{{Short description|12th edition of the World motorcycle speedway Pairs Championship}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Use British English|date=December 2023}} {{Motorsport season |title = World Pairs Championship |link = Speedway World Pairs Championship |year = 1981 }}
The '''1981 Speedway World Pairs Championship''' was the twelfth [[Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme|FIM]] [[Speedway World Pairs Championship]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edinburghspeedway.blogspot.com/2013/04/world-pairs-championship.html|title=World Pairs Championship 1968-1993|website=Edinburgh Speedway|access-date=11 July 2021}}</ref> The final took place in [[Chorzów]], Poland. The championship was won by [[United States national speedway team|United States]] first time (23 points). American pair beat [[New Zealand national speedway team|New Zealand]] (22 points) and [[Poland national speedway team|Poland]] (21 points).<ref>{{cite web|title=Zapomniane turnieje: Mistrzostwa Świata Par(część 2) |language=Polish |publisher=SportoweFakty.pl |date=2009-07-16 |url=http://www.sportowefakty.pl/zuzel/2009/07/16/zapomniane-turnieje-mistrzostwa-swiata-parczesc-2/ |accessdate=2009-07-16 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091003014352/http://www.sportowefakty.pl/zuzel/2009/07/16/zapomniane-turnieje-mistrzostwa-swiata-parczesc-2/ |archivedate=2009-10-03 |url-status=live|df= }}</ref><ref>''Świat Żużla'', No 3 (59) 2004, page 44, {{ISSN|1429-3285}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Matthews/Morrison|first=Peter/Ian|title=The Guinness Encyclopaedia of Sports Records and Results|year=1987|page=290|publisher=Guinness Superlatives|isbn=0-85112-492-5}}</ref>
The win by American's [[Bruce Penhall]] and [[Bobby Schwartz]] was the first time an American team or riders had won a World Championship in speedway since [[Jack Milne (speedway rider)|Jack Milne]] had won the [[1937 Individual Speedway World Championship|1937 World Final]] at the [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]] in London, England. Later in 1981 Penhall would go on to win the [[1981 Individual Speedway World Championship|Individual World Final]] at Wembley.
==Preliminary round== * {{flagicon|YUG}} [[Mladost Stadium (Prelog)|Mladost Stadum]], [[Prelog, Croatia|Prelog]] * 3 May {| class=wikitable style="font-size:93%;" !width=25px|Pos. ||width=160px|Team ||width=170px|Rider ||width=40px|Points |- align=center {{Speedway color|p1}} |rowspan=2 {{Speedway color|P1}}|[[File:Gold medal icon.svg|1st]] ||rowspan=2 align=left|{{speedway|NOR}} – '''21+3''' ||align=left|[[Rolf Gramstad]] ||17 |- align=center {{Speedway color|p1}} |align=left|[[Ingvar Hauverstad]] ||4 |- align=center {{Speedway color|p2}} |rowspan=2 {{Speedway color|P2}}|[[File:Silver medal icon.svg|2nd]] ||rowspan=2 align=left|{{speedway|YUG}} – '''21+2''' ||align=left|[[Stefan Kekec]] ||15 |- align=center {{Speedway color|p2}} |align=left|[[Vlado Kocuvan]] ||6 |- align=center {{Speedway color|p3}} |rowspan=2 {{Speedway color|P3}}|[[File:Bronze medal icon.svg|3rd]] ||rowspan=2 align=left|{{speedway|AUT}} – '''20'''||align=left|[[Adi Funk]] ||9 |- align=center {{Speedway color|p3}} |align=left|[[Herbert Szerecz]] ||11 |- align=center |rowspan=2|4 ||rowspan=2 align=left|{{speedway|NED}} – '''19'''||align=left|[[Henny Kroeze]] ||6 |- align=center |align=left|[[Frits Koppe]] ||13 |- align=center |rowspan=2|5 ||rowspan=2 align=left|{{speedway|HUN}} – '''18'''||align=left|[[Zoltán Adorján]] ||16 |- align=center |align=left|[[Isztvan Sziracky]] ||2 |- align=center |rowspan=2|6 ||rowspan=2 align=left|{{speedway|BUL}} – '''13'''||align=left|[[Angel Jeftimov]] ||8 |- align=center |align=left|[[Nikolaj Manev]] ||5 |- align=center |rowspan=2|7 ||rowspan=2 align=left|{{speedway|SUI}} – '''11'''||align=left|[[M.Gerard]] ||8 |- align=center |align=left|[[F.Ender]] ||3 |}
==Semifinal 1== * {{flagicon|FRG}} [[Motodrom Halbemond]], [[Norden, Lower Saxony|Norden]] * 7 June
{{speedway event 7p|1|p1= {{speedway event 7p/p|P1|FRG|[[West Germany national speedway team|West Germany]] |7|[[Egon Müller]] |0||3||3||2||2||3||1b= |1.22h=x|1.22p=3 |8|[[Georg Gilgenreiner]] |2||1||2||0||3||2| |h=22}}|p2= {{speedway event 7p/p|P2|ENG|[[England national speedway team|England]] |13|[[Chris Morton]] |2||3||2||3||0||2| |14|[[Dave Jessup]] |3||1||3||1||3||0| |2.22h=x|2.22p=2 |h=22}}|p3= {{speedway event 7p/p|P3|NZL|[[New Zealand national speedway team|New Zealand]] |3|[[Ivan Mauger]] |3||3||1||2||3||3||1b= |1.22h=x|1.22p=1 |4|[[Larry Ross (speedway rider)|Larry Ross]] |2||2||0||1||2||1||2b= |h=22}}|p4= {{speedway event 7p/p|4|SWE|[[Sweden national speedway team|Sweden]] |5|[[Jan Andersson (speedway rider)|Jan Andersson]] |3||0||3||2||2||0||1b= |6|[[Richard Hellsen|Richard Hellsén]] |1||1||1||3||1||3| |h=22}}|p5= {{speedway event 7p/p|5|FIN|[[Finland national speedway team|Finland]] |9|[[Kai Niemi]] |3||2||1|||E|3||1||1b= |10|[[Ari Koponen (speedway rider)|Ari Koponen]] ||E|0||0||3||2||2||2b= |h=22}}|p6= {{speedway event 7p/p|6|NOR|[[Norway national speedway team|Norway]] |11|[[Rolf Gramstad]] |2||2||2|||E|1||1| |12|[[Audun Ove Olsen]] |1||0||1||1||0||0||2b= |h=22}}|p7= {{speedway event 7p/p|7|NED|[[Nederlands national speedway team|Nederlands]] |1|[[Henny Kroeze]] |1|||E|2||3|||E|1|| 1b= |2|[[Frits Koppe]] ||E|1||0||0||1|||E| 2b= |h=22}} }}
==Semifinal 2== * {{flagicon|ITA}} [[Giavera del Montello Municipal Stadium]], [[Treviso]] * 7 June
{{speedway event 7p|1|p1= {{speedway event 7p/p|P1|DEN|[[Denmark national speedway team|Denmark]] |9|[[Ole Olsen (speedway rider)|Ole Olsen]] |3||3||2||3||3||3||1b= |10|[[Hans Nielsen (speedway rider)|Hans Nielsen]] |2||2||3||2||2||1| |h=22}}|p2= {{speedway event 7p/p|P2|USA|[[USA national speedway team|USA]] |3|[[Bruce Penhall]] |3||1||3||1||2||3| |1.22h=x|1.22p=3 |4|[[Bobby Schwartz]] |2||2||2||0||1||2| |h=22}}|p3= {{speedway event 7p/p|P3|CSK|[[Czechoslovakia national speedway team|Czechoslovakia]] |5|[[Aleš Dryml Sr.]] |3||3||3||2||2||2||1b= |1.22h=x|1.22p=2 |6|[[Jan Verner]] |2||0||1||1||3||0||2b= |h=22}}|p4= {{speedway event 7p/p|4|AUS|[[Australia national speedway team|Australia]] |11|[[Billy Sanders]] |0||3||3||0||3||2||1b= |1.22h=x|1.22p=1 |12|[[John Titman]] |1||2||2||3||0||3| |h=22}}|p5= {{speedway event 7p/p|5|ITA|[[Italy national speedway team|Italy]] |7|[[Giuseppe Marzotto]] |0||0||1||2||3||1||1b= |8|[[Mauro Ferraccioli]] |1||1||0||3||2||0||2b= |h=22}}|p6= {{speedway event 7p/p|6|AUT|[[Austria national speedway team|Austria]] |1|[[Adi Funk]] |1||3||2||0||1||1| |2|[[Walter Grübmüller]] |0||0||0||1||0||0||2b= |h=22}}|p7= {{speedway event 7p/p|7|YUG|[[Yugoslavia national speedway team|Yugoslavia]] |13|[[Stefan Kekec]] |2||1||1||1||1||1|| 1b= |14|[[Vlado Kocuvan]] |1||0||0||0||0||0|| 2b= |h=22}} }}
==World final== * 20 June 1981 * {{flagicon|POL}} [[Silesian Stadium]], [[Chorzów]]
{{speedway event 7p|p1= {{speedway event 7p/p|P1||{{speedway|USA}} |1|[[Bruce Penhall]] |3|||E|3||3||3||2||1b= |2|[[Bobby Schwartz]] |2||3||0||2||1||1||2b= }}|p2= {{speedway event 7p/p|P2||{{speedway|NZL}} |3|[[Ivan Mauger]] |0||1||3||2||3||3||1b= |4|[[Larry Ross (speedway rider)|Larry Ross]] |1||3||2||0||2||2||2b= }}|p3= {{speedway event 7p/p|P3||{{speedway|POL}} |7|[[Zenon Plech]] |3||3||1||3||3||2||1b= |8|[[Edward Jancarz]] |1||2||0||2||0||1||2b= }}|p4= {{speedway event 7p/p|4||{{speedway|CSK}} |5|[[Aleš Dryml Sr.]] |2||0||2||3||3||2||1b= |6|[[Jan Verner]] |0||2||1||1||2||0||2b= }}|p5= {{speedway event 7p/p|5||{{speedway|DEN}} |11|[[Ole Olsen (speedway rider)|Ole Olsen]] |3||3||1||2||1||0| |12|[[Hans Nielsen (speedway rider)|Hans Nielsen]] |2||2||0||0||0||3||2b= }}|p6= {{speedway event 7p/p|6||{{speedway|ENG}} |9|[[Dave Jessup]] ||E|0||3||3||0||1| |10|[[Chris Morton]] |1||1||2||1||2||3||2b= }}|p7= {{speedway event 7p/p|7||{{speedway|FRG}} |13|[[Egon Müller]] |2|||X||-||-||-||- |14|[[Georg Gilgenreiner]] |1|||F||-||-||-||- }} }}
==See also== * [[1981 Individual Speedway World Championship]] * [[1981 Speedway World Team Cup]] * [[motorcycle speedway]] * [[1981 in sports]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Speedway World Pairs Championship}} {{International speedway}}
[[Category:Speedway World Pairs Championship|1981]] [[Category:1981 in speedway|World Pairs]]