The 1983 Speedway World Pairs Championship was the fourteenth

FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...

Speedway World Pairs Championship The Speedway World Pairs Championship was an annual speedway (motorcycling) event held each year in different countries. The first competition was held in 1968 and the final competition was held in 1993. From 1994 it was merged with the World Team ...

. The final took place on 18 June at the

Ullevi Stadium Ullevi, sometimes known as Nya Ullevi (, ''New Ullevi''), is a multi-purpose stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then has also hosted the World Allround Speed Skating Championships six times; th ...

Göteborg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a p ...

, Sweden.

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

won their sixth World Pairs Championship after

Kenny Carter Kenneth Malcolm Carter (28 March 1961 – 21 May 1986), was a British world class speedway rider. He rode for Newcastle Diamonds (1978), Halifax Dukes (1978–1985) and Bradford Dukes (1986). On Wednesday, 21 May 1986, he shot dead his w ...

and Peter Collins scored 25 points. Australia, represented by

Billy Sanders William Robert Sanders (9 September 1955 – 23 April 1985Oakes, P (1982). ''Daily Mirror 1982 Speedway Yearbook''. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. ) was an Australian international Speedway rider who won six Australian Championships and w ...

and

Gary Guglielmi Gary Graham Christopher Guglielmi (born 14 February 1958 in Sydney, New South Wales) is a former Australian international Speedway rider who represented Australia in both test matches and in the World Pairs Championship. Guglielmi is of Itali ...

finished second on 24 points, while the two men who would go on to dominate Motorcycle Speedway for the next six years, Hans Nielsen and

Erik Gundersen Erik Gundersen (born 8 October 1959 in Esbjerg, Denmark) is a former motorcycle speedway rider in the late 1970s and 1980s. Gundersen is one of the most successful speedway riders of all time. He was the ...

, rode

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

to third place with 19 points. Heading into Heat 16 of the Final, Billy Sanders was the only unbeaten rider. He won the start from Guglielmi and out of form

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

pair

Egon Müller Egon Müller (born 26 November 1948 in Kiel, Germany) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider and was winner of the Speedway World Championship in 1983, winning the title in his homeland with a maximum score of 15 points. Career Mo ...

and

Karl Maier Karl Maier (1901 – 25 July 2000) was a German Esperantist and member of the Universala Esperanto Asocio, for more than 50 years. Maier learned Esperanto in 1924. After emigration from Germany in 1930, he was living with Esperanto enthusiasts am ...

when he unbelievably fell in turn 2 of the first lap. Although Guglielmi went on to win the re-run of the heat, the points lost as a result of Sanders exclusion ultimately cost Australia its first (and only) World Pairs Championship. While Australian referee Sam Bass had no hesitation in excluding Sanders, he had earlier allowed Peter Collins to re-start after video replays suggested that he fell with no help in the first turn of Heat 10 against Denmark. England went on to a 5-0 score in the heat after Nielsen was excluded from the re-start for falling off his bike over the tapes and Gundersen suffered engine failure a lap from the flag while leading the race. Defending champions

Dennis Sigalos Arthur Dennis Sigalos (born August 16, 1959) is an American former professional speedway rider. Career Born in Garden Grove, California, Sigalos was a rising star in speedway racing during the late 1970s. Sigalos served notice that he was a c ...

and Bobby Schwartz (

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

), who had won the 1982 Pairs Championship at the Liverpool City Raceway in Sydney, Australia with a maximum score of 30 points, finished fourth with 18 points. The USA had also won the World Pairs in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

with

Bruce Penhall Bruce Lee Penhall (born May 10, 1957) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway racer who later starred in television and in film. He was the World Speedway Champion in 1981 and 1982 and rode for the successful Cradley Heath Heathen ...

and Schwartz.

Preliminary round

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

Semifinal 1

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

* June 5

Semifinal 2

* Bremen * June 5

World final

Ullevi Ullevi, sometimes known as Nya Ullevi (, ''New Ullevi''), is a multi-purpose stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then has also hosted the World Allround Speed Skating Championships six times; the ...

* June 18 * Referee: Sam Bass

References

{{International speedway

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

World Pairs Speedway World Pairs

Preliminary round

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

World final

See also

References