The Dukes in the World Championship 1983

After what might have been in 1982, hopes were high for a better outcome in 1983. The World Final had controversially been given to Norden in West Germany, and various Dukes set out on the road to get to the last 16 and a shot at the title. With Bruce Penhall now retired, it seemed that the race was more open than ever...

Craig Pendlebury: Now a New Zealand resident, Pendlebury qualified for their qualification rounds, and actually finished 3rd in the North Island final. But despite qualifying for the NZ final, Pendlebury opted not to take his place.

Steve Finch: The returning Duke was drawn to ride in the British Preliminary round at Edinburgh - and finished a respectable 7th place on 8 points - however with only 3 riders guaranteed to progress, this was not enough for him to qualify.

Martin Dixon: The Dukes' new signing was drawn in the same Preliminary round as Finch - but went one step better than his team mate by scoring 13 points to finish second. That put him into the British Quarter Final at King's Lynn, held somewhat frustratingly from a Dukes perspective on a Saturday night, robbing the Dukes of their rider for the night. To add to the frustration, Dixon just missed out on qualifying for the British Semi Finals, scoring 7 points in a tough meeting to end up 10th.

Gianni Famari: Was eliminated from the Continental Qualifying rounds early in the season, following his injuries received in the crash at Cradley Heath in mid-April.

Kenny Carter: The Dukes' - and England's - big hope for World Title glory was firmly with the Halifax Number 1 - and Carter once again so nearly delivered. 11 points and 3rd place at Leicester saw him comfortably qualify for the British Final - which he became favourite to win. But in a strange meeting, punctuated by a crash eliminating Dave Jessup, who was leading after 2 races, and 10 different heat winners from the first 12 races, Carter missed out on the title. A last place in heat 10 was to prove crucial as Carter finished on 10 points - 2 behind Chris Morton who won the meeting on only 12. Carter finished 2nd in the Overseas Final at Belle Vue on 11 points - again, a last place in his 3rd outing robbing him of the title, won by Cradley Heath's Phil Collins. In the Intercontinental Final at White City, Carter ran a last place in heat 1 behind Ole Olsen, Lance King and Hans Nielsen - but recovered to take 10 points from his remaining heats and qualify for a third straight World Final. The Final itself had been billed as the most open in years - no Penhall or Mauger, but with Carter one of 6 or 7 riders who were really in with a chance. On the day however, it didn't work out that way. On a track clearly prepared with the home rider in mind, and mounted on a strangely fast bike, home star Egon Muller was untouchable by Carter and the rest. KC was beaten by Muller in his first ride, but recovered to win his next 2 outings, sitting on 8 at the interval, 1 behind the unbeaten German. Muller however, won his remaining heats with ease to score a 15 point maximum and take the title, whilst Carter added 2 third places, to finish on 5th (10 points) behind Muller, Billy Sanders, Michael Lee, and Erik Gundersen. Another chance gone, but there would always be 1984... Little did we realise that this would be Carter's last World Final appearance...