1988 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1988 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 43rd edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
The final was held at the Vojens Speedway Center, owned by former World Champion Ole Olsen. Despite the country having won seven World Individual Championships between three riders since 1971, it was the first time Denmark hosted the World Final.
Gundersen renewed his fierce rivalry with Nielsen as both finished on 14 points to tie for the lead of the Championship. However it was Gundersen that won the toss to choose his starting gate for the run-off. He chose the outside and on a wet track he won his third title by defeating Nielsen in the run-off. Fellow Dane Jan O. Pedersen completed a clean sweep for Denmark by taking the bronze medal.

First round

Qualification results.

British qualification

Top 32 riders to British semi-finals

Second round

West German Final

4 September '87
Rottalstadion, Pocking
Riders progress to Continental qualification

Pos.	Rider	Scores	Total
1	Tommy Dunker	3,3,3,3,3	15
2	Gerd Riss	3,3,3,2,3	14
3	Karl Maier	2,3,2,3,3	13
4	Carsten Pelzmann	3,2,1,3,1	10
5	Andreas Marynowski	2,2,1,3,2	10
6	Peter Schrock	2,1,3,2,2	10
7	Berndt Traunspurger	1,0,3,2,1	7
8	Tommy Broch	2,E,1,1,3	7
9	Klaus Freundorfer	1,2,2,F,2	7
10	Peter Hehlert	1,3,0,2,0	6
11	Alois Bachuber	0,1,2,1,1	5
12	Andre Pollehn	0,1,1,0,2	4
13	Hans Faltermeier	1,1,2,F,-	4
14	Heinz Huber	3,F,-,-,-	3
15	Hans Kressirer	0,2,0,1,E	3
16	Mario Trupkovic	0,0,0,0,1	1

Netherlands/Belgium Final

Riders progress to Continental qualification
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5

Pos.	Rider	Scores	Total
1	Henk Steman	13+15+1+13,5+13	54,5
2	Rene Elzinga	3,5+8+15+15+15	53
3	Peter Seur	12+11,5+9+11,5+9,5	44,5
4	Geert Cools	ns+9+9+13,5+12	43,5
5	Wil Stoes	11+10+ns+7,5+14	42,5
6	Rob Steman	0,5+11,5+14+6+6,5	38,5
7	Robert Jam Munnecom	10+14+13+ns+ns	37
8	Rikus Gorter	8,5+3+11,5+9+5	34
9	Frans Cools	0,5+5,5+5,5+10+11	31
10	Ron Koppe	3,5+7+5,5+11,5+6,5	30,5
11	Frits Koppe	14+13+ns+ns+ns	27
12	Vital Cardeynaels	7+4+11,5+1+ns	23,5
13	Henny Kroeze	15+5,5+ns+ns+ns	20,5
14	Ron Van Dam	2+ns+7+7,5+3,5	20
15	Patrick Pino	5+ns+3,5+3,5+8	20
16	Aage Lucardie	ns+1+9+5+2	17
17	Fokke Van Der Walle	8,5+2+2+3,5+3,5	16,5
18	Hylke Dijkema	ns++ns+ns+ns+9,5	9,5
19	Willy Heremans	6+ns+3,5+ns+ns	9,5
20	Herman Heremans	ns+ns+ns+2+ns	2

Italian Final

Top 4 to Continental qualification
Riders progress to Continental qualification
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5

Pos.	Rider	Scores	Total
1	Valentino Furlanetto	16+14+15+16	61
2	Armando Castagna	14+15+15+14	58
3	Paolo Salvatelli	12+11+13+9	45
4	Armando Dal Chiele	13+8+11+10	42
5	Ottaviano Righetto	11+12+10+9	42
6	Giuseppe Scalzolaro	9+10+9+5	33
7	Giorgio Zaramello	ns+10+8+12	30
8	Gianni Famari	ns+9+10+10	29
9	Giovanni Cragnolini	9+5+0+7	21
10	Fabrizio Vesperini	8+5+5+4	21
11	Gaetano Bressan	ns+7+8+5	20
12	Davide Guarise	4+6+ns+8	18
13	Amerigo Milanese	5+4+1+4	14
14	Mario Andriolo	6+3+3+0	12
15	Daniele Doro	6+0+4+1	11
16	Fabrizio Maggio	ns+2+5+3	10
17	Giuseppe Marzotto	ns+ns+4+ns	4
18	Domenico Solda	3+ns+ns+ns	3

Hungarian Final

Riders progress to Continental qualification
R1
R2
R3

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Zoltan Adorjan	30
2	József Petrikovics	28
3	Laszlo Bodi	24
4	Sandor Tihanyi	22
5	Antal Kocso	21
6	Zoltan Hajdu	21
7	Janoš Bologh	21
8	Janoš Sereš	19
9	Robert Nagy	16
10	Joszef Sziracky	14
11	Ferenc Juhaš	14
12	Ištvan Rušz	13
13	Andraš Kovacs	8
14	Robert Csilik	8
15	Sandor Ujhelyi	4
16	Janoš Oreško	3

Australian qualification

''* Due to the rules, England's Rob Woffinden did not progress to the Australian Championship''

Swedish qualification

Top 8 in each heat to Swedish final

Third round

British Final

Australian Final

23 January 1988
Murray Bridge Speedway, Murray Bridge
Top 4 to Commonwealth Final

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Phil Crump	15
2	Steve Regeling	11
3	Craig Hodgson	11
4	Mark Fiora	10
5	Troy Butler	10
6	David Jackson	9
7	Glen Baxter	8
8	Leigh Adams	8
9	Stephen Davies	7
10	Chris Watson	7
11	Steve Baker	6
12	Scott Fisher	6
13	Darrel Bradford	5
14	Glenn Doyle	4
15	Dave Hammett	1
16	Nigel Tramelling	1

New Zealand Final

Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch
Riders selected for Commonwealth Final

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Larry Ross	15
2	David Bargh	14
3	Garry Allan	13
4	Mark Lyndon	11
5	Alan Mason	11
6	Mitch Shirra	9
7	Craig Wilkie	7
8	Nathan Murray	7
9	Justin Monk	7
10	John Roberts	7
11	Chris Martin	4
12	Mark Thorpe	4
13	Sam Morice	3
14	Mark Jamieyson	3
15	David Claydon	2
16	Spencer Timmo	2
17	Lens Chappell	0
18	Daren Hopewell	0

Fourth round

Continental quarter-finals

To 32 to Continental semi-finals

Date

Venue

Winner

2nd

3rd

22 May

Danish Final

8 May
Outrup Speedway Center, Outrup,
First 7 to Nordic final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Hans Nielsen	15
2	Jan O. Pedersen	14
3	Erik Gundersen	13
4	Peter Ravn	10
5	Peter Glanz	9
6	Per Sorensen	9
7	John Jørgensen	8+3
8	Tommy Knudsen	8+2
9	Jan Stæchmann	7
10	Frank Andersen	6
11	John Eskildsen	6
12	Flemming Pedersen	6
13	Sam Nikolajsen	5
14	Aksel Jepsen	4
15	Jan Pedersen	0
16	Finn Rune Jensen	0

Norway Final

Elgane Speedway, Varhaug
30 August 1987, top 1 to Nordic final 1988

Pos.	Rider	Points
1	Tor Einar Hielm	14
2	Arnt Førland	12+3
3	Jan Arid Slatta	12+2
4	Robert Lengland	11
5	Ingvar Skogland	10

Finland Final

Pippo Speedway, Lahti
26 August 1987, top 1 riders to Nordic Final 1988

Pos.	Rider	Total
1	Ari Koponen	15
2	Vesa Ylinen	14
3	Roy Malminheimo	13
4	Aki Ala Riihimaki	11
5	Olli Turkia	11
6	Aarre Soivuori	7
7	Juha Moksunen	6
8	Jorma Frantila	6
9	Janne Moksunen	5
10	Markku Haapala	5
11	Mikael Back	5
12	Esa Einola	5
13	Marko Hyyrylainen	5
14	Petri Kokko	3
15	Jari Kortelainen	3
16	Jari Moisio	3
17	Tapio Suutari	1
18	Janne Koivula	0
19	Reijo Mattila	0

Swedish Final

First 3 to Nordic Final plus 1 reserve
Per Jonsson and Jimmy Nilsen seeded to Nordic Final
R1
R2
R3

Pos.	Rider	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Conny Ivarsson	12	13	14	39
2	Peter Nahlin	11	14	13	38
3	Mikael Blixt	12	13	13	38
4	Christer Rohlén	14	10	9	33
5	Tony Olsson	9	12	10	31
6	Mikael Ritterwall	8	3	12	23
7	Peter Karlsson	8	8	7	23
8	Kenneth Nyström	10	9	4	23
9	Mikael Teurnberg	4	8	8	20
10	Dennis Löfqvist	7	8	4	19
11	Claes Ivarsson	6	8	4	18
12	Bo Arréhn	4	6	7	17
13	Tommy Nilsson	3	5	2	10
14	Tony Gudbrand	-	-	8	8
15	Roland Dannö	4	2	-	6
16	Tony Zetterström	3	-	3	6
17	Patrik Karlsson	5	0	-	5
18	Krister Gardell	-	0	1	1

American Final

11 June
Veterans Memorial Stadium, Long Beach
First 5 to Overseas final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Sam Ermolenko	4,4,4,4,4	20
2	Robert Pfetzing	4,2,4,3,4	17+3
3	Rick Miller	4,4,3,4,2	17+2
4	Mike Faria	3,3,2,3,4	15
5	Bobby Schwartz	1,4,4,2,3	14
6	Shawn Moran	3,4,3,F,3	13
7	Ronnie Correy	3,3,3,3,0	12
8	Kelly Moran	2,3,4,0,2	11
9	Randy Green	0,3,2,2,4	11
10	Steve Lucero	2,2,3,2,1	10
11	Ed Castro	2,2,2,1,3	10
12	Lance King	4,2,E,0,3	9
13	Brad Oxley	1,1,1,4,2	9
14	Shawn Venables	1,0,2,4,1	8
15	Dub Ferrell	3,0,E,2,2	7
16	Bart Bast	1,1,1,3,0	6
17	Billy Hamill	0,1,0,1,1	3
18	Gary Hicks	2,0,0,-,-	2
19	Scotty Brown	0,1,-,-,-	1
20	Alan Christian	0,0,0,1,0	1
21	Len Dillon	1	-

Commonwealth Final

12 June 12
Norfolk Arena, King's Lynn
First 11 to Overseas Final plus 1 reserve

Pos.

Rider

Heat Scores

Total

Fifth round

Nordic Final

25 July
Sandnes Stadion, Sandnes
First 7 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve

Overseas Final

12 July
Brandon Stadium, Coventry
First 9 to Intercontinental Final plus 1 reserve

Sixth round

Continental Final

16 August 1988
Alfred Smoczyk Stadium, Leszno
First 5 to World Final plus 1 reserve

Intercontinental Final

6 August
Vetlanda Motorstadion, Vetlanda
First 11 to the World Final plus 1 reserve

World Final

3 September 1988
Speedway Center, Vojens