The 1979 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 34th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider. In his 14th straight World Final appearance (dating back to

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

Ivan Mauger Ivan Gerald Mauger (4 October 1939 – 16 April 2018) was a New Zealand motorcycle speedway rider. He won a record six World Championships (Finals), a feat equalled only with the inclusion of the Speedway GP Championships by Tony Rickardsson ...

won his 6th

Speedway World Championship The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest-ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world, run under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The first official champions ...

, 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 Zenon Plech (1 January 1953 – 25 November 2020) was a Polish international motorcycle speedway rider. He finished third in the Speedway World Championship in 1973 and as the runner-up in 1979. Career summary Plech won the Polish National Cha ...

(13) and young

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

tearaway Michael Lee (11), with Lee the only rider to defeat Mauger on the day. Lee also had to defeat Kelly Moran ( USA),

Billy Sanders William Robert Sanders (9 September 1955 – 23 April 1985Oakes, P (1982). ''Daily Mirror 1982 Speedway Yearbook''. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. ) was an Australian international Speedway rider who won six Australian Championships and w ...

(

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

) 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 The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marke ...

sponsored British qualifying rounds for the World Championship doubled up as qualifying rounds for the

Berger Berger is a surname in both German and French, although there is no etymological connection between the names in the two languages. The French surname is an occupational name for a shepherd, from Old French ''bergier'' (Late Latin ''berbicarius'', ...

sponsored Grand Prix. Therefore, many non-British riders such as

Scott Autrey Scott Brian Autrey (born July 9, 1953) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway rider. In 1976, he became the first American rider to reach a speedway world final since Ernie Roccio in 1951. __TOC__ Motorcycle racing career Born in ...

and

rode in these meetings scoring points towards the Grand Prix qualification - but their scores didn't count towards World Championship qualification. *Rye House track flooded so event moved to Hackney

British Final

*June 20, 1979 *

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

Brandon Stadium Brandon Stadium, also known as Coventry Stadium, is located 6 miles east of Coventry in Brandon, Warwickshire, England. It was the home of the Coventry Bees motorcycle speedway team. It also hosted BriSCA F1 Stock Car Racing on the 1st Satur ...

*First 10 to Commonwealth Final plus 1 reserve

Swedish Qualification

Swedish Final

*May 29, 1979 *

Kumla Kumla is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Kumla Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with a population of 21,640 as of 2018. Geography Kumla is situated roughly 15 kilometres south of neighbouring city Örebro, and is connected t ...

*First 5 to Nordic Final + 1 reserve

New Zealand Final

* 21 January 1979 *

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

* First 8 to Austral-Asian Final

Intercontinental Round

American Final

*December 29, 1978 * Santa Ana, Santa Ana Speedway *First 2 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve

Australian Final

* February 11, 1978 *

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...

* First 8 to Austral-Asian Final

Australasian Final

*February 23, 1979 *

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, Rowley Park Speedway *Referee: Sam Bass *First 6 to Commonwealth final plus 1 reserve

Danish Final

* May 6, 1979 *

Fjelsted Fjelsted is a town located on the island of Funen in south Denmark, in Middelfart Municipality. Fjelsted is located next to the Funen Motorway three kilometers south of Harndrup, 20 kilometers east of Middelfart and 28 kilometers west of Odense. ...

* First 5 to Nordic Final

Nordic Final

*June 5, 1979 *

Norrköping Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linkö ...

*First 5 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve

Commonwealth Final

*July 1, 1979 *

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

White City Stadium White City Stadium was a stadium located in White City, London, England. Built for the 1908 Summer Olympics, it hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and other sports like swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock ca ...

*First 9 to Intercontinental final plus 1 reserve

Intercontinental Final

*August 8, 1979 *

*First 9 to World Final plus 1 reserve

Continental Round

Continental Final

*July 8, 1979 *

Pocking Pocking (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Bocking) is a town in the district of Passau, in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is situated about 30 km south-west of Passau, close to the Austrian border. History A Roman settlement was founded in the a ...

*First 4 to World final plus 1 reserve * Polish riders

, Edward Jancarz and Robert Słaboń seeded to World Final

World Final

*September 2, 1979 *

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; german: link=no, Königshütte ; szl, Chorzōw) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population ...

Silesian Stadium Silesian as an adjective can mean anything from or related to Silesia. As a noun, it refers to an article, item, or person of or from Silesia. Silesian may also refer to: People and languages *Silesians, inhabitants of Silesia, either a West Sla ...

Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.

References

{{Speedway Grand Prix seasons

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

World Individual

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

Speedway competitions in Poland