1973 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

Summary

The 1973 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 25th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.

Season summary edit

MV Agusta teammates Phil Read and Giacomo Agostini battled it out for supremacy of the 500cc class but the season was overshadowed by the deaths of Jarno Saarinen and Renzo Pasolini at the Italian round at Monza.[1] The 500cc title runner-up, Kim Newcombe, also died at a non-championship race at Silverstone late in the year.[1] Agostini claimed his 13th championship in the 350cc class.[1] In the 250cc class, West German Dieter Braun won the crown for Yamaha. Kent Andersson gave Yamaha another title in the 125cc class while Kreidler dominated the 50cc class after the Derbi factory pulled out of racing with Dutchman Jan de Vries taking the crown.[1]

1973 Grand Prix season calendar edit

Round Date Race Location 50cc winner 125cc winner 250cc winner 350cc winner 500cc winner Report
1 22 April   French Grand Prix Paul Ricard   Kent Andersson   Jarno Saarinen   Giacomo Agostini   Jarno Saarinen Report
2 6 May   Austrian Grand Prix Salzburgring   Kent Andersson   Jarno Saarinen   János Drapál   Jarno Saarinen Report
3 13 May   West German Grand Prix Hockenheimring   Theo Timmer   Kent Andersson   Jarno Saarinen   Teuvo Länsivuori   Phil Read Report
4 20 May   Nations Grand Prix Monza   Jan de Vries   Kent Andersson Race cancelled[N 1]   Giacomo Agostini Race cancelled[N 1] Report
5 8 June   Isle of Man TT Snaefell Mountain   Tommy Robb   Charlie Williams   Tony Rutter   Jack Findlay Report
6 17 June   Yugoslavian Grand Prix Opatija   Jan de Vries   Kent Andersson   Dieter Braun   János Drapál   Kim Newcombe Report
7 23 June   Dutch TT Assen   Bruno Kneubühler   Eugenio Lazzarini   Dieter Braun   Giacomo Agostini   Phil Read Report
8 1 July   Belgian Grand Prix Spa   Jan de Vries   Jos Schurgers   Teuvo Länsivuori   Giacomo Agostini Report
9 15 July   Czechoslovakian Grand Prix Brno   Otello Buscherini   Dieter Braun   Teuvo Länsivuori   Giacomo Agostini Report
10 21 July   Swedish Grand Prix Anderstorp   Jan de Vries   Börje Jansson   Dieter Braun   Teuvo Länsivuori   Phil Read Report
11 29 July   Finnish Grand Prix Imatra   Otello Buscherini   Teuvo Länsivuori   Giacomo Agostini   Giacomo Agostini Report
12 23 September   Spanish Grand Prix Jarama   Jan de Vries   Chas Mortimer   John Dodds   Adu Celso-Santos   Phil Read Report
Footnotes
  1. ^ a b The 250cc race was stopped, following an accident on the first lap that resulted in the deaths of Jarno Saarinen and Renzo Pasolini. The race meeting was ultimately cancelled.

Final standings edit

1973 500 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings edit

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1   Phil Read United Kingdom MV Agusta 84 4
2   Kim Newcombe 10 New Zealand König 63 1
3   Giacomo Agostini 1 Italy MV Agusta 57 3
4   Werner Giger Switzerland Yamaha 44 0
5   Jack Findlay 8 Australia Suzuki 38 1
6   Bruno Kneubühler 3 Switzerland Yamaha 34 0
7   Jarno Saarinen 4 Finland Yamaha 30 2
8   Hideo Kanaya Japan Yamaha 22 0
9   Ernst Hiller West Germany König 19 0
10   Alex George United Kingdom Yamaha 19 0

1973 350 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings edit

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1   Giacomo Agostini 1 Italy MV Agusta 84 4
2   Teuvo Länsivuori 7 Finland Yamaha 77 3
3   Phil Read 5 United Kingdom MV Agusta 56 0
4   John Dodds Australia Yamaha 49 0
5   Billie Nelson United Kingdom Yamaha 38 0
6   Kent Andersson Sweden Yamaha 38 0
7   Adu Celso-Santos Brazil Yamaha 33 1
8   Dieter Braun 8 West Germany Yamaha 33 0
9   János Drapál Hungary Yamaha 30 2
10   Pentti Korhonen Finland Yamaha 25 0

1973 250 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings edit

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1   Dieter Braun West Germany Yamaha 80 4
2   Teuvo Länsivuori 5 Finland Yamaha 64 2
3   John Dodds 6 Australia Yamaha 58 1
4   Jarno Saarinen 1 Finland Yamaha 45 3
5   Michel Rougerie France Harley-Davidson 45 0
6   Chas Mortimer United Kingdom Yamaha 40 0
7   Hideo Kanaya 11 Japan Yamaha 36 0
8   Roberto Gallina Italy Yamaha 32 0
9   Bruno Kneubühler Switzerland Yamaha 28 0
10   Silvio Grassetti 4 Italy Yamaha 21 0

1973 125 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings edit

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1   Kent Andersson 2 Sweden Yamaha 99 5
2   Chas Mortimer United Kingdom Yamaha 75 1
3   Jos Schurgers 9 Netherlands Bridgestone 70 1
4   Börje Jansson 4 Sweden Maico 64 1
5   Eugenio Lazzarini Italy Maico 59 1
6   Otello Buscherini Italy Malanca 51 2
7   Angel Nieto Spain Morbidelli 46 0
8   Rolf Minhoff 4 West Germany Maico 42 0
9   Matti Salonen Finland Yamaha 32 0
10   Pentti Salonen Finland Yamaha 28 0

1973 50 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings edit

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1   Jan de Vries 2 Netherlands Kreidler 60 5
2   Bruno Kneubühler Switzerland Kreidler 51 1
3   Theo Timmer 3 Netherlands Jamathi 47 1
4   Gerhard Thurow West Germany Kreidler 36 0
5   Henk van Kessel Netherlands Kreidler 27 0
6   Herbert Rittberger West Germany Kreidler 22 0
7   Ulrich Graf Switzerland Kreidler 21 0
8   Jan Huberts 8 Netherlands Kreidler 21 0
9   Rudolf Kunz 9 West Germany Kreidler 14 0
10   Wolfgang Gedlich West Germany Kreidler 13 0

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Noyes, Dennis; Scott, Michael (1999), Motocourse: 50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix, Hazleton Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1-874557-83-7
  • Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A. ISBN 2-940125-32-5
  • "The Official MotoGP website". Archived from the original on 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2010-07-06.