1980 Individual Speedway World Championship

With 1979 World Champion 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, Intercontinental Final winner Chris Morton and 1976 World Champion Peter Collins all expected to challenge.

1980 Individual Speedway World Championship
Previous: 1979 Next: 1981

The 1980 Individual Speedway World Championship.

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 Motorcycle speedway's ultimate individual prize, joining Welshman Freddie Williams (1950), and fellow Englishmen Tommy Price (1949), Peter Craven (1955 and 1962) and Peter Collins (1976) as a Speedway World Champion.

British Qualification
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Preliminary Round
8 April Milton Keynes Mike Lanham Rob Hollingworth David Kennett
9 April Nottingham Dave Perks Dave Morton Paul Woods
11 April Peterborough Andy Hines Nicky Allott Nigel Flatman
11 April Ellesmere Port Peter Prinsloo Derek Richardson David Gagen
13 April Rye House Mel Taylor Bob Garrad Ian Clark
Quarter-Final
27 April Halifax Mike Lanham Kevin Hawkins Dave Morton
Semi-Finals
21 May Poole Peter Collins Gordon Kennett Kevin Jolly
22 May Sheffield Dave Jessup Chris Morton Dave Morton
Final
4 June Coventry Dave Jessup Michael Lee Phil Collins result

British Final
Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
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

Swedish Qualification
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Semi-Finals
4 May Malilla Tommy Johansson Tommy Nilsson Conny Samuelsson
4 May Gislaved Anders Michanek Bo Wirebrand Hasse Danielsson
8 May Linköping Bernt Persson Richard Hellsen Borje Klingberg
Final
20 May Norrköping Jan Andersson Richard Hellsen Tommy Johansson

Swedish Final
  • May 20, 1980
  • Norrköping
  • Winner to World Final, riders 2-5 to Nordic Final
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

New Zealand Final
  • 2 February 1980
  • Aucland
  • First 8 to Austral-Asian Final
Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Larry Ross3,3,2,3,314
2 David Bargh3,3,3,3,214
3 Tony Briggs2,3,2,2,312
4 Graeme Stapleton3,2,3,2,111
5 Mitch Shirra1,3,1,3,311
6 Wayne Brown3,2,3,3,-11
7 Mike Fullerton2,1,1,2,39
8 Colin Tucker2,0,2,1,27
9 Roger Wright1,2,3,1,07
10 Max Brown0,2,2,1,16
11 Neil Abrahams2,1,0,0,25
12 Greg Joynt1,1,1,2,x5
13 Colin Farquharson1,F,0,0,23
14 Greame Beardsley0,F,1,-,-1
15 Paul FewingsF,1,F,-,-1
16 James MooreE,0,-,-,-0
R1 William Aulsfold0,0,1,12
R2 Roger Pauling0,00

Intercontinental Round
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
American Final
16 November 1979 AnaheimBruce PenhallScott AutreyDennis Sigalos
Austral-Asian Final
16 February Christchurch Billy Sanders John Titman Larry Ross
Danish Final
6 May Fredericia Bo Petersen Preben Eriksen Bent Rasmussen
Norwegian Final
18 May Skien Reidar Eide Audun Ove Olsen Rolf Gramstad
Scandinavian Final
15 June Skien Hans Nielsen Ole Olsen Finn Thomsen
Commonwealth Final
5 July Wimbledon Dave Jessup John Louis Ivan Mauger
Intercontinental Final
3 August White City Chris Morton Bruce Penhall Billy Sanders

American Final
  • November 16, 1979
  • Anaheim, Anaheim Stadium
  • First 2 to Intercontinental Final
Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Bruce Penhall14
2 Scott Autrey13+3
3 Dennis Sigalos13+2
4 Ron Preston13+1
5 Shawn Moran10
6 Gene Woods10
7 John Cook9
8 Mike Faria7
9 Bobby Schwartz5
10 Alan Christian5
11 Denny Pyeatt5
12 Duane Yarrow5
13 Brad Oxley4
14 John Santona4
15 Dan McNeill3
16 Kelly Moran1
17 Larry Kosta0

Austral-Asian Final
  • February 2, 1980
  • Christchurch, Ruapuna Speedway
  • First 5 to Commonwealth Final plus 1 reserve
  • Ivan Mauger seeded to Commonwealth final
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
R1 (R1) Roger Wright 0 0 R1
R2 (R2) Max Brown 0 0 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 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

Danish Final
  • May 4, 1980
  • Fredericia
  • First 6 to Scandinavian final
Pos.RiderTotal
1 Bo Petersen15
2 Preben Eriksen13
3 Bent Rasmussen12+3
4 Finn Rune Jensen12+2
5 Finn Thomsen10
6 Michael Lohman8
7 Alf Busk8
8 Jens Henry Nielsen7
9 Lars Vinding6
10 Arne Cruse6
11 Gunnar Hansen6
12 Finn Lundahl5
13 Steen Mastrup5
14 Hans Cristiansen3
15 Svend Lund3
16 Gunnar Svendsen1

Norwegian Final
  • May 18, 1980
  • Skien
  • First 3 to Scandinavian final
Pos.RiderTotal
1 Reidar Eide14
2 Audun Ove Olsen13
3 Rolf Gramstad12+3
4 Dag Haaland12+2
5 Trond Skretting10
6 Terje Tollefsen8
7 Sigvart Pedersen7
8 Kjell Gimre7
9 Jon Hovind6
10 Roy Otto6
11 Jorn Haugvaldstad6
12 Toralf Holen6
13 Asgeir Bjerga4
14 Geir Aasland4
15 Rolf Havirstad2
16 Dagvinn Jorgensen2

Scandinavian Final
  • June 15, 1980
  • Skien
  • First 5 to Intercontinental Final
Pos.RiderTotal
1 Hans Nielsen15
2 Ole Olsen14
3 Finn Thomsen13
4 Bent Rasmussen12
5 Kai Niemi10
6 Ila Teromaa8
7 Bo Petersen8
8 Hans Danielsson7
9 Tommy Johansson7
10 Preben Eriksen6
11 Rolf Gramstad5
12 Bernt Persson5
13 Veijo Tyoriniemi4
14 Audun Ove Olsen2
15 Reidar Eide1
16 Bengt Jansson0

Commonwealth Final
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
R1 (R1) Phil Herne 0 0 R1
R2 (R2) Bobby Beaton 0 0 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 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

Intercontinental Final
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

Continental Round
DateVenueWinnerRunner-up3rd place
Preliminary Round
19 April Landshut Egon Muller Waldemar Bacik Edward Jancarz
20 April Bydgoszcz Zdeněk Kudrna Jerzy Rembas Marek Ziarnik
20 April Treviso Milan Špinka Václav Verner Herbert Szerecz
20 April Žarnovica Petr Ondrašík Jan Hadek Petr Kučera
Quarter-Finals
3 May Slany Mikhail Starostin Jiří Štancl Jan Verner
4 May Prelog Henny Kroeze Václav Verner Milan Špinka
4 May Wiener Neustadt Zdeněk Kudrna Jerzy Rembas Piotr Pyszny
Semi-Finals
25 May Norden Jiří Štancl Edward Jancarz Petr Ondrašík
27 May Targovishte Zdeněk Kudrna Václav Verner Aleš Dryml Sr.
Final
27 July Lonigo Zenon Plech Jiří Štancl Aleš Dryml Sr.

Continental Final
  • July 27, 1980
  • Lonigo, Pista Speedway
  • First 5 to World Final plus 1 reserve
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) Michail 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 Spinka 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) Andrew Curworth 3 1 0 1 0 1 3 13
14 (12) Wojciech Zabialowicz 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

World Final
  • 5 September 1980
  • Göteborg, Ullevi[1]
  • Referee: () Torrie Kittlesen
  • Attendance: 35,000 (approx)
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
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References
  1. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
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