# 1979 Individual Speedway World Championship > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/1979_Individual_Speedway_World_Championship > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/1979_Individual_Speedway_World_Championship.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_Individual_Speedway_World_Championship > Source revision: 1341188529 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Motorcycle speedway world championship season 1979 [Individual Speedway World Championship](/source/Individual_Speedway_World_Championship) Previous [1978](/source/1978_Individual_Speedway_World_Championship) Next [1980](/source/1980_Individual_Speedway_World_Championship) The **1979 Individual Speedway World Championship** was the 34th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.[1][2][3][4][5][6] In his 14th straight World Final appearance (dating back to [1966](/source/1966_Individual_Speedway_World_Championship)), New Zealand's [Ivan Mauger](/source/Ivan_Mauger) won his 6th [Speedway World Championship](/source/Speedway_World_Championship), breaking the previous record of 5 wins held by himself and legendary [Swede](/source/Swedish_people) [Ove Fundin](/source/Ove_Fundin). Mauger scored 14 points to defeat local favourite [Zenon Plech](/source/Zenon_Plech) (13) and young [English](/source/English_people) tearaway [Michael Lee](/source/Michael_Lee_(speedway_rider)) (11), with Lee the only rider to defeat Mauger on the day. Lee also had to defeat [Kelly Moran](/source/Kelly_Moran_(speedway_rider)) ([USA](/source/United_States_of_America)), [Billy Sanders](/source/Billy_Sanders) (Australia) and defending champion [Ole Olsen](/source/Ole_Olsen_(speedway_rider)) 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.[7] Qualification results.[8][9] ## First round ### British qualification Similar to the previous season, the [Sunday Mirror](/source/Sunday_Mirror) sponsored British qualifying rounds for the **World Championship** doubled up as qualifying rounds for the [Berger](/source/Berger_Paints)-sponsored Grand Prix. Therefore, many non-British riders such as [Scott Autrey](/source/Scott_Autrey) and [Ivan Mauger](/source/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. Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd Preliminary Round 8 April Hackney Wick Stadium, London Mike Lanham Dave Perks Bobby McNeil 8 April Mildenhall Stadium, Mildenhall Mick Hines Geoff Bouchard Alan Emerson 17 April Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium, Crayford Mike Sampson Colin Richardson Bernie Leigh 17 April Shielfield Park, Berwick Steve Finch Eric Broadbelt Derek Richardson 23 April Boston Sports Stadium, Boston Steve Lomas Malcolm Corradine John Jackson Qualifying Round 28 April Abbey Stadium, Swindon Phil Crump Jan Andersson Scott Autrey 28 April The Shay, Halifax Ivan Mauger Ian Cartwright Reg Wilson 28 April Brandon Stadium, Coventry Mitch Shirra Alan Molyneux John Davis 30 April Smallmead Stadium, Reading Jan Andersson John Davis Bruce Penhall 30 April County Ground Stadium, Exeter Scott Autrey Phil Crump Colin Richardson 30 April Birchfield Ladbroke Stadium, Birmingham Peter Collins Billy Sanders Alan Grahame 2 May Wimborne Road, Poole Ole Olsen Dave Morton Malcolm Simmons 2 May The Boulevard, Hull Ivan Mauger Bobby Beaton Kenny Carter 3 May Wimbledon Stadium, London Colin Richardson Hans Nielsen Bruce Penhall 3 May Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield Doug Wyer Craig Pendlebury Les Collins 4 May Hackney Wick Stadium, London John Davis Mitch Shirra Ole Olsen 4 May Monmore Green, Wolverhampton Kenny Carter Jim McMillan Bruce Cribb 4 May Arlington Stadium, Eastbourne Roger Johns Kai Niemi Dave Jessup 5 May King's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn Michael Lee Gordon Kennett Mike Lanham 5 May Dudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Bruce Penhall Scott Autrey Steve Bastable 5 May Hyde Road, Manchester Doug Wyer Larry Ross Bobby Beaton 8 May Leicester Stadium, Leicester Michael Lee John Titman Ila Teromaa 10 May Foxhall 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) Pos Rider Points 1 Bernt Persson 13 2 Hans Danielsson 12 3 Bengt Jansson 11+3 4 Uno Johansson 11+2 5 Lars-Åke Andersson 11+1 6 Christer Sjösten 10 7 Lennart Bengtsson 9 8 Karl-Erik Claesson 8 9 Tomas Pettersson 8 10 Hasse Holmqvist 8 11 Kenneth Selmosson 7 12 Kjell Bergström 4 13 Thomas Hydling 3 14 Lars-Ove Lundgren 3 15 Stefan Hjort 2 16 Lars-Olof Karlsson 0 17 Ragnar Holm (res) 0 (6 May, Motala Arena Motala) Pos Rider Points 1 Jan Andersson 15 2 Stefan Salmonsson 14 3 Sören Sjösten 12 4 Gert Carlsson 10 5 Kent Eriksson 9+3 6 Jan Johansson 9+ 2 7 Lillebror Johansson 8 8 Göran Waltersson 7 9 Conny Samuelsson 7 10 Åke Axelsson 6 6 11 Alf Trofast 6 12 Peter Johansson 5 13 Tommy Karlsson 5 14 Tord Löwdin 4 15 Lars Hedlund (res) 2 16 Jan Davidsson 1 17 Olle Nygren 0 (6 May, Målilla (Motorbana) Målilla) Pos Rider Points 1 Bo Wirebrand 15 2 Tommy Nilsson 14 3 Tommy Johansson 11 4 Åke Fridell 11 5 Richard Hellsén 10+3 6 Per-Ove Gudmundsson 10+2 7 Rolf Sundberg 9 8 Sören Karlsson 8 9 Ingemar Andersson 7 10 Nils Eriksson 6 11 Tommy Steen 6 12 Börje Klingberg 5 13 Bengt Gustavsson 3 14 Torgil Roth 2 15 Sölve Larsson 1 16 Leif Johansson (res) 1 17 Bertil Andersson 1 18 Björn Persson (res) 1 ### Continental Preliminary round - Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd 22 April Speedway Žarnovica, Žarnovica Jiří Štancl Petr Kučera Jiří Jirout 22 April Stadion Wiener Neustadt Laszlo Meszaroš Ladislav Hrádecký Karl Maier 22 April Giavera del Montello, Treviso Waldemar Bacik Jan Hadek Nikolaj Manev 22 April Rhein-Main Arena, Diedenbergen Henny Kroeze Andrew Curworth Walter Grubmuller ### British semi-finals 22 May Leicester Stadium, Leicester Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points 1 Peter Collins 14 2 Gordon Kennett 14 3 Doug Wyer 13 4 Michael Lee 12 5 Alan Molyneux 10 6 Steve Bastable 9 7 Jim McMillan 8 8 Mike Lanham 7 9 Alan Grahame 7 10 IanCartwright 6 11 Vic Harding 6 12 Joe Owen 5 13 Nicky Allott 4 14 Tom Owen 4 15 Kenny Carter 2 16 Bobby Beaton 0 23 May Wimborne Road, Poole Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points 1 Dave Morton 14 2 Dave Jessup 13 3 John Louis 11 4 John Davis 10 5 Chris Morton 10 6 Reg Wilson 10 7 Malcolm Simmons 9 8 Roger Johns 9 9 Ian Turner 9 10 Craig Pendlebury 6 11 Colin Richardson 5 12 Bruce Cribb 4 13 Kevin Jolly 4 14 Les Collins 3 15 Mick Hines 1 16 Trevor Geer 0 New Zealand Final 21 January 1979 Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch First 8 to Australasian Final Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total 1 Larry Ross 3,3,3,3,3 15 2 Mitch Shirra 3,3,2,2,2 12 3 Ivan Mauger 2,3,E,3,3 11 4 Roger Wright 2,0,3,3,3 11 5 John Goodall 1,3,3,1,2 10 6 David Bargh 3,0,1,3,2 9 7 Tony Briggs 1,2,1,2,3 9 8 Graeme Stapleton 2,2,2,1,2 9 9 Mike Fullerton 3,1,3,0,1 8 10 James Moore 1,2,0,2,1 6 11 Colin Tucker 0,2,1,2,0 5 12 Patrick Pawson 0,1,2,1,0 4 13 Robin Adlington 0,1,2,0,1 4 14 Max Brown 1,1,0,0,0 2 15 John Brown 0,0,0,0,1 1 16 William Aulsford ns 0 R1 Paul Fewings 2,1,0 3 R2 Gary Forscutt 0,1 1 Australian Final 11 February 1979 Olympic Park, Mildura First 8 to Australasian Final Pos. Rider Total 1 Phil Crump 15 2 Danny Kennedy 13 3 John Boulger 11 4 John Titman 10 5 Steve Koppe 10 6 Billy Sanders 10 7 Gary Guglielmi 9 8 Glyn Taylor 9 9 Rob Maxfield 6 10 Phil Bass 5 11 Glen McDonald 5 12 Mike Farrell 4 13 John Langfield 4 14 David Shields 2 15 Ross Townson 2 16 Kym Amundson 2 ## Third round ### Continental quarter-finals - Top 32 riders to Continental semi-finals Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd 6 May Hajdú Volán Stadion, Debrecen Mikhail Starostin Jan Verner Tibor Danka 6 May Abensberger Stadion, Abensberg Jiří Štancl Václav Verner Anatoly Maksimow 7 May City Garden Stadium, Osijek Petr Ondrašík Valery Gordeev Henny Kroeze 7 May Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný Aleš Dryml Sr. Zdeněk Kudrna Istvan Sziracky ### American semi-finals - Top 16 to American final (two 32 rider meetings, held in 1978) Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd 16 September 1978 Santa 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 - [Brandon Stadium](/source/Brandon_Stadium), [Coventry](/source/Coventry)[10] - First 10 to Commonwealth Final plus 1 reserve Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21 (9) Peter Collins 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1 (8) Michael Lee 14 3 3 2 3 3 14 2 (7) Dave Jessup 12 2 3 2 3 2 12 3 4 (16) John Davis 11 3 2 3 2 1 11 4 5 (10) Doug Wyer 10 1 2 3 3 1 10 5 6 (11) Malcolm Simmons 10 2 2 1 2 3 10 6 7 (12) Roger Johns 8 F 1 3 1 3 8 7 8 (1) Gordon Kennett 7 3 E 0 2 2 7 8 9 (13) Alan Molyneux 7 2 1 1 1 2 7 9 10 (2) John Louis 6 2 3 1 0 0 6 10 3 11 (6) Chris Morton 6 0 1 2 2 1 6 11 2 12 (5) Reg Wilson 6 1 2 0 1 2 6 12 13 (15) Jim McMillan 4 0 1 2 1 0 4 13 14 (14) Alan Grahame 3 1 0 1 0 1 3 14 15 (4) Mike Lanham 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 15 16 (3) Ian Turner 0 E 0 0 0 0 0 16 R1 (R1) Craig Pendlebury 0 0 R1 R2 (R2) Ian Cartwright 0 0 R2 Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21 m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside ### Australasian Final - 23 February 1979 - [Rowley Park Speedway](/source/Rowley_Park_Speedway), [Adelaide](/source/Adelaide) - Referee: Sam Bass - First 6 to Commonwealth final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Total 1 Billy Sanders 13 2 Steve Koppe 12 3 John Titman 11+3 4 Phil Crump 11+2 5 Ivan Mauger 11+1 6 Larry Ross 10+3 7 Mitch Shirra 10+2 8 Gary Guglielmi 8 9 John Goodall 8 10 Danny Kennedy 6 11 John Boulger 6 12 Glyn Taylor 6 13 Tony Briggs (Res) 4 14 Graeme Stapleton 2 15 David Bargh (Res) 2 16 Roger Wright 0 ### Danish Final - 6 May 1979 - [Fjelsted Speedway Stadium](/source/Fjelsted_Speedway_Stadium), [Harndrup](/source/Harndrup) - First 4 to Nordic Final (Ole Olsen seeded to Nordic final) Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21 (5) Bo Petersen 14 3 2 3 3 3 14 1 3 (12) Finn Thomsen 14 3 3 2 3 3 14 2 2 (6) Mike Lohmann 12 2 2 3 3 2 12 3 3 4 (1) Hans Nielsen 12 3 3 2 1 3 12 4 2 5 (14) Finn Rune Jensen 11 3 3 3 0 2 11 5 6 (7) Bent Rasmussen 10 F 2 3 2 3 10 6 7 (15) Jens Henry Nielsen 10 2 3 1 2 2 10 7 8 (10) Steen Mastrup 8 2 1 2 2 1 8 8 9 (3) Helge Hansen 5 2 1 1 1 0 5 9 10 (13) Svend Lund 5 0 1 E 3 1 5 10 11 (4) Gunnar Svendsen 5 1 1 1 1 1 5 11 12 (2) Finn Londal Jensen 4 0 0 0 2 2 4 12 13 (16) Alf Busk 4 1 2 1 F - 4 13 14 (8) Kai Kristiansen 3 1 0 2 F - 3 14 15 (9) Kristian Præstbro 1 1 E - - - 1 15 16 (11) Ernst Bogh 0 0 16 Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21 m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside ### Norwegian Final - To 3 riders to Nordic Final - [Elgane](/source/Elgane), [Varhaug](/source/Varhaug) Pos. Rider Total 1 Reidar Eide 14 2 Rolf Gramstad 13 3 Audun Ove Olsen 11 4 Sigvart Pedersen 10 5 Tom Godal 10 6 Thoralf Holen 10 7 Tormod Langli 9 8 Edgar Stangeland 9 9 Trond Helge Skretting 8 10 Per Arne Hansen 6 ### Finland Final - 3 selected riders to Nordic Final - 13 August '78 - [Kärpänen Speedway](/source/Lahti#Sports), [Lahti](/source/Lahti) Pos. Rider Total 1 Kai Niemi 12+3 2 Rauli Mäkinen 12+2 3 Martti Väyrynen 10 4 Veijo Tuoriniemi 10 5 Ari Koponen 10 6 Timo Kiansten 9 7 Esko Mylläri 8 8 Olli Turkia 7 9 Seppo Palomäki 7 10 Keijo Mylläri 6 11 Pekka Hautamäki 6 12 Ari Turkia 5 13 Ilkka Teromaa 5 14 Esa Mattila (res) 4 15 Pentti Mattila 3 16 Veikko Haapamäki 3 17 Pekka Paljakka 2 18 Jarmo Puttonen (res) 0 ### Swedish Final - 29 May 1979 - [Kumla Motorstadion](/source/Kumla_Motorstadion), [Kumla](/source/Kumla) - First 5 to Nordic Final + 1 reserve Pos. Rider Total 1 Jan Andersson 15 2 Anders Michanek 12 3 Bernt Persson 11 4 Richard Hellsen 11 5 Ake Fridell 11 6 Lars-Åke Andersson 10 7 Bo Wirebrand 9 8 Uno Johansson 8 9 Stefan Salmonsson 7 10 Bengt Jansson 5 11 Hans Danielsson 5 12 Sören Sjösten 4 13 Tommy Nilsson 3 14 Lennart Bengsson (res) 3 15 Gert Carlsson 2 16 Kent Eriksson 1 17 Sören Karlsson 0 ## Fourth round ### Continental semi-finals 27 May Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points 1 Aleš Dryml Sr. 13 2 Viktor Kuznetsov 11 3 Jiří Štancl 11 4 Georg Hack 10 5 Jan Hadek 10 6 Petr Kucera 9 7 Anatolij Maximov 9 8 Václav Verner 9 9 Zdenek Kudrna 8 10 Istvan Sziraczki 6 11 Giuseppe Marzotto 5 12 Vladimir Klytchov 5 13 Waldemar Bacik 4 14 Milan Špinka 2 15 Herbert Szerecz 0 16 Peter Lempenhauer 0 27 May Breitenthal Stadium, Krumbach Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points 1 Jan Verner 15 2 Henny Kroeze 14 3 Valerij Gordeev 12 4 Petr Ondrašík 11 5 Laszlo Meszaros 10 6 Michail Starostin 10 7 Christoph Betzl 9 8 Alois Wiesböck 9 9 Karl Maier 8 10 Janos Szöke 6 11 Vladimir Paznikov 5 12 Henk Steman 4 13 Alexander Khaljavin 3 14 Andy Cusworth 2 15 George Gilgenreiner 2 16 Tibor Danka 0 ### American Final - 29 December 1978 - [Santa Ana Stadium](/source/Santa_Ana_Stadium), [Santa Ana](/source/Santa_Ana%2C_California) - First 2 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Total 1 Bobby Schwartz 12+3 2 Mike Bast 12+2 3 Kelly Moran 12+1 4 Steve Gresham 12+0 5 Mike Faria 10 6 Steve McConnell 9 7 Bruce Penhall 8 8 Bill Cody 7 9 Rich McMurray 7 10 John Cook 6 11 Gary Hutchinson 6 12 Dennis Robinson 5 13 Duane Yarrow 5 14 Dave Faria 4 15 Denny Pyeatt 3 16 Mike Bloom 2 ### Commonwealth Final - 1 July 1979 - [White City Stadium](/source/White_City_Stadium), London - First 9 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21 (16) Michael Lee 14 3 3 2 3 3 14 1 3 (11) Billy Sanders 14 3 3 3 2 3 14 2 2 (13) Dave Jessup 12 2 2 2 3 3 12 3 4 (15) Larry Ross 11 1 2 3 3 2 11 4 5 (5) Ivan Mauger 11 3 3 2 1 2 11 5 6 (10) Peter Collins 10 2 2 3 2 1 10 6 7 (8) John Titman 9 2 1 2 1 3 9 7 8 (6) Gordon Kennett 8 F 3 1 2 2 8 8 9 (9) John Davis 7 1 1 3 F 2 7 9 10 (14) Malcolm Simmons 6 0 1 1 3 1 6 10 11 (4) Doug Wyer 5 3 2 F - - 5 11 12 (7) John Louis 4 1 0 1 2 F 4 12 13 (1) Phil Crump 2 2 0 - - - 2 13 14 (3) Roger Johns 2 1 1 E 0 - 2 14 15 (12) Steve Koppe 2 0 0 1 1 0 2 15 16 (2) Alan Molyneux 1 E E 0 E 1 1 16 R1 (R1) Sean Willmott 0 0 0 R1 R2 (R2) Chris Morton 1 1 0 1 R2 R3 (R3) Mitch Shirra 1 0 0 1 1 R3 Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21 m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside ### Nordic Final - 5 June 1979 - [Norrköping Motorstadion](/source/Norrk%C3%B6ping_Motorstadion), [Norrköping](/source/Norrk%C3%B6ping) - First 5 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21 (1) Jan Andersson 13 3 2 3 3 2 13 1 3 (13) Hans Nielsen 13 2 3 3 3 2 13 2 2 (8) Finn Thomsen 12 3 3 3 2 1 12 3 3 4 (10) Ole Olsen 12 3 3 2 1 3 12 4 2 5 (3) Kai Niemi 9 0 3 0 3 3 9 5 3 6 (5) Ila Teromaa 9 2 1 3 0 3 9 6 2 7 (16) Bo Petersen 8 3 0 X 2 3 8 7 8 (6) Bernt Persson 8 1 1 2 3 1 8 8 9 (4) Anders Michanek 7 1 2 1 2 1 7 9 10 (14) Mike Lohmann 6 X 2 2 2 E 6 10 11 (2) Reidar Eide 6 2 0 1 1 2 6 11 12 (11) Rolf Gramstad 5 0 2 1 F 2 5 12 13 (15) Ake Fridell 4 1 0 2 1 0 4 13 14 (9) Richard Hellsen 3 2 0 1 - - 3 14 15 (7) Olli Turkia 2 0 1 0 1 F 2 15 16 (12) Audun Ove Olsen 2 1 1 0 0 0 2 16 R1 (R1) Lars-Åke Andersson 1 1 1 R1 R2 (R2) Sören Karlsson 0 0 0 R2 Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21 m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside ## Fifth round ### Continental Final - 8 July 1979 - [Rottalstadion](/source/Rottalstadion), [Pocking](/source/Pocking) - First 4 to World final plus 1 reserve - Polish riders [Zenon Plech](/source/Zenon_Plech), [Edward Jancarz](/source/Edward_Jancarz) and [Robert Słaboń](/source/Robert_S%C5%82abo%C5%84) seeded to World Final Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21 (9) Christoph Betzl 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 1 (3) Mikhail Starostin 13 3 3 1 3 3 13 2 (5) Zdeněk Kudrna 12 3 1 3 2 3 12 3 3 4 (14) Alois Wiesböck 12 3 3 2 3 1 12 4 2 5 (13) Petr Ondrašík 11 1 2 3 3 2 11 5 6 (16) Valery Gordeev 10 2 1 3 1 3 10 6 7 (11) Václav Verner 9 2 1 2 2 2 9 7 8 (10) Jiří Štancl 7 1 1 2 0 3 7 8 9 (12) Viktor Kuznetsov 7 0 2 2 2 1 7 9 10 (15) Anatoly Maksimov 6 X 2 0 2 2 6 10 11 (2) Karl Maier 6 2 2 1 X 1 6 11 12 (4) Georg Hack 4 1 3 X - X 4 12 13 (7) Jan Hadek 4 2 0 1 1 X 4 13 14 (1) László Mészáros 2 X 0 1 0 1 2 14 15 (8) Jan Verner 0 X X X X X 0 15 16 (6) Aleš Dryml Sr. 0 X - - - - 0 16 R1 (R1) Janosz Szoke 1 0 0 1 0 1 R1 Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21 m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside ### Intercontinental Final - 8 August 1979 - [White City Stadium](/source/White_City_Stadium), London - First 9 to World Final plus 1 reserve Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21 (14) Michael Lee 14 3 3 3 2 3 14 1 3 (7) Peter Collins 14 3 3 2 3 3 14 2 2 (9) Finn Thomsen 10 2 3 1 3 1 10 3 3 4 (8) Ivan Mauger 10 1 3 2 2 2 10 4 2 5 (13) Dave Jessup 10 2 2 3 3 0 10 5 1 6 (4) Ole Olsen 9 3 1 1 2 2 9 6 7 (2) Billy Sanders 8 2 0 3 1 2 8 7 8 (3) Kelly Moran 8 1 2 0 3 2 8 8 9 (10) John Titman 8 1 2 0 2 3 8 9 10 (6) Larry Ross 7 0 1 3 0 3 7 10 11 (15) Kai Niemi 6 1 1 2 1 1 6 11 12 (5) Gordon Kennett 5 2 1 1 1 0 5 12 13 (12) John Davis 4 3 0 0 0 1 4 13 14 (16) Hans Nielsen 2 0 2 0 0 0 2 14 15 (11) Bobby Schwartz 2 F 0 1 0 1 2 15 16 (1) Jan Andersson 1 0 0 T 1 0 1 16 R1 (R1) Malcolm Simmons 2 2 2 R1 Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos 21 m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside ## World Final - 2 September 1979 - [Silesian Stadium](/source/Silesian_Stadium), [Chorzów](/source/Chorz%C3%B3w)[11] Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos (15) Ivan Mauger 14 3 3 2 3 3 14 1 (7) Zenon Plech 13 3 1 3 3 3 13 2 (5) Michael Lee 11+3 2 3 3 0 3 11 3 4 (3) Kelly Moran 11+2 1 2 3 2 3 11 4 5 (4) Billy Sanders 11+1 3 3 1 2 2 11 5 6 (10) Ole Olsen 11+0 3 3 2 1 2 11 6 7 (11) Zdeněk Kudrna 8 2 0 3 3 0 8 7 8 (16) Dave Jessup 8 E 1 2 3 2 8 8 9 (12) Edward Jancarz 7 1 2 1 2 1 7 9 10 (13) Finn Thomsen 6 2 E 0 2 2 6 10 11 (1) Peter Collins 6 2 2 1 1 E 6 11 12 (14) John Titman 5 1 2 2 0 1 6 12 13 (2) Mikhail Starostin 3 0 1 0 1 1 3 13 14 (6) Christoph Betzl 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 14 15 (8) Robert Słaboń 2 0 0 1 0 1 2 15 16 (9) Alois Wiesböck 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 16 (17) Petr Ondrašík 0 0 (18) Larry Ross 0 0 Placing Rider Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Pos m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify gate A - inside gate B gate C gate D - outside ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Oakes, Peter (1981). *1981 Speedway Yearbook*. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 20–21. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-86215-017-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-86215-017-5). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["World Championship 1936-1994"](http://edinburghspeedway.blogspot.com/2013/04/world-speedway-championships.html). *Edinburgh Speedway*. Retrieved 10 July 2021. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["WORLD FINALS 1936-1994"](https://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/worldchamps1936to94.pdf) (PDF). *Speedway Researcher*. Retrieved 10 July 2021. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK"](http://www.speedway.org/history/). *Speedway.org*. Retrieved 10 July 2021. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Speedway riders, history and results"](https://wwosbackup.proboards.com/board/89/world). *wwosbackup*. Retrieved 10 July 2021. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX"](https://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/worldfinalindex). *British Speedway*. Retrieved 10 July 2021. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Bott, Richard (1980). *The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4*. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 22. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-09-141751-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-09-141751-1). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["1979 World Championship"](https://dlprezes.pl.tl/World-Speedway-Championship-_-1979.htm). *Metal Speedway*. Retrieved 20 January 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["1979 World Championship"](http://www.speedway.org/history/79.htm#1979). *Speedway.org*. Retrieved 20 January 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-PC_10-0)** Bott, Richard (1980). *The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4*. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 22. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-09-141751-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-09-141751-1). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). *A History of the World Speedway Championship*. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7524-2402-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7524-2402-5) v t e Individual Speedway World Championship and Speedway Grand Prix seasons Speedway World Championship 1936 1937 1938 1939 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 Speedway Grand Prix (SGP) 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 See also Medalists Medal Classification Grands Prix SGP riders Super Prix SGP Statistics --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [1979 Individual Speedway World Championship](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_Individual_Speedway_World_Championship) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_Individual_Speedway_World_Championship?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.