The 1983 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 38th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider. It was the first time the World Final had been held in

West Germany 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 ...

Final summary

An almost capacity crowd of around 50,000 at the long Motodrom Halbemond circuit, saw local favourite

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 ...

became the first German rider to win the World Championship. Australian Champion

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 ...

, in career best form and always at his best on the longer tracks like those in his native Australia, scored his best ever World Championship placing by finishing second, with

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 ...

's 1980 World Champion Michael Lee finishing third. With both Sanders and former champion Lee in good form, and with the winner of the previous two World Finals

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 ...

having retired from speedway while on the podium at the 1982 World Final, the 1983 final was expected to be one of the most open in years. Others including

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 ...

(England),

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 ...

(United States), and

Dane Dane or Danes may refer to: People Pertaining to Denmark * Dane, somebody from Denmark * Danes, an ethnic group native to Denmark * Danes (Germanic tribe) Other people * Dane (name), a surname and a given name (and a list of people with the nam ...

s Ole Olsen, 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 ...

, were all expected to challenge. Like surprise winner

Jerzy Szczakiel Jerzy Szczakiel (28 January 1949 – 1 September 2020) was a Polish speedway rider. He was one of three Polish nationals to have won the Speedway World Championship, the others being 2010 World champion Tomasz Gollob and the 2019 Speedway Grand ...

who won at home in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

, Egon Müller was expected to do well in front of his home crowd, but wasn't among the pre-meeting favourites. In his last World Final appearance, "The Great Dane" Ole Olsen, the

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

and

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

World Champion, finished 6th with 10 points. He fittingly won his last ride, defeating Gundersen,

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Jiří Štancl Jiří Štancl (born 18 November 1949 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Czechoslovakia. Career Štancl reached the final of the Speedway World Championship on nine occasions between 1971 and 19 ...

, and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 to ...

in Heat 18.

New Zealand Qualification

New Zealand Final

* 27 February 1983 *

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

* First 2 to Overseas final

British Qualification

British Final

*June 1, 1983 *

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

Brandon Stadium Brandon Stadium, also known as Coventry Stadium, is located 6 miles east of Coventry in Brandon, Warwickshire, England. It was the home of the Coventry Bees motorcycle speedway team. It also hosted BriSCA F1 Stock Car Racing on the 1st Satur ...

*First 8 to Overseas final

Swedish Qualification

Sweden Final

*First 4 to Nordic final

Intercontinental Round

Australian Final

*January 21, 1983 *

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

*Referee: () Sam Bass *First 2 to Overseas final

Danish Final

*May 9, 1983 *

Fjelsted Fjelsted is a town located on the island of Funen in south Denmark, in Middelfart Municipality. Fjelsted is located next to the Funen Motorway three kilometers south of Harndrup, 20 kilometers east of Middelfart and 28 kilometers west of Odense. ...

*First 6 to Nordic final

American Final

*June 11, 1983 *

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, Veterans Memorial Stadium *First 4 to Overseas final

Nordic Final

*June 12, 1983 * Elgane *First 6 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve

Overseas Final

* July 17, 1983 *

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, Belle Vue * First 10 to the Intercontinental Final plus 1 reserve

Intercontinental Final

* 7 August 1983 *

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

White City Stadium White City Stadium was a stadium located in White City, London, England. Built for the 1908 Summer Olympics, it hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and other sports like swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock car ...

* First 11 to World Final plus 1 reserve

Continental Round

Continental Final

* 6 August 1983 *

Rybnik Rybnik (Polish pronunciation: ; szl, Rybńik) is a city in southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, around 38 km (24 mi) southwest of Katowice, the region's capital, and around 19 km (11 miles) from the Czech border. It is on ...

* First 5 to World Final plus 1 reserve

World Final

*September 4, 1983 *

Norden Norden is a Scandinavian and German word, directly translated as "the North". It may refer to: Places England * Norden, Basingstoke, a ward of Basingstoke and Deane * Norden, Dorset, a hamlet near Corfe Castle * Norden, Greater Manchester, a vi ...

, Motodrom HalbemondBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. *Referee: () Rolf Randborg

References

{{Speedway Grand Prix seasons

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 Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

Individual Speedway World Individual Speedway World Speedway competitions in Germany