1982 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1982 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 37th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
The 1982 World Final was held in Los Angeles in the United States. This was the only time the Individual World Final was held outside of England or Europe before the advent of the Speedway Grand Prix series in 1995.
The speedway track for the final was laid out over the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum's existing athletics track. The event was held in front of a crowd of approximately 40,000 people, the largest ever motorcycle speedway attendance in the United States.

Controversy

Heat 14 of the championship proved to be the most controversial race of the night, and one of the most controversial heats in the whole of speedway history. After a slow start which saw defending champion Bruce Penhall, and England's Kenny Carter in 3rd and 4th places behind 1976 World Champion Peter Collins and Australian Phil Crump, both riders fought their way past Crump and into 2nd and 3rd behind Collins. Carter moved under Penhall into 2nd place at the end of the 2nd lap, and both riders proceeded to bump each other down the front straight with Carter emerging in front. Carter then went wide through turn 1 which allowed Penhall to come back underneath him. Carter then fell coming onto the back straight and went through the fence causing the race to be stopped. Norwegian referee Torrie Kittlesen then excluded Carter from the race for causing the stoppage. Carter protested claiming that Penhall had hit him in the corner causing him to come off his bike and walked back to the start line in an effort to stop the re-run going ahead without him. Officials and his manager Ivan Mauger were then forced to remove Carter from the track.
Although not shown in the television broadcast of the event, amateur video footage shot from the stands in turns 1 & 2 vindicated Kittlesen's decision. The footage showed that Penhall and Carter did not touch in the turn and that the Englishman had gone down on his own, though years later the debate still rages on about who was at fault. In a television interview with American broadcaster Ken Squier soon after the heat, Kittlesen told that he excluded Carter as he believed the Englishman had fallen without help from Penhall. He also said that the rough riding such as seen from Penhall and Carter on the front straight was to be expected in a World Final. Phil Crump, who had the best view of the incident as he was directly behind the pair, allegedly agreed with the decision to exclude Carter.
Penhall went on to win the re-run from Collins and Crump. In a twist, the result in the re-run ultimately cost Collins' younger brother Les the World Championship in what was his first and only World Final appearance. Had Penhall finished second in Heat 14 behind Peter Collins, and with later results, he and Les Collins could have finished with 13 points each which would have seen the pair in a runoff for the championship. Les Collins had inflicted Penhall's only loss of the meeting when he out-rode the American in Heat 4 in what many believe was a major upset. Additionally, if Penhall had been excluded from Heat 14 and not Carter, Les Collins would have a small chance of winning the title as he had finished with a 2-point lead over third placed American Dennis Sigalos, however Carter would have had a good chance of winning a re-run Heat 14 which would give him a two-point advantage over Les Collins before they met, so Carter would have been favourite. Had Penhall only finished on 11 points he would have had a runoff with fellow American Kelly Moran for third place.
In another controversial decision, two races later Kittlesen excluded Czechoslovakia's Václav Verner after a clash with West Germany's Georg Hack, the incident being similar to the Penhall / Carter incident. However, on this occasion it was the rider who stayed on his bike, Verner, who was excluded.
The controversy did not end there because Penhall then quit speedway immediately to pursue an acting career. The decision angered many in speedway circles with calls for the American to be stripped of his title.

First round

British qualification

Top 16 Riders progress to British semi-finals
Swedish qualification
Top 8 in each heat to Swedish final
Australian qualification

New Zealand qualification

Second round

Continental preliminary round

British semi-finals

Third round

Continental quarter-finals

Top 32 to Continental semi-finals

Date

Venue

Winner

2nd

3rd

9 May

American Final

12 June 1982
Veterans Memorial Stadium, Long Beach
First 3 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Dennis Sigalos	3,3,3,3,3	15
2	Shawn Moran	2,2,3,3,3	13+3
3	Kelly Moran	3,2,2,3,3	13+2
4	Scott Autrey	3,3,3,2,2	13+1
5	John Cook	1,3,1,3,2	10
6	Mike Faria	2,1,2,2,3	10
7	Bobby Schwartz	3,3,1,X,1	8
8	Mike Curosco	0,2,3,1,1	7
9	Brad Oxley	2,1,0,1,2	6
10	Alan Christian	2,F,2,1,0	5
11	Gene Woods	1,0,2,E,1	4
12	Mike Bast	X,2,1,0,0	3
13	Steve Lucero	1,0,0,2,0	3
14	Dave Sims	0,E,1,0,1	2
15	Steve Gresham	1,1,0,-,-	2
16	Paul Orlandi	0,1,F,-,-	1
R1	Keith Christo	2,2	4
R2	John Sandona	0,1,0	1

British Final

2 June 1982
Brandon Stadium, Coventry
First 8 to Overseas Final plus 1 reserve
Australian Final
13 March 1982
Exhibition Ground, Brisbane
Top 2 to Overseas final

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Billy Sanders	3,3,3,3,3	15
2	Phil Crump	3,3,3,3,2	14
3	Gary Guglielmi	1,3,3,3,1	11
4	Steve Regeling	2,2,1,3,3	11
5	John Titman	3,2,2,2,2	11
6	Ron Schleib	1,3,2,1,3	10
7	Phil Herne	2,2,3,2,1	10
8	Neil Coddington	3,1,2,0,2	8
9	Glyn Taylor	2,1,1,2,X	6
10	Peter Byrne	1,0,0,0,3	4
11	Les Sawyers	2,X,0,2,0	4
12	Mark Johns	0,1,0,1,2	4
13	Graeme Robertson	0,2,0,1,1	4
14	David Foot	1,1,1,0,1	4
15	Steve Baker	0,0,2,0,0	2
16	Peter Carswell	0,0,1,1,0	2

New Zealand Final

27 February 1982
Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch
Top 2 to Overseas final

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Larry Ross	15
2	Ivan Mauger	14
3	Mitch Shirra	13
4	David Bargh	12
5	Alan Mason	11
6	Roger Wright	10
7	Max Brown	9
8	Greame Stapleton	8
9	Kevin Browne	6
10	Trevor Chapman	5
11	Graham Taylor	4
12	Greg Joynt	4
13	Gavin Rhodes	4
14	Lance Begbie	2
15	Steve Hann	1
16	Vayne Brown	0
R1	Philip McClintock	2
R2	Craig Blacket	0

Danish Final

11 May 1982
Fredericia Speedway Stadium, Fredericia
First 6 to Nordic final

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Erik Gundersen	13+3
2	Bo Petersen	13+2
3	Hans Nielsen	13+1
4	Ole Olsen	11
5	Preben Eriksen	10
6	Tommy Knudsen	10
7	Finn Thomsen	9
8	Bent Rasmussen	8
9	Jens Rasmussen	7
10	Alf Busk	7
11	Finn Rune Jensen	5
12	Helge R. Hansen	4
13	Jens Henry Nielsen	4
14	John Eskildsen	3
15	Hans Albert Klinge	3
16	Rene Christiansen	0

Norway Final

Geiteryggen Speedwaybane, Skien
9 May 1982, top 2 to Nordic final

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Dag Haaland	14
2	Roy Otto	13
3	Trond Helge Skretting	12
4	Sigvart Pedersen	11
5	Asgeir Berga	11
6	Geir Aasland	10
7	Kjell Gimre	8
8	Lars Otto Holt	7
9	Terje Tollefsen	7
10	Roar Rockvaldsen	6
11	Jörn Haugvaldstad

Finland Final

Eteläpuisto, Tampere
10 September 1981, top 2 to 1982 Nordic final

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Kai Niemi	15
2	Pekka Hautamaki	14
3	Veijo Tuoriniemi	12
4	Olli Turkia	11
5	Seppo Palomaki	10
6	Ossi Henriksson	10
7	Hannu Lehtonen	9
8	Isto Maja	7
9	Hannu Larronmaa	7
10	Ari Koponen	5
11	Seppo Keskinen	5
12	Ismo Kivela	4
13	Heikki Makinen	4
14	Markku Parkkari	1
15	Esa Jamsalainen	1
16	Risto Jokinen	1
17	Esa Mattila	0
18	Pentti Kallio	0
19	Kari Yrjanainen	0

Swedish finals

Top 4 over three meetings + Jan Andersson to Nordic final
R1
R2
R3

Pos.	Rider	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Richard Hellsén	13	13	11	37
2	Tommy Nilsson	10	13	13	36
3	Björn Andersson	9	12	11	32
4	Lillebror Johansson	10	8	12	31+3
5	Lennart Bengsson	13	8	10	31+2
6	Uno Johansson	11	7	12	30
7	Anders Michanek	7	8	12	27
8	Jan Ericsson	9	9	8	26
9	Hans Danielsson	6	6	7	19
10	Conny Samuelsson	7	5	4	16
11	Åke Fridell	4	10	1	15
12	Roger Gustavsson	6	1	7	14
13	Anders Eriksson	9	2	2	13
14	Börje Ring	2	5	5	12
15	Per-Ove Gudmundsson	0	5	4	9
16	Pierre Brannefors	8	0	0	8
17	Gert Carlsson	0	4	-	4
18	Sören Brolin	0	0	-	0
19	Tommy Johansson	0	-	-	0

Fourth round

Continental semi-finals

Overseas Final

4 July 1982
White City Stadium, London
First 10 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve
Nordic Final
4 July 1982
Fjelsted Speedway Stadium, Harndrup
First 6 to Intercontinental final + 1 reserve

Pos.

Rider

Total

Fifth round

Continental Final

25 July 1982
Alfred Smoczyk Stadium, Leszno
First 5 to World final plus 1 reserve
Intercontinental Final
23 July 1982
Vetlanda Motorstadion, Vetlanda
First 11 to World final plus 1 reserve
World Final
28 August 1982
Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles.
Referee: Torrie Kittlesen
Attendance: 40,000
Television

During the meeting, scenes for an episode of the American television drama series CHiPs were filmed in the pits. One of the stars of CHiPs was World Champion Bruce Penhall who portrayed cadet–probationary officer Bruce Nelson. The episode centered on Nelson winning the World Final, with Penhall acting as Nelson in between races. Actual television coverage of the meeting was also used in the episode, with dubbed over commentary. The episode, which was episode 5 of season 6 aired in the USA on November 7, 1982, was Penhall's debut in the series.
Penhall later admitted that it felt strange having a bodyguard and having to do make up for shoots in between races, stating that he was nervous enough riding in the World Final in front of his home crowd without the pressure of a television acting debut.