The 1991 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 46th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3]

Diminutive Danish rider Jan O. Pedersen won his first and only World Championship with a 15-point maximum from his five rides, the last time a rider would have a perfect score in the Final.[4] Local favourite Tony Rickardsson finished second with 12 points, with triple champion Hans Nielsen of Denmark finishing third on 11 points after defeating fellow Dane Tommy Knudsen in a run-off. Defending champion Per Jonsson finished in ninth place with 7 points.[5]

First round

British qualifiers

Main article: 1991 British Speedway Championship

Second round

Australian qualification

Main article: 1991 Australian Individual Speedway Championship
Date Championship Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
17 Nov '90 Northern Territory Tennant Creek Speedway Wayne Bridgeford Glen Baxter Trevor O'Brien
1 Dec '90 Queensland Mac's Speedway, Mackay Troy Butler Darren Winkler Alan Rivett
23 Dec '90 Victorian Olympic Park, Mildura Leigh Adams Jason Lyons Phil Crump
26 Dec '90 New South Wales Newcastle Motordrome, Tomago Craig Boyce Todd Wiltshire Stephen Davies
28 Dec '90 Western Australian Claremont Speedway, Perth Glenn Doyle David Cheshire Michael Carter
29 Dec '90 South Australian Riverview Speedway, Murray Bridge Shane Parker Damon Richardson Brett Tomkins
19 Jan 1991 Last Chance Arunga Park Speedway, Alice Springs Shane Bowes Scott Norman Mark Lemon

New Zealand qualification

Date Championship Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
?? South Island Final Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch Mark Lyndon ?? ??
?? North Island Final Gisborne Speedway, Gisborne David Bargh ?? ??

British semi-finals

Main article: 1991 British Speedway Championship

Third round

Continental preliminary round

Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
4 May Poland Olympic Stadium, Wrocław Czechoslovakia Jan Holub II Czechoslovakia Václav Verner Soviet Union Oleg Kurguskin
5 May Austria Stadion Wiener Neustadt Poland Dariusz Śledź Czechoslovakia Zdeněk Schneiderwind Austria Andreas Bössner
5 May Germany Anton Treffer Stadion, Neustadt Germany Karl Maier Soviet Union Mikhail Starostin Germany Robert Barth
5 May Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Ilirija Sports Park, Ljubljana Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Gregor Pintaro Italy Fabrizzio Vesprini Germany Markus Jans

Swedish qualification

Australian Final

Main article: 1991 Australian Individual Speedway Championship

New Zealand Final

Pos. Rider Total
1 David Bargh 15
2 Chris Martin 14
3 Mark Thorpe 12
4 John Tuffley 11
5 Justin Monk 10
6 Michael Long 10
7 Greg Fisher 8
8 John Roberts 7
9 Nathan Murray 5
10 Ricky Bennett 5
11 Jacqui Mauger 5
12 Dean Sullivan 5
13 Nick Young 4
14 Michael Hollow 3
15 Gary Marsh 3
16 Steve Etches 0

British Final

Main article: 1991 British Speedway Championship

Fourth round

Danish Final

Pos. Rider Total
1 Jan O. Pedersen 15
2 Tommy Knudsen 14
3 Hans Nielsen 12+3
4 John Jörgensen 12+2
5 Gert Handberg 10
6 Bo Petersen 9
7 Jan Jacobsen 8
8 Brian Karger 6
9 Jan Staechmann 6
10 Jens-Henry Nielsen 6
11 Allan Johansen 6
12 Tom P. Knudsen 5
13 Per Sorensen 4
14 Jan Pedersen 3
15 Lars Munkedal 3
16 Lars-Henrik Jörgensen 1

Finnish qualifying

Norwegian Final

Pos. Rider Points
1 Lars Gunnestad 15
2 Kjell Øyvind Sola 13
3 Willy Tjessem 12
4 Robert Langeland 11
5 Atle Knutsen 11
6 Odd Pettersen 11
7 Jorn Arve Arda 9
8 Gjermund Aas 9
9 Bjorn Ivar Fauske 5
10 Marten Tunheim 5
11 Ingvar Hvamstad 4
12 Rolf Netland 4
13 Arnt Førland 3
14 Nils Mellomstrand 1
15 Anders Bjorkqvist 1
16 Per Erga 0

Swedish Final

Pos. Rider Scores Total
1 Henrik Gustafsson 15+14+11 40
2 Per Jonsson 11+11+14 37
3 Tony Rickardsson 12+12+9 33
4 Jimmy Nilsen 13+12+8 33
5 Mikael Blixt 8+9+12 29
6 Erik Stenlund 11+6+10 27
7 Conny Ivarsson 3+11+12 26
8 Peter Karlsson 8+8+7 23
9 Stefan Dannö 10+5+4 19
10 Claes Ivarsson 4+3+11 18
11 Tony Olsson 2+7+6 15
12 Mikael Karlsson 5+5+5 15
13 Mikael Teurnberg 7+1+5 13
14 Peter Nahlin 3+9+1 13
15 Mikael Löfqvist 5+4+1 10
16 Mikael Ritterwall 3+3+2 8

Continental quarter-finals

Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
1 June Poland Rybnik Municipal Stadium, Rybnik Poland Eugeniusz Skupień Hungary Róbert Nagy Poland Ryszard Dołomisiewicz
2 June Germany Günter Harder Stadion, Neubrandenburg Hungary Zoltán Adorján Czechoslovakia Václav Milík Sr. Hungary Antal Kocso
2 June Hungary Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc Hungary Zoltan Hajdu Poland Tomasz Gollob Italy Armando Castagna
2 June Germany Pfaffenhofen Speedway, Pfaffenhofen Czechoslovakia Bohumil Brhel Soviet Union Mikhail Starostin Poland Jarosław Olszewski

American Final

Pos. Rider Total
1 Rick Miller 15
2 Sam Ermolenko 14
3 Ronnie Correy 13
4 Kelly Moran 11
5 Billy Hamill 10+3
6 Bobby Ott 10+2
7 Gary Hicks 9
8 Bobby Schwartz 7
9 Mike Faria 7
10 Greg Hancock 6
11 Lance King 5
12 Louis Kossuth 4
13 Steve Lucero 3
14 Brad Oxley 3
15 Andy Northrup 2
16 Josh Larsen (Res) 1
17 John Kehoe 0

Commonwealth Final

Pos. Rider Total
1 England Jeremy Doncaster 14
2 Australia Leigh Adams 10+3
3 England Joe Screen 10+2
4 England Paul Thorp 10+1
5 England Kelvin Tatum 9
6 Australia Glenn Doyle 9
7 England Neil Collins 8
8 England Gary Havelock 8
9 Australia Todd Wiltshire* 7
10 England Andy Smith 7
11 New Zealand Mitch Shirra 7
12 England Chris Louis 6
13 England Sean Wilson 5
14 New Zealand Gary Allan 4
15 England Martin Dugard 4
16 Australia Craig Boyce 1

* Todd Wiltshire replaced Glyn Taylor

Fifth round

Continental semi-finals

Pos. Rider Points
1 Italy Armando Castagna 15
2 Czechoslovakia Roman Matoušek 14
3 Germany Gerd Riss 11+3
4 Soviet Union Mikhail Starostin 11+2
5 Poland Wojciech Zaluski 10
6 Czechoslovakia Vladimir Kalina 9
7 Czechoslovakia Petr Vandírek 8+3
8 Germany Klaus Lausch 8+2
9 Hungary Zoltan Hajdu 8+1
10 Czechoslovakia Pavel Karnas 7
11 Germany Robert Barth 6
12 Czechoslovakia Bohumil Brhel 4
13 Poland Tomasz Gollob 3
14 Hungary Robert Csillik 3
15 Hungary Csaba Hell 2
16 Poland Jaroslaw Olszewski 1
Pos. Rider Points
1 Poland Ryszard Dolomisiewicz 12
2 Hungary Zoltán Adorján 11+3
3 Hungary Róbert Nagy 11+2
4 Soviet Union Rif Saitgareev 11+1
5 Poland Václav Milík Sr. 11+0
6 Czechoslovakia Zdeněk Schneiderwind 10
7 Hungary József Petrikovics 10
8 Czechoslovakia Antonín Kasper Jr. 9
9 Hungary Antal Kocso 8
10 Poland Piotr Swist 8
11 Soviet Union Oleg Kurguskin 5
12 Austria Franz Leitner 3
13 Hungary Zoltan Kovacs 3
14 Czechoslovakia Lubomir Jedek 3
15 Poland Eugeniusz Skupien 2
16 Germany Tommy Dunker 1
17 Poland Miroslaw Kowalik (res) 1

Nordic Final

Pos. Rider Total
1 Denmark Hans Nielsen 13
2 Denmark Jan O. Pedersen 12
3 Sweden Jimmy Nilsen 11
4 Sweden Henrik Gustafsson 10
5 Sweden Per Jonsson 9
6 Norway Lars Gunnestad 9
7 Denmark Gert Handberg 8
8 Denmark Tommy Knudsen 8
9 Sweden Mikael Blixt 8
10 Sweden Tony Rickardsson 7+3
11 Norway Einar Kyllingstad 7+2
12 Finland Vesa Ylinen 7+1
13 Denmark Bo Petersen 4
14 Denmark John Jörgensen 4
15 Finland Juha Moksunen 1
16 Norway Tor Einar Hielm 1

Overseas Final

Pos. Rider Total
1 England Kelvin Tatum 13
2 United States Sam Ermolenko 12+3
3 United States Billy Hamill 12+2
4 England Andy Smith 11
5 England Paul Thorp 10
6 United States Ronnie Correy 9
7 England Jeremy Doncaster 7
8 New Zealand Mitch Shirra 7
9 United States Kelly Moran 7
10 Australia Todd Wiltshire 6+3
11 Australia Glenn Doyle 6+2
12 England Joe Screen 5
13 United States Rick Miller 4
14 England Gary Havelock 4
15 Australia Leigh Adams 4
16 England Neil Collins 3

Sixth round

World Semi-Finals

Pos. Rider Points
1 United States Billy Hamill 12
2 Sweden Jimmy Nilsen 11
3 Sweden Per Jonsson 10+3
4 England Paul Thorp 10+2
5 Czechoslovakia Roman Matoušek 9
6 Italy Armando Castagna 9
7 England Jeremy Doncaster 9
8 New Zealand Mitch Shirra 9
9 Sweden Mikael Blixt 8+3
10 Sweden Henrik Gustafsson 8+2
11 Czechoslovakia Vladimír Kalina 7
12 Norway Lars Gunnestad 6
13 Hungary Zoltán Adorján 4
14 Czechoslovakia Petr Vandírek 4
15 Czechoslovakia Antonín Kasper, Jr. (Res) 2
16 Hungary Róbert Nagy 1
17 Soviet Union Rif Saitgareev 1
Pos. Rider Points
1 Denmark Hans Nielsen 15
2 Denmark Jan O. Pedersen 14
3 Denmark Tommy Knudsen 12
4 United States Sam Ermolenko 11
5 Sweden Tony Rickardsson* 10
6 United States Ronnie Correy 8
7 England Kelvin Tatum 8
8 Germany Gerd Riss 8
9 Denmark Gert Handberg 7+3
10 Hungary József Petrikovics 7+2
11 United States Kelly Moran 6
12 Poland Wojciech Załuski 5
13 Czechoslovakia Václav Milík, Sr. 3
14 Czechoslovakia Zdeněk Schneiderwind 3
15 Germany Klaus Lausch 2
16 Soviet Union Mikhail Starostin 1

* First reserve Tony Rickardsson replaced injured qualifier Andy Smith

World final

Classification

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 Denmark (15) Jan O. Pedersen 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
2 Sweden (6) Tony Rickardsson 12 2 3 3 2 2 12 2
3 Denmark (1) Hans Nielsen 11+3 2 3 1 3 2 11 3
4 Denmark (2) Tommy Knudsen 11+2 3 1 1 3 3 11 4
5 Sweden (3) Jimmy Nilsen 10 0 2 2 3 3 10 5
6 England (10) Paul Thorp 10 3 2 2 2 1 10 6
7 United States (16) Sam Ermolenko 9 2 3 2 0 2 9 7
8 England (13) Kelvin Tatum 8 1 2 3 2 0 8 8
9 Sweden (4) Per Jonsson 7 1 2 0 1 3 7 9
10 United States (5) Ronnie Correy 6 3 0 0 1 2 6 10
11 Italy (8) Armando Castagna 6 1 1 3 1 0 6 11
12 United States (12) Billy Hamill 6 2 - 2 1 1 2 12
13 New Zealand (7) Mitch Shirra 4 0 0 1 2 1 4 13
14 England (11) Jeremy Doncaster 2 1 1 0 0 0 2 14
15 Czech Republic (9) Roman Matoušek 2 0 1 1 0 0 2 15
16 Germany (14) Gerd Riss 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 16
Sweden (17) Mikael Blixt 0 0 0
Denmark (18) Gert Handberg 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
Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 Denmark Jan O. Pedersen (3,3,3,3,3) 15
2 Sweden Tony Rickardsson (2,3,3,2,2) 12
3 Denmark Hans Nielsen (2,3,1,3,2) 11+3
4 Denmark Tommy Knudsen (3,1,1,3,3) 11+2
5 Sweden Jimmy Nilsen (0,2,2,3,3) 10
6 England Paul Thorp (3,2,2,2,1) 10
7 United States Sam Ermolenko (2,3,2,0,2) 9
8 England Kelvin Tatum (1,2,3,2,0) 8
9 Sweden Per Jonsson (1,2,0,1,3) 7
10 United States Ronnie Correy (3,0,0,1,2) 6
11 Italy Armando Castagna (1,1,3,1,0) 6
12 United States Billy Hamill (2,X,2,1,1) 6
13 New Zealand Mitch Shirra (0,0,1,2,1) 4
14 Czech Republic Roman Matoušek (0,1,1,0,0) 2
15 England Jeremy Doncaster (1,1,0,0,0) 2
16 Germany Gerd Riss (0,0,0,0,1) 1
R1 Sweden Mikael Blixt (-,0,-,-,-) 0
R2 Denmark Gert Handberg (-,-,-,-,-) -

References

  1. ^ "World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  2. ^ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  3. ^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  5. ^ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. 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

External links

Individual Speedway World Championship and Speedway Grand Prix seasons
Categories