1985 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1985 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 40th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3]

Odsal Stadium, the new home of international speedway in England after the demise of the Wembley Stadium and White City Stadium tracks, was chosen by the FIM to host the 1985 Final on 31 August 1985; the first time that the final had been held in England at a venue other than Wembley.[4]

A crowd of around 30,000 attended the 1985 Final, which was won by defending champion Erik Gundersen from fellow Dane Hans Nielsen and surprise third placing Sam Ermolenko of the United States. All three riders finished the meeting on 13 points and were forced into a run-off to decide the podium placings. The only English rider in the field, 21-year-old Kelvin Tatum, finished 8th with 8 points in his first World Final. He won his first race, but later admitted that he let the occasion get to him which affected his riding.[5]

First round edit

British preliminary round edit

  • Riders progress to British semi-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
11 April Rye House Stadium, Hoddesdon Mike Ferreira Jamie Luckhurst Andrew Silver
17 April Long Eaton Stadium, Long Eaton Trevor Banks Dave Perks Louis Carr
18 April Cleveland Park Stadium, Middlesbrough Steve Wilcock Geoff Pusey Mike Spink
19 April East of England Arena, Peterborough Carl Blackbird Tim Hunt Kevin Hawkins
19 April Powderhall Stadium, Edinburgh David Blackburn Paul Thorp Bobby Beaton

Swedish qualification edit

  • Top 6 in each heat to Swedish final

Australian qualification edit

Date Event Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
3 Nov 84 Northern Territory Final Tennant Creek Speedway David Jackson Brent Knott Glen Baxter
24 November 84 Queensland Final Pioneer Park, Ayr Steve Regeling Stan Bear Steve Koppe
1 Dec 84 South Australian Final Riverview Speedway, Murray Bridge Mark Fiora Steve Baker Darryl Branford
7 Dec 84 Western Australian Final Claremont Speedway, Perth Mick McKenna
16 Dec 84 New South Wales Final Meeanee Speedway, Napier Billy Sanders Gary Guglielmi Rudy Muts
23 Dec 84 Victorian Final Olympic Park, Mildura Phil Crump Rod Hunter Bill Barret

Second round edit

Continental preliminary round edit

  • Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
21 April   Rhein-Main Arena, Diedenbergen   Klaus Lausch   Hubert Diener   Stanislav Urban
21 April   Speedway Stadium,Targovishte   Angel Jeftimov   Igor Stolyarov   Grzegorz Dzikowski
21 April   KS Apator Stadium, Toruń   Leonard Raba   Wojciech Żabiałowicz   Antonín Kasper Jr.
21 April   Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc   Viktor Kuznetsov   Wojciech Załuski   József Petrikovics

British semi-finals edit

Pos. Rider Points
1 Kenny Carter 14+3
2 John Davis 14+2
3 Neil Collins 12
4 Phil Collins 10
5 Neil Evitts 9
6 Peter Collins 9
7 Tim Hunt 9
8 Andy Campbell 8
9 Mark Courtney 7
10 Sean Willmott 7
11 Peter Carr 5
12 Richard Knight 5
13 Louis Carr 4
14 Kevin Jolly 3
15 Carl Blackbird 2
16 Kenny McKinna 2
17 Ian Sutcliffe (res) 0
Pos. Rider Points
1 Andy Grahame 14
2 Kelvin Tatum 13
3 Simon Cross 12
4 Chris Morton 12
5 Andy Smith 11
6 Les Collins 9
7 Alan Grahame 8
8 Steve Bastable 7
9 Dave Jessup 7
10 Jamie Luckhurst 6
11 Melvyn Taylor 5
12 Mike Spink 5
13 Jeremy Doncaster 5
14 Bruce Cribb 2
15 David Backburn 2
16 Paul Woods 2
17 John Bostin 0
18 Nigel Leaver 0

Third round edit

Continental quarter-finals edit

  • Top 32 to Continental semi-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
1 May   Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo   Armando Castagna   Grzegorz Dzikowski   Valentino Furlanetto
1 May   Matija Gubec Stadium, Krško   Antonín Kasper Jr.   Armando Dal Chiele   Laszlo Bodi
1 May   Hansa Stadium, Bremen   Klaus Lausch   Václav Verner   Zdenek Schneiderwind
5 May   Stadion Wiener Neustadt   Zoltan Adorjan   Sandor Tihanyi   Andrzej Huszcza

American Final edit

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
    (12) John Cook 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
    (3) Sam Ermolenko 13 3 3 2 3 2 13 2
    (8) Shawn Moran 12 2 2 3 3 2 12 3
4   (14) Lance King 11 3 3 1 2 2 11 4 3
5   (13) Rick Miller 11 2 3 3 2 1 11 5 2
6   (5) Bobby Schwartz 11 3 2 1 2 3 11 6 1
7   (15) Kelly Moran 11 1 2 2 3 3 11 7 F
8   (10) Alan Christian 7 1 2 2 1 1 7 8
9   (9) Brad Oxley 7 2 0 0 2 3 7 9
10   (6) Keith Larsen 5 1 1 3 0 F 5 10
11   (4) Mike Carusco 5 1 1 1 1 1 5 11
12   (1) Mike Faria 3 2 1 F X 0 3 12
13   (7) Keith Christo 3 0 1 0 1 1 3 13
14   (11) Jim Lawson 3 X 0 2 1 0 3 14
15   (2) Mike Dwyer 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 15
16   (16) Gene Woods 1 0 X 1 0 0 1 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

New Zealand Final edit

Australian Final edit

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 Billy Sanders (3,3,3,3,3) 15
2 Phil Crump (X,3,2,2,3) 11
3 Stan Bear (2,2,2,2,3) 11
4 Mark Fiora (2,2,3,2,2) 11
5 Steve Regeling (1,3,0,3,3) 10
6 Allan Rivett (3,1,3,1,2) 10
7 Gary Guglielmi (3,3,X,2,X) 8
8 Rod Hunter (1,1,3,1,2) 8
9 Steve Koppe (3,2,1,X,1) 7
10 Ray Palmer (0,0,2,2,2) 6
11 David Jackson (1,2,2,0,1) 6
12 Steve Baker (2,0,1,1,0) 4
13 Rudy Muts (2,1,0,0,F) 3
14 Brent Nott (1,1,F,X,X) 2
15 Darryl Branfort (0,0,1,1,0) 2
16 Bill Barett (0,X,X,0,0) 0
R1 Craig Drennan (3,1) 4
18 Mal Bedkoper (1) 1

British Final edit

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   (2) Kenny Carter 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
2   (12) John Davis 14 3 3 2 3 3 14 2
3   (8) Kelvin Tatum 12 3 1 3 2 3 12 3
4   (9) Phil Collins 11 1 3 2 3 2 11 4
5   (6) Chris Morton 9 1 2 3 2 1 9 5
6   (16) Neil Collins 9 1 2 2 3 1 9 6
7   (3) Andy Smith 7 2 1 0 2 2 7 7
8   (5) Les Collins 6 2 0 0 1 3 6 8 3
9   (13) Simon Cross 6 0 2 3 1 0 6 9 2
10   (14) Neil Evitts 6 3 0 1 0 2 6 10 1
11   (10) Peter Collins 5 2 1 1 E 1 5 11
12   (15) Tim Hunt 5 2 F 1 0 2 5 12
13   (11) Andy Grahame 4 0 3 0 0 1 4 13
14   (1) Dave Jessup 4 1 1 1 1 0 4 14
15   (7) Andy Campbell 4 0 2 0 2 0 4 15
16   (4) Alan Grahame 3 0 F 2 1 E 3 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

Norwegian Final edit

Pos. Rider Total
1 Einar Kyllingstad 15
2 Roy Otto 14
3 Dag Haaland 11
4 Ingvar Skogland 11
5 Erlend Skretting 10
6 Kjel Arvid Gimre 10
7 Per Leveng 9
8 Arnt Forland 9
9 Willi Tjessem 7
10 Robert Langaland 7
11 Gjermund Aas 4
12 Aasger Bjerga 3
13 Jan Slaatter 3
14 Kurt Ueland 3
15 Geir Aasland 3
16 Gunnar Tunaem 1

Finland Final edit

Pos. Rider Total
1 Kai Niemi 15
2 Ari Koponen 14
3 Juha Moksunen 11+3
4 Pekka Hautamaki 11+2
5 Olli Tyrvainen 10
6 Markku Haapala 9
7 Henry Kivela 9
8 Hannu Lehtonen 8
9 Mikael Back 6
10 Seppo Keskinen 6
11 Heimo Kaikko 6
12 Aarre Soivuori 4
13 Roy Malminheimo 3
14 Aki Ala Riihimaki 3
15 Esa Mattila 2
16 Ismo Kivela 2
17 Ari Heinonen (res) 1

Swedish Finals edit

Pos. Rider R1 R2 R3 Total
1 Tommy Nilsson 12 15 13 40
2 Jimmy Nilsen 11 13 12 36
3 Richard Hellsén 12 10 13 35
4 Per Jonsson 8 10 15 33
5 Erik Stenlund 14 10 8 32
6 Christer Rohlén 7 10 8 25
7 Pierre Brannefors 9 12 2 23
8 Lars Andersson 9 5 7 21
9 Patrik Karlsson 4 9 6 19
10 Hans Wahlström 9 3 4 16
11 Börje Ring 3 4 8 15
12 Bengt Jansson 4 3 7 14
13 Jimmie Magnusson 1 4 8 13
14 Anders Kling 3 6 4 13
15 Ake Fridell 8 2 - 10
16 Tony Olsson 5 3 0 8
17 Conny Ivarsson 0 0 4 4
18 Jan Lundgren 0 1 1 1
19 Alf Trofast - 1 - 1
20 Lars Mammarberg 1 - - 1

Danish Final edit

Pos. Rider Total
1 Hans Nielsen 15
2 Erik Gundersen 13+3
3 Preben Eriksen 13+2
4 Tommy Knudsen 11
5 Finn Rune Jensen 10
6 Jan O. Pedersen 10
7 John Jørgensen 10
8 Jens Rasmussen 9
9 Fleming Pedersen 6
10 John Eskilden 6
11 Bo Petersen 6
12 Sam Nikolajsen 3
13 Brian Jacobsen 2
14 Aksel Jepsen 2
15 Per Sorensen 2
16 Frank Andersen 1
R1 Helge Hansen 1

Fourth round edit

Continental semi-finals edit

Pos. Rider Points
1   Egon Müller 13
2   Klaus Lausch 12
3   Armando Castagna 11
4   Lubomir Jedek 10
5   Aleš Dryml Sr. 10
6   Grzegorz Dzikowski 10
7   Václav Verner 10
8   Petr Vandírek 9
9   Giorgio Zaramella 7
10   Zenon Plech 6
11   Stanislav Urban 6
12   Michail Starostin 4
13   Piotr Pyszny 4
14   Valentino Furlanetto 3
15   Zdeněk Schneiderwind 3
16   Oleg Volokhov 2
Pos. Rider Points
1   Zoltán Adorján 14
2   Viktor Kuznetsov 12
3   Sandor Tihanyi 11
4   Zoltan Hajdu 11
5   Antonín Kasper Jr. 10
6   Heinrich Schatzer 9
7   Karl Maier 9
8   Laszlo Bodi 8
9   Andrzej Huszcza 7
10   Armando Dal Chiele 7
11   Ottaviano Righetto 5
12   Petr Kucera 3
13   Zdislaw Rutecki 2
14   Henny Kroeze 2
15   Rif Saitgareev 2
16   Vladimir Trofimov 1

Overseas Final edit

  • 14 July 1985
  •   Odsal Stadium, Bradford
  • First 10 to the Intercontinental Final plus 1 reserve
  • David Bargh seeded direct to Overseas Final by the New Zealand Auto Cycle Union
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) Shawn Moran 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 1 3
    (2) Kenny Carter 14 2 3 3 3 3 14 2 2
    (4) Lance King 12 0 3 3 3 3 12 3
4   (1) Andy Smith 11 1 2 3 2 3 11 4
5   (7) John Davis 11 2 2 2 3 2 11 5
6   (6) Kelvin Tatum 10 3 0 2 2 3 10 6
7   (14) John Cook 8 3 1 2 0 2 8 7
8   (8) Phil Crump 8 1 2 1 2 2 8 8
9   (10) Sam Ermolenko 7 3 2 0 1 1 7 9
10   (13) Phil Collins 6 1 3 1 1 0 6 10 3
11   (12) Chris Morton 6 2 0 2 1 1 6 11 2
12   (15) Neil Collins 5 2 1 1 1 0 5 12
13   (16) Stan Bear 5 F 1 1 2 1 5 13
14   (11) David Bargh 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 14
15   (9) Rick Miller 1 0 1 0 E 0 1 15
16   (5) Les Collins 0 0 0 0 0 0 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 edit

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) Tommy Knudsen 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
    (14) Jan Andersson 12 2 2 2 3 3 12 2
    (15) Erik Gundersen 11 3 0 3 2 3 11 3
4   (10) Hans Nielsen 10 E 3 3 2 2 10 4
5   (1) Kai Niemi 10 2 3 3 1 1 10 5
6   (11) Jan O. Pedersen 10 2 2 2 2 2 10 6
7   (12) John Jørgensen 8 3 1 2 0 2 8 7 3
8   (4) Tommy Nilsson 8 1 3 E 3 1 8 8 2
9   (8) Preben Eriksen 7 2 2 E 3 0 7 9
10   (7) Richard Hellsen 7 1 1 1 2 2 7 10
11   (13) Per Jonsson 6 1 2 2 0 1 6 11
12   (2) Einar Kyllingstad 5 0 0 1 1 3 5 12
13   (5) Finn Rune Jensen 5 3 1 0 1 0 5 13
14   (6) Ari Koponen 3 0 1 1 1 0 3 14
15   (9) Erik Stenlund 2 X 0 1 0 1 2 15
16   (16) Olli Tyrväinen 0 0 0 0 E 0 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

Fifth round edit

Continental Final edit

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
    (15) Egon Muller 14 2 3 3 3 3 14 1
    (11) Armando Castagna 13 3 2 3 3 2 13 2
    (14) Zoltan Adorjan 12 3 2 3 1 3 12 3
4   (10) Viktor Kuznetsov 11 0 3 3 3 2 11 4 3
5   (12) Karl Maier 11 2 2 2 3 2 11 5 2
6   (3) Grzegorz Dzikowski 11 3 1 2 2 3 11 6 1
7   (8) Antonín Kasper Jr. 10 3 3 1 2 1 10 7
8   (1) Petr Vandirek 8 2 2 2 2 0 8 8
9   (9) Sandor Tihanyi 7 1 3 0 2 1 7 9
10   (5) Aleš Dryml Sr. 6 2 1 1 1 1 6 10
11   (16) Klaus Lausch 5 X 1 1 0 3 5 11
12   (7) Lubomír Jedek 5 1 E 2 0 2 5 12
13   (13) Heinrich Schatzer 3 1 X 1 1 0 3 13
14   (6) Václav Verner 2 0 1 0 1 X 2 14
15   (4) Zoltan Hajdu 1 1 X 0 0 X 1 15
16   (2) Laszlo Bodi 0 X 0 0 0 0 0 16
R1   (R1) Andrzej Huszcza 1 1 1 R1
R2   (R2) Giorgio Zaramella 0 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

Intercontinental Final edit

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
    (2) Shawn Moran 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 1
    (11) Lance King 12 3 2 2 2 3 12 2 3
    (9) Hans Nielsen 12 1 2 3 3 3 12 3 2
4   (1) Jan Andersson 11 2 3 1 3 2 11 4
5   (12) Kai Niemi 10 2 3 0 2 3 10 5
6   (15) Tommy Knudsen 9 3 F 1 2 3 9 6
7   (5) Sam Ermolenko 9 3 1 2 2 1 9 7
8   (3) Kelvin Tatum 8 0 3 2 1 2 8 8
9   (7) John Cook 8 2 1 3 1 1 8 9
10   (16) Erik Gundersen 7 0 1 3 3 0 7 10
11   (4) Jan O. Pedersen 6 1 2 1 0 2 6 11
12   (13) Phil Collins 5 1 0 2 1 1 5 12
13   (10) John Davis 3 0 2 0 0 1 3 13
14   (14) Kenny Carter 2 2 F - - - 2 14
15   (8) Phil Crump 2 1 0 1 0 F 2 15
16   (6) Andy Smith 2 F 1 0 1 0 2 16
R1   (R1) John Jørgensen 0 0 0 0 R1
R2   (R2) Chris Morton 0 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 edit

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) Erik Gundersen 13 1 3 3 3 3 13 1 3
    (15) Hans Nielsen 13 3 3 3 1 3 13 2 2
    (13) Sam Ermolenko 13 2 3 3 2 3 13 3 1
4   (8) Kai Niemi 10 2 3 2 3 0 10 4
5   (5) Shawn Moran 10 3 1 1 3 2 10 5
6   (9) Tommy Knudsen 10 2 2 1 2 3 10 6
7   (6) John Cook 9 0 2 3 3 1 9 7
8   (1) Kelvin Tatum 8 3 0 1 2 2 8 8
9   (10) Jan O. Pedersen 7 3 1 1 1 1 7 9
10   (12) Jan Andersson 7 1 1 2 1 2 7 10
11   (11) Lance King 6 0 2 2 1 1 6 11
12   (3) Egon Muller 5 2 1 E 2 0 5 12
13   (4) Armando Castagna 4 0 2 2 0 0 4 13
14   (16) Zoltan Adorjan 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 14
15   (2) Viktor Kuznetsov 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 15
16   (7) Karl Maier 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 16
R1   (R1) Grzegorz Dzikowski 0 0 R1
R2   (R2) Phil 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

References edit

  1. ^ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. 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. ^ "World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. 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