The Intercontinental final was a Motorcycle speedway final sanctioned by the FIM as the final qualifying round for the Speedway World Championship between 1975 and 2001.
After being introduced in 1975, it replaced the European final as the final qualifying round for Commonwealth, American and Nordic riders in 1976.
The Intercontinental final was not run from 1991 to 1994 when it was replaced by the World Semi-finals. It returned to the World Championship calendar in 1995, though unlike from 1975 to 1991 riders would be vying for a place in the following years Speedway Grand Prix World Championship series and not for the current year World final.
Peter Collins (1976), Ole Olsen (1978) and Bruce Penhall (1981) are the only riders who won the Intercontinental final to go on and win the World Championship in the same year. Collins (1977) and Erik Gundersen (1986) are the only reigning World Champions to win the Intercontinental final.
Editions YearVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place 1975 Gothenburg Ullevi Ivan Mauger Anders Michanek Bernt Persson 1976 London Wembley Stadium Peter Collins Ivan Mauger Phil Crump 1977 London White City Stadium Peter Collins Ole Olsen Billy Sanders 1978 Fredericia Fredericia Stadion Ole Olsen Ivan Mauger Scott Autrey 1979 London White City Stadium Michael Lee Peter Collins Finn Thomsen 1980 London White City Stadium Chris Morton Bruce Penhall Billy Sanders 1981 Vojens Vojens Speedway Center Bruce Penhall Erik Gundersen Hans Nielsen 1982 Vetlanda Vetlanda Motorstadion Les Collins Kenny Carter Dennis Sigalos 1983 London White City Stadium Hans Nielsen Michael Lee Erik Gundersen 1984 Vojens Vojens Speedway Center Shawn Moran Simon Wigg Lance King 1985 Vetlanda Vetlanda Motorstadion Shawn Moran Lance King Hans Nielsen 1986 Bradford Odsal Stadium Erik Gundersen Hans Nielsen Tommy Knudsen 1987 Vojens Vojens Speedway Center Erik Gundersen Jimmy Nilsen Hans Nielsen 1988 Vetlanda Vetlanda Motorstadion Jan O. Pedersen Hans Nielsen Erik Gundersen 1989 Bradford Odsal Stadium Kelvin Tatum Erik Gundersen Hans Nielsen 1990 Harndrup Fjelsted Speedway Stadium Shawn Moran Per Jonsson Hans Nielsen 1991-94 not held because format changed to World Semi finals 1995 Varhaug Elgane Speedway Brian Karger Joe Screen Leigh Adams 1996 Holsted Holsted Speedway Center Jimmy Nilsen Brian Andersen Gerd Riss 1997 Västervik Ljungheden Ryan Sullivan Jason Crump Craig Boyce 1998 Vojens Vojens Speedway Center Brian Karger Peter Karlsson Sam Ermolenko 1999 Poole Wimborne Road Todd Wiltshire Gary Havelock Kai Laukkanen 2000 Holsted Holsted Speedway Center Niklas Klingberg Rune Holta Nicki Pedersen 2001 Västervik Ljungheden Kai Laukkanen Scott Nicholls Andreas Jonsson
Winners by country CountryWins Winner(s) Denmark 7 Erik Gundersen (2), Brian Karger (2), Ole Olsen (1), Hans Nielsen (1), Jan O. Pedersen (1) England 6 Peter Collins (2), Michael Lee (1), Chris Morton (1), Les Collins (1), Kelvin Tatum (1) United States 4 Shawn Moran (3), Bruce Penhall (1) Sweden 2 Jimmy Nilsen (1), Niklas Klingberg (1) Australia 2 Ryan Sullivan (1), Todd Wiltshire (1) New Zealand 1 Ivan Mauger (1) Finland 2 Kai Laukkanen (1)
See also Speedway World Championship Speedway Grand Prix Motorcycle speedway
References