Intercontinental final

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Intercontinental final
(World Championship qualifier)
SportMotorcycle speedway
Founded1975

The Intercontinental final was a Motorcycle speedway final sanctioned by the FIM as the final qualifying round for the Speedway World Championship between 1975 and 2001.[1][2]

After being introduced in 1975, it replaced the European final as the final qualifying round for Commonwealth, American and Nordic riders in 1976.[3]

The Intercontinental final was not run from 1991 to 1994 when it was replaced by the World Semi-finals. It returned to the World Championship calendar in 1995, though unlike from 1975 to 1991 riders would be vying for a place in the following years Speedway Grand Prix World Championship series and not for the current year World final.[4]

Peter Collins (1976), Ole Olsen (1978) and Bruce Penhall (1981) are the only riders who won the Intercontinental final to go on and win the World Championship in the same year. Collins (1977) and Erik Gundersen (1986) are the only reigning World Champions to win the Intercontinental final.

Editions

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Year Venue Winner Runner-up 3rd place
1975 Sweden Göteborg Ullevi New Zealand Ivan Mauger Sweden Anders Michanek Sweden Bernt Persson
1976 England London Wembley Stadium England Peter Collins New Zealand Ivan Mauger Australia Phil Crump
1977 England London White City Stadium England Peter Collins Denmark Ole Olsen Australia Billy Sanders
1978 Denmark Fredericia Fredericia Stadion Denmark Ole Olsen New Zealand Ivan Mauger United States Scott Autrey
1979 England London White City Stadium England Michael Lee England Peter Collins Denmark Finn Thomsen
1980 England London White City Stadium England Chris Morton United States Bruce Penhall Australia Billy Sanders
1981 Denmark Vojens Vojens Speedway Center United States Bruce Penhall Denmark Erik Gundersen Denmark Hans Nielsen
1982 Sweden Vetlanda Vetlanda Motorstadion England Les Collins England Kenny Carter United States Dennis Sigalos
1983 England London White City Stadium Denmark Hans Nielsen England Michael Lee Denmark Erik Gundersen
1984 Denmark Vojens Vojens Speedway Center United States Shawn Moran England Simon Wigg United States Lance King
1985 Sweden Vetlanda Vetlanda Motorstadion United States Shawn Moran United States Lance King Denmark Hans Nielsen
1986 England Bradford Odsal Stadium Denmark Erik Gundersen Denmark Hans Nielsen Denmark Tommy Knudsen
1987 Denmark Vojens Vojens Speedway Center Denmark Erik Gundersen Sweden Jimmy Nilsen Denmark Hans Nielsen
1988 Sweden Vetlanda Vetlanda Motorstadion Denmark Jan O. Pedersen Denmark Hans Nielsen Denmark Erik Gundersen
1989 England Bradford Odsal Stadium England Kelvin Tatum[5] Denmark Erik Gundersen Denmark Hans Nielsen
1990 Denmark Harndrup Fjelsted Speedway Stadium United States Shawn Moran Sweden Per Jonsson Denmark Hans Nielsen
1991-94 not held because format changed to World Semi finals
1995 Norway Varhaug Elgane Speedway Denmark Brian Karger England Joe Screen Australia Leigh Adams
1996 Denmark Holsted Holsted Speedway Center Sweden Jimmy Nilsen Denmark Brian Andersen Germany Gerd Riss
1997 Sweden Västervik Ljungheden Australia Ryan Sullivan Australia Jason Crump Australia Craig Boyce
1998 Denmark Vojens Vojens Speedway Center Denmark Brian Karger Sweden Peter Karlsson United States Sam Ermolenko
1999 England Poole Wimborne Road Australia Todd Wiltshire England Gary Havelock Finland Kai Laukkanen
2000 Denmark Holsted Holsted Speedway Center Sweden Niklas Klingberg Norway Rune Holta Denmark Nicki Pedersen
2001 Sweden Västervik Ljungheden Finland Kai Laukkanen England Scott Nicholls Sweden Andreas Jonsson

Winners by country

[edit]
Country Wins Winner(s)
Denmark Denmark 7 Erik Gundersen (2), Brian Karger (2), Ole Olsen (1), Hans Nielsen (1), Jan O. Pedersen (1)
England England 6 Peter Collins (2), Michael Lee (1), Chris Morton (1), Les Collins (1), Kelvin Tatum (1)
United States United States 4 Shawn Moran (3), Bruce Penhall (1)
Sweden Sweden 2 Jimmy Nilsen (1), Niklas Klingberg (1)
Australia Australia 2 Ryan Sullivan (1), Todd Wiltshire (1)
New Zealand New Zealand 1 Ivan Mauger (1)
Finland Finland 2 Kai Laukkanen (1)

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  2. ^ Bott, Richard (1980). The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 101. ISBN 0-09-141751-1.
  3. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 22. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  4. ^ "Intercontinental Final". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  5. ^ Oakes, Peter (1990). Speedway Yearbook 1990. Front Page Books. pp. 7–9. ISBN 0-948882-15-8.
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