1981 Intercontinental Final

The 1980 Intercontinental Final was the seventh running of the Intercontinental Final as part of the qualification for the 1981 Speedway World Championship. The 1981 Final was run on 5 July on a wet night at the Speedway Center (owned by triple World Champion Ole Olsen) in Vojens, Denmark, 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 Wembley Stadium in London, England.

American star Bruce Penhall signalled his intentions by dominating the meeting with a 15-point maximum in difficult conditions. Rising Danes Erik Gundersen (Penhall's team mate at Cradley Heath) and Hans Nielsen delighted the home crowd by finishing in second and third with Nielsen defeating Kenny Carter in a runoff for third place. Considered something of a spent force as he was nearing the end of his career, but racing on the track that he part owns (English television commentator Dave Lanning called it a swamp due to the conditions), Ole Olsen also gave the crowd in Vojens something to cheer as he scored 6 points to claim the final spot in the World Final at Wembley. In another bonus for Danish speedway, 1980 European Under-21 Champion Tommy Knudsen made it four Danes going to the World Final when he finished in 6th place, while another local Preben Eriksen claimed the World Final reserve spot. The other World Final qualifiers were Dave Jessup, Jan Andersson, Chris Morton, Larry Ross and reigning World Champion Michael Lee.

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