1985 Individual Speedway World Championship

1985 Individual Speedway World Championship
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The 1985 Individual Speedway World Championship was an event in the sport of motorcycle speedway, held at Odsal Stadium, Bradford, United Kingdom on 31 August 1985.

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; the first time that the final had been held in England at a venue other than Wembley.

A crowd of around 30,000 attended the 1985 Final, which was won by defending champion Erik Gundersen of Denmark 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.

British Qualification

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Preliminary Round
11 April	Rye House	Mike Ferreira	Jamie Luckhurst	Andrew Silver
17 April	Long Eaton	Trevor Banks	Dave Perks	Louis Carr
18 April	Middlesbrough	Steve Wilcock	Geoff Pusey	Mike Spink
19 April	Peterborough	Carl Blackbird	Tim Hunt	Kevin Hawkinse
19 April	Edinburgh	David Blackburn	Paul Thorp	Bobby Beaton
Semi-Finals
19 May	Halifax	Kenny Carter	John Davis	Neil Collins
22 May	Cradley Heath	Andy Grahame	Kelvin Tatum	Simon Cross
Final
6 June	Coventry	Kenny Carter	John Davis	Kelvin Tatum

British Final

• June 6, 1985
• Coventry, Brandon Stadium
• First 7 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
	(2) Kenny Carter	15	3					3				3				3				3			15	1
	(12) John Davis	14			3					3		2			3						3		14	2
	(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
R1	(R1) Steve Bastable	0																					0	R1
R2	(R2) Mark Courtney	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

Swedish Qualification

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Semi-Finals
4 May	Stockholm	Tommy Nilsson	Partik Karlsson	Erik Stenlund
4 May	Malilla	Per Jonsson	Anders Kling	Mikael Blixt
5 May	Mariestad	Jimmy Nilsen	Per Ove Gudmunsson	Richard Hellsen
Final
20 May	Örebro	Erik Stenlund	Tommy Nilsson	Richard Hellsen
21 May	Gislaved	Tommy Nillson	Jimmy Nilsen	Pierre Brannefors
22 May	Linkoping	Per Jonsson	Tommy Nilsson	Richard Hellsen

Australian Qualification

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Northern Territory Final
3 November 84	Tennant Creek	David Jackson	Brent Knott	Glen Baxter
Queensland Final
24 November 84	Ayr	Steve Regeling	Stan Bear	Steve Koppe
South Australian Final
1 December 84	Murray Bridge	Mark Fiora	Steve Baker	Darryl Branford
Western Australian Final
7 December 84	Perth	Mick McKenna
New South Wales Final
16 December 84	Napier	Billy Sanders	Gary Guglielmi	Rudy Muts
Victorian Final
23 December 84	Mildura	Phil Crump	Rod Hunter	Bill Barret
Australian Final
5 January	Ayr	Billy Sanders	Phil Crump	Stan Bear

Australian Final

• January 5, 1985
• Ayr
• First 2 to Overseas final

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

Intercontinental Round

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Norwegian Final
1 May	Elgane	Einar Kyllingstad	Roy Otto	Dag Haaland
Danish Final
5 May	Brovst	Hans Nielsen	Erik Gundersen	Preben Eriksen
American Final
8 June	Long Beach	John Cook	Sam Ermolenko	Shawn Moran
Scandinavian Final
9 June	Fjelsted	Tommy Knudsen	Jan Andersson	Erik Gundersen
Overseas Final
14 July	Bradford	Shawn Moran	Kenny Carter	Lance King
Intercontinental Final
3 August	Vetlanda	Shawn Moran	Lance King	Hans Nielsen

Norwegian Final

• May 1, 1985
• Elgane
• First to Scandinavian final

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

Danish Final

• May 5, 1985
• Brovst
• First 7 to Scandinavian final

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

American Final

• June 8, 1985
• Long Beach, Veterans Memorial Stadium
• First 5 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
	(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

Scandinavian Final

• June 9, 1985
• Fjelsted
• First 6 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve
• Kai Niemi, Ari Koponen and Olli Tyrvainen seeded direct to the Scandinavian 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
	(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 Nillson	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 Tyrvainen	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

Overseas Final

• July 14, 1985
• Bradford, Odsal Stadium
• 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

Intercontinental Final

• August 3, 1985
• Vetlanda, Vetlanda Speedway
• First 11 plus one reserve to the 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	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

Continental Round

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Preliminary Round
21 April	Diedenbergen	Klaus Lausch	Hubert Diener	Stanislav Urban
21 April	Targovishte	Angel Jeftimov	Igor Stolyarov	Grzegorz Dzikowski
21 April	Toruń	Leonard Raba	Wojciech Zabialowicz	Antonín Kasper, Jr.
21 April	Miskolc	Viktor Kuznetsov	Wojciech Zaluski	Josef Petrikovics
Quarter-Finals
1 May	Lonigo	Armando Castagna	Grzegorz Dzikowski	Valentino Furlanetto
1 May	Krsko	Antonín Kasper, Jr.	Armando Dal Chiele	Laszlo Bodi
1 May	Bremen	Klaush Lausch	Vaclav Verner	Zdenek Schneiderwind
5 May	Wiener Neustadt	Zoltan Adorjan	Sandor Tihanyi	Andrzej Huszcza
Semi-Finals
9 June	Debrecen	Zoltan Adorjan	Viktor Kuznetsov	Sandor Tihanyi
9 June	Žarnovica	Egon Muller	Klaus Lausch	Armando Castagna
Final
21 July	Pocking	Egon Muller	Armando Castagna	Zoltan Adorjan

Continental Final

• July 21, 1985
• Pocking, Rottalstadion
• First 5 plus one reserve to the 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	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) Vaclav 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

World Final

• 31 August 1985
• Bradford, Odsal Stadium^[1]
• Referee: () Torrie Kittlesen

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

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