1989 Speedway World Team Cup

The 1989 Speedway World Team Cup was the 30th edition of the FIM Speedway World Team Cup to determine the team world champions.^[1]^[2]

The final was staged at Odsal Stadium, Bradford, England. The English team dominated the meeting, following near tragedy for Denmark. Jeremy Doncaster, Kelvin Tatum, Paul Thorp and Simon Wigg defeated Denmark, Sweden and the USA in a single meeting final. The Danish run of sixth consecutive titles finally came to an end and England once more went top of the all-time list, with nine titles.^[3]^[4]

The World Cup Final saw the end of the career of three time World Champion Erik Gundersen of Denmark. In the first race of the meeting, Gundersen won the start from gate 4 and headed the field into the first turn. His engine suddenly seized causing his bike to lock up he was knocked off by the rider behind. As he lay on the race track he was hit in the head by another rider's rear wheel. After the accident he was not expected to live and he remained in coma for a period of time but he eventually regained consciousness.^[5] Gundersen had to learn to walk again and raised a large amount of money for the Bradford Royal Infirmary which saved his life and he later became manager of the Danish Speedway Team. None of the riders involved in the accident - Gundersen, Simon Cross, Jimmy Nilsen and Lance King, took any further part in the final and Denmark were clearly affected by the accident.

First round

30 April Shumen Motopista, Shumen
17 May Elgane Speedway, Varhaug

1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Norway 45+47=92 Ingvar Skogland 24 Lars Gunnestad 23 Arne Svendsen 18 Tor Einar Hielm 15 Einar Kyllingstad 12	Bulgaria 37+37=74 Nikolaj Manev 25 Georgi Petranov 19 Zacharia Jordanov 17 Vesselin Markov 7 Orlin Janakiev 6	Netherlands 22+16=38 Ron Koppe 13 Henk Bangma 9 Rene Elzinga 8 Bob Dolman 4 Ron van Dam 4	New Zealand Qualified - not started

Norway to second round

Second round

11 June Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo
29 June Stadion Wiener Neustadt, Wiener Neustadt

1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Italy 47+30=77 Armando Dal Chiele 22 Valentino Furlanetto 21 Giorgio Zaramella 13 Armando Castagna 10 Andrea Maida 9 Fabrizio Vesprini 2	Norway 31+40=71 Lars Gunnestad 25 Einar Kyllingstad 22 Arnt Förland 10 Arne Svendsen 8 Ingvar Skogland 4 Per Erga 2	Finland 18+29=47 Olli Tyrväinen 20 Janne Moksunen 9 Kai Niemi 7 Aki Ala-Riihimäki 6 Roy Malminheimo 4 Ari Koponen 1	Austria 24+21=45 Walter Nebel 12 Heinrich Schatzer 11 Andreas Bössner 10 Robert Funk 6 Thomas Stadler 6 Toni Pilotto 0

Italy to third round.

Third round

2 July Nyíregyháza Speedway, Nyíregyháza
15 July Stal Rzeszów Municipal Stadium, Rzeszów

1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Australia 48+49=97 Troy Butler 26 Stephen Davies 24 Mick Poole 21 Craig Boyce 20 Leigh Adams 6	Hungary 44+17=61 Zoltán Adorján 19 Antal Kocso 15 Sándor Tihanyi 13 József Petrikovics 12 Zoltan Hajdu 2	Poland 9+38=47 Ryszard Franczyszyn 14 Roman Jankowski 13 Piotr Świst 9 Janusz Stachyra 8 Sławomir Drabik 2 Ryszard Dołomisiewicz 1	Italy 19+15=34 Armando Castagna 12 Valentino Furlanetto 10 Armando Dal Chiele 6 Giorgio Zaramella 4 Andrea Maida 1 Mariano Castagna 1

Australia to fourth round.

Fourth round

30 July Rhein-Main Arena, Diedenbergen
28 August Markéta Stadium, Prague

1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Sweden 38+40=78 Per Jonsson 23 Jimmy Nilsen 21 Erik Stenlund 18 Tony Olsson 13 Mikael Blixt 3	West Germany 39+24=63 Gerd Riss 19 Klaus Lausch 18 Karl Maier 16 Klaus Freundorfer 4 Alois Bachhuber 4 Tommy Dunker 2	Czechoslovakia 27+34=61 Bohumil Brhel 17 Antonín Kasper Jr. 16 Roman Matoušek 12 Zdeněk Tesař 9 Zdeněk Schneiderwind 7 Jan Holub II 0	Australia 16+22=38 Craig Boyce 12 Stephen Davies 10 Mick Poole 8 Troy Butler 6 Leigh Adams 2 Craig Hodgson 0 Todd Wiltshire 0

Sweden to World final.

World final

17 September
Odsal Stadium, Bradford

1st	2nd	3rd	4th
England 48 Jeremy Doncaster 13 Kelvin Tatum 12 Paul Thorp 12 Simon Wigg 11 Simon Cross 0	Denmark 34 Hans Nielsen 11 Gert Handberg 9 John Jørgensen 7 Brian Karger 7 Erik Gundersen 0	Sweden 30 Mikael Blixt 10 Per Jonsson 8 Tony Olsson 7 Erik Stenlund 5 Jimmy Nilsen 0	USA 8 Kelly Moran 6 Greg Hancock 2 Ronnie Correy 0 Rick Miller 0 Lance King 0

References

^ "FIM SPEEDWAY WORLD CUP/ SPEEDWAY OF NATIONS" (PDF). Motor Sport Top 20. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
^ "1989 WORLD TEAM CUP". International Speedway. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
^ "World Team Cup 1960-1990". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5

[1] "FIM SPEEDWAY WORLD CUP/ SPEEDWAY OF NATIONS" (PDF). Motor Sport Top 20. Retrieved 13 July 2021.

[2] "1989 WORLD TEAM CUP". International Speedway. Retrieved 15 July 2021.

[3] "World Team Cup 1960-1990". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 13 July 2021.

[4] "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 12 July 2021.

[hws-5] Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5

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v t e Speedway World Team Cup and Speedway World Cup
Speedway World Team Cup	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Speedway World Cup (SWC)	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2023
See also	Host cities Medalists Medal classification
Speedway World Pairs Championship Speedway of Nations