Hans Nielsen V Erik Gundersen
By Tracy Holmes

Got some super stats. Love stats me. I'm looking at these two and how many times they faced each other in some of THE most important, individual meetings of the 80's. This comes from my fascination with Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, AKA Ivan Mauger and Ole Olsen. How in the 70's, they raced each other 9 times in the World Speedway Final, Mauger 5 - Olsen 4. Imagine how upset I was when at the end of the 80's, these Danes had 11 World Final races! How the...

Before that, I'll touch on just how they got so big with a few personal views. No, I won't be going into the Danish domination, their monopoly of the World Team Cup and World Pairs Finals. This is self indulgence at it's finest and as a pensioner, I have earned that right. Haha. The planets came into line for both of them, true, however they each had to fly their Starships to get to them and for each, occasionally never quite making it along the way. And sometimes when they did, the landscape was hostile. But when they did get it all together, my oh my, how they did fly!

How were they able to dominate the last 6 World Finals of the decade? Many pieces to that jigsaw. How did so many doors open? Here's some answers for you to ponder. Bruce Penhall quit. How big was the hole he left? Imagine if Ivan Mauger had quit on the Wembley podium, after winning the 1972 World Final. Yes, the decade would have continued. But how bright without it's brightest star? Well, that's what we got in the 80's. No negative reflection here, but Nielsen and Gundersen could only dream of that elusive X-factor that Penhall had brought to the Big-Top.

Dennis Sigalos and the injury that ended his career. Could he have been a threat to their golden thrones? Oh yes.

Kenny Carter's legacy of self-destruction and that comment is solely in regards to his speedway career. I don't think he ever had what it took and that is based on the fact, that he was never in love with speedway. It was just a way to make himself great. After he failed in LA, '82, it was never going to happen. The rest is tragic history. [ Respect to his and Pam's family ]

Lance King failed to capitalize on his brilliance. That is not criticism, just the way I see it and happy to be scolded for it.

Mike Lee and Billy Sanders unable to conquer their demons. And we can all identify with that to some degree.

Kelly Moran not taking speedway seriously enough to scale the highest mountain. He made 3 World Finals and finished 4th in each. A stat confirming my thoughts.

Shawn Moran was right up there but not up there enough. Yes, he won the 1983 World Longtrack Final and Hans was in the field, but Erik had not entered the competition. Shawn got close to being World Speedway Champion, however that was in 1990, lost the Gold Medal run-off to Per Jonsson but that's a whole other story. Personal view-point, had he focussed more on his career than a few other lifestyle choices, maybees ...

Simon Wigg. His love of Longtrack and grasstrack pushed speedway to the outer. Oh yes, a truly magnificent rider in all classes, but had his love for speedway been just as strong, who knows. Tommy Knudsen, certainly right up their exhaust pipes and yes, 1986 @ Chrozow and all that, but he could never go beyond that amazing 1981 World Final Bronze Medal. And I'll bet he had to throw that Silver Medal run-off to Ole. What, seriously? mmmmmm

Nielsen and Gundersen always had super-class opposition, don't get me wrong. The above mentioned along with Sam Ermolenko, Jan O Pedersen, Kelvin Tatum, Chris Morton to name the best of the rest. And yet they still won each World Final, 1984-89, three-all. Erik Gundersen 84,85 & 88. Hans Nielsen 86, 87 & 89. Now it's time for who beat who.

World Speedway Final.

1981 heat 17. Gundersen, Nielsen, Jancarz, Morton.
1982 Gundersen DNQ
1983 heat 4. Gundersen, Nielsen, Maier, Phil Collins.
1984 heat 15. Gundersen, Kelly Moran, Nielsen. Ondrasik ret
1985 heat 4. Nielsen, Ermolenko, Gundersen, Adorjan.
1985 Gold Medal run-off. Gundersen, Nielsen, Ermolenko.
1986 heat 2. Gundersen, Nielsen, Ermolenko, Shirra.
1987 day one, heat 14. Gundersen, Nielsen, Cook, Matousek.
1987 day two, heat 23. Nielsen, Cross, Gundersen, Kasper.
1988 heat 5. Gundersen, Nielsen, Matousek, Morton.
1988 Gold Medal run-off. Gundersen, Nielsen.
1989 heat 4. Nielsen, Gundersen, Olsson. Matousek ret

Gundersen 8 Nielsen 3.

After three and a half decades, that still blows me away. We never did get a Mauger/Olsen run-off, they got two!! "The lads not wrong and Bomber don't thinks it right!"

World Longtrack Final.

Gundersen wins 1984 & 1986. Nielsen does not win this one.

1984 heat 3. Gundersen, Gerhard, Riss, Nielsen, Mauger, Titman.
1984 heat 8. Maier, Gundersen, Muller, Niemi, Jensen. Nielsen ef
1984 heat 11 Semi-Final. Gundersen, Riss, Stancl, Peter Collins, Nielsen. Titman ef
1985 Gundersen DNQ
1986 heat 6. Gundersen, Peter Collins, Shawn Moran, Sova, Wiesbock ef. Nielsen ex/tapes
1986 heat 12 Final. Gundersen, Peter Collins, Gerhard. Riss ef Maier ef Nielsen ef
1987 Nielsen DNQ
1988 Gundersen DNQ
1989 Gundersen DNQ

Gundersen 5 Nielsen 0.

BLRC.

Gundersen wins 1983 & 1985. Nielsen wins 1986 & 1987. [ Nielsen also wins 1990 ]

1982 heat 13. Shawn Moran, Nielsen, Andersson, Gundersen.
1983 heat 3. Gundersen, Nielsen, Morton, Louis.
1984 heat 6. Gundersen, Nielsen, Morton. Schwartz ef
1984 1st place run-off. Morton, Nielsen. Gundersen ex/tapes
1985 heat 10. Gundersen, Nielsen, Peter Collins, Ravn.
1986 heat 15. Nielsen, Gundersen, Pedersen, Davis.
1987 heat 19. Nielsen, Nilsen, Gundersen, Shawn Moran.
1988 heat 14. Nielsen, Shawn Moran, Gundersen. Knudsen ret
1989 Gundersen Q inj ns

Nielsen 5 Gundersen 3.

CZ Golden Helmet. Zlata Prilba.

Gundersen wins 1985 & 1986. Nielsen wins 1987. [ Nielsen also wins 1998 ]

The two never met in this event. Gundersen rode in 1984, 1985 and 1986. Nielsen rode in 1983 & 1987. [ Hans then rode 7 times in the 90's ]

Cradley's Golden Hammer.

Gundersen wins 1986 & 1987. Nielsen wins 1988.

1980 heat 5 re-run. Nielsen, Alan Grahame, Davis. Gundersen f/ex
1981 heat 5. Gundersen, Nielsen, Rasmussen, Kelly Moran. [ Rain saw the meeting abandoned, no result ]
1982 Nielsen dnr
1983 heat 12. Gundersen, Les Collins, Nielsen, Crump.
1984 heat 20. Nielsen, Morton, Crump, Gundersen.
1985 heat 1. Gundersen, Crump, Nielsen, Alan Grahame.
1985 2nd place run-off. Nielsen, Gundersen, Phil Collins.
1986 heat 7. Gundersen, Nielsen, Shawn Moran, Knudsen.
1987 heat 17. Gundersen, Nielsen, Andy Grahame, King.
1988 heat 3. Gundersen, Tatum, King, Nielsen.
1989 heat 9. Nielsen, Cross, Gundersen, Shawn Moran.
1989 2nd place run-off. Gundersen, Nielsen.

Gundersen 7 Nielsen 4.

Brandonapolis.

Nielsen wins 1985. Gundersen does not win this one.

1980 heat 19. Nielsen, Gundersen, Knudsen, Lee.
1981 heat 12. Nielsen, Gundersen, Busk, Bastable.
1982 heat 19. Knudsen, Nielsen, Chris Morton, Gundersen.
1983 heat 4 Nielsen, Gundersen, Ondrasik, Phil Collins.
1984 Nielsen dnr
1985 heat 6. Gundersen, Nielsen, Bastable. Schwartz ef Phil Collins ex/2 mins
1985 1st place run-off. Nielsen, Gundersen.
end of competition.

Nielsen 5 Gundersen 1.

And that's it. Sadly, and that's a woefully inappropriate word, Erik's life nearly came to an end on September 17, 1989 with a tragic crash at the World Team Cup Final, Bradford, heat 1. No matter how many times I see this on You-tube, the scope of horror never fails to leave me in awe of how Erik survived. The crash itself is one-hundred percent terror. The expertise of first aiders over the next minutes made all the difference. As we discovered much later, Erik only wanted to continue at the top level for another year anyway. How cruel then, to be denied this opportunity.

I hope you have enjoyed this time travel adventure. Sort of my tribute to these Grand Masters. What Mauger and Olsen were to the 70's, the Main Danes were to the 80's.

Back to You-tube, I recently saw the SGP academy in Australia. Tony Rickardsson said something like, to be a successful speedway rider, you need three things, "technique, technique, technique" Well, after serving their apprenticeships, Hans Nielsen and Erik Gundersen went on to re-write the technique handbook for their era. Danish delight when speedway was upright!!!

This article was first published on 13th April 2025