1988 Individual Speedway World Championship Explained

The 1988 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 43rd edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.^[1] ^[2] ^[3]

The final was held at the Vojens Speedway Center,^[4] owned by former World Champion Ole Olsen. Despite the country having won seven World Individual Championships between three riders since 1971 (Olsen, Erik Gundersen and Hans Nielsen), it was the first time Denmark hosted the World Final.^[5]

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.^[6]

First round

Qualification results.^[7] ^[8]

British qualification

Top 32 riders to British semi-finals

width=100	Date	width=280	Venue	width=180	Winner	width=180	2nd	width=180	3rd
8 April				Les Collins
10 April
11 April				Andy Campbell
14 April				Neville Tatum
16 April				Andy Galvin
Quarter-final^[9]
26 April			Neville Tatum	Steve Schofield

Second round

West German Final

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

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=70px	Scores	width=50px	Total
1		3,3,3,3,3	15
2		3,3,3,2,3	14
3		2,3,2,3,3	13
4		3,2,1,3,1	10
5		2,2,1,3,2	10
6		2,1,3,2,2	10
7		1,0,3,2,1	7
8		2,E,1,1,3	7
9		1,2,2,F,2	7
10		1,3,0,2,0	6
11		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 (20 Apr '87, Stichting Baansport Blijham, Blijham)
R2 (26 Apr '87, Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam)
R3 (24 May '87, Veenoord Speedway, Veenoord)
R4 (4 Jul '87, Stadionlaan, Heusden-Zolder)
R5 (12 Jul '87, Veenoord Speedway, Veenoord)

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=70px	Scores	width=50px	Total
1		13+15+1+13,5+13	54,5
2		3,5+8+15+15+15	53
3		12+11,5+9+11,5+9,5	44,5
4		ns+9+9+13,5+12	43,5
5		11+10+ns+7,5+14	42,5
6		0,5+11,5+14+6+6,5	38,5
7		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		14+13+ns+ns+ns	27
12	Vital Cardeynaels	7+4+11,5+1+ns	23,5
13		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 (29 Mar '87, Giavera del Montello, Treviso)
R2 (5 Apr '87, Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo)
R3 (24 Apr '87, Pista Olimpia Terenzano, Terenzano)
R4 (10 May '87, Stadio Ottorino Verzaro, Badia Polesine)
R5 (4 Jul '87, Castiglione Olona, Varese)

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=70px	Scores	width=50px	Total
1		16+14+15+16	61
2		14+15+15+14	58
3		12+11+13+9	45
4		13+8+11+10	42
5		11+12+10+9	42
6		9+10+9+5	33
7		ns+10+8+12	30
8		ns+9+10+10	29
9		9+5+0+7	21
10		8+5+5+4	21
11		ns+7+8+5	20
12		4+6+ns+8	18
13		5+4+1+4	14
14		6+3+3+0	12
15		6+0+4+1	11
16		ns+2+5+3	10
17		ns+ns+4+ns	4
18		3+ns+ns+ns	3

Hungarian Final

Riders progress to Continental qualification
R1 (26 Apr '87, Christián László Municipal Sports Complex, Gyula)
R2 (27 Jun '87, Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc)
R3 (28 Jun '87, Hajdú Volán Stadion, Debrecen)

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=50px	Total
1		30
2		28
3		24
4		22
5		21
6		21
7		21
8		19
9		16
10		14
11		14
12		13
13		8
14		8
15		4
16		3

Australian qualification

width=80	Date	width=250	Event	width=280	Venue	width=100	Winner	width=100	2nd	width=100	3rd
??	Northern Territory Championship			??	??
??	Victorian Championship				??
??	New South Wales Championship				Brian Dixon
??	South Australian Championship				Darrell Branford
??	Queensland Championship				??
??	Western Australian Championship		Rob Woffinden		??

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

New Zealand qualification

width=80	Date	width=280	Event	width=280	Venue	width=100	Winner	width=100	2nd	width=100	3rd
?	South Island Final				Mark Lyndon
??	North Island Final			John Roberts	Chris Martin

British semi-finals

width=50% valign=top

8 May
Oxford Stadium, Oxford
Top 8 to British final

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=40px	Points
1	Simon Wigg	13
2	Jeremy Doncaster	12
3	John Davis	12
4	Andrew Silver	11
5	Marvyn Cox	11
6	Steve Schofield	9
7	Simon Cross	9
8	Andy Galvin	9
9	Alun Rossiter	8
10	Malcolm Holloway	7
11	Alan Grahame
12	David Walsh
13
14
15
16

width=50% valign=top

8 May
Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield
Top 8 to British final

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=40px	Points
1	Kelvin Tatum	14+3^[10]
2	Chris Morton	14+2
3	Neil Evitts	11
4	Neil Collins	10
5	Richard Knight	10
6	Sean Wilson	9
7	Gary Havelock	9
8	Andy Smith	9
9	Paul Thorp	8
10	Sean Willmott	8
11	Neville Tatum	4
12	Mark Loram	4
13	Les Collins	4
14	Michael Graves	3
15	Daz Sumner	3
16	Mark Courtney	0

Swedish qualification

Top 8 in each heat to Swedish final

(7 May, Huddinge Motorstadion, Huddinge)
width=30	Pos	width=200	Rider	width=50	Points
1		15
2		13
3		12+3
4	Mikael Ritterwall	12+2
5	Dennis Löfqvist	11
6		10
7		10
8		7
9		6
10	Lars Andersson	6
11	Jörgen Johansson	5
12	Krister Gardell	5
13	Roger Söderberg	4
14	Sören Brolin	3
15	Kent Rickardsson	1
16	Mats Boström (res)	1
17	Tommy Lindgren	0
18	Teddie Jönsson	0

(7 May, Gislaved Motorbana, Gislaved)
width=30	Pos	width=200	Rider	width=50	Points
1		15
2		12
3	Bo Arrhén	11
4		10
5	Niklas Karlsson	10
6		9+3
7	Roland Dannö	9+2
8	Patrik Karlsson	9+1
9		9+0
10	Tony Gudbrand	6
11	Thomas Ek	6
12	Tony Zetterström	6
13	Patrik Palovaara	3
14	Christer Jonsson	3
15	Patrik Åhlund	2
16	Åke Fridell	0
17	Kristian Hultgren	0

Third round

Continental preliminary round

width=100	Date	width=280	Venue	width=180	Winner	width=180	2nd	width=180	3rd
7 May				Valery Gordeev
7 May				Zoltan Hajdu
8 May
8 May

British Final

22 May 1988
- Brandon Stadium, Coventry First 9 to Commonwealth Final

Australian Final

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

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=50px	Total
1		15
2		11
3		11
4		10
5		10
6		9
7		8
8		8
9		7
10		7
11		6
12		6
13		5
14		4
15		1
16		1

New Zealand Final

Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch
Riders selected for Commonwealth Final

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=70px	Total
1		15
2		14
3		13
4		11
5		11
6	Mitch Shirra	9
7		7
8		7
9		7
10		7
11		4
12		4
13	Sam Morice	3
14		3
15		2
16	Spencer Timmo	2
17		0
18		0

Fourth round

Continental quarter-finals

To 32 to Continental semi-finals

width=100	Date	width=280	Venue	width=180	Winner	width=180	2nd	width=180	3rd
22 May
5 June
5 June
5 June

Danish Final

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

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=70px	Total
1		15
2		14
3		13
4		10
5		9
6		9
7		8+3
8		8+2
9		7
10		6
11		6
12		6
13		5
14		4
15		0
16		0

Norway Final

Elgane Speedway, Varhaug
30 August 1987, top 1 (+1 seeded) to Nordic final 1988

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=40px	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 (+1 seeded) riders to Nordic Final 1988

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=50px	Total
1		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 (res)	5
14		3
15	Jari Kortelainen	3
16	Jari Moisio	3
17	Tapio Suutari (res)	1
18	Janne Koivula	0
19	Reijo Mattila (res)	0

Swedish Final

First 3 to Nordic Final plus 1 reserve
Per Jonsson and Jimmy Nilsen seeded to Nordic Final
R1 (17 May, Malmö Motorstadion, Malmö)
R2 (18 May, Norrköping Motorstadion, Norrköping)
R3 (19 May, Orionparken, Hallstavik)

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=20px	R1	width=20px	R2	width=20px	R3	width=70px	Total
1		12	13	14	39
2		11	14	13	38
3		12	13	13	38
4		14	10	9	33
5		9	12	10	31
6		8	3	12	23
7		8	8	7	23
8		10	9	4	23
9		4	8	8	20
10		7	8	4	19
11		6	8	4	18
12		4	6	7	17
13		3	5	2	10
14		-	-	8	8
15		4	2	-	6
16	Tony Zetterström (res)	3	-	3	6
17		5	0	-	5
18	Krister Gardell (res)	-	0	1	1

American Final

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

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=70px	Heat Scores	width=50px	Total
1		4,4,4,4,4	20
2		4,2,4,3,4	17+3
3		4,4,3,4,2	17+2
4		3,3,2,3,4	15
5		1,4,4,2,3	14
6		3,4,3,F,3	13
7		3,3,3,3,0	12
8		2,3,4,0,2	11
9		0,3,2,2,4	11
10		2,2,3,2,1	10
11		2,2,2,1,3	10
12		4,2,E,0,3	9
13		1,1,1,4,2	9
14		1,0,2,4,1	8
15		3,0,E,2,2	7
16		1,1,1,3,0	6
17		0,1,0,1,1	3
18		2,0,0,-,-	2
19	Scotty Brown (res)	0,1,-,-,-	1
20		0,0,0,1,0	1
21		1

Commonwealth Final

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

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=70px	Heat Scores	width=50px	Total
1		3,2,3,3,3	14
2		2,3,3,2,3	13
3		3,3,3,3,0	12
4		3,1,2,2,3	11
5		3,0,3,X,3	9
6		1,3,2,2,1	9
7		2,1,0,3,2	8
8		1,3,1,1,2	8
9		F,X,2,3,2	7
10		2,2,1,1,1	7
11		2,1,1,1,2	7
12		0,2,0,2,1	5
13		0,2,1,0,0	3
14		0,0,2,1,0	3
15		1,1,0,0,1	3
16		1,0,0,E,0	1

Fifth round

Continental semi-finals

width=50% valign=top

18 June
Stal Rzeszów Municipal Stadium, Rzeszow
Top 8 to Continental final

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=40px	Points
1		14+3
2		14+2
3		10
4		9
5		8
6		8
7		8
8		8
9		8
10		8
11		7
12		6
13		4
14		3
15		2
16		2

width=50% valign=top

18 June
Borsod Volán Stadion, Miskolc
Top 8 to Continental final

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=40px	Points
1		15
2		12
3		12
4		10
5		10
6		10
7		9
8		9
9		8
10		8
11		5
12		5
13		5
14		2
15		1
16		1
17	Mario Trupkovic (res)	0

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

Notes and References

Web site: World Championship 1936-1994. Edinburgh Speedway. 10 July 2021.
Web site: WORLD FINALS 1936-1994. Speedway Researcher. 10 July 2021.
Web site: WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX. British Speedway. 10 July 2021.
News: Battle of the Danes. Birmingham Mail . 2 September 1988 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 3 September 2024.
Web site: Speedway riders, history and results. wwosbackup. 10 July 2021.
News: Great Dane world champ. Sandwell Evening Mail . 5 September 1988 . 10 July 2021 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
Web site: 1988 World Championship . Metal Speedway . 2 March 2024.
Web site: 1988 World Championship . Speedway.org . 2 March 2024.
News: Collins wins in dramatic style . Edinburgh Evening News . 27 April 1988 . 9 February 2024. British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
News: Breezy Tatum in classy mood . Coventry Evening Telegraph . 9 May 1988 . 8 February 2024. British Newspaper Archive. subscription .