WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP THE STORY OF THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Heat 14 of the 1982 individual World Final is still being hotly debated by supporters today, some 30 years after Bruce Penhall and Kenny Carter clashed in their brutal battle in the Los Angeles Coliseum. It was the race that effectively decided the destiny of the 1982 title race ŝŶWĞŶŚĂůů͛ƐĨĂǀŽƵƌ͘͘͘ĂŶĚƐŵĂƐŚĞĚƚŚĞŚŽƉĞƐŽĨŶŐůŝƐŚƐƚĂƌƐĂƌƚĞƌĂŶĚ>ĞƐŽůůŝŶƐ͘ Collins, who went into the first ever final to be staged outside of Europe as the new Inter-Continental Champion, continued where he had left off in Vetlanda by defeating the heavily fancied pre-meeting favourite Penhall in their opening race. Collins, for once emerging from ƚŚĞƐŚĂĚŽǁŽĨŚŝƐďŝŐďƌŽƚŚĞƌWĞƚĞƌŽŶƚŚĞƐƉŽƌƚ͛ƐďŝŐŐĞƐƚŶŝŐŚƚŽĨƚŚĞLJĞĂƌ͕ĂĐƚƵĂůůLJŚĂĚƚŚĞĂƵĚĂĐŝƚLJĂŶĚƐŬŝůůƚŽƌĞ-pass Penhall to win a breathtaking fourth heat that set LA alight. With Carter making light work of a badly bruised lung sustained in a bad crash at Ipswich a few weeks earlier, hopes were high among the Brits that Penhall would be denied a second consecutive world title. But then it all unravelled in a dramatic Heat 14, the fourth round of races under the old 20-heat, one-off World Championship formula. It pitched the unbeaten Carter against Penhall, who had won his second and third outings to set up a crucial encounter that no scriptwriter in nearby Hollywood could ever have imagined. ,ĂůŝĨĂdž͛Ɛ͚<ŝŶŐ<ĞŶŶLJ͛ĂŶĚƌĂĚůĞLJ,ĞĂƚŚ͛Ɛ͛:ƵŝĐLJƌƵĐŝĞ͛ŚĂĚďĞĞŶĂƚůŽŐŐĞƌŚĞĂĚƐĨŽƌŵŽƌĞƚŚĂŶĂLJĞĂƌ͕ƐŝŶĐĞĂŶĞdžƉůŽƐŝǀĞƐĐrap during the 1981 Overseas Final at London White City ĞŶĚĞĚǁŝƚŚƚŚĞŵďŽƚŚŽŶƚŚĞĚĞĐŬ͘ĂƌƚĞƌŚĂĚďĞĞŶŶŐůĂŶĚ͛ƐŚŝŐŚĞƐƚƉůĂĐĞĚĨŝŶŝƐŚĞƌŝŶƚŚĞ͛ϴϭ World Final at Wembley, where Penhall was crowned champion for the first time, so the Yorkshire tyke sensed that his time had come for revenge over his American nemesis. He was desperate, perhaps too desperate. The boisterous Californian crowd held its break as the tapes shot up and as Peter Collins led to the first corner, all eyes were on the two riders duelling like mediaeval knights for second and third place. They took it in turns to bash into each other in a violent expression of desperation for the points that they both knew would be vital in the final analysis. Carter dived hard under Penhall and then the Yankee superstar did the same in return. They were going at it hammer and tongs and something had to give. It was a miracle that neither rider came down until the start of the third lap ʹ and then Carter did. Perhaps the self- proclaimed England number one had shown naivety in putting himself on the outside of his arch rival, because he had left the door ajar and Penhall went through it. Easing Carter towards the outside as they roared out of the second turn, Carter eventually ran out of track and bailed out under the safety fence. Television replays ʹ the meeting was covered by ITV in England ʹ suggested at first that Penhall had given Carter a nudge with his back tyre, although many believe he was entitled to keep drifting wide at that point on the track because he was slightly ahead as they both exited turn two. Subsequent TV evidence ʹ from a camera high above the bend ʹ proved, according to Penhall, that his wheel did not ƚŽƵĐŚƚŚĞĨƌŽŶƚĞŶĚŽĨĂƌƚĞƌ͛ƐtĞƐůĂŬĞŵĂĐŚŝŶĞ͘ To the horror of Carter and his manager, meeting co-promoter Ivan Mauger, Norwegian referee Tore Kittilsen ruled that Kenny was the ĐĂƵƐĞŽĨƚŚĞƐƚŽƉƉĂŐĞĂŶĚĞdžĐůƵĚĞĚŚŝŵĨƌŽŵƚŚĞƌĞƌƵŶ͘EŽƚŽŶůLJĚŝĚƚŚŝƐĞŶĚ<ĞŶŶLJ͛ƐƚŝƚůĞĚƌĞĂŵƐ͕ŝƚĐŽƐƚ>ĞƐŽůůŝŶƐǀĞƌLJĚearly too. For his brother, PC, had Heat 14 in the bag at the time Carter fell and another dropped point for Penhall in that outing would have left Les level on 10 points with BP going into their last rides. Unfortunately for the Leicester star, he had unexpectedly trailed in third behind mid- ranking Jiri Stancl and Jan Andersson in what, on paper, looked his easiest race. How Les would live to regret those two lost points in Heat 10. Penhall duly got the better of Peter Collins and Phil Crump to win the rerun of Heat 14 and another win over three East Europeans in his fifth, and final, ridĞĞŶƐƵƌĞĚŚĞƌĞƚĂŝŶĞĚƚŚĞƚƌŽƉŚLJ͘>ĞƐŽůůŝŶƐŚĂĚƚŽďĞĐŽŶƚĞŶƚǁŝƚŚƚŚĞƐŝůǀĞƌŵĞĚĂů͕ũƵƐƚĂŚĞĂĚŽĨWĞŶŚĂůů͛ƐĂůŝĨŽƌŶŝĂŶ buddy Dennis Sigalos. Did he fall or was he pushed? Bruce Penhall, who quit speedway immediately after the meeting to pursue a Hollywood acting career with ŵŝdžĞĚƌĞƐƵůƚƐ͕ĐŽŶƚŝŶƵĞƐƚŽƉƌŽĐůĂŝŵŚŝƐŝŶŶŽĐĞŶĐĞ͕ǁŚŝůĞ<ĞŶŶLJĂƌƚĞƌ͛ƐƉƌŽƚĞƐƚƐĨŝŶĂůůLJĚŝƐĂƉƉĞĂƌĞĚǁŚĞŶŚĞƚŽŽŬŚŝƐŽǁŶůŝfe in May 1986. In the wider speedway world, the big debate goes on . 381 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP The diagram below illustrates the main stages of the 1982 World Championship. Northern Zone Final, Rockhampton Top 8 qualify for Australian Final Australian Final, Brisbane Southern Zone Final, Melbourne Top 4 qualify for Overseas Final Top 8 qualify for Australian Final North Island Final, Kihikihi New Zealand Final, Top 8 qualify for New Zealand Final Wellington Overseas Final, White City, South Island Final, Christchurch Top 2 qualify for Overseas Final England Top 8 qualify for New Zealand Final Top 10 qualify for Inter- British Semi-Final, Birmingham Continental Final Top 8 qualify for British Final British Final, Coventry British Semi-Final, Hackney Top 6 qualify for Overseas Final Top 8 qualify for British Final American Final, Long Beach Top 3 plus Bruce Penhall qualify for Inter-Continental Final, Overseas Final Vetlanda, Sweden Danish Qualifying Round, Top 11 qualify for World Final Frederica Top 6 qualifying for Nordic Final Finland Pekka Hautamaki, Ari Koponen and Nordic Final, Fjelsted, Kai Niemi seeded direct to Nordic Denmark Final Top 6 qualify for Inter- Norway Continental Final Dag Håland and Roy Otto seeded direct to Nordic Final World Final, Los Angeles, USA Swedish Qualifying Rounds Top 4 plus Jan Andersson qualify for Nordic Final Continental Preliminary Round, Continental Qualifying Round, Osijek, Yugoslavia Wiener Neustadt, Austria Top 8 qualify for Continental Top 8 qualify for Continental Semi- Continental Semi-Final, Qualifying Round Final Lonigo, Italy Continental Preliminary Round, Continental Qualifying Round, Top 8 qualify for Continental Tarnowiszcze, Bulgaria Debrecen, Hungary Final Top 8 qualify for Continental Top 8 qualify for Continental Semi- Qualifying Round Final Continental Final, Leszno, Poland Continental Preliminary Round, Continental Qualifying Round, Top 5 qualify for World Final Pardubice, Czechoslovakia Norden, West Germany Top 8 qualify for Continental Top 8 qualify for Continental Semi- Continental Semi-Final, Qualifying Round Final Abensberg, West Germany Continental Preliminary Round, Continental Qualifying Round, Top 8 qualify for Continental Amsterdam, Holland Diedenbergen, West Germany Final Top 8 qualify for Continental Top 8 qualify for Continental Semi- Qualifying Round Final AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP SOUTHERN ZONE FINAL (Melbourne, Saturday January 2) Phil Crump 15, Danny Kennedy 14, Terry Tulloch 12, Glyn Taylor 10, Les Sawyer 10, Rod North 9, John McNeill 8, Mark Fiora 8, Kevin K͛ŽŶŶĞůů 7, Keith Wright 7, Andrew Barrett 6, Les Garside 6, Col Winzar 4, Chris Higgs 2, Darren Johnson 1, Bill Baldi 1. John Boulger and Robert Maxfield did not arrive. AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP NORTHERN ZONE FINAL (Rockhampton, Sunday January 3) Gary Guglielmi 13, Billy Sanders 13, John Titman 13, Steve Koppe 11, Steve Regeling 11, Phil Herne 9, Merv Janke 9, Rob Ashton 8, Robbie Blackadder 7, Mark Stevens 6, Graeme Robertson 6, Brett Alderton 5, Brent Nott 5, Paris Constantinides 3, Peter Christopher 1, Dale Bates 1. David Shields did not arrive. Not all of the qualifiers took their place in the Australian Final. AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL (Perth, Friday January 15) Billy Sanders 14, Gary Guglielmi 14, Glyn Taylor 11, Phil Crump 10, Les Sawyer 10, John Titman 9, Steve Regeling 9, Phil Herne 9, Keith Wright 6, John McNeill 5, Rod North 5, Danny Kennedy 4, Rob Ashton 4, Mark Fiora 4, Terry Tulloch 4, Rob Townson 2. This meeting was subsequently declared void after a dispute relating to the Australasian Final. The restaging did not feature a number of the riders that originally qualified for this event. 382 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL (Brisbane, Saturday March 13) Billy Sanders 15, Phil Crump 14, Gary Guglielmi 11, John Titman 11, Steve Regeling 11, Phil Herne 10, Ron Schliebs 10, Neil Coddington 8, Glyn Taylor 6, Les Sawyer 4, David Foot 4, Mark Johns 4, Peter Byrnes 4, Graeme Robertson 4, Peter Carswell 2, Steve Baker 2. Reserve: Gary Finglas 0. The top two riders from the Australian Final qualified for the Overseas Final. NEW ZEALAND SOUTH ISLAND FINAL (Christchurch, Saturday January 16) Larry Ross 15, Roger Wright 14, Alan Mason 11, Max Brown 10, Steve Hann 10, Graeme Stapleton 9, Gavin Rhodes 9, Graham Taylor 9, Trevor Chapman 8, Alan Crosbie 8, Lance Begbie 6, Terry Duff 4, Kevin Browne 3, K.Reid 3, Philip MacLintock 1. NORTH ISLAND FINAL (Kihikihi, Sunday January 24) Qualifiers for New Zealand Final: Mitch Shirra 14, David Bargh 14, Mike Fullerton 11, John Goodall 11, Greg Joynt 10, Wayne Brown 10, Barry Free 8, Colin Farquharson 8. NEW ZEALAND CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL (Auckland, Saturday January 30) Mitch Shirra 14, John Goodall 13, David Bargh 12, Larry Ross 11, Wayne Brown 11, Mike Fullerton 9, Roger Wright 9, Greg Joynt 8, Steve Hann 7, Ivan Mauger 5, Gavin Rhodes 5, Max Brown 4, Colin Farquharson 4, Alan Mason 3, Graeme Stapleton 3, Barry Free 1. This meeting was subsequently declared void after a dispute relating to the Australasian Final. The restaging did not feature a number of the riders that originally qualified for this event. NEW