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.
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 Gothenburg, 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, 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, and fellow Englishmen Tommy Price, Peter Craven and Peter Collins as a speedway world champion.

Second round

Swedish qualification

Top 5 in each heat to Swedish final

Australian Final

26 January 1980
Sydney Showground, Sydney
First 9 to Australasian Final

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

2 February 1980
Western Springs Stadium, Auckland
First 7 to Australasian Final

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

Third round

Continental quarter-finals

Top 32 to Continental semi-finals

Date

Venue

Winner

2nd

3rd

3 May

Swedish Final

20 May 1980
Norrköping Motorstadion, Norrköping
Winner to World Final, riders 2–5 to Nordic Final

Finland Final

Eteläpuisto, Tampere
27 August 1979, top 3 to 1980 Nordic final

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	0

Danish Final

4 May 1980
Fredericia Speedway Stadium, Fredericia
First 3 to Nordic final

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

18 May 1980
Geiteryggen Speedwaybane, Skien
First 3 to Nordic final

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

2 February 1980
Ruapuna Speedway, Christchurch
First 5 to Commonwealth Final plus 1 reserve
Ivan Mauger seeded to Commonwealth final

British Final

4 June 1980
Brandon Stadium, Coventry
First 10 to Commonwealth Final plus 1 reserve

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

Fourth round

Commonwealth Final

29 June 1980
Wimbledon Stadium, London
First 9 to Intercontinental Final plus 1 reserve

American Final

16 November 1979
Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim
First 2 to Intercontinental Final

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

15 June 1980
Geiteryggen Speedwaybane, Skien
First 5 to Intercontinental Final

Pos.

Rider

Total

Fifth round

Continental Final

27 July 1980
Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo
First 5 to World Final plus 1 reserve

Intercontinental Final

3 August 1980
White City Stadium, London
First 10 to World Final plus 1 reserve

World Final

5 September 1980
Ullevi, Gothenburg
Referee: Torrie Kittlesen
Attendance: 35,000