1979 Individual Speedway World Championship

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.

1979 Individual Speedway World Championship
Previous: 1978 Next: 1980

The 1979 Individual Speedway World Championship.

This would prove to be the last appearance for Ivan Mauger as a rider in a World Final.

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.

  • Rye House track flooded so event moved to Hackney
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Preliminary Round
8 April Hackney* Mike Lanham Dave Perks Bobby McNeil
8 April Mildenhall Mick Hines Geoff Bouchard Alan Emerson
17 April Crayford Mike Sampson Colin Richardson Bernie Leigh
17 April Berwick Steve Finch Eric Broadbelt Derek Richardson
23 April Boston Steve Lomas Malcolm Corradine John Jackson
Qualifying Round
28 April Swindon Phil Crump Jan Andersson Scott Autrey
28 April Halifax Ivan Mauger Ian Cartwright Reg Wilson
28 April Coventry Mitch Shirra Alan Molyneux John Davis
30 April Reading Jan Andersson John Davis Bruce Penhall
30 April Exeter Scott Autrey Phil Crump Colin Richardson
30 April Birmingham Peter Collins Billy Sanders Alan Grahame
2 May Poole Ole Olsen Dave Morton Malcolm Simmons
2 May Hull Ivan Mauger Bobby Beaton Kenny Carter
3 May Wimbledon Colin Richardson Hans Nielsen Bruce Penhall
3 May Sheffield Doug Wyer Craig Pendlebury Les Collins
4 May Hackney John Davis Mitch Shirra Ole Olsen
4 May Wolverhampton Kenny Carter Jim McMillan Bruce Cribb
4 May Eastbourne Roger Johns Kai Niemi Dave Jessup
5 May Kings Lynn Michael Lee Gordon Kennett Mike Lanham
5 May Cradley Heath Bruce Penhall Scott Autrey Steve Bastable
5 May Belle Vue Doug Wyer Larry Ross Bobby Beaton
8 May Leicester Michael Lee John Titman Ila Teromaa
10 May Ipswich Steve Bastable John Louis Andy Grahame
Semi-Finals
22 May Leicester Peter Collins Gordon Kennett Doug Wyer
23 May Poole Dave Morton Dave Jessup John Louis
Final
20 June Coventry Peter Collins Michael Lee Dave Jessup result

British 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) 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

Swedish Qualification
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Semi-Finals
6 May Motala Jan Andersson Stefan Salmonsson Soren Sjosten
6 May Mariestad Bernt Persson Hans Danielsson Bengt Jansson
6 May Malilla Bo Wirebrand Tommy Nilsson Tommy Johansson
Final
29 May Kumla Jan Andersson Anders Michanek Bernt Persson

Swedish Final
  • May 29, 1979
  • Kumla
  • First 5 to Scandinavian Final + 1 reserve
Pos.RiderTotal
1 Jan Andersson15
2 Anders Michanek12
3 Bernt Persson11
4 Richard Hellsen11
5 Ake Fridell11
6 Lars Ake Andersson10
7 Bo Wirebrand9
8 Uno Johansson8
9 Stefan Salmonsson7
10 Bengt Jansson5
11 Hans Danielsson5
12 Soren Sjosten4
13 Tommy Nilsson3
14 Lennart Bengsson (res)3
15 Gert Carlsson2
16 Kent Eriksson1
17 Soren Karlsson0

New Zealand Final
Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Larry Ross3,3,3,3,315
2 Mitch Shirra3,3,2,2,212
3 Ivan Mauger2,3,E,3,311
4 Roger Wright2,0,3,3,311
5 John Goodall1,3,3,1,210
6 David Bargh3,0,1,3,29
7 Tony Briggs1,2,1,2,39
8 Graeme Stapleton2,2,2,1,29
9 Mike Fullerton3,1,3,0,18
10 James Moore1,2,0,2,16
11 Colin Tucker0,2,1,2,05
12 Patrick Pawson0,1,2,1,04
13 Robin Adlington0,1,2,0,14
14 Max Brown1,1,0,0,02
15 John Brown0,0,0,0,11
16 William Aulsfordns0
R1 Paul Fewings2,1,03
R2 Gary Forscutt0,11

Intercontinental Round
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
American Final
29 December 1978 Santa AnaBobby SchwartzMike BastKelly Moran
Australian Final
27 January Mildura Phil Crump Danny Kennedy John Boulger
Austral-Asian Final
23 February Adelaide Billy Sanders Steve Koppe John Titman
Danish Final
6 May Fjelsted Bo Petersen Finn Thomsen Michael Lohmann
Scandinawian Final
5 July Norrköping Jan Andersson Hans Nielsen Finn Thomsen
Commonwealth Final
1 July White City Michael Lee Billy Sanders Dave Jessup
Intercontinental Final
5 August White City Michael Lee Peter Collins Finn Thomsen

American Final
  • December 29, 1978
  • Santa Ana, Santa Ana Speedway
  • First 2 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve
Pos.RiderTotal
1 Bobby Schwartz12+3
2 Mike Bast12+2
3 Kelly Moran12+1
4 Steve Gresham12+0
5 Mike Faria10
6 Steve McConnell9
7 Bruce Penhall7
8 Bill Cordy7
9 John Cook6
10 Rich McMurray6
11 Gary Hutchinson6
12 Dave Robinson5
13 Duane Yarrow5
14 Dave Faria4
15 Denny Pyeatt3
16 Mark Blom2

Australian Final
  • February 11, 1978
  • Mildura
  • First 8 to Austral-Asian Final
Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Phil Crump15
2 Danny Kenneddy13
3 John Boulger11
4 John Titman10
5 Steve Koppe10
6 Billy Sanders10
7 Gary Guglielmi9
8 Glyn Taylor9
9 Rob Maxfield6
10 Phil Bass5
11 Glen McDonald5
12 Mike Farrell4
13 John Langfield4
14 David Shields2
15 Ross Townson2
16 Kym Amundson2
R1 Tim Nunan
R2 John Williams

Australasian Final
Pos.RiderTotal
1 Billy Sanders13
2 Steve Koppe12
3 John Titman11+3
4 Phil Crump11+2
5 Ivan Mauger11+1
6 Larry Ross10+3
7 Mitch Shirra10+2
8 Gary Guglielmi8
9 John Goodall8
10 Danny Kennedy6
11 John Boulger6
12 Glyn Taylor6
13 Tony Briggs (Res)4
14 Graeme Stapleton2
15 David Bargh (Res)2
16 Roger Wright0

Danish Final
  • May 6, 1979
  • Fjelsted
  • First 5 to Scandinavian 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) Michael 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 Praestbro 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

Scandinavian Final
  • June 5, 1979
  • Norrköping
  • 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) Michael 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 Ake Andersson 1 1 1 R1
R2 (R2) Soren 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

Commonwealth 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
(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 Wilmott 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

Intercontinental 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
(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

Continental Round
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Preliminary Round
22 April Žarnovica Jiří Štancl Petr Kučera Jiří Jirout
22 April Wiener Neustadt Laszlo Meszaroš Ladislav Hradecky Karl Maier
22 April Giavera del Montello Waldemar Bacik Jan Hadek Nikolaj Manev
22 April Diedenbergen Henny Kroeze Andrew Curworth Walter Grubmuller
Quarter-Finals
6 May Debrecen Mikhail Starostin Jan Verner Tibor Danka
6 May Abensberg Jiří Štancl Václav Verner Anatoly Maksimow
7 May Osijek Petr Ondrašík Valery Gordeev Henny Kroeze
7 May Slany Aleš Dryml Sr. Zdeněk Kudrna Istvan Sziracky
Semi-Finals
27 May Krumbach Jan Verner Henny Kroeze Valery Gordeev
27 May Lonigo Aleš Dryml Sr. Viktor Kuznetsov Jiří Štancl
Final
8 July Pocking Christoph Betzl Mikhail Starostin Zdeněk Kudrna

Continental 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 Wiesbock 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

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
(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) Michail Starostin 3 0 1 0 1 1 3 13
14 (6) Christoph Betzl 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 14
15 (8) Robert Slabon 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. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
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