1991 Individual Speedway World Championship

1991 Individual Speedway World Championship

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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

• Top 32 to British-Semi finals

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

• Top 16 to British final

Third round

Continental preliminary round

• Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals

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

Swedish qualification

• Top 8 in each heat to Swedish final

(3 May, Nässjö Motorstadion, Nässjö) Pos Rider Points 1 Mikael Blixt 13 2 Conny Ivarsson 11 3 Jimmy Nilsen 11 4 Erik Stenlund 10 5 Mikael Karlsson 10 6 Tony Olsson 9 7 Mikael Ritterwall 9 8 Mikael Löfqvist 8 9 Niklas Karlsson 7 10 Olli Tyrväinen 6 11 Magnus Oscarsson 6 12 Patrik Karlsson 6 13 Christer Rohlén 5 14 Kenneth Nyström 4 15 Mikael Olsson 4 16 Joakim Karlsson 1

(4 May, Tallhult Motorstadion, Hagfors) Pos Rider Points 1 Per Jonsson 13 2 Mikael Teurnberg 13 3 Tony Rickardsson 13 4 Henrik Gustafsson 11 5 Peter Karlsson 11 6 Claes Ivarsson 9 7 Peter Nahlin 8 8 Stefan Dannö 7+3 9 Dennis Löfqvist 7+2 10 Kenneth Lindby 7+1 11 Jörgen Johansson 6 12 Göran Flood 5 13 Robert Johansson 4 14 Anders Kling 1 15 Jimmy Engman 1 16 Lillebror Johansson 0

Australian Final

Main article: 1991 Australian Individual Speedway Championship

• First 3 (+ *Leigh Adams seeded) to Commonwealth Final

New Zealand Final

• 14 February 1991
• Awapuni Speedway, Gisborne
• First 2 to Commonwealth 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

• Top 10 to Commonwealth final plus 1 reserve

Fourth round

Danish Final

• 19 May 1991
• Fladbro Speedway, Randers
• First 6 to Nordic final plus 1 reserve

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

• 
• Vesa Ylinen & Juha Moksunen seeded to Nordic final

Norwegian Final

• Elgane Speedway, Varhaug
• 19 Aug 1990, top 1 (+1 seeded) to Nordic final 1991

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

• 3 rounds, top 5 to Nordic final plus 1 reserve
• R1 (14 May, Kumla Motorstadion, Kumla)
• R2 (15 May, Ljungheden, Västervik)
• R3 (2 June, Gubbängens IP, Stockholm)

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

• Top 32 to Continental semi-finals

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

American Final

• 2 March 1991
• Veterans Memorial Stadium, Long Beach
• First 5 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve

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

• 2 June 1991
• Norfolk Arena, King's Lynn
• First 11 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve

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

* Todd Wiltshire replaced Glyn Taylor

Fifth round

Continental semi-finals

22 June Ellermühle Speedway Stadium, Landshut Top 7 to World semi-final Pos. Rider Points 1 Armando Castagna 15 2 Roman Matoušek 14 3 Gerd Riss 11+3 4 Mikhail Starostin 11+2 5 Wojciech Zaluski 10 6 Vladimir Kalina 9 7 Petr Vandírek 8+3 8 Klaus Lausch 8+2 9 Zoltan Hajdu 8+1 10 Pavel Karnas 7 11 Robert Barth 6 12 Bohumil Brhel 4 13 Tomasz Gollob 3 14 Robert Csillik 3 15 Csaba Hell 2 16 Jaroslaw Olszewski 1

23 June Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo Top 7 to World semi-final Pos. Rider Points 1 Ryszard Dolomisiewicz 12 2 Zoltán Adorján 11+3 3 Róbert Nagy 11+2 4 Rif Saitgareev 11+1 5 Václav Milík Sr. 11+0 6 Zdeněk Schneiderwind 10 7 József Petrikovics 10 8 Antonín Kasper Jr. 9 9 Antal Kocso 8 10 Piotr Swist 8 11 Oleg Kurguskin 5 12 Franz Leitner 3 13 Zoltan Kovacs 3 14 Lubomir Jedek 3 15 Eugeniusz Skupien 2 16 Tommy Dunker 1 17 Miroslaw Kowalik (res) 1

Nordic Final

• 23 June 1991
• Nordjylland Speedway Center, Brovst
• First 9 to World Semi-final plus 1 reserve

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

Overseas Final

• 23 June 1991
• Odsal Stadium, Bradford
• First 9 to World Semi-final plus 1 reserve

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

Sixth round

World Semi-Finals

11 August 1991 Rivne Speedway Stadium, Rivne First 8 to World final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Points 1 Billy Hamill 12 2 Jimmy Nilsen 11 3 Per Jonsson 10+3 4 Paul Thorp 10+2 5 Roman Matoušek 9 6 Armando Castagna 9 7 Jeremy Doncaster 9 8 Mitch Shirra 9 9 Mikael Blixt 8+3 10 Henrik Gustafsson 8+2 11 Vladimír Kalina 7 12 Lars Gunnestad 6 13 Zoltán Adorján 4 14 Petr Vandírek 4 15 Antonín Kasper, Jr. (Res) 2 16 Róbert Nagy 1 17 Rif Saitgareev 1

18 August 1991 Abensberger Stadion, Abensberg First 8 to World final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Points 1 Hans Nielsen 15 2 Jan O. Pedersen 14 3 Tommy Knudsen 12 4 Sam Ermolenko 11 5 Tony Rickardsson* 10 6 Ronnie Correy 8 7 Kelvin Tatum 8 8 Gerd Riss 8 9 Gert Handberg 7+3 10 József Petrikovics 7+2 11 Kelly Moran 6 12 Wojciech Załuski 5 13 Václav Milík, Sr. 3 14 Zdeněk Schneiderwind 3 15 Klaus Lausch 2 16 Mikhail Starostin 1

* First reserve Tony Rickardsson replaced injured qualifier Andy Smith

World final

• 31 August 1991
• Ullevi, Göteborg ^[6]

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	(15) Jan O. Pedersen	15				3			3			3						3	3				15	1
2	(6) Tony Rickardsson	12		2				3			3							2			2		12	2
3	(1) Hans Nielsen	11+3	2				3				1				3				2				11	3
4	(2) Tommy Knudsen	11+2	3					1				1				3				3			11	4
5	(3) Jimmy Nilsen	10	0						2				2				3				3		10	5
6	(10) Paul Thorp	10			3			2						2			2		1				10	6
7	(16) Sam Ermolenko	9				2				3	2						0			2			9	7
8	(13) Kelvin Tatum	8				1	2							3		2					0		8	8
9	(4) Per Jonsson	7	1							2				0				1				3	7	9
10	(5) Ronnie Correy	6		3			0					0					1					2	6	10
11	(8) Armando Castagna	6		1						1			3			1			0				6	11
12	(12) Billy Hamill	6			2					-		2			1						1		2	12
13	(7) Mitch Shirra	4		0					0					1	2					1			4	13
14	(11) Jeremy Doncaster	2			1				1		0					0						0	2	14
15	(9) Roman Matoušek	2			0		1						1					0		0			2	15
16	(14) Gerd Riss	1				0		0					0		0							1	1	16
	(17) Mikael Blixt	0								0													0
	(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	Jan O. Pedersen	(3,3,3,3,3)	15
2	Tony Rickardsson	(2,3,3,2,2)	12
3	Hans Nielsen	(2,3,1,3,2)	11+3
4	Tommy Knudsen	(3,1,1,3,3)	11+2
5	Jimmy Nilsen	(0,2,2,3,3)	10
6	Paul Thorp	(3,2,2,2,1)	10
7	Sam Ermolenko	(2,3,2,0,2)	9
8	Kelvin Tatum	(1,2,3,2,0)	8
9	Per Jonsson	(1,2,0,1,3)	7
10	Ronnie Correy	(3,0,0,1,2)	6
11	Armando Castagna	(1,1,3,1,0)	6
12	Billy Hamill	(2,X,2,1,1)	6
13	Mitch Shirra	(0,0,1,2,1)	4
14	Roman Matoušek	(0,1,1,0,0)	2
15	Jeremy Doncaster	(1,1,0,0,0)	2
16	Gerd Riss	(0,0,0,0,1)	1
R1	Mikael Blixt	(-,0,-,-,-)	0
R2	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