1989 Individual Speedway World Championship
The 1989 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 44th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider. It was the second time the championship was held in West Germany after previously being held in Norden in 1983. The World Final was held at the Olympic Stadium in Munich. Hans Nielsen made up for his 1988 run-off defeat to fellow Dane Erik Gundersen by scoring a 15-point maximum to take his third World Championship. Nielsen joined fellow Danes Ole Olsen and Erik Gundersen as a three time Speedway World Champion . Simon Wigg from England finished second with the slick, track suiting his long track style. Wigg defeated fellow Englishman Jeremy Doncaster in a run-off for second and third places. In what would prove to be his last World Final before his career ending crash in the World Team Cup Final at the Odsal Stadium in England just two weeks later, Erik Gundersen finished in fourth place. His chances of an outright second-place finish (after having finished second behind Nielsen in Heat 4) ended when his bike's engine seized while leading heat 9 causing him to not finish  the race. In a sad twist, it was also seized engine in Heat 1 of the World Team Cup Final that would cause Gundersen's career ending crash. Australian rider Troy Butler had a lucky passage to the World Final. After finishing fourth in the Australian Championship, he replaced countryman Jamie Fagg in the Commonwealth Final, finishing eighth to qualify for the Overseas Final. He then finished tenth in the Overseas Final to be the first reserve for the Intercontinental Final. He then got a start in the Intercontinental Final at Bradford when Overseas champion Sam Ermolenko injured his back  in a horrific Long track motorcycle racing crash and was forced to withdraw (the American would be out for over 6 months). Butler would finish twelfth in the IC Final to become a reserve for the World Final where he once again came in as an injury replacement when Dane Jan O. Pedersen was forced to pull out. The 1986 Australian Champion ultimately finished twelfth in Munich, finishing with 4 points (two second places) from his 5 rides.