1980 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1980 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 35th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.

With the defending Ivan Mauger failing to qualify for a World Final for the first time since 1966, and Ole Olsen only qualifying as a reserve, the 1980 World Final at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden was seen as an open final with a number of potential winners. Michael Lee, Bruce Penhall, Dave Jessup and Billy Sanders considered the favourites with Jan Andersson (the only Swedish rider in the World Final), John Davis, Hans Nielsen, Zenon Plech, Chris Morton and Peter Collins all expected to challenge.

Twenty-one-year-old English ace Lee who had only finished 7th in the Intercontinental Final at White City, won his only World Championship with 14 points from his 5 rides. Dave Jessup finished second after defeating Billy Sanders in a runoff when both riders finished on 12 points to give England a 1-2 finish in a World Final.

Michael Lee became only the fifth rider from Great Britain to win speedway's ultimate individual prize, joining Welshman Freddie Williams (1950), and fellow Englishmen Tommy Price (1949), Peter Craven (1955 & 1962) and Peter Collins (1976) as a speedway world champion.

First round

British Qualification DateVenueWinner2nd3rd Preliminary Round 8 AprilMilton Keynes Stadium, Milton Keynes Mike Lanham Rob Hollingworth David Kennett 9 AprilLong Eaton Stadium, Long Eaton Dave Perks Dave Morton Paul Woods 11 AprilEast of England Arena, Peterborough Andy Hines Nicky Allott Nigel Flatman 11 AprilEllesmere Port Stadium, Ellesmere Port Peter Prinsloo Derek Richardson David Gagen 13 AprilRye House Stadium, Hoddesdon Melvyn Taylor Bob Garrad Ian Clark Quarter-Final 27 AprilThe Shay, Halifax Mike Lanham Kevin Hawkins Dave Morton

Second round Swedish qualification Top 5 in each heat to Swedish final

(4 May, Målilla (Motorbana)Målilla)PosRider Points 1 Tommy Johansson 152 Tommy Nilsson 143 Conny Samuelsson 114 Bengt Jansson 115 Gert Carlsson 116 Per-Ove Gudmundsson 10+37 Stefan Salmonsson 10+28 Tommy Steen 89 Kalle Lindgren 810 Torgil Roth 411 Peter Carlsson 4 12 Willy Karlsson 313 Leif Bergqvist (res) 314 Bertil Andersson (res) 315 Glenn Andersson 216 Lars-Ove Lundgren 117 Alf Trofast018 Sven-Erik Andersson 0

(4 May, Gislaved MotorbanaGislaved)PosRider Points 1 Anders Michanek 152 Bo Wirebrand 133 Hans Danielsson 124 Lillebror Johansson 125 Bengt Gustavsson 126 Karl-Erik Claesson 107 Thomas Hydling 98 Benny Ekberg 89 Lennart Bengtsson 610 Åke Axelsson 611 Börje Ring 512 Åke Fridell 413 Weine Ström 414 Anders Eriksson 215 Thomas Engman 216 Kent Bäär 0

(8 May, Linköping MotorstadionLinköping)PosRider Points 1 Bernt Persson 152 Richard Hellsén 143 Börje Klingberg 124 Jan Ericsson 115 Rolf Sundberg 116 Uno Johansson 107 Jan Davidsson 108 Ingemar Andersson 89 Christer Nilsson 610 Sören Karlsson 511 Kent Eriksson 512 Peter Johansson 413 Anders Törnström 414 Ragnar Holm 315 Göran Waltersson 216 Bo Åstrand 117 Leif Andersson 0

Continental Preliminary round DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 19 April Ellermühle Stadium, Landshut Egon Muller Waldemar Bacik Edward Jancarz 20 April Polonia Bydgoszcz Stadium, Bydgoszcz Zdeněk Kudrna Jerzy Rembas Marek Ziarnik 20 April Giavera del Montello, Treviso Milan Špinka Václav Verner Herbert Szerecz 20 April Speedway Žarnovica, Žarnovica Petr Ondrašík Jan Hadek Petr Kučera

Australian Final 26 January 1980 Sydney Showground, Sydney First 9 to Australasian Final Pos. Rider Total1 Billy Sanders 152 Phil Crump 12+33 John Titman 12+24 Steve Koppe 105 Mike Farrell 106 Phil Herne 107 Glyn Taylor 98 Glenn McDonald 99 Keith Wright710 Rob Maxfield611 Peter Collins412 Lou Sansom313 Danny Kennedy214 Rob Moores 215 Alan Lorymer216 Dean Van Bibra1 New Zealand Final 2 February 1980 Western Springs Stadium, Auckland First 7 to Australasian Final Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Larry Ross 3,3,2,3,3142 David Bargh 3,3,3,3,2143 Tony Briggs 2,3,2,2,3124 Graeme Stapleton 3,2,3,2,1115 Mitch Shirra 1,3,1,3,3116 Wayne Brown 3,2,3,3,-117 Mike Fullerton 2,1,1,2,398 Colin Tucker 2,0,2,1,279 Roger Wright 1,2,3,1,0710 Max Brown 0,2,2,1,1 611 Neil Abrahams 2,1,0,0,2 512 Greg Joynt 1,1,1,2,x 513 Colin Farquharson 1,F,0,0,2 314 Greame Beardsley 0,F,1,-,- 115 Paul Fewings F,1,F,-,-116 James Moore E,0,-,-,-0R1 William Aulsfold 0,0,1,12R2 Roger Pauling 0,00

British semi-finals 21 May Wimborne Road, Poole Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Peter Collins152 Gordon Kennett133 Kevin Jolly134 Reg Wilson105 John Davis96 John Louis97 Melvyn Taylor88 Mike Lanham79 Alan Grahame710 Kevin Hawkins611 Nigel Flatman612 Roger Johns613 Paul Woods614 Alan Molyneux015 Jim McMillan022 May Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Dave Jessup142 Chris Morton113 Dave Morton114 Peter Prinsloo115 Michael Lee96 Bobby Beaton97 Ian Cartwright88 Phil Collins89 Les Collins710 Kenny Carter711 Steve Bastable712 Joe Owen613 Malcolm Simmons614 Andy Grahame315 Bobby Garrad216 Ian Clark1

Third round Continental quarter-finals Top 32 to Continental semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 3 May Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný Mikhail Starostin Jiří Štancl Jan Verner 4 May Mladost Stadium, Prelog Henny Kroeze Václav Verner Milan Špinka 4 May Stadion Wiener Neustadt Zdeněk Kudrna Jerzy Rembas Piotr Pyszny

Swedish Final 20 May 1980 Norrköping Motorstadion, Norrköping Winner to World Final, riders 2–5 to Nordic Final

Finland Final Eteläpuisto, Tampere 27 August 1979, top 3 to 1980 Nordic final Pos. Rider Total1 Kai Niemi 122 Ilkka Teromaa 93 Veijo Tuoriniemi 94 Ari Koponen 85 Seppo Palomaki 86 Olli Turkia 87 Esko Myllari 88 Timo Kiansten 79 Pekka Hautamaki 610 Hannu Lehtonen 611 Heimo Kaikko 412 Markku Haapala 413 Veli Pekka Kunelius 314 Olli Tyrvainen 315 Ismo Kivela 216 Jarmo Puttonen 017 Matti Hyyrylainen (res) 0

Danish Final 4 May 1980 Fredericia Speedway Stadium, Fredericia First 3 to Nordic final (Olsen, Nielsen & Thomsen seeded through) Pos. Rider Total1 Bo Petersen 152 Preben Eriksen 133 Bent Rasmussen 12+34 Finn Rune Jensen 12+25 Finn Thomsen 106 Mike Lohmann 87 Alf Busk 88 Jens Henry Nielsen 79 Lars Vinding 610 Arne Cruse 611 Gunnar Hansen 612 Finn Lundahl 513 Steen Mastrup 514 Hans Ove Cristiansen 315 Svend Lund 316 Gunnar Svendsen 1

Norwegian Final 18 May 1980 Geiteryggen Speedwaybane, Skien First 3 to Nordic final Pos. Rider Total1 Reidar Eide 142 Audun Ove Olsen 133 Rolf Gramstad 12+34 Dag Haaland 12+25 Trond Helge Skretting 106 Terje Tollefsen 87 Sigvart Pedersen 78 Kjell Gimre 79 Jon Hovind 610 Roy Otto 611 Jorn Haugvaldstad 612 Toralf Holen 613 Asgeir Bjerga 414 Geir Aasland 415 Rolf Havirstad 216 Dagvinn Jorgensen 2

Australasian Final 2 February 1980 Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch First 5 to Commonwealth Final plus 1 reserve Ivan Mauger seeded to Commonwealth final

British Final 4 June 1980 Brandon Stadium, Coventry First 10 to Commonwealth Final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Dave Jessup (3,3,3,3,3)152 Michael Lee (3,3,3,3,2)143 Phil Collins (1,2,2,3,3) 114 Peter Collins (3,3,0,3,1) 105 Gordon Kennett (2,2,2,2,2) 106 John Louis (3,1,3,1,1) 97 John Davis (X,2,1,2,3) 88 Chris Morton (0,1,1,2,3) 79 Melvyn Taylor (2,1,X,2,2) 710 Reg Wilson (2,2,1,1,0) 6+311 Bobby Beaton (0,1,3,0,2) 6+212 Ian Cartwright (1,0,2,1,1) 513 Dave Morton (1,3,0,0,0) 414 Kevin Jolly (2,0,1,0,1) 415 Peter Prinsloo (2,1,0,1,0) 416 Mike Lanham (0,0,0,0,0) 0

Fourth round Continental semi-finals 25 May Motodrom Halbemond, Norden Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Jiří Štancl 142 Edward Jancarz 123 Petr Ondrašík 114 Andrzej Huszcza 115 Egon Müller 106 Zenon Plech 107 Nikolaj Kornev 98 Michail Starostin 99 Waldemar Bacik 810 Petr Kucera 611 Roman Jankowski 512 Valerij Gordeev 413 Jan Hadek 414 Jan Verner 315 Ladislav Hradecky 216 Zytun Gafurov 125 May Targovishte Speedway Stadium, Targovishte Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Zdenek Kudrna 132 Václav Verner 133 Aleš Dryml Sr. 114 Jerzy Rembas 105 Milan Špinka 96 Andy Cusworth 67 Wojciech Zabialowicz 8+38 Georg Hack 8+29 Henny Kroeze 8+110 Herbert Szerecz 711 Grigory Khlinovsky 712 Sergej Denisov 613 Piotr Pyszny 414 Walter Grubmüller 315 Frits Koppe 116 Marek Ciarnik (res)0

Commonwealth Final 29 June 1980 Wimbledon Stadium, London First 9 to Intercontinental Final plus 1 reserve

American Final 16 November 1979 Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim First 2 to Intercontinental Final Pos. Rider Total1 Bruce Penhall 142 Scott Autrey 13+33 Dennis Sigalos 13+24 Ron Preston 13+15 Shawn Moran 106 Gene Woods 107 John Cook 98 Mike Faria 79 Bobby Schwartz 510 Alan Christian 511 Denny Pyeatt 512 Duane Yarrow 513 Brad Oxley 414 John Santona 415 Dan McNeill 316 Kelly Moran 117 Larry Kosta 0

Nordic Final 15 June 1980 Geiteryggen Speedwaybane, Skien First 5 to Intercontinental Final Pos. Rider Total1 Hans Nielsen 152 Ole Olsen 143 Finn Thomsen 134 Bent Rasmussen 125 Kai Niemi 106 Ila Teromaa 87 Bo Petersen 88 Hans Danielsson 79 Tommy Johansson 710 Preben Eriksen 611 Rolf Gramstad 512 Bernt Persson 513 Veijo Tyoriniemi 414 Audun Ove Olsen 215 Reidar Eide 116 Bengt Jansson 0

Fifth round Continental Final 27 July 1980 Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo First 5 to World Final plus 1 reserve

Intercontinental Final 3 August 1980 White City Stadium, London First 10 to World Final plus 1 reserve

World Final 5 September 1980 Ullevi, GothenburgBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. Referee: () Torrie Kittlesen Attendance: 35,000 (approx)

References