1974 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1974 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 29th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.

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 Gothenburg. 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.1974 Individual Speedway World Championship

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 preliminaries Riders progress to British/Commonwealth qualifying DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 1 AprilQuibell Park Stadium, Scunthorpe Reg Luckhurst Russ Osborne Mike Hiftle 5 AprilDerwent Park, Workington Alan Cowland Dave Gatenby Brian Clark 21 AprilArlington Stadium, Eastbourne Phil Herne Mike Sampson Mike Cake 22 AprilEarle Street, Crewe Carl Glover Mike Broadbanks Richard Greer 23 AprilEllesmere Port Stadium, Ellesmere Port Barry Crowson Richard May Ken Eyre

Second round Continental qualifying Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 1 May Hansa Stadium, Bremen Jan Klokočka Egon Müller Henny Kroeze 5 May La Favorita, Sarego Sandor Csatho Christoph Betzl Angel Eftimov

British/Commonwealth qualifying DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 29 AprilCounty Ground Stadium, Exeter Ivan Mauger Barry Briggs Phil Herne 30 AprilLeicester Stadium, Leicester Terry Betts Malcolm Simmons Dave Jessup 1 MayWimborne Road, Poole Peter Collins Dave Jessup Eric Broadbelt 1 MayThe Boulevard, Hull John Boulger Nigel Boocock Jim McMillan 2 MayOwlerton Stadium, Sheffield Bob Valentine Bob Paulson Ray Wilson 2 MayOxford Stadium, Oxford Bob Kilby Malcolm Simmons Eric Boocock 2 MayFoxhall Stadium, Ipswich John Louis Nigel Boocock Billy Sanders 4 MayKing's Lynn Stadium, King's Lynn Malcolm Simmons Ivan Mauger Tony Davey 4 MayThe Shay, Halifax Eric Boocock Kevin Holden Rick France 9 MayWimbledon Stadium, London Barry Briggs Neil Cameron Richard May 10 MayMonmore Green, Wolverhampton Billy Sanders Rick France George Hunter 10 MaySomerton Park, Newport Phil Crump Ray Wilson Geoff Mudge 10 May Hackney Wick Stadium, London John Louis Barry Thomas Bob Kilby 11 MayDudley Wood Stadium, Dudley Billy Sanders Bruce Cribb John Boulger 11 MayBrandon Stadium, Coventry Bob Valentine Nigel Boocock Gordon Kennett 11 MayHyde Road, Manchester Chris Pusey Bob Kilby Barry Crowson 15 MayAbbey Stadium, Swindon John Louis Martin Ashby Eric Broadbelt

Third round Norwegian qualifying 14 October 1973 Geiteryggen Speedwaybane, Skien Top 8 to Nordic final 1974 Pos. Rider Points1 Dag Lovaas142 Edgar Stangeland123 Kjell Gimre124 Oyvind S. Berg115 Ulf Lovaas 106 Odd Fossengen 107 Jan Terje Gravningen 108 Svein Loken109 Nils Otto Haraldsen 810 Helge Langli 811 Jon Odegaard 512 Dagfinn Dahl 413 Hans Erik Fuglerud314 Per Hetland 215 Stein Roar Pedersen 116 Regnar Olaisen 1 Finnish qualifying Turku Hippodrome, Turku) First (+2 seeded riders) to Nordic final 1975 Pos. Rider Points1 Matti Olin 152 Ilkka Teromaa 143 Reino Santala 124 Kari Vuoristo 115 Rauli Mäkinen 116 Pekka Paljakka 97 Markku Helminen 98 Ari Hiljanen 89 Timo Naskali 710 Esko Myllari 511 Pekka Kortelainen 412 Jouko Naskali 313 Jukka Ahonen 214 Jukka Hautamäki 215 Harry Paranko 116 Veli-Pekka Teromaa 12 (disq)

Danish final Top 4 to Nordic final

Continental quarter-finals Top 32 riders to Continental semi-finals DateVenueWinner2nd3rd 18 May Markéta Stadium, Prague Mikhail Krasnov Viktor Trofimov Vladimir Zapleshny 19 May Ilirija Sports Park, Ljubljana Zenon Plech Edward Jancarz Henny Kroeze 19 May Breitenthal Stadium, Krumbach Henryk Glücklich Jerzy Szczakiel Manfred Poschenreider 19 May Hajdú Volán Stadion, Debrecen Grigory Khlinovsky Andrzej Jurczyński Marek Cieślak

British/Commonwealth semi-finals 21 May Leicester Stadium, Leicester Top 8 to British/Commonwealth final Pos. Rider Points1 John Louis 142 Peter Collins133 Reg Wilson 124 Bob Valentine105 Barry Briggs96 Martin Ashby97 Ivan Mauger98 Billy Sanders99 Doug Wyer710 Chris Pusey611 Phil Herne 512 Barry Crowson413 George Hunter414 Bob Kilby315 Eric Broadbelt316 Arnie Haley 230 May Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield Top 8 to British/Commonwealth final Pos. Rider Points1 Dave Jessup152 Ray Wilson 133 Jim McMillan 124 Malcolm Simmons115 John Boulger106 Terry Betts107 Eric Boocock88 Bobby Beaton89 Barry Thomas810 Nigel Boocock811 Rick France 612 Kevin Holden413 Tony Davey314 Phil Crump315 Bruce Cribb116 Gordon Kennett0

Fourth round Continental semi-finals 2 June Olympic Stadium, Wrocław Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Edward Jancarz 142 Vladimir Gordeev 143 Michail Krasnov 134 Zbigniew Filipiak 115 Jan Mucha 96 Ryszard Fabiszewski 97 Zenon Plech 98 Vladimir Zaplechny 89 Viktor Trofimov 610 Miloslav Špinka 611 Jiří Štancl 512 Paweł Waloszek 413 Jan Hadek 414 Vladimir Nesterov 315 Henny Kroeze 316 Boguslaw Nowak 22 June Motodrom Halbemond, Norden Top 8 to Continental final Pos. Rider Points1 Henryk Glücklich 122 Michail Starostin 123 Marek Cieślak 114 Valerij Gordeev 105 Grigory Khlinovsky 106 Anatolij Kuzmin 107 Bernard Jąder 98 Alexander Pavlov 99 Andrzej Jurczyński 810 Zdzisław Dobrucki 711 Manfred Poschenreider 612 Václav Verner 613 Josef Angermüller 414 Pal Perenyi 415 Sándor Domokos 216 Jerzy Szczakiel 017 Rudolf Weindl018 Kazimierz Bentke0

British/Commonwealth Final 12 June 1974 Brandon Stadium, Coventry First 10 to British-Nordic Final plus 1 reserve

Nordic Final 9 June 1974 Eteläpuisto, Tampere First 6 to British-Nordic Final plus 1 reserve Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Ole Olsen 3,3,3,3,3152 Dag Lövaas 3,3,3,3,2 143 Matti Olin 2,2,2,2,3 114 Bent Nørregaard-Jensen 3,1,2,2,2 105 Reidar Eide ef,2,3,3,196 Kari Vuoristo 0,2,2,2,3 97 Øyvind S. Berg 2,1,3,1,188 Edgar Stangeland 2,3,0,1,2 89 Preben Rosenkilde 1,1,0,3,2 710 Jan Terje Gravningen 1,3,2,0,ef 611 Ulf Lovaas 1,ef,-,2,3 612 Kaj Kristensen 3,0,1,0,1 513 Pekka Paljakka 1,0,1,1,1414 Svein Lokken 2,1,1,0,0415 Kjell Gimre 0,2,1,0,0 316 Nils Nilsen ef,-,-,-,-0R1 Antti Eklund f,0,0,1,0 1

Fifth round Swedish qualification Top 5 in each heat to Swedish final

(1 May, Gamla Galgberget Visby)PosRider Points 1 Christer Löfqvist 152 Bengt Jansson 123 Tomas Pettersson 124 Sven Nilsson115 Hasse Holmqvist 116 Tommy Nilsson 9+37 Bengt Larsson 9+28 Lars-Åke Andersson 89 Roy Dantanus 810 Jan Johansson 711 Sven-Olov Lindh412 Benny Ekberg 413 Willy Karlsson 414 Rolf Johansson 215 Åke Andersson 216 Claes-Ingvar Svensson 117 Kjell Bergström 1

(1 May, Målilla (Motorbana)Målilla)PosRider Points 1 Tommy Johansson 152 Bo Wirebrand 123 Christer Sjösten 114 Tommy Jansson 105 Sören Karlsson 106 Käll Haage 97 Olle Nygren 78 Berndt Johansson 79 Leif Johansson 710 Richard Hellsén 611 Eddie Davidsson612 Tommy Wedén 613 Hans Johansson 614 Karl-Fredrik Lindgren 415 Ragnar Holm 216 Kenneth Selmosson 117 Stefan Hjort 1

(1 May, Gislaved MotorbanaGislaved)PosRider Points 1 Sören Sjösten 152 Bernt Persson 143 Therje Henriksson 124 Leif Enecrona115 Karl-Erik Claesson 116 Stephan Johansson 107 Lars Jansson 98 Stefan Salmonsson 89 Lars Larsson 610 Börje Klingberg 511 Peter Smith 512 Lars-Inge Hultberg 513 Conny Samuelsson 414 Leif Mellberg 215 Åke Dovhed 216 Anders Lövgren 117 Sven-Erik Andersson 018 Håkan Karlsson 0

Continental Final 23 June 1974 Anatoly Stepanov Stadium, Tolyatti First 8 to European Final

British/Commonwealth/Nordic Final 4 August 1974 Speedway Center, Fredericia First 8 to European Final

Sixth round Swedish Finals Top 5 from 3 meetings progress to World final R1 (28 May, Gubbängens IP, Stockholm) R2 (29 May, Norrköping Motorstadion, Norrköping) R3 (30 May, Ullevi, Gothenburg) Pos. RiderR1R2 R3 Total1Anders Michanek121515422Sören Sjösten151412413Christer Löfqvist121211354Bengt Jansson11814335Tommy Johansson 111210336Tommy Jansson10913327Sören Karlsson5117238Hasse Holmqvist896239Tommy Pettersson 79622 10Bernt Persson95620Pos. RiderR1R2 R3 Total11Bo Wirebrand7451512Christer Sjösten4551413Karl-Erik Claesson125814Sven Nilsson422815Stephan Johansson122516Tommy Nilsson32-517Käll Haage--2118Therje Henriksson000019Leif Enecrona0--0

European Final Top 11 to World final 31 August 1974 Wembley Stadium, London

World Final 6 September 1974 Ullevi, Gothenburg.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.

References

External links

The event at SVT's open archive