The 1979 Intercontinental Final was the fifth running of the Intercontinental Final as part of the qualification for the 1979 Speedway World Championship. The 1979 Final was run on 5 August at the White City Stadium in London, England, and was the last qualifying stage for riders from Scandinavia, the USA and from the Commonwealth nations for the World Final to be held at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów, Poland.Speedway World Championship History - 1979
In front of their home crowd, the 20-year-old sensation Michael Lee and the 1976 World Champion Peter Collins dominated the meeting. Lee defeated Collins in a runoff after both finished on 14 points. Four points behind them was Denmark's Finn Thomsen, who secured third place after defeating Dave Jessup and Ivan Mauger in a runoff. Notably, Mauger would go on to make history in Poland, winning his record 6th Individual World Championship.
Surprising non-qualifiers for the World Final were England's Gordon Kennett (who had finished second in the 1978 World Final at Wembley) and Finland's Kai Niemi. Both riders were part of the British League club White City, with the 380 metres (420 yards) White City Stadium being their home track.
1979 Intercontinental Final 8 August London, White City Stadium Qualification: Top 9 plus 1 reserve to the World Final in Chorzów, Poland
Pos. Rider Total1 Michael Lee 14+32 Peter Collins 14+23 Finn Thomsen 10+34 Dave Jessup 10+25 Ivan Mauger 10+16 Ole Olsen 97 Kelly Moran* 88 Billy Sanders 89 John Titman 810 Larry Ross 711 Kai Niemi 612 Gordon Kennett 513 John Davis 414 Bobby Schwartz 215 Hans Nielsen 216 Malcolm Simmons (Res) 217 Jan Andersson 1 Kelly Moran replaced Mike Bast
References
See also Motorcycle Speedway