1979 Individual Speedway World Championship

Motorcycle speedway world championship season January 2024 January 2024 1979 Individual Speedway World Championship 1978 1980 The 1979 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 34th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.Oakes Peter 1981 Speedway Yearbook 1981 20–21 Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd 0-86215-017-5http://edinburghspeedway.blogspot.com/2013/04/world-speedway-championships.html World Championship 1936-1994 Edinburgh Speedway 10 July 2021https://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/worldchamps1936to94.pdf WORLD FINALS 1936-1994 Speedway Researcher 10 July 2021http://www.speedway.org/history/ HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK Speedway.org 10 July 2021https://wwosbackup.proboards.com/board/89/world Speedway riders, history and results wwosbackup 10 July 2021https://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/worldfinalindex WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX British Speedway 10 July 2021 In his 14th straight World Final appearance (dating back to 1966), New Zealand's Ivan Mauger won his 6th Speedway World Championship, breaking the previous record of 5 wins held by himself and legendary Swede Ove Fundin. Mauger scored 14 points to defeat local favourite Zenon Plech (13) and young English tearaway Michael Lee (11), with Lee the only rider to defeat Mauger on the day. Lee also had to defeat Kelly Moran (USA), Billy Sanders (Australia) and defending champion Ole Olsen in a runoff for third after all four riders finished on 11 points. This would prove to be the last appearance for Ivan Mauger as a rider in a World Final.Bott Richard The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4 1980 22 Stanley Paul & Co Ltd 0-09-141751-1 Qualification results.https://dlprezes.pl.tl/World-Speedway-Championship-_-1979.htm 1979 World Championship Metal Speedway 20 January 2024http://www.speedway.org/history/79.htm#1979 1979 World Championship Speedway.org 20 January 2024 First round British qualification Similar to the previous season, the Sunday Mirror sponsored British qualifying rounds for the World Championship doubled up as qualifying rounds for the Berger-sponsored Grand Prix. Therefore, many non-British riders such as Scott Autrey and Ivan Mauger rode in these meetings scoring points towards the Grand Prix qualification - but their scores didn't count towards World Championship qualification. The Rye House track flooded so the event was moved to Hackney. DateVenueWinner2nd3rd Preliminary Round 8 AprilHackney Wick Stadium, London Mike Lanham Dave Perks Bobby McNeil 8 AprilMildenhall Stadium, Mildenhall Mick HinesGeoff Bouchard Alan Emerson 17 AprilCrayford & Bexleyheath Stadium, Crayford Mike Sampson Colin Richardson Bernie Leigh 17 AprilShielfield Park, Berwick Steve Finch Eric Broadbelt Derek Richardson 23 AprilBoston Sports Stadium, Boston Steve LomasMalcolm Corradine John Jackson Qualifying Round 28 AprilAbbey Stadium, Swindon Phil Crump Jan Andersson Scott Autrey 28 AprilThe Shay, Halifax Ivan Mauger Ian Cartwright Reg Wilson 28 AprilBrandon Stadium, Coventry Mitch Shirra Alan Molyneux John Davis 30 AprilSmallmead Stadium, Reading Jan Andersson John Davis Bruce Penhall 30 AprilCounty Ground Stadium, Exeter Scott Autrey Phil Crump Colin Richardson 30 AprilBirchfield Ladbroke Stadium, Birmingham Peter Collins Billy Sanders Alan Grahame 2 MayWimborne Road, Poole Ole Olsen Dave Morton Malcolm Simmons 2 MayThe Boulevard, Hull Ivan Mauger Bobby Beaton Kenny Carter 3 MayWimbledon Stadium, London Colin Richardson Hans Nielsen Bruce Penhall 3 MayOwlerton Stadium, Sheffield Doug Wyer Craig Pendlebury Les Collins 4 MayHackney Wick Stadium, London John Davis Mitch Shirra Ole Olsen 4 MayMonmore Green, Wolverhampton Kenny Carter Jim McMillan Bruce Cribb 4 MayArlington Stadium, Eastbourne Roger Johns Kai Niemi Dave Jessup 5 MayKing's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn Michael Lee Gordon Kennett Mike Lanham 5 MayDudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Bruce Penhall Scott Autrey Steve Bastable 5 MayHyde Road, Manchester Doug Wyer Larry Ross Bobby Beaton 8 MayLeicester Stadium, Leicester Michael Lee John Titman Ila Teromaa 10 MayFoxhall Stadium, Ipswich Steve Bastable John Louis Andy Grahame Second round Swedish qualification Top 5 in each heat to Swedish final (6 May, Grevby Motorstadion Mariestad)PosRider Points 1 Bernt Persson 132 Hans Danielsson 123 Bengt Jansson 11+34 Uno Johansson 11+25 Lars-Åke Andersson 11+16 Christer Sjösten 107 Lennart Bengtsson 98 Karl-Erik Claesson 89 Tomas Pettersson 810 Hasse Holmqvist 811 Kenneth Selmosson 712 Kjell Bergström 413 Thomas Hydling 314 Lars-Ove Lundgren 315 Stefan Hjort 216 Lars-Olof Karlsson 017 Ragnar Holm (res) 0 (6 May, Motala ArenaMotala)PosRider Points 1 Jan Andersson 152 Stefan Salmonsson 143 Sören Sjösten 124 Gert Carlsson 105 Kent Eriksson 9+3 6 Jan Johansson 9+ 27 Lillebror Johansson88 Göran Waltersson 79 Conny Samuelsson 710 Åke Axelsson 6 611 Alf Trofast 612 Peter Johansson 513 Tommy Karlsson 514 Tord Löwdin 415 Lars Hedlund (res) 216 Jan Davidsson 117 Olle Nygren 0 (6 May, Målilla (Motorbana)Målilla)PosRider Points 1 Bo Wirebrand 152 Tommy Nilsson 143 Tommy Johansson 114 Åke Fridell 115 Richard Hellsén 10+36 Per-Ove Gudmundsson 10+27 Rolf Sundberg 98 Sören Karlsson 89 Ingemar Andersson 710 Nils Eriksson 611 Tommy Steen 612 Börje Klingberg 513 Bengt Gustavsson 314 Torgil Roth 215 Sölve Larsson 116 Leif Johansson (res)117 Bertil Andersson 118 Björn Persson (res)1 Continental Preliminary round Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 22 AprilCSK Speedway Žarnovica, Žarnovica CSK Jiří Štancl CSK Petr KučeraCSK Jiří Jirout 22 AprilAUT Stadion Wiener Neustadt HUN Laszlo MeszarošCSK Ladislav HrádeckýFRG Karl Maier 22 AprilITA Giavera del Montello, Treviso FRG Waldemar BacikCSK Jan Hadek BUL Nikolaj Manev 22 AprilFRG Rhein-Main Arena, Diedenbergen NED Henny Kroeze FRG Andrew CurworthAUT Walter Grubmuller British semi-finals 22 May ENG Leicester Stadium, Leicester Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Peter Collins142 Gordon Kennett143 Doug Wyer134 Michael Lee125 Alan Molyneux106 Steve Bastable97 Jim McMillan88 Mike Lanham79 Alan Grahame710 IanCartwright611 Vic Harding612 Joe Owen513 Nicky Allott414 Tom Owen415 Kenny Carter216 Bobby Beaton023 May ENG Wimborne Road, Poole Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Dave Morton142 Dave Jessup133 John Louis114 John Davis105 Chris Morton106 Reg Wilson107 Malcolm Simmons98 Roger Johns99 Ian Turner910 Craig Pendlebury611 Colin Richardson512 Bruce Cribb413 Kevin Jolly414 Les Collins315 Mick Hines116 Trevor Geer0 New Zealand Final 21 January 1979 NZL Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch First 8 to Australasian Final Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Larry Ross 3,3,3,3,3152 Mitch Shirra 3,3,2,2,2123 Ivan Mauger 2,3,E,3,3114 Roger Wright 2,0,3,3,3115 John Goodall 1,3,3,1,2106 David Bargh 3,0,1,3,297 Tony Briggs 1,2,1,2,398 Graeme Stapleton 2,2,2,1,299 Mike Fullerton3,1,3,0,1810 James Moore1,2,0,2,1 611 Colin Tucker0,2,1,2,0 512 Patrick Pawson0,1,2,1,0 413 Robin Adlington0,1,2,0,1 414 Max Brown1,1,0,0,0 215 John Brown0,0,0,0,1 116 William Aulsfordns0R1 Paul Fewings2,1,03R2 Gary Forscutt0,11Australian Final 11 February 1979 AUS Olympic Park, Mildura First 8 to Australasian Final Pos. Rider Total1 Phil Crump 152 Danny Kennedy 133 John Boulger 114 John Titman 105 Steve Koppe 106 Billy Sanders 107 Gary Guglielmi 98 Glyn Taylor 99 Rob Maxfield 610 Phil Bass 511 Glen McDonald 512 Mike Farrell 413 John Langfield 414 David Shields 215 Ross Townson 216 Kym Amundson 2 Third round Continental quarter-finals Top 32 riders to Continental semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 6 MayHUN Hajdú Volán Stadion, Debrecen USSR Mikhail Starostin CSK Jan Verner HUN Tibor Danka 6 MayFRG Abensberger Stadion, Abensberg CSK Jiří Štancl CSK Václav Verner USSR Anatoly Maksimow 7 MayYUG City Garden Stadium, Osijek CSK Petr Ondrašík USSR Valery Gordeev NED Henny Kroeze 7 MayCSK Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný CSK Aleš Dryml Sr. CSK Zdeněk Kudrna HUN Istvan Sziracky American semi-finals Top 16 to American final (two 32 rider meetings, held in 1978) DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 16 September 1978Santa Ana Stadium, Santa Ana Denny Pyeatt Bobby Schwartz Mike Bloom 22 September 1978 Sacramento, Sacramento Dennis Robinson Mike Faria Duane Yarrow British Final 20 June 1979 ENG Brandon Stadium, CoventryBott Richard The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4 1980 22 Stanley Paul & Co Ltd 0-09-141751-1 First 10 to Commonwealth Final plus 1 reserve x P1 9 ENG Peter Collins 3 3 3 3 3 x P2 8 ENG Michael Lee 3 3 2 3 3 x P3 7 ENG Dave Jessup 2 3 2 3 2 x 4 16 ENG John Davis 3 2 3 2 1 x 5 10 ENG Doug Wyer 1 2 3 3 1 x 6 11 ENG Malcolm Simmons 2 2 1 2 3 x 7 12 ENG Roger Johns 1 3 1 3 x F 8 1 ENG Gordon Kennett 3 0 2 2 x E 9 13 ENG Alan Molyneux 2 1 1 1 2 x 10 2 ENG John Louis 2 3 1 0 0 x 3 11 6 ENG Chris Morton 0 1 2 2 1 x 2 12 5 ENG Reg Wilson 1 2 0 1 2 x 13 15 SCO Jim McMillan 0 1 2 1 0 x 14 14 ENG Alan Grahame 1 0 1 0 1 x 15 4 ENG Mike Lanham 1 0 0 0 0 x 16 3 ENG Ian Turner 0 0 0 0 x E R1 R1 ENG Craig Pendlebury R2 R2 ENG Ian Cartwright Australasian Final 23 February 1979 AUS Rowley Park Speedway, Adelaide Referee: AUS Sam Bass First 6 to Commonwealth final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Total1 AUS Billy Sanders 132 AUS Steve Koppe 123 AUS John Titman 11+34 AUS Phil Crump 11+25 NZL Ivan Mauger 11+16 NZL Larry Ross 10+37 NZL Mitch Shirra 10+28 AUS Gary Guglielmi 89 NZL John Goodall 810 AUS Danny Kennedy 611 AUS John Boulger 612 AUS Glyn Taylor 613 NZL Tony Briggs (Res) 414 NZL Graeme Stapleton 215 NZL David Bargh (Res) 216 NZL Roger Wright 0 Danish Final 6 May 1979 DEN Fjelsted Speedway Stadium, Harndrup First 4 to Nordic Final (Ole Olsen seeded to Nordic final) x P1 5 DEN Bo Petersen 3 2 3 3 3 x 3 P2 12 DEN Finn Thomsen 3 3 2 3 3 x 2 P3 6 DEN Mike Lohmann 2 2 3 3 2 x 3 4 1 DEN Hans Nielsen 3 3 2 1 3 x 2 5 14 DEN Finn Rune Jensen 3 3 3 0 2 x 6 7 DEN Bent Rasmussen 2 3 2 3 x F 7 15 DEN Jens Henry Nielsen 2 3 1 2 2 x 8 10 DEN Steen Mastrup 2 1 2 2 1 x 9 3 DEN Helge Hansen 2 1 1 1 0 x 10 13 DEN Svend Lund 0 1 3 1 x E 11 4 DEN Gunnar Svendsen 1 1 1 1 1 x 12 2 DEN Finn Londal Jensen 0 0 0 2 2 x 13 16 DEN Alf Busk 1 2 1 x F - 14 8 DEN Kai Kristiansen 1 0 2 x F - 15 9 DEN Kristian Præstbro 1 x E - - - 16 11 DEN Ernst Bogh x Norwegian Final To 3 riders to Nordic Final NOR Elgane, Varhaug Pos. Rider Total1 Reidar Eide 142 Rolf Gramstad 133 Audun Ove Olsen 114 Sigvart Pedersen 105 Tom Godal 106 Thoralf Holen 107 Tormod Langli 98 Edgar Stangeland 99 Trond Helge Skretting 810 Per Arne Hansen 6 Finland Final 3 selected riders to Nordic Final 13 August '78 FIN Kärpänen Speedway, Lahti Pos. Rider Total1 Kai Niemi 12+32 Rauli Mäkinen 12+23 Martti Väyrynen 104 Veijo Tuoriniemi 105 Ari Koponen 106 Timo Kiansten 97 Esko Mylläri 88 Olli Turkia 79 Seppo Palomäki 710 Keijo Mylläri 611 Pekka Hautamäki 612 Ari Turkia 513Ilkka Teromaa 514 Esa Mattila (res)415 Pentti Mattila 316 Veikko Haapamäki 317 Pekka Paljakka218 Jarmo Puttonen (res) 0 Swedish Final 29 May 1979 SWE Kumla Motorstadion, Kumla First 5 to Nordic Final + 1 reserve Pos. Rider Total1 Jan Andersson 152 Anders Michanek 123 Bernt Persson 114 Richard Hellsen 115 Ake Fridell 116 Lars-Åke Andersson 107 Bo Wirebrand 98 Uno Johansson 89 Stefan Salmonsson 710 Bengt Jansson 511 Hans Danielsson 512 Sören Sjösten 413 Tommy Nilsson 314 Lennart Bengsson (res) 315 Gert Carlsson 216 Kent Eriksson 117 Sören Karlsson 0 Fourth round Continental semi-finals 27 May ITA Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 TCH Aleš Dryml Sr. 132 USSR Viktor Kuznetsov 113 TCH Jiří Štancl 114 FRG Georg Hack 105 TCH Jan Hadek 106 TCH Petr Kucera 97 USSR Anatolij Maximov 98TCH Václav Verner 99 TCH Zdenek Kudrna 810 HUN Istvan Sziraczki 611 ITA Giuseppe Marzotto 512 USSR Vladimir Klytchov 513 FRG Waldemar Bacik 414 TCH Milan Špinka 215 AUT Herbert Szerecz 016 GER Peter Lempenhauer 027 May FRG Breitenthal Stadium, Krumbach Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 TCH Jan Verner 152 NED Henny Kroeze 143 USSR Valerij Gordeev 124 TCH Petr Ondrašík 115 HUN Laszlo Meszaros 106 USSR Michail Starostin 107 FRG Christoph Betzl 98FRG Alois Wiesböck 99 FRG Karl Maier 810 HUN Janos Szöke 611 USSR Vladimir Paznikov 512 NED Henk Steman 413 USSR Alexander Khaljavin 314 ENG Andy Cusworth 215 FRG George Gilgenreiner 216 HUN Tibor Danka 0 American Final 29 December 1978 USA Santa Ana Stadium, Santa Ana First 2 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Total1 Bobby Schwartz 12+32 Mike Bast 12+23 Kelly Moran 12+14 Steve Gresham 12+05 Mike Faria 106 Steve McConnell 97 Bruce Penhall 88 Bill Cody 79 Rich McMurray 710 John Cook 611 Gary Hutchinson 612 Dennis Robinson 513 Duane Yarrow 514 Dave Faria 415 Denny Pyeatt 316 Mike Bloom 2 Commonwealth Final 1 July 1979 ENG White City Stadium, London First 9 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve x P1 16 ENG Michael Lee 3 3 2 3 3 x 3 P2 11 AUS Billy Sanders 3 3 3 2 3 x 2 P3 13 ENG Dave Jessup 2 2 2 3 3 x 4 15 NZL Larry Ross 1 2 3 3 2 x 5 5 NZL Ivan Mauger 3 3 2 1 2 x 6 10 ENG Peter Collins 2 2 3 2 1 x 7 8 AUS John Titman 2 1 2 1 3 x 8 6 ENG Gordon Kennett 3 1 2 2 x F 9 9 ENG John Davis 1 1 3 2 x F 10 14 ENG Malcolm Simmons 0 1 1 3 1 x 11 4 ENG Doug Wyer 3 2 x F - - 12 7 ENG John Louis 1 0 1 2 x F 13 1 AUS Phil Crump 2 0 x - - - 14 3 ENG Roger Johns 1 1 0 x E - 15 12 AUS Steve Koppe 0 0 1 1 0 x 16 2 ENG Alan Molyneux 0 1 x E E E R1 R1 AUS Sean Willmott w 0 R2 R2 ENG Chris Morton w 1 y 0 R3 R3 NZL Mitch Shirra y 0 r 0 r 1 Nordic Final 5 June 1979 SWE Norrköping Motorstadion, Norrköping First 5 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve x P1 1 SWE Jan Andersson 3 2 3 3 2 x 3 P2 13 DEN Hans Nielsen 2 3 3 3 2 x 2 P3 8 DEN Finn Thomsen 3 3 3 2 1 x 3 4 10 DEN Ole Olsen 3 3 2 1 3 x 2 5 3 FIN Kai Niemi 0 3 0 3 3 x 3 6 5 FIN Ila Teromaa 2 1 3 0 3 x 2 7 16 DEN Bo Petersen 3 0 2 3 x X 8 6 SWE Bernt Persson 1 1 2 3 1 x 9 4 SWE Anders Michanek 1 2 1 2 1 x 10 14 DEN Mike Lohmann 2 2 2 x X E 11 2 NOR Reidar Eide 2 0 1 1 2 x 12 11 NOR Rolf Gramstad 0 2 1 2 x F 13 15 SWE Ake Fridell 1 0 2 1 0 x 14 9 SWE Richard Hellsen 2 0 1 x - - 15 7 FIN Olli Turkia 0 1 0 1 x F 16 12 NOR Audun Ove Olsen 1 1 0 0 0 x R1 R1 SWE Lars-Åke Andersson r 1 R2 R2 SWE Sören Karlsson r 0 Fifth round Continental Final 8 July 1979 FRG Rottalstadion, Pocking First 4 to World final plus 1 reserve Polish riders Zenon Plech, Edward Jancarz and Robert Słaboń seeded to World Final x P1 9 FRG Christoph Betzl 3 3 3 3 2 x P2 3 USSR Mikhail Starostin 3 3 1 3 3 x P3 5 CSK Zdeněk Kudrna 3 1 3 2 3 x 3 4 14 FRG Alois Wiesböck 3 3 2 3 1 x 2 5 13 CSK Petr Ondrašík 1 2 3 3 2 x 6 16 USSR Valery Gordeev 2 1 3 1 3 x 7 11 CSK Václav Verner 2 1 2 2 2 x 8 10 CSK Jiří Štancl 1 1 2 0 3 x 9 12 USSR Viktor Kuznetsov 0 2 2 2 1 x 10 15 USSR Anatoly Maksimov 2 0 2 2 x X 11 2 FRG Karl Maier 2 2 1 1 x X 12 4 FRG Georg Hack 1 3 x X - X 13 7 CSK Jan Hadek 2 0 1 1 x X 14 1 HUN László Mészáros 0 1 0 1 x X 15 8 CSK Jan Verner x X X X X X 16 6 CSK Aleš Dryml Sr. x X - - - - R1 R1 HUN Janosz Szoke y 0 r 0 b 1 y 0 Intercontinental Final 8 August 1979 ENG White City Stadium, London First 9 to World Final plus 1 reserve x P1 14 ENG Michael Lee 3 3 3 2 3 x 3 P2 7 ENG Peter Collins 3 3 2 3 3 x 2 P3 9 DEN Finn Thomsen 2 3 1 3 1 x 3 4 8 NZL Ivan Mauger 1 3 2 2 2 x 2 5 13 ENG Dave Jessup 2 2 3 3 0 x 1 6 4 DEN Ole Olsen 3 1 1 2 2 x 7 2 AUS Billy Sanders 2 0 3 1 2 x 8 3 USA Kelly Moran 1 2 0 3 2 x 9 10 AUS John Titman 1 2 0 2 3 x 10 6 NZL Larry Ross 0 1 3 0 3 x 11 15 FIN Kai Niemi 1 1 2 1 1 x 12 5 ENG Gordon Kennett 2 1 1 1 0 x 13 12 ENG John Davis 3 0 0 0 1 x 14 16 DEN Hans Nielsen 0 2 0 0 0 x 15 11 USA Bobby Schwartz 0 1 0 1 x F 16 1 SWE Jan Andersson 0 0 1 0 x T R1 R1 ENG Malcolm Simmons w 2 World Final 2 September 1979 POL Silesian Stadium, ChorzówBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. 0-7524-2402-5 P1 15 NZL Ivan Mauger 3 3 2 3 3 14 P2 7 POL Zenon Plech 3 1 3 3 3 13 P3 5 ENG Michael Lee 2 3 3 0 3 11+3 4 3 USA Kelly Moran 1 2 3 2 3 11+2 5 4 AUS Billy Sanders 3 3 1 2 2 11+1 6 10 DEN Ole Olsen 3 3 2 1 2 11+0 7 11 CZE Zdeněk Kudrna 2 0 3 3 0 8 8 16 ENG Dave Jessup 1 2 3 2 8 E 9 12 POL Edward Jancarz 1 2 1 2 1 7 10 13 DEN Finn Thomsen 2 0 2 2 6 E 11 1 ENG Peter Collins 2 2 1 1 6 E 12 14 AUS John Titman 1 2 2 0 1 5 13 2 SUN Mikhail Starostin 0 1 0 1 1 3 14 6 GER Christoph Betzl 1 0 0 1 0 2 15 8 POL Robert Słaboń 0 0 1 0 1 2 16 9 GER Alois Wiesböck 0 1 0 0 0 1 17 CZE Petr Ondrašík 0 18 NZL Larry Ross 0 References 1979 World Individual World Category:Speedway competitions in Poland