{{Short description|Motorcycle speedway race}} The '''Commonwealth final''' was a [[Motorcycle speedway]] final sanctioned by the [[Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme|FIM]] as a qualifying round for the [[Speedway World Championship]] between 1979 and 1994.<ref>[http://www.speedway.org/history/index.htm Speedway History]</ref>
Introduced to the World Championship in [[1979 Individual Speedway World Championship|1979]], it served as a qualifying round for [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] riders, primarily those from [[Australia]], [[England]] and [[New Zealand]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Oakes|first=Peter|title=1981 Speedway Yearbook|year=1981|page=22|publisher=Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd|isbn=0-86215-017-5}}</ref>
The Commonwealth final was not run from 1981 to 1985, during which time riders who qualified through their national championship were through to the [[Overseas Final]]. It returned to the World Championship calendar in 1986 and lasted until 1994, the last year of the traditional single meeting World Championship final before the advent of the [[Speedway Grand Prix]] World championship series in [[1995 Speedway Grand Prix|1995]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.speedway.org/history/|title=HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK|website=Speedway.org|access-date=23 July 2021}}</ref>
==Editions== All 11 Commonwealth finals were held in England. [[Kelvin Tatum]] was the most successful Commonwealth finalist, winning four finals (1987, 1988, 1990 and 1992). [[1993 Australian Individual Speedway Championship|Reigning]] [[Australian Individual Speedway Championship|Australian Champion]] [[Leigh Adams]] was the only non-English winner when he took out the 1993 Final.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edinburghspeedway.blogspot.com/2013/04/commonwealth-final.html|title=Commonwealth Fianal|website=Edinburgh Speedway|access-date=23 July 2021}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" |- align=center |width=40px {{Speedway color|4}} |'''Year''' |width=150px {{Speedway color|4}} |'''Venue''' |width=210px {{Speedway color|P1}}|'''Winners''' |width=210px {{Speedway color|P2}}|'''Runner-up''' |width=210px {{Speedway color|P3}}|'''3rd place''' |- |align=center| [[1979 Commonwealth Final|1979]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[London]] <br><small>[[White City Stadium]]</small> | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Michael Lee (speedway rider)|Michael Lee]] | {{flagicon|AUS}} [[Billy Sanders]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Dave Jessup]] |- |align=center| [[1980 Commonwealth Final|1980]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[London]] <br><small>[[Wimbledon Stadium]]</small> | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Dave Jessup]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[John Louis (speedway rider)|John Louis]] | {{flagicon|NZL}} [[Ivan Mauger]] |- | colspan=4 | ''1981-1985 - not held'' |- |align=center| [[1986 Commonwealth Final|1986]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Manchester]] <br><small>[[Belle Vue Stadium]]</small> | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Jeremy Doncaster]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Kelvin Tatum]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Chris Morton]] |- |align=center| [[1987 Commonwealth Final|1987]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Manchester]] <br><small>[[Belle Vue Stadium]]</small> | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Kelvin Tatum]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Simon Cross]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Marvyn Cox]] |- |align=center| [[1988 Commonwealth Final|1988]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[King's Lynn]] <br><small>[[King's Lynn Stadium|Norfolk Arena]]</small> | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Kelvin Tatum]] | {{flagicon|NZL}} [[Mitch Shirra]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Simon Wigg]] |- |align=center| [[1989 Commonwealth Final|1989]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Manchester]] <br><small>[[Belle Vue Stadium]]</small> | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Simon Wigg]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Oakes |first=Peter |title=Speedway Yearbook 1990 |year=1990 |pages=10–9 |publisher=Front Page Books |isbn=0-948882-15-8}}</ref> | {{flagicon|NZL}} [[Mitch Shirra]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Neil Collins (speedway rider)|Neil Collins]] |- |align=center| [[1990 Commonwealth Final|1990]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Manchester]] <br><small>[[Belle Vue Stadium]]</small> | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Kelvin Tatum]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Martin Dugard (speedway rider)|Martin Dugard]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Simon Cross]] |- |align=center| [[1991 Commonwealth Final|1991]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[King's Lynn]] <br><small>[[King's Lynn Stadium|Norfolk Arena]]</small> | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Jeremy Doncaster]] | {{flagicon|AUS}} [[Leigh Adams]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Joe Screen]] |- |align=center| [[1992 Commonwealth Final|1992]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[King's Lynn]] <br><small>[[King's Lynn Stadium|Norfolk Arena]]</small> | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Kelvin Tatum]] | {{flagicon|NZL}} [[Mark Thorpe]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Gary Havelock]] |- |align=center| [[1993 Commonwealth Final|1993]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[King's Lynn]] <br><small>[[King's Lynn Stadium|Norfolk Arena]]</small> | {{flagicon|AUS}} [[Leigh Adams]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Andy Smith (speedway rider)|Andy Smith]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Martin Dugard (speedway rider)|Martin Dugard]] |- |align=center| [[1994 Commonwealth Final|1994]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[King's Lynn]] <br><small>[[King's Lynn Stadium|Norfolk Arena]]</small> | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Mark Loram]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Martin Dugard (speedway rider)|Martin Dugard]] | {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Joe Screen]] |- |}
==See also== * [[Speedway World Championship]] * [[Speedway Grand Prix]] * [[Motorcycle speedway]]
{{International speedway}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
[[Category:Individual Speedway World Championship|*]]