Coming into the Swedish Grand Prix, Honda's Freddie Spencer led Yamaha's Kenny Roberts 117 to 115 with each man having won five of the season's ten previous races.

Heading down the back straight, Spencer placed his Honda right behind Roberts' Yamaha as they reached the second to the last corner, a ninety degree right-hander.

As both riders applied their brakes, Spencer came out of Roberts' slipstream and managed to get inside of the Yamaha.

[5] Roberts considered Spencer's pass to be foolish and dangerous and, exchanged angry words with him on the podium.

Roberts contends that it was a dangerous move while Spencer maintains it was a calculated risk he had to take to secure the championship.