Retro Speedway: World Finals of the 80s

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World Finals of the 80s

Re-live the drama, spills and thrills, heartbreak and controversy of the 10 individual

WORLD
FINALS
of the 80s

Including . . .

*How Michael Lee became only England's fourth World Champion at 21.

*Bruce Penhall's brilliance on the sport's last-ever Big Night under Wembley's fabled Twin Towers.

*Penhall's bruising battle with courageous Kenny Carter in Los Angeles.

*How German showman Egon Muller became home track hero at Norden.

*Danish delight as Erik Gundersen and Hans Nielsen shared dominance at Gothenburg, Bradford, Katowice, Amsterdam, Vojens and Munich.

See and hear what all five World Champions of the decade had to say about their greatest achievements.

Interviews with MICHAEL LEE (1980), BRUCE PENHALL (1981 & '82), EGON MULLER (1983), ERIK GUNDERSEN (1984, '85 & '88) and HANS NIELSEN (1986, '87 & '89).

Plus the candid views of others who had a big say on speedway's biggest night of the year, including . . . Kenny Carter, Ivan Mauger, Ole Olsen, Dave Jessup, Jan O. Pedersen and Kelvin Tatum.

Also includes contemporary filmed interviews with Les Collins, Sam Ermolenko, Neil Evitts, Marvyn Cox, Tommy Knudsen, Billy Sanders, Chris Morton.

BOOK YOUR TICKET FOR THIS NOSTALGIC DOUBLE-DISC DVD AND ENJOY OVER FOUR HOURS OF THRILLING, WORLD CLASS NOSTALGIA.

HOW TO ORDER
Order direct from Retro Speedway for £16 (post-free in the UK).

Simply click the Cart button below and proceed to our checkout area where you can pay using the secure PayPal method...

Alternatively, phone our Credit/Debit Card Hotline on 01708 734 502.

Or post a cheque (payable to Retro Speedway) to:
Retro Speedway (World Finals of the 80s DVD), 103 Douglas Road, Hornchurch, RM11 1AW.

(Add £2.50 per DVD when ordering from outside the UK)

WHAT THE RIDERS SAY ON WORLD FINALS OF THE 80s

"I wasn't one for throwing 'S' bends down the straight and when I see people do that I think it's pretty nasty and unnecessary. If Bruce (Penhall) hadn't done that to me, I probably wouldn't have gone on to win it."
Michael Lee, 1980

"I never used to prepare a bike especially for a World Final, which was maybe an error."
Dave Jessup, 1981

"I told the people at Weslake that was going to finish at Wembley now as World Champion and then stop at the top. I really had a good go."
Ole Olsen, 1981

"He just ran me straight through the fence coming out. I was on the outside, in front, and he just took my legs straight from underneath me. I'm not kidding referee, I just didn't have a chance."
Kenny Carter after his exclusion following his bitter battle with Bruce Penhall, 1982

"If Kenny's father hadn't gone to Los Angeles, Kenny would have won the World Championship - there was no question about that."
Ivan Mauger, 1982

"I was hard and I wasn't gonna take anything from the kid. Everybody knew the kid was not all there upstairs. I've seen him do things that were complete and utter craziness on the track and come out unscathed, where he should have been in the hospital."
Bruce Penhall on Kenny Carter, 1982

"The implications of that crash in America was the fact that it just about cost Les the World Championship. Kenny just kept coming and wouldn't back off. It was a suicidal move because the track was so bloody narrow."
Peter Collins on that infamous Heat 14 Penhall-Carter duel, 1982

"Don't talk always about the engine, it's me as well. I passed Ole because of a bad mistake, not because of the engine."
Egon Muller on the new GM he rode to glory at Norden, 1983

"He's making everybody look silly. Ole Olsen's got some of the fastest bikes in the world and he passed Ole as if's his chain fell off. Just keep your cameras on him."
Kenny Carter on Egon Muller, 1983

"I don't think I would have been able to do it, because I wouldn't have had the recipe I needed. And Ole had the recipe to get me into doing what I did in that race with Hans. He got me believing that I really was the best. He would write on my handlebars: 'You are better than him - remember that'."
Erik Gundersen on the influence of his mentor Ole Olsen, 1984

"Hans made a big mistake by going for me - he only thought about me. If Hans had just kept his own line, he would have had the chance to pass me coming up the inside out of the second corner because I'd drifted wide. Then it could have been a different story."
Erik Gundersen on his decisive Heat 15 win over main rival Hans Nielsen, 1984

"It was a bit unfortunate, or Erik was just that bit better. It was the start of my fourth race jinx."
Hans Nielsen on losing to his Danish rival, 1984

"When Erik won in 1984, he changed speedway. He turned up at Cradley the next year with a brand new Sprinter van, plus three brand new bikes that were all colour-co-ordinated. He set the bar at a different level. All of a sudden the Danes were getting good sponsorship and they were able to plough a lot of money into their equipment. The two bikes and spare engine days of PC's time were gone."
Kelvin Tatum on the step up in professionalism

"You're five rides away from being World Champion and then you start having delusions of grandeur. It was kind of frightening. The implications were huge and I definitely felt that. On the day I was horrendously nervous."
Kelvin Tatum on his World Final debut as the lone Brit at Odsal, 1985

"I had a disastrous start to the final and I was blaming the bike - it was puffing and smoking - but it was me. I wasn't right in my head. My brother Preben said: 'If you don't bloody get yourself and your act together, I'm going to load up the bikes and we can go home. And he meant it."
Erik Gundersen on retaining his crown at Bradford, 1985

"It must have been TERR-IBLE for Hans to be second again. I thought it was FAN-TASTIC!"
Erik Gundersen, 1985

"When I look back now, of course it was wrong for Ole, as the Danish team manager, to be managing me. It's not on . . . but I couldn't say it at the time. I still think it was fantastic what Ole did for me. Hans and the other Danes had the offer (of guidance) from Ole at the time but I was the only one who rang him."
Erik Gundersen, 1985

"I couldn't help but think at the time that I just wasn't meant to win a World Final."
Hans Nielsen, 1985

"It proved to me that you can't switch off until the business is done."
Erik Gundersen, 1986

"He realised I was coming, he turned back and we came together. It's quite simple really. But I certainly could have understood if the ref had excluded me, because a lot of them don't know what the hell is happening on the track. Frank Ebdon proved that many times."
Hans Nielsen on his controversial Heat 15 clash with Tommy Knudsen, 1986

"Hans did have a desperation point and I got on the back of it twice, because he cost me the world title in 1990. Definitely."
Kelvin Tatum, 1986

"Ole didn't like Hans. When we flew to continental meetings together on a Monday morning he used to moan and groan to me about what Hans had done to him the previous week."
Ivan Mauger on becoming Hans Nielsen's manager, 1986

"When there was all the publicity about me helping Hans, Briggo rang me one day and said: 'Sprouts, what can you tell Hans Nielsen - he's been second in the world in the last two years?' So I told him: 'That's exactly it . . . and unless he get some kind of mental help now, he'll keep getting second'."
Ivan Mauger, 1986

"It wasn't so much about the good that Ivan did me, but the effect his presence in my corner had on Erik and Ole."
Hans Nielsen, 1986

"The next day, the Danish press didn't write that Hans was the new World Champion. They said that I didn't congratulate him, which was a load of b******s."
Erik Gundersen, 1986

"After Hans won in Amsterdam, we had both won two titles each and there was more mutual respect between us. I respected his way of thinking and way of doing things. We were more guarded about what we said about each other to the press."
Erik Gundersen, 1987

"It turned a bit ugly between us in the week leading up to Vojens in '88."
Erik Gundersen, 1988

"It was nice to be second but if I'd won I wouldn't have been ready for it. Hans was the best , although it would have been fair enough if he'd been excluded for knocking off Tommy. But it's no good looking back saying 'could have'."
Jan O Pedersen, 1988

"I told Hans that Barum tyres were a waste of time. By then, not even novices were using them in England."
Ivan Mauger on why he believes Hans Nielsen lost the run-off, 1988

"If you go into a World Final and drop races to let somebody else win, you shouldn't be in the World Final. That's not what it's all about. It's about doing youir best and I always believed in doing my best, whether it was five points, 10 points or whatever, but don't drop races. Why should you? That's what it's all about . . . in any sport."
Jan O Pedersen on beating Cradley Heath team-mate Erik Gundersen in their last programmed ride, forcing Erik to meet Hans Nielsen in a run-off for the title, 1988

"I was excited about it. The stadium in Munich was a terrific venue, a Cardiff-type experience in the 80s, but track conditions were poor. It was rock hard, it all moved, a real compromise and not a proper race track."
Kelvin Tatum, 1989

"I'm a bit p***** off with six silver medals. But on the other hand, when I look back the most important thing for me today is, first of all, that I won one world title, and to have won four is great. Whether I should have won five or six, it doesn't really matter that much."
Hans Nielsen on not emulating the six titles won by Ivan Mauger and Tony Rickardsson

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