The 1979 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 34th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
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. This would prove to be the last appearance for Ivan Mauger as a rider in a World Final.
Qualification results.
First round 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. The Rye House track flooded so the event was moved to Hackney.
DateVenueWinner2nd3rd Preliminary Round 8 AprilHackney Wick Stadium, London Mike Lanham Dave Perks Bobby McNeil 8 AprilMildenhall Stadium, Mildenhall Mick HinesGeoff Bouchard Alan Emerson 17 AprilCrayford & Bexleyheath Stadium, Crayford Mike Sampson Colin Richardson Bernie Leigh 17 AprilShielfield Park, Berwick Steve Finch Eric Broadbelt Derek Richardson 23 AprilBoston Sports Stadium, Boston Steve LomasMalcolm Corradine John Jackson Qualifying Round 28 AprilAbbey Stadium, Swindon Phil Crump Jan Andersson Scott Autrey 28 AprilThe Shay, Halifax Ivan Mauger Ian Cartwright Reg Wilson 28 AprilBrandon Stadium, Coventry Mitch Shirra Alan Molyneux John Davis 30 AprilSmallmead Stadium, Reading Jan Andersson John Davis Bruce Penhall 30 AprilCounty Ground Stadium, Exeter Scott Autrey Phil Crump Colin Richardson 30 AprilBirchfield Ladbroke Stadium, Birmingham Peter Collins Billy Sanders Alan Grahame 2 MayWimborne Road, Poole Ole Olsen Dave Morton Malcolm Simmons 2 MayThe Boulevard, Hull Ivan Mauger Bobby Beaton Kenny Carter 3 MayWimbledon Stadium, London Colin Richardson Hans Nielsen Bruce Penhall 3 MayOwlerton Stadium, Sheffield Doug Wyer Craig Pendlebury Les Collins 4 MayHackney Wick Stadium, London John Davis Mitch Shirra Ole Olsen 4 MayMonmore Green, Wolverhampton Kenny Carter Jim McMillan Bruce Cribb 4 MayArlington Stadium, Eastbourne Roger Johns Kai Niemi Dave Jessup 5 MayKing's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn Michael Lee Gordon Kennett Mike Lanham 5 MayDudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Bruce Penhall Scott Autrey Steve Bastable 5 MayHyde Road, Manchester Doug Wyer Larry Ross Bobby Beaton 8 MayLeicester Stadium, Leicester Michael Lee John Titman Ila Teromaa 10 MayFoxhall 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)PosRider Points 1 Bernt Persson 132 Hans Danielsson 123 Bengt Jansson 11+34 Uno Johansson 11+25 Lars-Åke Andersson 11+16 Christer Sjösten 107 Lennart Bengtsson 98 Karl-Erik Claesson 89 Tomas Pettersson 810 Hasse Holmqvist 811 Kenneth Selmosson 712 Kjell Bergström 413 Thomas Hydling 314 Lars-Ove Lundgren 315 Stefan Hjort 216 Lars-Olof Karlsson 017 Ragnar Holm (res) 0
(6 May, Motala ArenaMotala)PosRider Points 1 Jan Andersson 152 Stefan Salmonsson 143 Sören Sjösten 124 Gert Carlsson 105 Kent Eriksson 9+3 6 Jan Johansson 9+ 27 Lillebror Johansson88 Göran Waltersson 79 Conny Samuelsson 710 Åke Axelsson 6 611 Alf Trofast 612 Peter Johansson 513 Tommy Karlsson 514 Tord Löwdin 415 Lars Hedlund (res) 216 Jan Davidsson 117 Olle Nygren 0
(6 May, Målilla (Motorbana)Målilla)PosRider Points 1 Bo Wirebrand 152 Tommy Nilsson 143 Tommy Johansson 114 Åke Fridell 115 Richard Hellsén 10+36 Per-Ove Gudmundsson 10+27 Rolf Sundberg 98 Sören Karlsson 89 Ingemar Andersson 710 Nils Eriksson 611 Tommy Steen 612 Börje Klingberg 513 Bengt Gustavsson 314 Torgil Roth 215 Sölve Larsson 116 Leif Johansson (res)117 Bertil Andersson 118 Björn Persson (res)1
Continental Preliminary round Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 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 Points1 Peter Collins142 Gordon Kennett143 Doug Wyer134 Michael Lee125 Alan Molyneux106 Steve Bastable97 Jim McMillan88 Mike Lanham79 Alan Grahame710 IanCartwright611 Vic Harding612 Joe Owen513 Nicky Allott414 Tom Owen415 Kenny Carter216 Bobby Beaton023 May Wimborne Road, Poole Top 8 to British final Pos. Rider Points1 Dave Morton142 Dave Jessup133 John Louis114 John Davis105 Chris Morton106 Reg Wilson107 Malcolm Simmons98 Roger Johns99 Ian Turner910 Craig Pendlebury611 Colin Richardson512 Bruce Cribb413 Kevin Jolly414 Les Collins315 Mick Hines116 Trevor Geer0
New Zealand Final 21 January 1979 Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch First 8 to Australasian Final Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Larry Ross 3,3,3,3,3152 Mitch Shirra 3,3,2,2,2123 Ivan Mauger 2,3,E,3,3114 Roger Wright 2,0,3,3,3115 John Goodall 1,3,3,1,2106 David Bargh 3,0,1,3,297 Tony Briggs 1,2,1,2,398 Graeme Stapleton 2,2,2,1,299 Mike Fullerton3,1,3,0,1810 James Moore1,2,0,2,1 611 Colin Tucker0,2,1,2,0 512 Patrick Pawson0,1,2,1,0 413 Robin Adlington0,1,2,0,1 414 Max Brown1,1,0,0,0 215 John Brown0,0,0,0,1 116 William Aulsfordns0R1 Paul Fewings2,1,03R2 Gary Forscutt0,11Australian Final 11 February 1979 Olympic Park, Mildura First 8 to Australasian Final Pos. Rider Total1 Phil Crump 152 Danny Kennedy 133 John Boulger 114 John Titman 105 Steve Koppe 106 Billy Sanders 107 Gary Guglielmi 98 Glyn Taylor 99 Rob Maxfield 610 Phil Bass 511 Glen McDonald 512 Mike Farrell 413 John Langfield 414 David Shields 215 Ross Townson 216 Kym Amundson 2
Third round Continental quarter-finals Top 32 riders to Continental semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 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) DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 16 September 1978Santa 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, Coventry First 10 to Commonwealth Final plus 1 reserve
Australasian Final 23 February 1979 Rowley Park Speedway, Adelaide Referee: Sam Bass First 6 to Commonwealth final plus 1 reserve
Pos. Rider Total1 Billy Sanders 132 Steve Koppe 123 John Titman 11+34 Phil Crump 11+25 Ivan Mauger 11+16 Larry Ross 10+37 Mitch Shirra 10+28 Gary Guglielmi 89 John Goodall 810 Danny Kennedy 611 John Boulger 612 Glyn Taylor 613 Tony Briggs (Res) 414 Graeme Stapleton 215 David Bargh (Res) 216 Roger Wright 0
Danish Final 6 May 1979 Fjelsted Speedway Stadium, Harndrup First 4 to Nordic Final (Ole Olsen seeded to Nordic final)
Norwegian Final To 3 riders to Nordic Final Elgane, Varhaug Pos. Rider Total1 Reidar Eide 142 Rolf Gramstad 133 Audun Ove Olsen 114 Sigvart Pedersen 105 Tom Godal 106 Thoralf Holen 107 Tormod Langli 98 Edgar Stangeland 99 Trond Helge Skretting 810 Per Arne Hansen 6
Finland Final 3 selected riders to Nordic Final 13 August '78 Kärpänen Speedway, Lahti Pos. Rider Total1 Kai Niemi 12+32 Rauli Mäkinen 12+23 Martti Väyrynen 104 Veijo Tuoriniemi 105 Ari Koponen 106 Timo Kiansten 97 Esko Mylläri 88 Olli Turkia 79 Seppo Palomäki 710 Keijo Mylläri 611 Pekka Hautamäki 612 Ari Turkia 513Ilkka Teromaa 514 Esa Mattila (res)415 Pentti Mattila 316 Veikko Haapamäki 317 Pekka Paljakka218 Jarmo Puttonen (res) 0
Swedish Final 29 May 1979 Kumla Motorstadion, Kumla First 5 to Nordic Final + 1 reserve Pos. Rider Total1 Jan Andersson 152 Anders Michanek 123 Bernt Persson 114 Richard Hellsen 115 Ake Fridell 116 Lars-Åke Andersson 107 Bo Wirebrand 98 Uno Johansson 89 Stefan Salmonsson 710 Bengt Jansson 511 Hans Danielsson 512 Sören Sjösten 413 Tommy Nilsson 314 Lennart Bengsson (res) 315 Gert Carlsson 216 Kent Eriksson 117 Sören Karlsson 0
Fourth round Continental semi-finals 27 May Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Aleš Dryml Sr. 132 Viktor Kuznetsov 113 Jiří Štancl 114 Georg Hack 105 Jan Hadek 106 Petr Kucera 97 Anatolij Maximov 98 Václav Verner 99 Zdenek Kudrna 810 Istvan Sziraczki 611 Giuseppe Marzotto 512 Vladimir Klytchov 513 Waldemar Bacik 414 Milan Špinka 215 Herbert Szerecz 016 Peter Lempenhauer 027 May Breitenthal Stadium, Krumbach Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Jan Verner 152 Henny Kroeze 143 Valerij Gordeev 124 Petr Ondrašík 115 Laszlo Meszaros 106 Michail Starostin 107 Christoph Betzl 98 Alois Wiesböck 99 Karl Maier 810 Janos Szöke 611 Vladimir Paznikov 512 Henk Steman 413 Alexander Khaljavin 314 Andy Cusworth 215 George Gilgenreiner 216 Tibor Danka 0
American Final 29 December 1978 Santa Ana Stadium, Santa Ana First 2 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Total1 Bobby Schwartz 12+32 Mike Bast 12+23 Kelly Moran 12+14 Steve Gresham 12+05 Mike Faria 106 Steve McConnell 97 Bruce Penhall 88 Bill Cody 79 Rich McMurray 710 John Cook 611 Gary Hutchinson 612 Dennis Robinson 513 Duane Yarrow 514 Dave Faria 415 Denny Pyeatt 316 Mike Bloom 2
Commonwealth Final 1 July 1979 White City Stadium, London First 9 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve
Nordic Final 5 June 1979 Norrköping Motorstadion, Norrköping First 5 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve
Fifth round Continental Final 8 July 1979 Rottalstadion, Pocking First 4 to World final plus 1 reserve Polish riders Zenon Plech, Edward Jancarz and Robert Słaboń seeded to World Final
Intercontinental Final 8 August 1979 White City Stadium, London First 9 to World Final plus 1 reserve
World Final 2 September 1979 Silesian Stadium, ChorzówBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.
References