1981 Individual Speedway World Championship

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.^[6] 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

Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals

Date	Venue	Winner	2nd	3rd
25 April	Petišovci Stadium, Lendava	Herbert Szerecz	Alois Wiesböck	Mariusz Okoniewski
26 April	Breitenthal Stadium, Krumbach	Ferenc Farkaš	Jan Verner	Henny Kroeze
26 April	Shumen Motopista, Shumen	Henryk Olszak	Ladislav Hradecky	Andrzej Huszcza
26 April	Speedway Žarnovica, Žarnovica	Waldemar Bacik	Andreas Niedemaier	Kurt Prastbo

Australian Final

21 February 1981
Exhibition Ground, Brisbane
First 8 to Australasian 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

6 February 1981
Meeanee Speedway, Napier
First 8 to Australasian 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

Top 8 in each heat to Swedish final

(3 May, Motala Arena, Motala)
Pos	Rider	Points
1	Tommy Nilsson	14
2	Tommy Johansson	12
3	Hans Danielsson	12
4	Lillebror Johansson	11
5	Bo Wirebrand	10
6	Börje Klingberg	1
7	Björn Andersson	10
8	Gert Carlsson	7+3
9	Åke Axelsson	7+2
10	Lars Hammarberg	6
11	Thomas Hydling	5
12	Alf Trofast	5
13	Conny Samuelsson	4
14	Sören Karlsson	4
15	Tommy Steen	2
16	Bengt Gustavsson	1
17	Ulf Blomqvist (res)	0

(8 May, Grevby Motorstadion, Mariestad)
Pos	Rider	Points
1	Anders Michanek	14
2	Bernt Persson	13
3	Karl-Erik Claesson	12
4	Lennart Bengtsson	12
5	Åke Fridell	11
6	Pierre Brannefors	9
7	Lars Rosberg	8+3
8	Richard Hellsén	8+2
9	Uno Johansson	8+1
10	Bengt Jansson	5
11	Sören Brolin	4
12	Anders Eriksson (res)	4
13	Raymond Forsberg	3
14	Börje Ring	3
15	Jan Ericsson	3
16	Lars Ericsson	1
17	Per-Ove Gudmundsson	1
18	Håkan Andersson (res)	1

British semi-finals

13 May
Wimborne Road, Poole
Top 8 to British final

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

14 May
Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield
Top 8 to British final

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	Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo	Henny Kroeze	Georg Hack	Aleš Dryml Sr.
10 May	Breitwangbahn, Bopfingen	Egon Muller	Zenon Plech	Valery Gordeev
10 May	Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc	Roman Jankowski	Zdeněk Kudrna	Zoltan Adorjan
10 May	Stadion Wiener Neustadt	Jerzy Rembas	Andrzej Huszcza	Mikhail Starostin

Australasian Final

28 February 1981
Liverpool City Raceway, Sydney
First 4 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Ivan Mauger	15
2	Danny Kennedy	11+3
3	Larry Ross	11+2
4	Phil Herne	11+1
5	Billy Sanders	10+3
6	Phil Crump	10+2
7	Gary Guglielmi	9
8	Mitch Shirra	8
9	John Titman	7
10	Mick McKeon	7
11	Tony Briggs	6
12	Wayne Brown	5
13	David Bargh	2
14	Steve Regeling	2
15	Mike Fullerton	1
16	Graeme Beardsley	1
17	Robert Maxfield (res)	1

American Final

30 May 1981
Los Angeles Coliseum, Los Angeles
First 4 to 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) Bruce Penhall	15	3				3				3				3				3				15	1
	(9) Dennis Sigalos	13			3		1						3					3		3			13	2	3
	(3) Kelly Moran	13	2						3				2				3				3		13	3	2
4	(5) Scott Autrey	10		2			0					3					2					3	10	4	3
5	(16) Shawn Moran	10				3				3	2						1			1			10	5	2
6	(13) Alan Christian	10				1	2							3		3					1		10	6	1
7	(15) Denny Pyeatt	10				2			2			2						2	2				10	7	0
8	(2) Mike Faria	8	0					3				1				2				2			8	8
9	(8) Bobby Schwartz	7		3						2			1			0			1				7	9
10	(11) Steve Gresham	7			2				1		1					1						2	7	10
11	(6) David De Temple	6		1				2			0							1			2		6	11
12	(4) Brad Oxley	4	1							1				2				0				0	4	12
13	(14) Keith Chrisco	4				0		1					0		2							1	4	13
14	(10) Steve Columbo	1			1			0						0			0		0				1	14
15	(12) Jefrey Tomlin	0			0					0		0			0						0		0	15
16	(7) Dubb Ferrell	0		0					F					-	-					-			0	16
R1	(R1) Bobby McLain	1												1						0			1	R1
R2	(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

3 June 1981
Brandon Stadium, Coventry
First 8 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve

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) Steve Bastable	13	2						3				3				3				2		13	1	3
	(2) Kenny Carter	13	3					2				3				2				3			13	2	2
	(5) John Louis	13		3			3					2					2					3	13	3	1
4	(4) Les Collins	12	1							3				3				3				2	12	4
5	(10) Chris Morton	10			3			3						2			1		1				10	5
6	(6) Dave Jessup	9		2				1			1							2			3		9	6
7	(16) Michael Lee	8				3				1	3						0			1			8	7
8	(15) Ian Cartwright	7				2			0			1						1	3				7	8
9	(13) Malcolm Simmons	6				0	2							1		3					0		6	9	3
10	(11) Eric Broadbelt	6			0				2		2					1						1	6	10	2
11	(9) Phil Collins	6			2		0						2					0		2			6	11	1
12	(7) Melvyn Taylor	5		1					1					0	3					0			5	12
13	(1) John Davis	5	-				1				0				2				2				5	13
14	(12) Gordon Kennett	5			1					2		0			1						1		5	14
15	(14) Kevin Smith	2				1		0					1		0							0	2	15
16	(8) Kevin Jolly	0		0						0			0			0			0				0	16
R1	(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

26 April 1981
Elgane Speedway, Varhaug
First 2 to Nordic 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

10 May 1981
Fjelsted Speedway Stadium, Harndrup
First 6 to Nordic 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

Pippo Speedway, Lahti
7 September 1980, top 2 (+1 seeded rider) to 1981 Nordic 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

17 May 1981
Gislaved Motorbana, Gislaved
First 4 to Nordic final, Jan Andersson seeded to Nordic 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

13 June
Ellermühle Speedway Stadium, Landshut
Top 8 to Continental final

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Zenon Plech	12
2	Georg Hack	12
3	Milan Špinka	11
4	Valerij Gordeev	11
5	Jiří Štancl	11
6	Aleš Dryml Sr.	9
7	Egon Müller	9
8	Waldemar Bacik	8+3
9	Jan Verner	8+2
10	Jan Hadek	7
11	George Gilgenreiner (res)	5
12	Josef Aigner	4
13	Christoph Betzl	4
14	Henny Kroeze	4
15	Anatolij Maximov	3
16	Viktor Kuznetsov	1
17	Piotr Pyszny	0
18	Wolfgang Mayr	0

14 June
Alfred Smoczyk Stadium, Leszno
Top 8 to Continental final

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Edward Jancarz	11
2	Jerzy Rembas	11
3	Zdenek Kudrna	11
4	Roman Jankowski	10
5	Marek Kepa	10
6	Petr Kucera	10
7	Grigory Khlinovsky	10
8	Marek Towalski	9+3
9	Henryk Olszak	9+2
10	Alois Wiesböck	7
11	Michail Starostin	6
12	Andrzej Huszcza	4
13	Pavel Khlynovski	3
14	Václav Verner	2
15	Heinrich Schatzer	2
16	Jozsef Sziraczki	1

Overseas Final

12 July 1981
White City Stadium, London
First 10 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve

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) Dave Jessup	13				3		3					3		3							1	13	1
	(7) Chris Morton	11		2					1					3	2					3			11	2
	(9) Bruce Penhall	10			3		2						2					3		X			10	3	3
4	(13) Kelly Moran	10				1	3							1		2					3		10	4	2
5	(15) Dennis Sigalos	10				2			2			3						1	2				10	5	1
6	(11) Larry Ross	9			2				3		3					1						0	9	6
7	(10) John Louis	9			0			1						2			3		3				9	7
8	(4) Michael Lee	9	2							2				0				2				3	9	8
9	(16) Kenny Carter	8				0				3	1						2			2			8	9
10	(5) Ivan Mauger	8		3			1					1					1					2	8	10
11	(1) Les Collins	7	3				0				2				1				1				7	11
12	(8) Steve Bastable	6		1						1			1			3			0				6	12
13	(6) Ian Cartwright	4		0				2			0							0			2		4	13
14	(2) Scott Autrey	4	1					0				2				0				1			4	14
15	(12) Danny Kennedy	2			1					0		0			0						1		2	15
16	(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

2 June 1981
Norrköping Motorstadion, Norrköping
First 6 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Tommy Knudsen	3,3,3,3,3	15
2	Hans Nielsen	2,3,3,2,3	13
3	Ole Olsen	2,3,2,3,2	12
4	Preben Eriksen	3,2,2,2,3	12
5	Jan Andersson	3,2,1,3,2	11
6	Erik Gundersen	2,1,3,3,1	10+3
7	Bo Petersen	3,3,0,2,2	10+ns
8	Kai Niemi	1,1,1,2,3	8
9	Ari Koponen	E,0,2,1,2	5
10	Tommy Nilsson	1,1,2,1,0	5
11	Hans Danielsson	1,2,0,1,1	5
12	Audun Ove Olsen	1,1,1,1,0	4
13	Rolf Gramstad	E,2,1,0,1	4
14	Bernt Persson	0,F,3,0,-	3
15	Anders Michanek	2,0,-,-,-	2
16	Pekka Hautamäki	F,0,0,0,1	1
17	Finn Thomsen (Res)	0,0	0
18	Bo Wirebrand (Res)	0,0	0

Fifth round

Continental Final

25 July 1981
Marketa Stadium, Prague
First 5 to World final plus 1 reserve

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

Intercontinental Final

25 July 1981
Vojens Speedway Center, Vojens
First 11 to World final plus 1 reserve

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) Bruce Penhall	15				3		3					3		3							3	15	1
	(10) Erik Gundersen	12			3			2						3			1		3				12	2
	(4) Hans Nielsen	11	3							2				2				2				2	11	3	3
4	(8) Kenny Carter	11		3						1			2			3			2				11	4	2
5	(16) Dave Jessup	10				1				3	3						0			3			10	5
6	(15) Tommy Knudsen	9				2			1			2						3	1				9	6
7	(3) Michael Lee	8	1						3				1				3				F		8	7
8	(5) Jan Andersson	8		1			1					3					2					1	8	8
9	(11) Chris Morton	8			2				2		2					2						0	8	9
10	(12) Larry Ross	7			1					0		1			2						3		7	10
11	(2) Ole Olsen	6	2					1				0				1				2			6	11
12	(13) Preben Eriksen	5				0	2							1		F					2		5	12
13	(9) Ivan Mauger	4			0		3						0					1		0			4	13
14	(7) John Louis	4		2					0					0	1					1			4	14
15	(6) Dennis Sigalos	1		0				0			1							0			F		1	15
16	(1) Kelly Moran	0	F				0				0				E				0				0	16
R1	(R1) Bo Petersen	0																					0	R1
R2	(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

5 September 1981
Wembley Stadium, London.^[7]
Referee: ( ) Sam Bass
Attendance: 92,500

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	(11) Bruce Penhall	14			3				3		3					3						2	14	1
2	(3) Ole Olsen	12+3	2						2				3				2				3		12	2
3	(2) Tommy Knudsen	12+2	3					2				2				2				3			12	3
4	(10) Erik Gundersen	11			2			3						0			3		3				11	4
5	(5) Kenny Carter	11		3			2					3					e					3	11	5
6	(12) Jan Andersson	9			1					2		1			3						2		9	6
7	(7) Egon Müller	9		1					1					3	2					2			9	7
8	(16) Dave Jessup	7				3				3	e						e			1			7	8
9	(15) Hans Nielsen	6				2			0			0						2	2				6	9
10	(9) Michael Lee	5			0		3						2					0		f			5	10
11	(8) Chris Morton	5		2						1			1			1			0				5	11
12	(1) Edward Jancarz	5	1				1				1				1				1				5	12
13	(4) Larry Ross	4	0							t				1				3				0	4	13
14	(13) Aleš Dryml Sr.	3				0	0							2		0					1		3	14
15	(6) Zenon Plech	3		f				0			2							1			0		3	15
16	(14) Jiří Štancl	3				1		1					0		0							1	3	16
Res	(17) Henryk Olszak	0								0													0	Res
Res	(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

^ "World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
^ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
^ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
^ "Happy Penhall the ambassador". Birmingham Mai. 7 September 1981. Retrieved 29 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5

[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] "Happy Penhall the ambassador". Birmingham Mai. 7 September 1981. Retrieved 29 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[7] Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5

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