1979 Intercontinental final

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Motorsport season

|title = Intercontinental Final

|link = Intercontinental Final

|year = 1979

|previous = 1978

}}

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.[http://www.speedway.org/history/79.htm#1979 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

class=wikitable

!width=25px|Pos.

width=200px|Riderwidth=70px|Total
align=center {{speedway color|g}}

|1

align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} Michael Lee14+3
align=center {{speedway color|g}}

|2

align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} Peter Collins14+2
align=center {{speedway color|g}}

|3

align=left|{{flagicon|DEN}} Finn Thomsen10+3
align=center {{speedway color|g}}

|4

align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} Dave Jessup10+2
align=center {{speedway color|g}}

|5

align=left|{{flagicon|NZL}} Ivan Mauger10+1
align=center {{speedway color|g}}

|6

align=left|{{flagicon|DEN}} Ole Olsen9
align=center {{speedway color|g}}

|7

align=left|{{flagicon|USA}} Kelly Moran*8
align=center {{speedway color|g}}

|8

align=left|{{flagicon|AUS}} Billy Sanders8
align=center {{speedway color|g}}

|9

align=left|{{flagicon|AUS}} John Titman8
align=center {{speedway color|r}}

|10

align=left|{{flagicon|NZL}} Larry Ross7
align=center

|11

align=left|{{flagicon|FIN}} Kai Niemi6
align=center

|12

align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} Gordon Kennett5
align=center

|13

align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} John Davis4
align=center

|14

align=left|{{flagicon|USA}} Bobby Schwartz2
align=center

|15

align=left|{{flagicon|DEN}} Hans Nielsen2
align=center

|16

align=left|{{flagicon|ENG}} Malcolm Simmons (Res)2
align=center

|17

align=left|{{flagicon|SWE}} Jan Andersson1

Kelly Moran replaced Mike Bast

References

{{reflist}}

See also