The 1974 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 29th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Sweden's own Anders Michanek scored a 15-point maximum to claim his only Individual world title in front of a capacity crowd at the Ullevi stadium in Göteborg. Four time champion Ivan Mauger finished second on 11 points after winning a run-off with Swede Sören Sjösten who also scored 11. With the defending champion Jerzy Szczakiel not qualifying after finishing last in the 2nd Continental Semi-final, the only other World Champion in the field was Denmark's Ole Olsen who suffered a horror night, finishing second in his first ride before falling in his second and not being able to contest the rest of the meeting.^[7]

Format changes

The format of the Championship changed for the 1974 event. This time the Swedish riders were allowed five places in the World Final to be held in Sweden. All other nations had to go through the European Final route to provide the remaining 11 riders for the World Final.

First round

• British/Commonwealth Qualifying - 16 to British/Commonwealth Final
• Scandinavian Qualifying - 16 to Nordic Final
• Continental Qualifying - 16 to Continental Final
• Swedish Qualifying - 16 to Swedish Final

British/Commonwealth Qualifying

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Preliminary Round
1 April	Scunthorpe	Reg Luckhurst	Russ Osborne	Mike Hiftle
5 April	Workington	Alan Cowland	Dave Gatenby	Brian Clark
21 April	Eastbourne	Phil Herne	Mike Sampson	Mike Cake
22 April	Crewe	Carl Glover	Mike Broadbanks	Richard Greer
23 April	Ellesmere Port	Barry Crowson	Richard May	Ken Eyre
29 April	Exeter	Ivan Mauger	Barry Briggs	Phil Herne
30 April	Leicester	Terry Betts	Malcolm Simmons	Dave Jessup
1 May	Poole	Peter Collins	Dave Jessup	Eric Broadbelt
1 May	Hull	John Boulger	Nigel Boocock	Jim McMillan
2 May	Sheffield	Bob Valentine	Bob Paulson	Ray Wilson
2 May	Oxford	Bob Kilby	Malcolm Simmons	Eric Boocock
2 May	Ipswich	John Louis	Nigel Boocock	Billy Sanders
4 May	Kings Lynn	Malcolm Simmons	Ivan Mauger	Tony Davey
4 May	Halifax	Eric Boocock	Kevin Holden	Rick France
9 May	Wimbledon	Barry Briggs	Neil Cameron	Richard May
10 May	Wolverhampton	Billy Sanders	Rick France	George Hunter
10 May	Newport	Phil Crump	Ray Wilson	Geoff Mudge
10 May	Hackney	John Louis	Barry Thomas	Bob Kilby
11 May	Cradley Heath	Billy Sanders	Bruce Cribb	John Boulger
11 May	Coventry	Bob Valentine	Nigel Boocock	Gordon Kennett
11 May	Belle Vue	Chris Pusey	Bob Kilby	Barry Crowson
15 May	Swindon	John Louis	Martin Ashby	Eric Broadbelt
Semi-finals
21 May	Leicester	John Louis	Peter Collins	Ray Wilson
30 May	Sheffield	Dave Jessup	Ray Wilson	Jim McMillan

Swedish Qualifying

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Qualifications
1 May	Visby	Christer Löfqvist	Bengt Jansson	Tommy Pettersson
1 May	Malilla	Tommy Johansson	Bo Wirebrand	Christer Sjösten
1 May	Gislaved	Sören Sjösten	Bernt Persson	Terje Henriksson

Continental Qualifying

Date	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
Qualifying Round
1 May	Bremen	Jan Klokočka	Egon Müller	Henny Kroeze
5 May	Lonigo	?	?	?
Quarter-finals
18 May	Prague	Mikhail Krasnov	Viktor Trofimov	Vladimir Zapleshny
19 May	Lubljana	Zenon Plech	Edward Jancarz	Henny Kroeze
19 May	Krumbach	Henryk Glücklich	Jerzy Szczakiel	Manfred Poschenreider
19 May	Debrecen	Grigory Khlinovsky	Andrzej Jurczyński	Marek Cieślak
Semi-finals
2 June	Wrocław	Edward Jancarz	Vladimir Gordeev	Mikhail Krasnov
2 June	Norden	Henryk Glücklich	Mikhail Starostin	Marek Cieślak

Second round

• British/Commonwealth Final - 10 to British/Commonwealth/Nordic final
• Nordic Final - 6 to British/Commonwealth/Nordic final

British/Commonwealth Final

• June 12, 1974
• Coventry
• First 10 to British-Nordic Final plus 1 reserve

Placing	Rider	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pts	Pos	21
	(14) Eric Boocock	13				3		3					2		2							3	13	1
	(11) Terry Betts	12			3				3		2					2						2	12	2
	(8) Dave Jessup	11		3						1			3			1			3				11	3
4	(5) John Boulger	10		2			3					3					2					0	10	4
5	(13) Ivan Mauger	9				2	E							3		3					1		9	5
6	(1) Nigel Boocock	8	2				2				0				3				1				8	6
7	(7) Jim McMillan	8		1					2					1	1					3			8	7
8	(12) Peter Collins	8			0					3		2			0						3		8	8
9	(16) John Louis	8				0				0	3						3			2			8	9
10	(4) Ray Wilson	7	1							2				T				3				1	7	10
11	(6) Barry Briggs	6		0				1			1							2			2		6	11
12	(10) Billy Sanders	5			1			2						1			1		0				5	12
13	(15) Malcolm Simmons	5				1			E			1						1	2				5	13
14	(9) Reg Wilson	4			2		1						X					F		1			4	14
15	(2) Bob Valentine	3	3					X				F				E				-			3	15
16	(3) Martin Ashby	2	0						1				1				0				0		2	16
R1	(R1) Frank Smith	0												0									0	R1
R2	(R2) Roger Hill	0																		0			0	R2
Placing	Rider	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pts	Pos	21

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside

gate B

gate C

gate D - outside

Nordic Final

• 9 June 1974
• Tampere
• First 6 to British-Nordic Final plus 1 reserve

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Ole Olsen		15
2	Dag Lövaas		14
3	Matti Olin		11
4	Bent Nørregaard-Jensen		10
5	Reidar Eide		9
6	Kari Vuoristo		9
7	Øyvind S. Berg		8
8	Edgar Stangeland		8
9	Preben Rosenkilde		7
10	Jan Terje Gravningen		6
11	Ulf Lovaas		6
12	Kaj Kristensen		5
13	Pekka Paljakka		4
14	Svein Lokken		4
15	Kjell Gimre		3
16	Nils Nilsen		0
R1	?. Eklund		1

Third round

• British/Commonwealth/Nordic Final - 8 to European Final
• Continental Final - 8 to European Final

Continental Final

• June 23, 1974
• Tolyatti
• First 8 to European Final

Placing	Rider	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pts	Pos	21
	(10) Vladimir Gordeev	12			3			3						1			3		2				12	1
	(1) Mikhail Starostin	11	3				3				0				2				3				11	2
	(4) Zenon Plech	11	F							3				3				3				2	11	3
4	(11) Mikhail Krasnov	10			2				3		2					3						0	10	4
5	(3) Anatoly Kuzmin	10	2						2				3				0				3		10	5
6	(7) Jan Mucha	9		2					1					E	3					3			9	6
7	(13) Edward Jancarz	9				3	X							2		2					2		9	7
8	(14) Grigory Khlinovsky	8				1		1					2		1							3	8	8
9	(5) Ryszard Fabiszewski	8		3			2					1					1					1	8	9
10	(15) Valery Gordeev	7				2			0			3						2	E				7	10
11	(6) Vladimir Zapleshny	6		1				0			3							1			1		6	11
12	(16) Marek Cieślak	5				0				1	1						2			1			5	12
13	(8) Henryk Glücklich	3		0						2			X			1			X				3	13
14	(9) Aleksandr Pavlov	3			0		1						0					E		2			3	14
15	(12) Bernard Jąder	3			1					0		2			0						0		3	15
16	(2) Zbigniew Filipiak	2	E					2				0				0				0			2	16
R1	(R1) Josef Angermüller	0																					0	R1
Placing	Rider	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pts	Pos	21

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside

gate B

gate C

gate D - outside

British/Commonwealth/Nordic Final

• August 4, 1974
• Fredericia
• First 8 to European Final

Placing	Rider	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pts	Pos	21
	(8) Ole Olsen	14		3						3			3			3			2				14	1
	(5) Ivan Mauger	13		2			2					3					3					3	13	2
	(16) John Louis	10				3				0	3						2			2			10	3
4	(2) Terry Betts	10	3					3				1				2				1			10	4
5	(12) Peter Collins	10			3					1		2			3						1		10	5
6	(9) Dave Jessup	10			2		E						2					3		3			10	6
7	(4) Scott Autrey	9	2							2				1				2				2	9	7
8	(7) Dag Lovaas	9		1					3					3	2					E			9	8
9	(1) John Boulger	8	1				3				1				E				3				8	9
10	(6) Jim McMillan	8		0				2			2							1			3		8	10
11	(13) Reidar Eide	7				1	1							2		1					2		7	11
12	(14) Bent Nørregaard-Jensen	6				2		1					1		1							1	6	12
13	(15) Nigel Boocock	2				0			1			0						E	1				2	13
14	(11) Matti Olin	1			1				0		0					0						0	1	14
15	(3) Eric Boocock	0	F						-				-				-				-		0	15
16	(10) Kari Vuoristo	0			0			0						0			0		-				0	16
R1	(R1) Ray Wilson	3							2								1						3	R1
R2	(R2) Øyvind S. Berg	0											0								0		0	R2
Placing	Rider	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pts	Pos	21

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside

gate B

gate C

gate D - outside

Fourth round

• Swedish Finals - 5 to World Final
• European Final - 11 to World Final

Swedish Finals

Three races held on 28 May at Stockholm, 29 May at Norrköping and 30 May in Göteborg

Rider	Points
Anders Michanek	42
Sören Sjösten	41
Christer Löfqvist	35
Bengt Jansson	33
Tommy Johansson	33
Tommy Jansson	32
Sören Karlsson	23
Hasse Holmqvist	23
Tommy Pettersson	22
Bernt Persson	20
Bo Wirebrand	15
Christer Sjösten	13
Karl-Erik Claesson	8
Sven Nilsson	8
Stephan Johansson	5
Tommy Nilsson	5
Käll Haage	1
Therje Henriksson	0
Leif Enecrona	0

European Final

• August 31, 1974
• Wembley

Placing	Rider	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pts	Pos	21
	(15) Peter Collins	13				3			2			3						3	2				13	1	3
	(2) Ole Olsen	13	3					3				2				3				2			13	2	2
	(4) Ivan Mauger	13	2							3				3				2				3	13	3	1
4	(8) Vladimir Gordeev	11		2						2			3			1			3				11	4
5	(12) John Louis	10			3					0		1			3						3		10	5
6	(14) Zenon Plech	10				2		2					2		2							2	10	6
7	(11) Dave Jessup	8			E				3		3					2						0	8	7
8	(7) Dag Lovaas	7		3					1					0	E					3			7	8
9	(16) Grigory Khlinovsky	7				F				1	2						3			1			7	9
10	(5) Terry Betts	6		0			3					0					2					1	6	10
11	(13) Mikhail Krasnov	6				1	1							2		0					2		6	11
12	(10) Edward Jancarz	5			2			1						1			1		0				5	12
13	(6) Scott Autrey	3		1				0			1							0			1		3	13
14	(9) Mikhail Starostin	2			1		0						0					1		0			2	14
15	(3) Anatoly Kuzmin	1	0						0				1				0				0		1	15
16	(1) Jan Mucha	0	-				-				-				-				-				0	16
R1	(R1) Jim McMillan	2	1								0								1				2	R1
R2	(R2) John Boulger	3					2								1								3	R2
Placing	Rider	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pts	Pos	21

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside

gate B

gate C

gate D - outside

World Final

• September 6, 1974
• Göteborg, Ullevi^[8]

Placing	Rider	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pts	Pos	21
	(10) Anders Michanek	15			3			3						3			3		3				15	1
	(1) Ivan Mauger	11	2				2				3				2				2				11	2	3
	(13) Sören Sjösten	11				3	3							1		1					3		11	3	2
4	(16) John Louis	9				1				3	0						2			3			9	4
5	(8) Bengt Jansson	9		2						1			3			3			R				9	5
6	(15) Peter Collins	9				2			2			2						2	1				9	6
7	(7) Tommy Johansson	8		3					0					0	3					2			8	7
8	(11) Zenon Plech	8			0				3		1					2						2	8	8
9	(4) Christer Löfqvist	8	3							2				2				1				R	8	9
10	(6) Grigory Khlinovsky	6		1				0			2							3			F		6	10
11	(12) Dag Lövaas	6			1					0		3			1						1		6	11
12	(5) Terry Betts	6		0			1					1					1					3	6	12
13	(14) Dave Jessup	5				0		2					2		0							1	5	13
14	(2) Mikhail Krasnov	3	1					1				R				0				1			3	14
15	(9) Ole Olsen	2			2		F						-					-		-			2	15
16	(3) Vladimir Gordeev	0	0						F				-				-				-		0	16
R1	(R1) Tommy Jansson	3							1				0				0				2		3	R1
R2	(R2) Edward Jancarz	1											1					0		0			1	R2
Placing	Rider	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pts	Pos	21

References

External links

• The event at SVT's open archive (in Swedish)