Speedway World Pairs Championship
The Speedway World Pairs Championship was an annual speedway (motorcycling) event held each year in different countries. The first competition was held in 1968 and the final competition was held in 1993. From 1994 it was merged with the World Team Cup to create the Speedway World Cup, which held its final edition in 2017.
The concept of an international pairs championship was reestablished in the form of the Speedway of Nations, which was held for the first time in 2018.
Rules
The final was competed between seven national teams, and each national team was represented by two riders. Each pairing rode against each other once. The pair with the highest combined score were declared the Champions. From 1991, a third rider could act as reserve.
The 1968 and 1969 events, were not considered to be official championship meetings, even though medals were given out in the 1969 event.
1968 (Kempten, West Germany) 1st Sweden 24 pts (Ove Fundin 14, Torbjorn Harrysson 10) 2nd Great Britain 21 pts (Geoff Mudge 12, Ray Wilson 9) 3rd Norway 16 pts (Odd Fossengen 11, Oyvind S Berg 5) West Germany (2) 12 pts (Peter Barth 9, Rudolf Kastl 3) West Germany (1) 10 pts (Manfred Poschenrieder 8, Fred Aberl 2, Rainer Jungling 0) Denmark 6 pts (Jens Hauser 4, Kurt W Petersen 2)
1969 (Stockholm, Sweden) 1st New Zealand 28 pts (Ivan Mauger 18, Bobby Andrews 10) 2nd Sweden 27 pts (Ove Fundin 14, Gote Nordin 10) 3rd England 21 pts (Nigel Boocock 11, Martin Ashby 10) Denmark 17 pts (Ole Olsen 13, Bengt Norregaard 4) Czechoslovakia 15 pts (Jan Holub 9, Zdenek Majstr 6) East Germany 9 pts (Gerhard Uhlenbrock 8, Jochen Dinse 1) Bulgaria 8 pts (Peter Petkov 6, Peter Iliev 2)
The 1971 Final won by Poles Jerzy Szczakiel and Andrzej Wyglenda and 1982 Final won by Americans Bobby Schwartz and Dennis Sigalos were the only World Pairs Finals that were won with the maximum possible score.
Winners
| Year | Venue | Winners | Runner-up | 3rd place |
| 1968 |  Kempten |
 Sweden (24 pts) |
 Great Britain (21 pts) |
 Norway (16 pts) |
| 1969 | Stockholm |
 New Zealand (28 pts) |
Sweden (27 pts) |
 England (21 pts) |
| Year | Venue | Winners | Runner-up | 3rd place |
| 1970 | Malmö |
New Zealand (28 pts) |
Sweden (25 pts) |
England (19 pts) |
| 1971 |  Rybnik |
Poland (30 pts) |
New Zealand (25 pts) |
Sweden (22 pts) |
| 1972 | Borås |
England (24+3 pts) |
New Zealand (24+2 pts) |
Sweden B (22+3 pts) |
| 1973 | Borås |
Sweden (24 pts) |
 Denmark (21+3 pts) |
Poland (21+2 pts) |
| 1974 | Manchester |
Sweden (28 pts) |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia (23 pts) |
New Zealand (21 pts) |
| 1975 | Wrocław |
Sweden (24 pts) |
Poland (23 pts) |
Denmark (20+3 pts) |
| 1976 | Eskilstuna |
England (27 pts) |
Denmark (24 pts) |
Sweden (22 pts) |
| 1977 | Manchester |
England (28 pts) |
Sweden (18 pts) |
West Germany (18 pts) |
| 1978 | Chorzów |
England (24+3 pts) |
New Zealand (24+2 pts) |
Denmark (21 pts) |
| 1979 | Vojens |
Denmark (25 pts) |
England (24 pts) |
Poland (20 pts) |
| 1980 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Krško |
England (29 pts) |
Poland (22 pts) |
Denmark (21 pts) |
| Year | Venue | Winners | Runner-up | 3rd place |
| 1981 | Chorzów |
 United States (23 pts) |
New Zealand (22 pts) |
Poland (21 pts) |
| 1982 | Sydney |
United States (30 pts) |
England (22 pts) |
Denmark (21 pts) |
| 1983 | Gothenburg |
England (25 pts) |
Australia (24 pts) |
Denmark (19 pts) |
| 1984 |  Lonigo |
England (27 pts) |
Denmark (25+3 pts) |
New Zealand (25+2 pts) |
| 1985 | Rybnik |
Denmark (29 pts) |
England (27 pts) |
United States (22 pts) |
| 1986 | Pocking |
Denmark (46+5 pts) |
United States (46+4 pts) |
 Czechoslovakia (32 pts) |
| 1987 | Pardubice |
Denmark (52 pts) |
England (44 pts) |
United States (36 pts) |
| 1988 | Bradford |
Denmark (45 pts) |
England (41 pts) |
United States (39 pts) |
| 1989 | Leszno |
Denmark (48 pts) |
Sweden (44 pts) |
England (37 pts) |
| 1990 | Landshut |
Denmark (43 pts) |
Australia (41 pts) |
 Hungary (33 pts) |
| Year | Venue | Winners | Runner-up | 3rd place |
| 1991 | Poznań |
Denmark (28 pts) |
Sweden (24 pts) |
Norway (19 pts) |
| 1992 | Lonigo |
United States (23+3 pts) |
England (23+2 pts) |
Sweden (22 pts) |
| 1993 | Vojens |
Sweden (26 pts) |
United States (23 pts) |
Denmark (21 pts) |
| Year | Venue | Winners | Runner-up | 3rd place |
Medal classification
| Pos | National Team | Total |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Denmark | 17 | 8 | 3 | 6 |
| 2. | Great Britain/ England | 17 | 7 | 7 | 3 |
| 3. | Sweden | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| 4. | United States | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| 5. | New Zealand | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 6. | Poland | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 7. | Australia | 3 | - | 3 | - |
| 8. | Norway | 2 | - | - | 2 |
| =9. | Czechoslovakia | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| =9. | West Germany | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| Pos | Rider | Team | Total | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hans Nielsen | Denmark |
11 | 7 | 1 | 3 |
| 2. | Erik Gundersen | Denmark |
7 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| 3. | Peter Collins | England |
5 | 4 | 1 | |
| 4. | Anders Michanek | Sweden |
5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 5. | Malcolm Simmons | England |
4 | 3 | 1 | |
| 6. | Ivan Mauger | New Zealand |
8 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 7. | Tommy Jansson | Sweden |
3 | 2 | 1 | |
| 8. | Bobby Schwartz | United States |
3 | 2 | 1 | |
| 9. | Jan O. Pedersen | Denmark |
2 | 2 | ||
| 10. | Ole Olsen | Denmark |
7 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
See also
- Motorcycle speedway
- Speedway of Nations, the current incarnation of the World Pairs Championship
World championships in pairs speedway | ||
|---|---|---|
| Speedway World Pairs Championship |  | |
| Speedway of Nations (SON) | ||
International speedway competitions | ||
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| World | | |
| Europe | ||
| National Championships | ||
| Ice speedway |
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| Long track |
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| Governing Bodies | ||