1982 Individual Speedway World Championship


The 1982 Individual Speedway World Championship.
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 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. 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 likely have won the title as he had finished with 2 point lead over third placed American Dennis Sigalos. 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 almost a carbon copy of the Penhall / Carter incident. However, on this occasion it was the rider who stayed on his bike, Verner, who was excluded.

British Qualification

British Final

Australian Qualification

Australian Final

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Billy Sanders3,3,3,3,315
2 Phil Crump3,3,3,3,214
3 Gary Guglielmi1,3,3,3,111
4 Steve Regeling2,2,1,3,311
5 John Titman3,2,2,2,211
6 Ron Schleib1,3,2,1,310
7 Phil Herne2,2,3,2,110
8 Neil Coddington3,1,2,0,28
9 Glyn Taylor2,1,1,2,X6
10 Peter Byrne1,0,0,0,34
11 Les Sawyers2,X,0,2,04
12 Mark Johns0,1,0,1,24
13 Graeme Robertson0,2,0,1,14
14 David Foot1,1,1,0,14
15 Steve Baker0,0,2,0,02
16 Peter Carswell0,0,1,1,02
R1 Mark Stevens
R2 Gary Finglas

New Zealand Qualification

New Zealand Final

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Larry Ross15
2 Ivan Mauger14
3 Mitch Shirra13
4 David Bargh12
5 Alan Mason11
6 Roger Wright10
7 Max Brown9
8 Greame Stapleton8
9 Kevin Browne6
10 Trevor Chapman5
11 Graham Taylor4
12 Greg Joynt4
13 Gavin Rhodes4
14 Lance Begbie2
15 Steve Hann1
16 Vayne Brown0
R1 Philip McClintock2
R2 Craig Blacket0

Intercontinental Round

Danish Final

Pos.RiderTotal
1 Erik Gundersen13+3
2 Bo Petersen13+2
3 Hans Nielsen13+1
4 Ole Olsen11
5 Preben Eriksen10
6 Tommy Knudsen10
7 Finn Thomsen9
8 Bent Rasmussen8
9 Jens Rasmussen7
10 Alf Busk7
11 Finn Rune Jensen5
12 Helge R. Hansen4
13 Jens Henry Nielsen4
14 John Eskilden3
15 Hans Albert Klinge3
16 Rene Chistiansen0

American Final

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Dennis Sigalos3,3,3,3,315
2 Shawn Moran2,2,3,3,313+3
3 Kelly Moran3,2,2,3,313+2
4 Scott Autrey3,3,3,2,213+1
5 John Cook1,3,1,3,210
6 Mike Faria2,1,2,2,310
7 Bobby Schwartz3,3,1,X,18
8 Mike Curosco0,2,3,1,17
9 Brad Oxley2,1,0,1,26
10 Alan Christian2,F,2,1,05
11 Gene Woods1,0,2,E,14
12 Mike BastX,2,1,0,03
13 Steve Lucero1,0,0,2,03
14 Dave Sims0,E,1,0,12
15 Steve Gresham1,1,0,-,-2
16 Paul Orlandi0,1,F,-,-1
R1 Keith Christo2,24
R2 John Sandona0,1,01

Scandinavian Final

Pos.RiderTotal
1 Hans Nielsen12+3
2 Erik Gundersen12+2
3 Bo Petersen11+3
4 Kai Niemi11+2
5 Ole Olsen11+1
6 Jan Andersson10+3
7 Tommy Knudsen10+2
8 Richard Hellsen10+1
9 Preben Eriksen10+0
10 Lillebror Johansson6
11 Bjorn Andersson5
12 Ari Koponen5
13 Tommy Nilsson3
14 Pekka Hautamaeki2
15 Dag Haaland1
16 Roy Otto1

Overseas Final

Continental Final

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 centred 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 aired in the USA on November 7, 1982, was Penhall's debut in the series.
Penhall later admitted that it felt strange having a body guard 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.