1979 Individual Speedway World Championship


The 1979 Individual Speedway World Championship.
In his 14th straight World Final appearance, 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 and young English tearaway Michael Lee, with Lee the only rider to defeat Mauger on the day. Lee also had to defeat Kelly Moran, Billy Sanders 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.

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.

Swedish Final

Pos.RiderTotal
1 Jan Andersson15
2 Anders Michanek12
3 Bernt Persson11
4 Richard Hellsen11
5 Ake Fridell11
6 Lars Ake Andersson10
7 Bo Wirebrand9
8 Uno Johansson8
9 Stefan Salmonsson7
10 Bengt Jansson5
11 Hans Danielsson5
12 Soren Sjosten4
13 Tommy Nilsson3
14 Lennart Bengsson 3
15 Gert Carlsson2
16 Kent Eriksson1
17 Soren Karlsson0

New Zealand Final

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Larry Ross3,3,3,3,315
2 Mitch Shirra3,3,2,2,212
3 Ivan Mauger2,3,E,3,311
4 Roger Wright2,0,3,3,311
5 John Goodall1,3,3,1,210
6 David Bargh3,0,1,3,29
7 Tony Briggs1,2,1,2,39
8 Graeme Stapleton2,2,2,1,29
9 Mike Fullerton3,1,3,0,18
10 James Moore1,2,0,2,16
11 Colin Tucker0,2,1,2,05
12 Patrick Pawson0,1,2,1,04
13 Robin Adlington0,1,2,0,14
14 Max Brown1,1,0,0,02
15 John Brown0,0,0,0,11
16 William Aulsfordns0
R1 Paul Fewings2,1,03
R2 Gary Forscutt0,11

Intercontinental Round

American Final

Pos.RiderTotal
1 Bobby Schwartz12+3
2 Mike Bast12+2
3 Kelly Moran12+1
4 Steve Gresham12+0
5 Mike Faria10
6 Steve McConnell9
7 Bruce Penhall7
8 Bill Cordy7
9 John Cook6
10 Rich McMurray6
11 Gary Hutchinson6
12 Dave Robinson5
13 Duane Yarrow5
14 Dave Faria4
15 Denny Pyeatt3
16 Mark Blom2

Australian Final

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Phil Crump15
2 Danny Kenneddy13
3 John Boulger11
4 John Titman10
5 Steve Koppe10
6 Billy Sanders10
7 Gary Guglielmi9
8 Glyn Taylor9
9 Rob Maxfield6
10 Phil Bass5
11 Glen McDonald5
12 Mike Farrell4
13 John Langfield4
14 David Shields2
15 Ross Townson2
16 Kym Amundson2
R1 Tim Nunan
R2 John Williams

Australasian Final

Pos.RiderTotal
1 Billy Sanders13
2 Steve Koppe12
3 John Titman11+3
4 Phil Crump11+2
5 Ivan Mauger11+1
6 Larry Ross10+3
7 Mitch Shirra10+2
8 Gary Guglielmi8
9 John Goodall8
10 Danny Kennedy6
11 John Boulger6
12 Glyn Taylor6
13 Tony Briggs 4
14 Graeme Stapleton2
15 David Bargh 2
16 Roger Wright0

Danish Final

Continental Final