo Tuoriniemi 12
4 Olli Tyrvainen 10
5 Veli Pekka Kunelius 10
6 Ilkka Teromaa 9
7 Pekka Hautamaki 8
8 Timo Kiansten 7
9 Markku Parkkari 7
10 Ossi Henriksson 6
11 Veikko Haapamaki 6
12 Hannu Larronmaa 5
13 Pekka Turkia 4
14 Markku Haapala 3
15 Ari Heinonen 1
16 Kari Yrjanainen (res) 1
17 Jarmo Puttonen (res) 1
18 Seppo Palomaki 1
19 Heimo Kaikko (res) 0

Swedish Final

Pos. Rider Total
1 Anders Michanek 12
2 Tommy Nilsson 11+3
3 Hans Danielsson 11+2
4 Bernt Persson 11+1
5 Bo Wirebrand 10+3
6 Börje Klingberg 10+2
7 Richard Hellsén 9
8 Björn Andersson 8
9 Lennart Bengtsson 7
10 Tommy Johansson 7
11 Pierre Brannefors 6
12 Åke Fridell 6
13 Gerd Carlsson 4
14 Lars Rosberg 4
15 Lillebror Johansson 3
16 Karl-Erik Claesson 1

Fourth round

Continental semi-finals

Pos. Rider Points
1 Poland Zenon Plech 12
2 West Germany Georg Hack 12
3 Czechoslovakia Milan Špinka 11
4 Soviet Union Valerij Gordeev 11
5 Czechoslovakia Jiří Štancl 11
6 Czechoslovakia Aleš Dryml Sr. 9
7 West Germany Egon Müller 9
8 West Germany Waldemar Bacik 8+3
9 Czechoslovakia Jan Verner 8+2
10 Czechoslovakia Jan Hadek 7
11 West Germany George Gilgenreiner (res) 5
12 West Germany Josef Aigner 4
13 West Germany Christoph Betzl 4
14 Netherlands Henny Kroeze 4
15 Soviet Union Anatolij Maximov 3
16 Soviet Union Viktor Kuznetsov 1
17 Soviet Union Piotr Pyszny 0
18 West Germany Wolfgang Mayr 0
Pos. Rider Points
1 Poland Edward Jancarz 11
2 Poland Jerzy Rembas 11
3 Czechoslovakia Zdenek Kudrna 11
4 Poland Roman Jankowski 10
5 Poland Marek Kepa 10
6 Czechoslovakia Petr Kucera 10
7 Soviet Union Grigory Khlinovsky 10
8 Poland Marek Towalski 9+3
9 Poland Henryk Olszak 9+2
10 West Germany Alois Wiesböck 7
11 Soviet Union Michail Starostin 6
12 Poland Andrzej Huszcza 4
13 Soviet Union Pavel Khlynovski 3
14 Czechoslovakia Václav Verner 2
15 Austria Heinrich Schatzer 2
16 Hungary Jozsef Sziraczki 1

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
1 England (14) Dave Jessup 13 3 3 3 3 1 13 1
2 England (7) Chris Morton 11 2 1 3 2 3 11 2
3 United States (9) Bruce Penhall 10 3 2 2 3 X 10 3 3
4 United States (13) Kelly Moran 10 1 3 1 2 3 10 4 2
5 United States (15) Dennis Sigalos 10 2 2 3 1 2 10 5 1
6 New Zealand (11) Larry Ross 9 2 3 3 1 0 9 6
7 England (10) John Louis 9 0 1 2 3 3 9 7
8 England (4) Michael Lee 9 2 2 0 2 3 9 8
9 England (16) Kenny Carter 8 0 3 1 2 2 8 9
10 New Zealand (5) Ivan Mauger 8 3 1 1 1 2 8 10
11 England (1) Les Collins 7 3 0 2 1 1 7 11
12 England (8) Steve Bastable 6 1 1 1 3 0 6 12
13 England (6) Ian Cartwright 4 0 2 0 0 2 4 13
14 United States (2) Scott Autrey 4 1 0 2 0 1 4 14
15 Australia (12) Danny Kennedy 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 15
16 Australia (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. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 Denmark Tommy Knudsen 3,3,3,3,3 15
2 Denmark Hans Nielsen 2,3,3,2,3 13
3 Denmark Ole Olsen 2,3,2,3,2 12
4 Denmark Preben Eriksen 3,2,2,2,3 12
5 Sweden Jan Andersson 3,2,1,3,2 11
6 Denmark Erik Gundersen 2,1,3,3,1 10+3
7 Denmark Bo Petersen 3,3,0,2,2 10+ns
8 Finland Kai Niemi 1,1,1,2,3 8
9 Finland Ari Koponen E,0,2,1,2 5
10 Sweden Tommy Nilsson 1,1,2,1,0 5
11 Sweden Hans Danielsson 1,2,0,1,1 5
12 Norway Audun Ove Olsen 1,1,1,1,0 4
13 Norway Rolf Gramstad E,2,1,0,1 4
14 Sweden Bernt Persson 0,F,3,0,- 3
15 Sweden Anders Michanek 2,0,-,-,- 2
16 Finland Pekka Hautamäki F,0,0,0,1 1
17 Denmark Finn Thomsen (Res) 0,0 0
18 Sweden Bo Wirebrand (Res) 0,0 0

Fifth round

Continental Final

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 West Germany Egon Müller 3,3,3,3,X 12+2+3
2 Czechoslovakia Aleš Dryml Sr. 3,0,3,3,3 12+3+2
3 Poland Edward Jancarz 3,2,2,2,3 12+2+1
4 Czechoslovakia Jiří Štancl 2,3,2,3,2 12+2+0
5 Poland Zenon Plech 2,3,3,3,1 12+E+E
6 Poland Henryk Olszak 2,1,2,1,3 9+3
7 Czechoslovakia Jan Verner 0,2,3,2,2 9+2
8 Poland Marek Kepa 3,1,1,2,1 8
9 Poland Roman Jankowski 1,3,1,1,0 6
10 Czechoslovakia Zdeněk Kudrna 1,1,0,1,3 6
11 Czechoslovakia Milan Špinka 0,2,2,2,- 6
12 Czechoslovakia Petr Kucera 2,0,X,1,2 5
13 West Germany Waldemar Bacik 0,1,1,0,1 3
14 Poland Marek Towalski 0,2,0,0,0 2
15 West Germany Georg Hack 1,X,F,0,- 1
16 Soviet Union Valery Gordeev 1,0,0,0,0 1
R1 Czechoslovakia Petr Ondrašík 0,2 2
R2 Czechoslovakia Antonín Kasper, Jr. 1 1

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 United States (14) Bruce Penhall 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
2 Denmark (10) Erik Gundersen 12 3 2 3 1 3 12 2
3 Denmark (4) Hans Nielsen 11 3 2 2 2 2 11 3 3
4 England (8) Kenny Carter 11 3 1 2 3 2 11 4 2
5 England (16) Dave Jessup 10 1 3 3 0 3 10 5
6 Denmark (15) Tommy Knudsen 9 2 1 2 3 1 9 6
7 England (3) Michael Lee 8 1 3 1 3 F 8 7
8 Sweden (5) Jan Andersson 8 1 1 3 2 1 8 8
9 England (11) Chris Morton 8 2 2 2 2 0 8 9
10 New Zealand (12) Larry Ross 7 1 0 1 2 3 7 10
11 Denmark (2) Ole Olsen 6 2 1 0 1 2 6 11
12 Denmark (13) Preben Eriksen 5 0 2 1 F 2 5 12
13 New Zealand (9) Ivan Mauger 4 0 3 0 1 0 4 13
14 England (7) John Louis 4 2 0 0 1 1 4 14
15 United States (6) Dennis Sigalos 1 0 0 1 0 F 1 15
16 United States (1) Kelly Moran 0 F 0 0 E 0 0 16
R1 Denmark (R1) Bo Petersen 0 0 R1
R2 England (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 United States (11) Bruce Penhall 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 1
2 Denmark (3) Ole Olsen 12+3 2 2 3 2 3 12 2
3 Denmark (2) Tommy Knudsen 12+2 3 2 2 2 3 12 3
4 Denmark (10) Erik Gundersen 11 2 3 0 3 3 11 4
5 England (5) Kenny Carter 11 3 2 3 e 3 11 5
6 Sweden (12) Jan Andersson 9 1 2 1 3 2 9 6
7 West Germany (7) Egon Müller 9 1 1 3 2 2 9 7
8 England (16) Dave Jessup 7 3 3 e e 1 7 8
9 Denmark (15) Hans Nielsen 6 2 0 0 2 2 6 9
10 England (9) Michael Lee 5 0 3 2 0 f 5 10
11 England (8) Chris Morton 5 2 1 1 1 0 5 11
12 Poland (1) Edward Jancarz 5 1 1 1 1 1 5 12
13 New Zealand (4) Larry Ross 4 0 t 1 3 0 4 13
14 Czechoslovakia (13) Aleš Dryml Sr. 3 0 0 2 0 1 3 14
15 Poland (6) Zenon Plech 3 f 0 2 1 0 3 15
16 Czechoslovakia (14) Jiří Štancl 3 1 1 0 0 1 3 16
Res Poland (17) Henryk Olszak 0 0 0 Res
Res Denmark (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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