1983 Speedway World Pairs Championship

{{Short description|14th 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 = 1983 }}

The '''1983 Speedway World Pairs Championship''' was the fourteenth [[Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme|FIM]] [[Speedway World Pairs Championship]]. The final took place on 18 June at the [[Ullevi|Ullevi Stadium]] in [[Gothenburg]], Sweden.<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><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>

[[England national speedway team|England]] won their sixth World Pairs Championship after [[Kenny Carter]] and [[Peter Collins (speedway rider)|Peter Collins]] scored 25 points. [[Australia national speedway team|Australia]], represented by [[Billy Sanders]] and [[Gary Guglielmi]] finished second on 24 points, while the two men who would go on to dominate [[Motorcycle Speedway]] for the next six years, [[Hans Nielsen (speedway rider)|Hans Nielsen]] and [[Erik Gundersen]], rode [[Denmark national speedway team|Denmark]] to third place with 19 points.<ref>{{cite web|title=Zapomniane turnieje: Mistrzostwa Świata Par (część 3) |language=Polish |publisher=SportoweFakty.pl |date=2009-08-03 |url=http://www.sportowefakty.pl/zuzel/2009/08/03/zapomniane-turnieje-mistrzostwa-swiata-par-czesc-3/ |accessdate=2009-08-03 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090806173136/http://www.sportowefakty.pl/zuzel/2009/08/03/zapomniane-turnieje-mistrzostwa-swiata-par-czesc-3/ |archivedate=2009-08-06 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Heading into Heat 16 of the Final, Billy Sanders was the only unbeaten rider. He won the start from Guglielmi and out of form [[West Germany national speedway team|West German]] pair [[Egon Müller]] and [[Karl Maier (speedway rider)|Karl Maier]] when he unbelievably fell in turn 2 of the first lap. Although Guglielmi went on to win the re-run of the heat, the points lost as a result of Sanders exclusion ultimately cost Australia its first (and only) World Pairs Championship. While Australian referee Sam Bass had no hesitation in excluding Sanders, he had earlier allowed Peter Collins to re-start after video replays suggested that he fell with no help in the first turn of Heat 10 against Denmark. England went on to a 5–0 score in the heat after Nielsen was excluded from the re-start for falling off his bike over the tapes and Gundersen suffered engine failure a lap from the flag while leading the race.

Defending champions [[Dennis Sigalos]] and [[Bobby Schwartz]] ([[United States national speedway team|USA]]), finished fourth with 18 points. The USA had also won the World Pairs in [[1981 Speedway World Pairs Championship|1981]] with [[Bruce Penhall]] and Schwartz.

==Preliminary round== * {{flagicon|YUG}} [[Ilirija Sports Park]], [[Ljubljana]]

{| 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}}|[[Image:Gold medal icon.svg|1st]] ||rowspan=2 align=left|{{speedway|HUN}} '''- 27''' ||align=left|[[Zoltan Hajdu]] ||14 |- align=center {{Speedway color|p1}} |align=left|[[Zoltan Adorjan]] ||13 |- align=center {{Speedway color|p2}} |rowspan=2 {{Speedway color|P2}}|[[Image:Silver medal icon.svg|2nd]] ||rowspan=2 align=left|{{speedway|NED}} '''- 21''' ||align=left|[[Henny Kroeze]] ||13 |- align=center {{Speedway color|p2}} |align=left|[[Frits Koppe]] ||8 |- align=center {{Speedway color|p3}} |rowspan=2 {{Speedway color|P3}}|[[Image:Bronze medal icon.svg|3rd]] ||rowspan=2 align=left|{{speedway|BUL}} '''- 20''' ||align=left|[[Nikolaj Manev]] ||15 |- align=center {{Speedway color|p3}} |align=left|[[Veselin Markov]] ||5 |- align=center |rowspan=2|4 ||rowspan=2 align=left|{{speedway|ITA}} '''- 18''' ||align=left|[[Armando Dal Chiele]] ||9 |- align=center |align=left|[[Valentino Furlanetto]] ||9 |- align=center |rowspan=2|5 ||rowspan=2 align=left|{{speedway|YUG}} '''- 17''' ||align=left|[[Kreso Omerzel]] ||14 |- align=center |align=left|[[Joze Zibert]] ||3 |- align=center |rowspan=2|6 ||rowspan=2 align=left|{{speedway|AUT}} '''- 15''' ||align=left|[[Adi Funk]] ||10 |- align=center |align=left|[[Robert Funk (speedway rider)|Robert Funk]] ||5 |- align=center |rowspan=2|7 ||rowspan=2 align=left|{{speedway|YUG}} '''B - 8''' ||align=left|[[Zvonko Pavlic]] ||5 |- align=center |align=left|[[Artur Horvat]] ||3 |}

==Semifinal 1== * {{flagicon|POL}} [[Olympic Stadium (Wrocław)|Olympic Stadium]], [[Wrocław]] * 5 June

{{speedway event 7p|p1= {{speedway event 7p/p|P1||{{speedway|NZL}} |7|[[Ivan Mauger]] |2||2||3||2||2||3||1b= |8|[[Larry Ross (speedway rider)|Larry Ross]] |3||3||1||3||1||2||2b= }}|p2= {{speedway event 7p/p|P2||{{speedway|AUS}} |5|[[Billy Sanders]] |0||3||3||3||3||3||1b= |6|[[Gary Guglielmi]] |1||2||2||2||2||1||2b= }}|p3= {{speedway event 7p/p|P3||{{speedway|DEN}} |3|[[Hans Nielsen (speedway rider)|Hans Nielsen]] |3||1||2||3||2||2||1b= |4|[[Erik Gundersen]] |2||0||0||2||3||3||2b= }}|p4= {{speedway event 7p/p|4||{{speedway|CSK}} |13|[[Jiri Stancl]] |3||3||3||1||0||1||1b= |14|[[Aleš Dryml, Sr|Aleš Dryml]] |2||2||2||0||2||0||2b= }}|p5= {{speedway event 7p/p|5||{{speedway|POL}} |1|[[Roman Jankowski]] |1||1||1||3||3||2| |2|[[Zenon Plech]] |0||0||0||1||2||0||2b= }}|p6= {{speedway event 7p/p|6||{{speedway|NED}} |11|[[Henny Kroeze]] |3||1||2||1||1||1| |12|[[Henk Steman]] |0||0||0|||E|0|||T|2b= }}|p7= {{speedway event 7p/p|7||{{speedway|BUL}} |9|[[Veselin Markov]] |1||0||1||1||1||0| |10|[[Nikolaj Manev]] |2||1||0||0||0||1| }} }}

==Semifinal 2== * {{flagicon|FRG}} [[Hansa Stadium]], [[Bremen]] * 5 June

{{speedway event 7p|1|p1= {{speedway event 7p/p|P1|USA|[[USA national speedway team|United States]] |1|[[Bobby Schwartz]] |2||2||2||2||2||3||1b= |2|[[Dennis Sigalos]] |1||3||3||3||3||2| |h=22}}|p2= {{speedway event 7p/p|P2|ENG|[[England national speedway team|England]] |3|[[Peter Collins (speedway rider)|Peter Collins]] |0||2||3||2||2||1| |4|[[Kenny Carter]] |3||3||2||1||3||3| |h=22}}|p3= {{speedway event 7p/p|P3|FRG|[[West Germany national speedway team|West Germany]] |9|[[Egon Müller]] |3||3||2||3|||F|3||1b= |1.22h=x|1.22p=3 |10|[[Karl Maier (speedway rider)|Karl Maier]] |2||1||1||0||1||2||2b= |h=22}}|p4= {{speedway event 7p/p|4|FIN|[[Finland national speedway team|Finland]] |13|[[Kai Niemi]] |1||2||0||3||2||0||1b= |2.22h=x|2.22p=E |14|[[Ari Koponen (speedway rider)|Ari Koponen]] |0||3||3||2||3||2||2b= |h=22}}|p5= {{speedway event 7p/p|5|HUN|[[Hungary national speedway team|Hungary]] |7|[[Zoltan Adorjan]] |3||2||1||0||1||1||1b= |8|[[Zoltan Hajdu]] |2||0||0||1||0||2||2b= |h=22}}|p6= {{speedway event 7p/p|6|NOR|[[Norway national speedway team|Norway]] |11|[[Tormod Langli]] |0||1||1||3||1||3| |12|[[Dag Haaland]] |1|||F|0||0||0||0||2b= |h=22}}|p7= {{speedway event 7p/p|7|ITA|[[Italy national speedway team|Italy]] |5|[[Armando Dal Chiele]] |0||0||0||1||1||1|| 1b= |6|[[Valentino Furlanetto]] |1||1||1||2||0|||F| 2b= |h=22}} }}

==World final== * {{flagicon|SWE}} [[Ullevi]], [[Gothenburg]] * 18 June * Referee: {{flagicon|AUS}} Sam Bass

{{speedway event 7p|p1= {{speedway event 7p/p|P1||{{speedway|ENG}} |9|[[Kenny Carter]] |2||3||3||2||2||3||1b= |10|[[Peter Collins (speedway rider)|Peter Collins]] |3||2||2||1||1||1||2b= }}|p2= {{speedway event 7p/p|P2||{{speedway|AUS}} |3|[[Billy Sanders]] |3||3||3||3|||E|3||1b= |4|[[Gary Guglielmi]] |2||2||1||0||3||1||2b= }}|p3= {{speedway event 7p/p|P3||{{speedway|DEN}} |13|[[Hans Nielsen (speedway rider)|Hans Nielsen]] |2||3|||T|1||3||2||2b= |14|[[Erik Gundersen]] |3||2|||E|3||0||0||1b= }}|p4= {{speedway event 7p/p|4||{{speedway|USA}} |1|[[Dennis Sigalos]] |0|||X|3||1||3||3||1b= |2|[[Bobby Schwartz]] |1||1||2||2||0||2||2b= }}|p5= {{speedway event 7p/p|5||{{speedway|SWE}} |7|[[Jan Andersson (speedway rider)|Jan Andersson]] |3||1||2||2||1||3| |8|[[Pierre Brannefors]] |2||0||0||0||0||2||2b= }}|p6= {{speedway event 7p/p|6||{{speedway|FRG}} |11|[[Karl Maier (speedway rider)|Karl Maier]] |0||1||3||0||2|||X |12|[[Egon Müller]] |1||0||0||3||1||1||2b= }}|p7= {{speedway event 7p/p|7||{{speedway|NZL}} |5|[[Larry Ross (speedway rider)|Larry Ross]] |0||1||1||1||1||0| |6|[[Ivan Mauger]] |1||0|||X|2||2||2| }} }}

==See also== * [[1983 Individual Speedway World Championship]] * [[1983 Speedway World Team Cup]] * [[motorcycle speedway]] * [[1983 in sports]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Speedway World Pairs Championship|1983]] [[Category:1983 in speedway|World Pairs]] [[Category:1983 in Swedish motorsport|Speedway World Pairs]] [[Category:June 1983 sports events in Europe|Speedway World Pairs Championship]] [[Category:1980s in Gothenburg]] [[Category:Sports competitions in Gothenburg]]