| Rk | Final | time |   | gap | L | _______  |  | 1. |   West Germany | 3:30.61 |   |   | 4 |  |  | Klaus Steinbach 52.56s, Gerhard Schiller 53.01s, Kersten Meier 53.47s, Peter Nocke 51.57s |  | 2. |   Soviet Union | 3:32.01 |   | 1.40s | 5 |  |  | Vladimir Bure 53.55s, Aleksandr Samsonov 53.42s, Anatoly Rybakov 52.27s, Georgijs Kuļikovs 52.77s |  | 3. |   East Germany | 3:32.54 |   | 1.93s | 2 |  |  | Roger Pyttel 53.42s, Roland Matthes 51.75s, Wilfried Hartung 53.79s, Lutz Wanja 53.58s |  | 4. |   Italy | 3:33.03 |   | 2.42s | 3 |  |  | Roberto Pangaro 53.08s, Marcello Guarducci 52.61s, Paolo Barelli 53.63s, Paolo Martinetto 53.71s |  | 5. |   Sweden | 3:33.53 |   | 2.92s | 6 |  |  | Bernt Zarnowiecki 53.54s, Ola Håkansson 53.29s, Bengt Gingsjö 52.74s, Sven von Holst 53.96s |  | 6. |   France | 3:34.58 |   | 3.97s | 1 |  |  | André Foucart 54.65s, Michel Rousseau 51.96s, Patrick Jugé 53.57s, Pierre Amardeilh 54.40s |  | 7. |   Spain | 3:34.98 |   | 4.37s | 7 |  |  | Santiago Esteva 53.83s, José Pujol 54.00s, Enrique Melo 52.89s, Jorge Comas 54.26s |  | 8. |   Bulgaria | 3:43.33 |   | 12.72s | 8 |  |  | Toni Statelov 55.61s, Krasimir Enchev 56.91s, Lyudmil Stoev 56.46s, Stefan Georgiev 54.35s  |   
 |  
|
  |  | Best 8 times advanced to Final.  |   
| Rk | Heat 2 | time |   | gap | L | Rk | _______  |  | 1. |   East Germany | 3:35.80 |   | 3.71s | - | 5. |  |  | Wilfried Hartung 53.28s, Lutz Wanja 53.75s, Peter Bruch 54.93s, Ulrich Bär 53.84s |  | 2. |   Spain | 3:36.75 |   | 4.66s | - | 6. |  |  | Santiago Esteva 53.39s, José Pujol 53.71s, Enrique Melo 54.60s, Jorge Comas 55.05s |  | 3. |   France | 3:38.16 |   | 6.07s | - | 7. |  |  | André Foucart 54.60s, Patrick Jugé 54.49s, Pierre Amardeilh 54.25s, Pierre Caland 54.82s |  | 4. |   Bulgaria | 3:40.41 |   | 8.32s | - | 8. |  |  | Toni Statelov 54.89s, Krasimir Enchev 55.32s, Lyudmil Stoev 56.49s, Stefan Georgiev 53.71s |  | 5. |   Ireland | 4:01.63 |   | 29.54s | - | 9. |  |  | Desmond Coyle 59.06s, Francis White 1:01.09, Rob Howard 1:00.82, Kevin Williamson 1:00.66 |   
     | Rk | Heat 1 | time |   | gap | L | Rk | _______  |  | 1. |   West Germany | 3:32.09 |   |   | - | 1. |  |  | Klaus Steinbach 52.37s, Gerhard Schiller 52.65s, Kersten Meier 52.74s, Peter Raschke 54.33s |  | 2. |   Soviet Union | 3:32.16 |   | 0.07s | - | 2. |  |  | Anatoly Rybakov 53.06, Georgijs Kuļikovs 53.04, Vladimir Krivtsov 53.28, Andrey Smirnov 52.78s |  | 3. |   Italy | 3:33.73 |   | 1.64s | - | 3. |  |  | Roberto Pangaro 53.32s, Marcello Guarducci 52.81s, Paolo Barelli 53.65s, Paolo Martinetto 53.95s |  | 4. |   Sweden | 3:34.20 |   | 2.11s | - | 4. |  |  | Bernt Zarnowiecki 53.85s, Ola Håkansson 53.24s, Sven von Holst 53.10s, Peter Pettersson 54.01s |   
 | 
 |  
 | 
 |