1990 Individual Speedway World Championship Explained

The 1990 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 45th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4]

The final was held at the Odsal Stadium in Bradford, England. It would be the 28th and last time the world final would be held in England under the traditional single meeting format.^[5]

Sweden's Per Jonsson won his only World Individual Championship^[6] to become the first Swedish World Champion since Anders Michanek in 1974 and became the first rider to win both the Under-21 and Senior World Championships having previously won the 1985 Under-21 World Championship. Jonsson defeated Shawn Moran from the United States in a run-off after both finished the meeting on 13 points. Moran was later stripped of his second place by the FIM for failing a drug test taken at the Overseas Final. After Moran's disqualification, the FIM did not upgrade the placings, thus records show no second place rider for the 1990 World Final. Australian youngster Todd Wiltshire, believed by many judges to be one who would be making up the numbers in his first World Final, finished third with 12 points after winning his first two rides.^[7]

After having won each World Final since 1984, including five 1-2 finishes and taking all podium places in 1988, the 1990 World Final saw no Danish riders finishing on the podium for the first time since 1983. Defending champion Hans Nielsen, the only Dane in the field following an injury to Jan O. Pedersen which kept him from riding, finished in 4th place with 11 points.^[8]

First round

British qualifiers

See main article: 1990 British Speedway Championship.

Top 32 to British-Semi finals

Second round

New Zealand qualification

First 16 to New Zealand final

width=100	Date	width=200	Championship	width=250	Venue	width=150	Winner	width=150	2nd	width=150	3rd
Jan	South Island Final		Mark Thorpe+^[9]		David Bargh
??	North Island Final				??

+Thorpe awarded title after Ross refused to ride in the race-off

Australian qualification

Top 16 to Australian final

width=100	Date	width=200	Championship	width=250	Venue	width=150	Winner	width=150	2nd	width=150	3rd
??	Northern Territory			??	??
??	Victorian				??
??	New South Wales				Stephen Davies
??	South Australian				??
??	Queensland			??	??
??	Western Australian				David Cheshire

British semi-finals

See main article: 1990 British Speedway Championship.

Top 16 to British final

Third round

Continental preliminary round

Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals

width=100	Date	width=280	Venue	width=180	Winner	width=180	2nd	width=180	3rd
5 May				Jacek Rempała
6 May
6 May				Laszlo Bodi
6 May				Maciej Jaworek

Swedish qualification

Top 8 in each heat to Swedish final

(29 April, Målilla Motorstadion, Målilla)
width=20	Pos	width=180	Rider	width=40	Points
1		13
2		13
3		12
4		12
5		9
6		9
7		8
8		8
9	Kenneth Nyström	9
10	Jörgen Johansson	7
11	Christer Jonsson	6
12	Mikael Löfqvist	5
13	Tomas Karlsson	4
14	John Jensen	3
15	Jan Bergqvist	3
16	Pierre Carlsson	1

(29 April, Gamla Galgberget, Visby)
width=20	Pos	width=180	Rider	width=40	Points
1		14
2		13
3	Niklas Karlsson	11
4	Mikael Ritterwall	11
5		10
6		10
7	Kenneth Lindby	10
8		9
9	Patrik Karlsson	8
10	Jimmy Engman	7
11		4
12	Tony Samuelsson	4
13	Raymond Smedh	4
14	Kent Rickardsson	2
15	Kari Virta	2
16	Joakim Messing	0

British final

See main article: 1990 British Speedway Championship.

Top 10 to Commonwealth final

New Zealand final

Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch

3 February, top 2 to Commonwealth final

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=70px	Pts
1		14+3
2		14+2
3		14+1
4	James Martin	11
5	Justin Monk	10
6	Michael Long	9
7	Stephen Rose	8
8	Darrin Wilson	8
9	Mark Jamieson	8
10	Max Brown	5
11	Philip Barakat	4
12	Kenny Webley	3
13	Alan Mason	2
14	Rhys Hamburger	3
15	Greg Fisher	2
16	Gary Marsh	0
17	Trevor Chapman	0
18	John Tuffley	0

Australian final

Brisbane Exhibition Ground

13 January, top 3 (+1 other seeded) to Commonwealth final

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=70px	Pts
1		14+3
2		14+2
3		13
4		12
5		10
6		9
7		8
8		7
9		6
10	Steve Langdon	5
11		5
12		4
13	Scott Norman	4
14	Troy Butler	4
15	Chris Watson	2
16		1
17	Darren Winkler (res)	1

Fourth round

Continental quarter-finals

Top 32 to Continental semi-finals

width=100	Date	width=280	Venue	width=180	Winner	width=180	2nd	width=180	3rd
3 June
3 June				Heinrich Schatzer
3 June				Rif Saitgareev
4 June				Klaus Lausch

Danish Final

See main article: 1990 Danish speedway season.

Top 6 to the Nordic final

width=50% valign=top

Norway Final

Frogner Speedway, Oslo
15 Sep 1989, top 1 (+1 seeded) to Nordic final 1990

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=40px	Points
1		12+3
2		12+2
3	Robert Langeland	12+1
4	Ingvar Skogland	12+0
5	Per Jörgensen	11
6	Arne Svensen	9
7	Jan Arid Slatta	9
8	Atle Knutsen	7
9	Einar Kyllingstad	6
10	Tor Einar Hielm	6
11	Odd Pettersen	5
12	Stag Bergersen	4
13	Jorn Arve Ardal	4
14	Jorn Vidar Aasen	4
15	Kjell Oyvind Sola	3
16	Gjermund Aas	2
17	Rolf Netland (res)	1

width=50% valign=top

Finland Final

Kaanaa Speedway, Tampere
27 Aug 1989, top 2 to Nordic final 1990

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=40px	Total
1	Juha Moksunen	14
2		13+3
3		13+2
4		11+3
5	Janne Moksunen	11+2
6		10
7	Jari Kortelainen	8
8	Seppo Keskinen	7
9	Tomi Havu	7
10	Aarre Soivuori	7
11	Roy Malminheimo	7
12		5
13	Pekka Eerikainen	2
14	Jarmo Makinen	2
15	Petri Nurmesniemi (res)	1
16	Mika Pellinen (res)	1
17	Janne Koivula (res)	1
18	Esa Reijo	0
19	Nicklas Finne	0

Swedish Final

R1 (15 May, Vetlanda Motorstadion, Vetlanda)
R2 (16 May, Norrköping Motorstadion, Norrköping)
R3 (17 May, Avesta Motorstadion, Avesta)
Top 6 to Nordic Final

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=70px	Scores	width=50px	Total
1		12+13+13	38
2		12+12+10	34
3		9+12+13	34
4	Conny Ivarsson	3+9+11	33
5		9+11+13	33
6		14+8+10	32
7		8+9+8	25
8		6+5+10	21
9		8+6+6	20
10		4+6+7	17
11		9+6+ns	15
12		4+4+7	15
13		6+6+2	14 14
14		5+5+ns	10
15		1+4+3	8
16		0+2+4	6
17	Christer Rohlén (res)	ns+1+0	1

Commonwealth Final

Top 12 plus 1 reserve to the Overseas final

See main article: 1990 Commonwealth Final.

North American Final

2 June 1990
- Veterans Memorial Stadium, Long Beach Top 4 to the Overseas final plus 1 reserve

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=70px	Total
1		18+3
2		18+2
3		18+1
4		18+0
5		16+3
6		16+2
7		14
8		12
9		12
10		11
11		8
12		8
13		7
14		5
15		5
16		3
17		3
18	Shawn McConnell (res)	3
19		2
20	Don Odom (res)	2
21		1
22		0

Fifth round

Continental semi-finals

width=50% valign=top

23 June
Polonia Bydgoszcz Stadium, Bydgoszcz
Top 8 to Continental final

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

width=50% valign=top

24 June
Speedway Žarnovica, Žarnovica
Top 8 to Continental final

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

Overseas Final

Top 9 to the Intercontinental final

See main article: 1990 Overseas Final.

Nordic Final

9 June 1990
Motorstadium, Linköping
Top 7 to the Intercontinental Final plus 1 reserve

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

Sixth round

Intercontinental Final

Top 11 plus 1 reserve to World final

See main article: 1990 Intercontinental Final.

Continental Final

12 August 1990
- Motodrom Halbemond, Norden Top 5 to the World final plus 1 reserve

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=70px	Heat Scores	width=50px	Total
1		(3,2,2,3,3)	13
2		(2,3,1,3,3)	12+3
3		(3,3,x,3,3)	12+2
4		(3,1,3,2,2)	11
5		(3,0,2,3,2)	10+3
6		(1,3,3,2,1)	10+2
7		(0,3,2,2,2)	9
8		(2,1,F,1,3)	7
9		(2,2,2,0,1)	7
10		(2,1,3,R,ns)	6
11		(1,2,EF,2,0)	5
12		(1,1,1,0,2)	5
13		(0,2,1,1,1)	5
14		(0,0,3,1,0)	4
15		(1,0,0,1,1)	3
16		(0,0,1,0,0)	1

World final

1 September 1990
Odsal Stadium, Bradford^[10]

Classification

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=70px	Heat Scores	width=50px	Total
			(3,3,2,2,3)	13+3
2	Shawn Moran^a	(1,3,3,3,3)	13+2
			(3,3,2,1,3)	12
4		(3,1,3,2,2)	11
5		(2,1,2,3,2)	10
6	Henrik Gustafsson*	(3,2,3,0,1)	9
7		(2,3,0,3,1)	9
8		(F,2,1,3,2)	8
9		(2,2,3,1,x)	8
10		(1,2,1,2,1)	7
11		(2,0,1,0,3)	6
12		(1,R,0,2,2)	5
13		(0,0,2,0,R)	2
14		(1,0,x,1,0)	2
15		(1,R,0,1,0)	2
16	Antonín Kasper Jr.*	(0,1,1,0,0)	2
Res		did not ride	-
Res		did not ride	-

Henrik Gustafsson and Antonín Kasper Jr. replaced injured qualifiers Jan O. Pedersen and Gerd Riss

Notes:

a. Shawn Moran scored 13 points and lost the run-off to Per Jonsson. However, Moran had failed a random drug and alcohol test taken three months earlier at the Overseas Final, and was subsequently disqualified from second place. The FIM did not upgrade the standings and the official records show no second place rider.

Notes and References

Web site: World Championship 1936-1994. Edinburgh Speedway. 10 July 2021.
Web site: HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK. Speedway.org. 10 July 2021.
Web site: WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX. British Speedway. 10 July 2021.
Book: Loader, Tony. Loader's International Speedway Annual 1991. Tony Loader. 1991. 8–18. 1036-4404.
Web site: WORLD FINALS 1936-1994. Speedway Researcher. 10 July 2021.
News: Speedway . Western Daily Press . 3 September 1990 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 7 September 2024.
Web site: Speedway riders, history and results. wwosbackup. 10 July 2021.
http://www.speedway.org/history/90.htm#1990 1990 Individual Speedway World Championship
News: Speedway . Newcastle Journal . 9 January 1990 . 11 February 2024. British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.