The 1989 British League season (also known as the Sunbrite British League for sponsorship reasons) was the 55th season of the top tier of

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and the 25th known as the

British League The British League was the main motorcycle speedway league in Britain from its formation in 1965 until 1995 when British speedway was restructured. It initially had a single division, with a second division starting in 1968 (which was renamed the ...

Summary

The

Coventry Bees Coventry Bees were a motorcycle speedway team that existed from 1929 to 2018. They raced at Brandon Stadium, Brandon near Coventry, England. History A Coventry team was first formed in 1928 and competed in the inaugural season of the Southern ...

were the defending champions from

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. The league was once again run over a 15-heat formula, with 7 riders per team.

Oxford Cheetahs The Oxford Cheetahs are a British speedway teamLawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. based at Oxford Stadium, in Oxford, England. They were founded in 1939 and are five times champions of Britain, in 1964, 1985, 1986, 1989 and ...

bounced back to winning ways claiming their third title in five years. The team was led by their double world champion Hans Nielsen who by the end of the season would be world champion for the third time and top the averages for an incredible seventh season running. He was backed up by

Simon Wigg Simon Antony Wigg (15 October 1960 – 15 November 2000) was an English speedway, grasstrack and longtrack rider who won five World Long Track Championships and finished runner-up in the Speedway World Championship in 1989.Rogers, G.(200 ...

, Martin Dugard,

Andy Grahame Andrew George Grahame (born 10 September 1957 in Birmingham, England) is a former motorcycle speedway rider. Career Grahame began his British leagues career when he joined his older brother Alan Grahame at Birmingham Brummies for the 1976 Brit ...

Marvyn Cox Marvyn Cox (born 11 July 1964 in Whitstable, Kent) is a former Speedway rider . Cox was twice a winner of the German Individual Championship in 1993 and 1995, when he raced under a German licence. Domestic career In 1984 he was signed by Oxfor ...

and

Troy Butler Troy Butler (born 22 September 1967) is a former speedway rider from Australia. Speedway career Butler was champion of Australia when he won the 1986 Australian Championship. He rode in the top tier of British Speedway riding for the Oxford ...

, all of whom averaged from about 6 to 8 points for the season. The defending champions Coventry could only finish 5th after losing

Tommy Knudsen Tommy Knudsen (born 9 November 1961 in Roager, Denmark) is a former Motorcycle speedway rider who won eight Speedway World Team Cups, and two Speedway World Pairs Championship, World Pairs. Career Knudsen first became kno ...

for the season. Cradley Heath won thir 8th Knockout Cup in 11 years (it would also be their last).

Final table

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

British League Knockout Cup

The 1989 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 51st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams.

Cradley Heath Heathens Cradley Heathens was a motorcycle speedway team from Dudley, England. The team was founded in 1947 and competed at the top level of British speedway until its closure in 1995. It was revived as Dudley Heathens in 2010, competing in the National L ...

were the winners for the fourth successive year if including the tied 1986 final. First round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final First leg Second leg Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 95-85.

Riders' Championship

Shawn Moran Shawn Moran (born November 19, 1961 in Lakewood, California) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway rider who was one of the most popular and talented riders ever to race for Sheffield Tigers who also represented the United State ...

won the

British League Riders' Championship The British League Riders Championship was an individual motorcycle speedway contest between the top riders (or two riders) with the highest average from each club competing in the British League in the UK, or the top division of the league during ...

. It was the held at

Belle Vue Stadium Belle Vue Stadium was a greyhound racing track in Belle Vue, Manchester, England, where the first race around an oval track in Britain was held on 24 July 1926. It has also been used for motorcycle speedway, as the home ground of Elite League t ...

on 1 October. *ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Leading final averages

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue *

9.68 * Kelly Moran 8.29 * Peter Ravn 7.54 *

Gary Hicks Gary E. Hicks (born November 30, 1953) is the Senior Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. He was sworn in January 31, 2006. Hicks obtained his degree in mathematics from Bucknell University in 1975. He is a 1978 graduate of Bost ...

7.17 *

Chris Morton Christopher John Morton, MBE (born 22 July 1956) is a former motorcycle speedway rider. He rode bikes from a young age at the farm of Peter Collins' parents. Brief career summary Born in Davyhulme, Lancashire, Morton made his debut for Elles ...

6.75 *

Joe Screen Joseph Screen (born 27 November 1972 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire), is a former British international speedway rider. His major speedway honours include winning the World Under-21 Championship in 1993, the British Championship in 1996 and 20 ...

6.40 * Carl Stonehewer 5.50 * Gordon Whitaker 3.41 * Paul Smith 2.09 * Mike Lewthwaite 1.85 Bradford *

Paul Thorp Paul Thorp (born 9 September 1964 in Macclesfield, Cheshire,) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. Career Thorp began his racing career with the Birmingham Brummies in 1980 and spent four seasons with the club. He was a six time ...

7.79 *

Neil Evitts Neil C. Evitts (born 25 September 1964 in Birmingham, England) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. Career Evitts finished eighth in the World Championship in 1986 .Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Spee ...

7.51 * Andy Smith 7.27 * Bryan Larner 5.40 * Henrik Kristensen 4.94 * Glenn Doyle 4.76 *

Antal Kocso Antal Kocso (born 22 December 1962) is a former international speedway rider from Hungary. Speedway career Kocso reached the final of the Speedway World Championship in the 1988 Individual Speedway World Championship. He rode in the top tier ...

4.60 *

Michael Graves Michael Graves (July 9, 1934 – March 12, 2015) was an American architect, designer, and educator, as well as principal of Michael Graves and Associates and Michael Graves Design Group. He was a member of The New York Five and the Memphis Grou ...

4.17 Coventry *

Kelvin Tatum Kelvin Martin Tatum MBE (born 8 February 1964, in Epsom, Surrey) is a former British international motorcycle speedway and grasstrack rider. Career Tatum attended Brighton College from 1977 to 1980. He started riding speedway bikes at Hackney' ...

9.49 * Rick Miller 6.93 * Sean Wilson 6.52 *

John Jørgensen John Jørgensen (born 18 July 1962 in Middelfart, Denmark) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Denmark. He is not to be confused with Johnny Jørgensen, the 1989 Danish Junior speedway champion. Career Jørgensen won the ...

6.39 *

Andy Hackett Andy may refer to: People * Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds * Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and pi ...

5.49 *

Roman Matoušek Roman Matoušek (1964–2020) was a speedway rider from the Czech Republic. Speedway career Matoušek was the champion of the Czechoslovakia, winning the Czechoslovakian Individual Speedway Championship in 1988. He rode in the top tier of B ...

5.27 *

Kai Niemi Kai Juhani Niemi (born 15 September 1955 in Pori, Finland) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider who represented the Finland national speedway team. Career He reached four World Championship finals, finishing a career best fourt ...

4.69 * Mike Bacon 2.95 * Paul Smith 2.55 Cradley Heath *

Jan O. Pedersen Jan Osvald Pedersen (born 9 November 1962 in Middelfart, Denmark) is a former Speedway rider who became Speedway World Champion in 1991 after finishing runner-up in 1986 and in third place in 1988 behind fellow Danes Erik ...

10.22 *

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 ...

9.97 *

Simon Cross Simon James Cross (born 31 May 1965 in Hereford, England) is a former motorcycle speedway rider who spent most of his career with the Cradley Heathens. Career Simon Cross and Kelvin Tatum finished runner-up in Speedway World Pairs Championship ...

9.13 *

Gert Handberg Gert Handberg (born 30 May 1969 in Brædstrup, Denmark) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider form Denmark. Career Gert joined Cradley Heathens in 1988 on a recommendation, after winning the Danish Junior Championship during the ...

6.52 *

Greg Hancock Gregory Alan Hancock (born June 3, 1970 in Whittier, California) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway rider. As of 2023, he was one of only six riders to have won the individual World Championship four or more times. In addit ...

6.06 *

Alan Grahame Alan William Grahame (5 February 1954 – 3 October 2021) was a British motorcycle speedway rider. Career Grahame was born at Kingstanding, Birmingham, in February 1954. He finished runner-up to his brother Andy Grahame in the 1982 British S ...

5.78 * John Bostin 3.00 Kings Lynn * Richard Knight 7.83 *

Lance King Lance King (born November 23, 1962) is an American heavy metal music singer and songwriter specializing in melodic progressive power metal. He has sung with many groups over the last 35 years and started the record label Nightmare in 1990 t ...

7.67 * John Davis 6.74 * Allan Johansen 6.65 *

Armando Dal Chiele Armando Dal Chiele (born 11 February 1959) is a former international speedway rider from Italy. Speedway career Dal Chiele reached the final of the Speedway World Pairs Championship three times from 1984 until 1992. He rode in the top tier ...

5.03 * Stephen Davies 4.93 * Dennis Löfqvist 4.82 * Adrian Stevens 3.56 * Paul Smith 3.14 * Roger Horspool 1.50 Oxford * Hans Nielsen 10.91 *

7.69 * Martin Dugard 7.61 *

6.91 *

6.80 *

5.96 * Paul Dugard 2.56 * Kevin Pitts 1.64 Reading *

Jeremy Doncaster Jeremy Doncaster (born 16 June 1961 in Grimsby, England) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider who won the World Team Cup in 1989, top scoring for Great Britain with 13 points. He also finished in third place in the 1989 World Fi ...

8.61 *

Mitch Shirra Mitchell Owen (Mitch) Shirra (born 27 September 1958 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a former motorcycle speedway rider who rode with the Coventry Bees, Reading Racers, Swindon Robins and Ipswich Witches in the British League. Career Shirra began ...

7.62 * Tony Olsson 6.49 * Carl Blackbird 5.52 *

Armando Castagna Armando Castagna (born 22 September 1963) is a former Italian international motorcycle speedway rider. He was born in Arzignano, and was a member of the Italy national team and has represented them in several World Team Cup competitions. He i ...

5.47 * Dave Mullett 5.09 * Malcolm Holloway 4.38 * David Steen 2.56 Swindon *

Jimmy Nilsen Jimmy Nilsen (born 16 November 1966) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Sweden. Career Jimmy Nilsen was Swedish Champion in 1996 after finishing 3rd in 1994. Nilsen also rode in five World Finals as well as representing ...

8.41 *

Brian Karger Brian Karger (born 9 February 1967, in Horsens, Denmark) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider. He was a member of the Denmark speedway team when they won the 1991 and 1995 World Team Cup Finals. He also qualified for the 1992 World ...

8.09 * Andrew Silver 7.38 * John Davis 6.67 *

Peter Nahlin Peter Nahlin (born 1 May 1968 in Eskilstuna, Sweden) is a former Motorcycle speedway rider who became the 1988 World Under-21 Champion.Bart Bast 5.05 * Gary Chessell 4.88 * Tom P. Knudsen 4.00 (2 matches only) * David Smart 3.72 Wolverhampton *

Sam Ermolenko Guy Allen 'Sudden Sam' Ermolenko (born November 23, 1960 Maywood, California) is a former speedway rider. In 1993 he won the Speedway World Championship in Pocking, Germany.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway ...

9.85 * Ronnie Correy 7.86 * Neil Collins 6.88 *

Robert Pfetzing Robert Pfetzing (born 4 October 1959) is a former international speedway rider from America. Speedway career Pfetzing rode in the top tier of British Speedway from 1984–1989, riding for Wolverhampton Wolves and Bradford Dukes. He reached t ...

6.61 * Graham Jones 6.60 * Jan Staechmann 6.54 * Andy Phillips 5.73

References

{{British Speedway League seasons British League 1989 in British motorsport 1989 in speedway