1989 Speedway World Team Cup


The final of the 1989 Speedway World Team Cup was staged at Odsal Stadium, Bradford, United Kingdom.
England dominated the meeting with Jeremy Doncaster, Kelvin Tatum, Paul Thorp and Simon Wigg defeating Denmark, Sweden and the USA in a single meeting Final. The World Cup Final also 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. 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.

Qualification

Group D - Venue : Shumen, Bulgaria and Sandes, Holland

Norway to Group C.

Group C - Venue : Lonigo, Italy and Wiener Neustadt, Austria

Italy to Group B.

Group B - Venue : Nyiregyhaza, Hungary and Rzeszów, Poland

Australia to Group A.

Group A - Venue : Diedenbergen, Germany and Prague, Czechoslovakia

Sweden to Final.

World final

Venue : Bradford, England