1980 Intercontinental final

April 2022 1980 Intercontinental Final 1979 1981 The 1980 Intercontinental Final was the sixth running of the Intercontinental Final as part of the qualification for the 1980 Speedway World Championship. The 1980 Final was run on 3 August at the White City Stadium in London, England, and was the last qualifying stage for riders from Scandinavia, the United States and from the Commonwealth nations for the World Final to be held at the Ullevi stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden.Speedway World Championship History - 1980 England's Chris Morton won his only Intercontinental Final after defeating star American rider Bruce Penhall in a runoff when both riders finished on 12 points from their five rides. Reigning Australian Champion Billy Sanders defeated Finland's Kai Niemi in a runoff for third place with each rider scoring 11 points. Triple World Champion Ole Olsen defeated American Scott Autrey in a runoff to claim one of the reserve spots for the World Final. Nearing the end of his record-breaking career, six time and defending World Champion Ivan Mauger finished in a disappointing 13th place having scored just 5 points from his five rides and would not ride in a World Final for the first time since 1966. The failures of Olsen and Mauger to reach the World Final was seen as a changing of the guard as the pair had dominated the sport for ever a decade, between them winning nine of the twelve World Championships since 1968. The next generation of riders such as Morton, Penhall, Sanders, Michael Lee and Hans Nielsen, as well as others such as Erik Gundersen, Shawn Moran, Dennis Sigalos, Kenny Carter and Tommy Knudsen, were expected to lead sport into the 1980s. Michael Lee would go on to win the World Final in Göteborg, Sweden 1980 Intercontinental Final 3 August GBR London, White City Stadium Qualification: Top 10 plus 1 reserve to the World Final in Gothenburg, Sweden Pos. Rider Total1 ENG Chris Morton 12+32 USA Bruce Penhall 12+23 AUS Billy Sanders 11+34 FIN Kai Niemi 11+25 DEN Finn Thomsen 106 ENG Dave Jessup 97 ENG Michael Lee 98 ENG John Davis 99 DEN Hans Nielsen 810 ENG Peter Collins 711 DEN Ole Olsen 6+312 USA Scott Autrey 6+213 NZL Ivan Mauger 514 ENG John Louis 315 NZL Mitch Shirra 116 DEN Bent Leif Rasmussen 017 ENG Gordon Kennett (Res) 0 Classification P1 1 ENG Chris Morton 2 1 3 3 3 x 3 P2 5 USA Bruce Penhall 3 3 1 3 2 x 2 P3 15 AUS Billy Sanders 1 3 3 2 2 x 3 4 3 FIN Kai Niemi 3 2 2 1 3 x 2 5 16 DEN Finn Thomsen 2 2 1 2 3 6 8 ENG Dave Jessup 2 3 3 1 E 7 13 ENG Michael Lee 3 0 3 1 2 8 9 ENG John Davis 1 2 3 1 2 9 4 DEN Hans Nielsen 1 1 3 3 X 10 2 ENG Peter Collins 0 3 2 2 0 11 7 DEN Ole Olsen 1 1 2 1 1 12 11 USA Scott Autrey 3 0 2 0 1 13 14 NZL Ivan Mauger 0 2 1 2 0 14 12 ENG John Louis 2 0 0 0 1 15 6 NZL Mitch Shirra 0 1 0 0 0 16 10 DEN Bent Leif Rasmussen 0 0 X E - R1 R1 ENG Gordon Kennett y 0 References See also Motorcycle Speedway 1980 World Individual Intercontinental Final Intercontinental Final