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.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

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 Göteborg, 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 edit

[7][8]

British Qualification edit

Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
Preliminary Round
8 April Milton Keynes Stadium,Milton Keynes Mike Lanham Rob Hollingworth David Kennett
9 April Long Eaton Stadium, Long Eaton Dave Perks Dave Morton Paul Woods
11 April East of England Arena, Peterborough Andy Hines Nicky Allott Nigel Flatman
11 April Ellesmere Port Stadium, Ellesmere Port Peter Prinsloo Derek Richardson David Gagen
13 April Rye House Stadium, Hoddesdon Melvyn Taylor Bob Garrad Ian Clark
Quarter-Final
27 April The Shay, Halifax Mike Lanham Kevin Hawkins Dave Morton

Second round edit

Swedish qualification edit

  • Top 5 in each heat to Swedish final

Continental Preliminary round edit

Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
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 edit

Pos. Rider Total
1 Billy Sanders 15
2 Phil Crump 12+3
3 John Titman 12+2
4 Steve Koppe 10
5 Mike Farrell 10
6 Phil Herne 10
7 Glyn Taylor 9
8 Glenn McDonald 9
9 Keith Wright 7
10 Rob Maxfield 6
11 Peter Collins 4
12 Lou Sansom 3
13 Danny Kennedy 2
14 Rob Moores 2
15 Alan Lorymer 2
16 Dean Van Bibra 1

New Zealand Final edit

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 Larry Ross 3,3,2,3,3 14
2 David Bargh 3,3,3,3,2 14
3 Tony Briggs 2,3,2,2,3 12
4 Graeme Stapleton 3,2,3,2,1 11
5 Mitch Shirra 1,3,1,3,3 11
6 Wayne Brown 3,2,3,3,- 11
7 Mike Fullerton 2,1,1,2,3 9
8 Colin Tucker 2,0,2,1,2 7
9 Roger Wright 1,2,3,1,0 7
10 Max Brown 0,2,2,1,1 6
11 Neil Abrahams 2,1,0,0,2 5
12 Greg Joynt 1,1,1,2,x 5
13 Colin Farquharson 1,F,0,0,2 3
14 Greame Beardsley 0,F,1,-,- 1
15 Paul Fewings F,1,F,-,- 1
16 James Moore E,0,-,-,- 0
R1 William Aulsfold 0,0,1,1 2
R2 Roger Pauling 0,0 0

British semi-finals edit

Pos. Rider Points
1 Peter Collins 15
2 Gordon Kennett 13
3 Kevin Jolly 13
4 Reg Wilson 10
5 John Davis 9
6 John Louis 9
7 Melvyn Taylor 8
8 Mike Lanham 7
9 Alan Grahame 7
10 Kevin Hawkins 6
11 Nigel Flatman 6
12 Roger Johns 6
13 Paul Woods 6
14 Alan Molyneux 0
15 Jim McMillan 0
Pos. Rider Points
1 Dave Jessup 14
2 Chris Morton 11
3 Dave Morton 11
4 Peter Prinsloo 11
5 Michael Lee 9
6 Bobby Beaton 9
7 Ian Cartwright 8
8 Phil Collins 8
9 Les Collins 7
10 Kenny Carter 7
11 Steve Bastable 7
12 Joe Owen 6
13 Malcolm Simmons 6
14 Andy Grahame 3
15 Bobby Garrad 2
16 Ian Clark 1

Third round edit

Continental quarter-finals edit

  • Top 32 to Continental semi-finals
Date Venue Winner 2nd 3rd
3 May   Slaný Speedway Stadium, Slaný   Mikhail Starostin   Jiří Štancl   Jan Verner
4 May   Mladost Stadum, Prelog   Henny Kroeze   Václav Verner   Milan Špinka
4 May   Stadion Wiener Neustadt   Zdeněk Kudrna   Jerzy Rembas   Piotr Pyszny

Swedish Final edit

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
    (13) Jan Andersson 13 2 3 3 2 3 13 1
    (15) Richard Hellsen 12 3 3 3 X 3 12 2
    (2) Tommy Johansson 12 2 3 2 3 2 12 3
4   (8) Anders Michanek 11 3 3 2 1 2 11 4
5   (14) Bernt Persson 11 1 2 3 2 3 11 5
6   (9) Bengt Jansson 10 1 2 1 3 3 10 6
7   (11) Tommy Nilsson 9 2 2 3 0 2 9 7
8   (16) Borje Klingberg 7 0 1 2 3 1 7 8
9   (1) Hans Danielsson 7 1 1 1 3 1 7 9
10   (10) Rolf Sundberg 6 3 X 1 2 0 6 10
11   (6) Per-Ove Gundmundsson 6 2 1 0 1 2 6 11
12   (4) Bo Wirebrand 5 3 0 2 X - 5 12
13   (7) Conny Samuelsson 3 1 1 0 1 0 3 13
14   (12) Lillebror Johansson 2 0 2 E - - 2 14
15   (5) Bengt Gustavsson 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 15
16   (3) Jan Eriksson 0 E F F - - 0 16
R1   (R1) Karl-Erik Claesson 4 0 2 1 1 4 R1
R2   (R2) Uno Johansson 1 1 0 1 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

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

Finland Final edit

Pos. Rider Total
1 Kai Niemi 12
2 Ilkka Teromaa 9
3 Veijo Tuoriniemi 9
4 Ari Koponen 8
5 Seppo Palomaki 8
6 Olli Turkia 8
7 Esko Myllari 8
8 Timo Kiansten 7
9 Pekka Hautamaki 6
10 Hannu Lehtonen 6
11 Heimo Kaikko 4
12 Markku Haapala 4
13 Veli Pekka Kunelius 3
14 Olli Tyrvainen 3
15 Ismo Kivela 2
16 Jarmo Puttonen 0
17 Matti Hyyrylainen (res) 0

Danish Final edit

Pos. Rider Total
1 Bo Petersen 15
2 Preben Eriksen 13
3 Bent Rasmussen 12+3
4 Finn Rune Jensen 12+2
5 Finn Thomsen 10
6 Mike Lohmann 8
7 Alf Busk 8
8 Jens Henry Nielsen 7
9 Lars Vinding 6
10 Arne Cruse 6
11 Gunnar Hansen 6
12 Finn Lundahl 5
13 Steen Mastrup 5
14 Hans Ove Cristiansen 3
15 Svend Lund 3
16 Gunnar Svendsen 1

Norwegian Final edit

Pos. Rider Total
1 Reidar Eide 14
2 Audun Ove Olsen 13
3 Rolf Gramstad 12+3
4 Dag Haaland 12+2
5 Trond Helge Skretting 10
6 Terje Tollefsen 8
7 Sigvart Pedersen 7
8 Kjell Gimre 7
9 Jon Hovind 6
10 Roy Otto 6
11 Jorn Haugvaldstad 6
12 Toralf Holen 6
13 Asgeir Bjerga 4
14 Geir Aasland 4
15 Rolf Havirstad 2
16 Dagvinn Jorgensen 2

Australasian Final edit

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
    (10) Billy Sanders 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1
    (1) John Titman 13 3 3 2 3 2 13 2
    (16) Larry Ross 12 3 3 3 2 1 12 3
4   (2) Mitch Shirra 12 2 2 3 3 2 12 4
5   (4) Phil Crump 11 1 2 2 3 3 11 5 3
6   (7) Tony Briggs 11 2 3 1 2 3 11 6 2
7   (6) Mike Farrell 10 3 1 1 2 3 10 7
8   (14) Phil Herne 8 2 0 3 1 2 8 8
9   (3) Steve Koppe 7 0 2 2 1 2 7 9
10   (11) Glyn Taylor 5 2 1 0 2 0 5 10
11   (5) Gleen McDonald 5 0 2 2 0 1 5 11
12   (15) Graeme Stapleton 3 1 0 0 1 1 3 12
13   (13) Keith Wright 2 0 1 0 0 1 2 13
14   (9) David Bargh 2 1 0 1 0 0 2 14
15   (8) Mike Fullerton 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 15
16   (12) Wayne Brown 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 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

British Final edit

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 Dave Jessup (3,3,3,3,3) 15
2 Michael Lee (3,3,3,3,2) 14
3 Phil Collins (1,2,2,3,3) 11
4 Peter Collins (3,3,0,3,1) 10
5 Gordon Kennett (2,2,2,2,2) 10
6 John Louis (3,1,3,1,1) 9
7 John Davis (X,2,1,2,3) 8
8 Chris Morton (0,1,1,2,3) 7
9 Melvyn Taylor (2,1,X,2,2) 7
10 Reg Wilson (2,2,1,1,0) 6+3
11 Bobby Beaton (0,1,3,0,2) 6+2
12 Ian Cartwright (1,0,2,1,1) 5
13 Dave Morton (1,3,0,0,0) 4
14 Kevin Jolly (2,0,1,0,1) 4
15 Peter Prinsloo (2,1,0,1,0) 4
16 Mike Lanham (0,0,0,0,0) 0

Fourth round edit

Continental semi-finals edit

Pos. Rider Points
1   Jiří Štancl 14
2   Edward Jancarz 12
3   Petr Ondrašík 11
4   Andrzej Huszcza 11
5   Egon Müller 10
6   Zenon Plech 10
7   Nikolaj Kornev 9
8   Michail Starostin 9
9   Waldemar Bacik 8
10   Petr Kucera 6
11   Roman Jankowski 5
12   Valerij Gordeev 4
13   Jan Hadek 4
14   Jan Verner 3
15   Ladislav Hradecky 2
16   Zytun Gafurov 1
Pos. Rider Points
1   Zdenek Kudrna 13
2   Václav Verner 13
3   Aleš Dryml Sr. 11
4   Jerzy Rembas 10
5   Milan Špinka 9
6   Andy Cusworth 6
7   Wojciech Zabialowicz 8+3
8   Georg Hack 8+2
9   Henny Kroeze 8+1
10   Herbert Szerecz 7
11   Grigory Khlinovsky 7
12   Sergej Denisov 6
13   Piotr Pyszny 4
14   Walter Grubmüller 3
15   Frits Koppe 1
16   Marek Ciarnik (res) 0

Commonwealth Final edit

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
    (2) Dave Jessup 14 3 2 3 3 3 14 1
    (14) John Louis 13 2 3 2 3 3 13 2
    (3) Ivan Mauger 12 2 3 1 3 3 12 3
4   (8) John Davis 11 1 2 3 2 3 11 4
5   (9) Billy Sanders 10 3 3 0 3 1 10 5
6   (4) Chris Morton 11 0 3 3 3 2 11 6
7   (5) Michael Lee 9 3 2 2 1 1 9 7
8   (7) Mitch Shirra 9 2 2 1 2 2 9 8
9   (10) Peter Collins 7 1 0 3 2 1 7 9
10   (15) Gordon Kennett 6 3 1 1 1 0 6 10 3
11   (1) Larry Ross 6 1 1 1 1 2 6 11 E
12   (12) Phil Collins 5 2 1 0 0 2 5 12
13   (6) John Titman 4 0 1 3 0 E 4 13
14   (11) Melvyn Taylor 3 F 0 2 1 0 3 14
15   (13) Phil Crump 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 15
16   (16) Reg Wilson 0 0 0 0 0 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

American Final edit

Pos. Rider Total
1 Bruce Penhall 14
2 Scott Autrey 13+3
3 Dennis Sigalos 13+2
4 Ron Preston 13+1
5 Shawn Moran 10
6 Gene Woods 10
7 John Cook 9
8 Mike Faria 7
9 Bobby Schwartz 5
10 Alan Christian 5
11 Denny Pyeatt 5
12 Duane Yarrow 5
13 Brad Oxley 4
14 John Santona 4
15 Dan McNeill 3
16 Kelly Moran 1
17 Larry Kosta 0

Nordic Final edit

Pos. Rider Total
1   Hans Nielsen 15
2   Ole Olsen 14
3   Finn Thomsen 13
4   Bent Rasmussen 12
5   Kai Niemi 10
6   Ila Teromaa 8
7   Bo Petersen 8
8   Hans Danielsson 7
9   Tommy Johansson 7
10   Preben Eriksen 6
11   Rolf Gramstad 5
12   Bernt Persson 5
13   Veijo Tyoriniemi 4
14   Audun Ove Olsen 2
15   Reidar Eide 1
16   Bengt Jansson 0

Fifth round edit

Continental Final edit

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
    (16) Zenon Plech 14 3 3 3 3 2 14 1 3
    (13) Jiří Štancl 14 2 3 3 3 3 14 2 2
    (7) Aleš Dryml Sr. 12 1 3 2 3 3 12 3
4   (1) Egon Müller 11 3 1 2 2 3 11 4
5   (5) Petr Ondrašík 11 2 2 2 2 3 11 5
6   (6) Václav Verner 9 3 1 1 2 2 9 6
7   (4) Mikhail Starostin 7 2 2 F 3 E 7 7
8   (8) Jerzy Rembas 7 X 1 3 1 2 7 8
9   (14) Georg Hack 7 1 2 2 F 2 7 9
10   (11) Milan Špinka 6 3 2 0 0 1 6 10
11   (10) Zdeněk Kudrna 6 X 3 1 1 1 6 11
12   (2) Andrzej Huszcza 6 F E 3 2 1 6 12
13   (3) Andy Cusworth 3 1 0 1 0 1 3 13
14   (12) Wojciech Żabiałowicz 2 1 0 0 1 F 2 14
15   (15) Nikolay Kornev 2 0 1 1 E F 2 15
16   (9) Edward Jancarz 0 F - - - 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

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 edit

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
    (1) Chris Morton 12 2 1 3 3 3 12 1 3
    (5) Bruce Penhall 12 3 3 1 3 2 12 2 2
    (15) Billy Sanders 11 1 3 3 2 2 11 3 3
4   (3) Kai Niemi 11 3 2 2 1 3 11 4 2
5   (16) Finn Thomsen 10 2 2 1 2 3 10 5
6   (8) Dave Jessup 9 2 3 E 3 1 9 6
7   (13) Michael Lee 9 3 0 3 1 2 9 7
8   (9) John Davis 9 1 2 3 1 2 9 8
9   (4) Hans Nielsen 8 1 1 X 3 3 8 9
10   (2) Peter Collins 7 0 3 2 2 0 7 10
11   (7) Ole Olsen 6 1 1 2 1 1 6 11
12   (11) Scott Autrey 6 3 0 2 0 1 6 12
13   (14) Ivan Mauger 5 0 2 1 2 0 5 13
14   (12) John Louis 3 2 0 0 0 1 3 14
15   (6) Mitch Shirra 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 15
16   (10) Bent Leif Rasmussen 0 0 0 X E - 0 16
R1   (R1) Gordon Kennett 0 0 0 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

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 edit

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) Michael Lee 14 2 3 3 3 3 14 1
    (10) Dave Jessup 12 3 2 2 2 3 12 2 3
    (13) Billy Sanders 12 3 1 3 2 3 12 3 2
4   (5) Jan Andersson 11 3 0 2 3 3 11 4
5   (1) Bruce Penhall 9 3 2 1 1 2 9 5
6   (2) John Davis 9 2 1 1 3 2 9 6
7   (11) Peter Collins 8 1 3 3 1 0 8 7
8   (12) Kai Niemi 8 0 1 3 2 2 8 8
9   (7) Chris Morton 8 2 1 1 3 1 8 9
10   (14) Finn Thomsen 7 2 3 1 0 1 7 10
11   (4) Hans Nielsen 7 1 2 0 2 2 7 11
12   (8) Aleš Dryml Sr. 5 0 3 2 0 0 5 12
13   (15) Jiří Štancl 5 1 2 0 1 1 5 13
14   (6) Egon Muller 4 1 0 2 E 1 4 14
15   (16) Zenon Plech 1 E 0 0 1 0 1 15
16   (3) Petr Ondrašík 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16
R1   (R1) Ole Olsen 0 0 R1
R2   (R2) Václav Verner 0 0 R2
R3   (R3) Hans Danielsson 0 0 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

References edit

  1. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  2. ^ "World Championship 1936-1994". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  3. ^ "WORLD FINALS 1936-1994" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  4. ^ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  6. ^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  7. ^ "World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  8. ^ "World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  9. ^ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5