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1975 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:43, 1 September 2021

The 1975 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 27th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.

Season summary

1975 represented a changing of the guard in Grand Prix motorcycle racing, both for riders as well as machines. Giacomo Agostini would claim his final 500cc World Championship aboard a Yamaha two-stroke machine.^[1] This would also mark the first time a two-stroke machine had won the premier division.^[1]

Angel Nieto claimed his fourth world title for Kreidler in the 50cc class.^[1] In the 125cc division, the Morbidellis of Pileri and Bianchi dominated, finishing first and second in six of the ten events.^[1] Despite Michel Rougerie scoring more points, his Harley-Davidson teammate Walter Villa would take the 250cc title because of the "best of six finishes" rule.^[1] Nineteen-year-old newcomer Johnny Cecotto made an impressive debut at the season opening French Grand Prix where, he won the 250cc and 350cc races.^[2] He went on to claim the 350cc title, becoming the youngest-ever FIM World Champion at the time.^[1]

In the premier division, MV Agusta with Phil Read aboard, refused to go down easily. The Championship was not resolved until the tenth and final round in Czechoslovakia, when Agostini emerged triumphant to claim his fifteenth world title and the first in the premier 500cc class for a two-stroke motorcycle.^[1] Barry Sheene would also serve notice that he was an up and comer with victories at Assen and Sweden. The writing was on the wall for four-stroke machinery as eight of the top ten riders in the points standings were aboard two-stroke machines.^[1]

1975 Grand Prix season calendar

Round	Date	Race	Location	50cc winner	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Report
1	March 30	French Grand Prix	Paul Ricard		Kent Andersson	Johnny Cecotto	Johnny Cecotto	Giacomo Agostini	Report
2	April 20	Spanish Grand Prix	Jarama	Angel Nieto	Paolo Pileri	Walter Villa	Giacomo Agostini		Report
3	May 4	Austrian Grand Prix	Salzburgring		Paolo Pileri		Hideo Kanaya	Hideo Kanaya	Report
4	May 11	German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring	Angel Nieto	Paolo Pileri	Walter Villa	Johnny Cecotto	Giacomo Agostini	Report
5	May 18	Nations Grand Prix	Imola	Angel Nieto	Paolo Pileri	Walter Villa	Johnny Cecotto	Giacomo Agostini	Report
6	June 6	Isle of Man TT	Snaefell Mountain			Chas Mortimer	Charlie Williams	Mick Grant	Report
7	June 28	Dutch TT	Assen	Angel Nieto	Paolo Pileri	Walter Villa	Dieter Braun	Barry Sheene	Report
8	July 6	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa	Julien van Zeebroeck	Paolo Pileri	Johnny Cecotto		Phil Read	Report
9	July 20	Swedish Grand Prix	Anderstorp	Eugenio Lazzarini	Paolo Pileri	Walter Villa		Barry Sheene	Report
10	July 27	Finnish Grand Prix	Imatra	Angel Nieto		Michel Rougerie	Johnny Cecotto	Giacomo Agostini	Report
11	August 24	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Brno		Leif Gustafsson	Michel Rougerie	Otello Buscherini	Phil Read	Report
12	September 21	Yugoslavian Grand Prix	Opatija	Angel Nieto	Dieter Braun	Dieter Braun	Pentti Korhonen		Report

Participants

500cc participants

Team Constructor Motorcycle No. Rider Rounds MV Agusta MV Agusta ??? 0 1 2 Phil Read 1-4, 6-8, 10 2 4 Gianfranco Bonera 6, 8-9 41 18 20 Armando Toracca 1-2 Suzuki Suzuki 1 3 6 5 8 Teuvo Länsivuori 1-3, 6, 9-10 Heron Suzuki GB Suzuki Suzuki RG 500 7 6 9 12 Barry Sheene 6-8 ??? 90 14 27 John Newbold 4, 6-7 Yamaha Yamaha 2 4 8 Giacomo Agostini 1-4, 6-10 3 22 11 Hideo Kanaya 1-4 Arwidson 5 22 7 Pentti Korhonen 8 ??? 5 10 52 Jack Findlay 2-4, 6-9 6 Charlie Williams 5 Suzuki 9 75 Stan Woods 3-4 Yamaha 10 12 7 26 9 10 Karl Auer 1-2, 6, 10 Gerald Brown 10 28 8 John Williams 5-8 Kawasaki/GB Kawasaki 10 29 88 11 Mick Grant 5 ??? Suzuki 18 Armando Toracca 4 Yamaha 19 24 11 Chas Mortimer 5, 9-10 Hermetite Ltd 20 63 12 46 14 15 Alex George 1-4, 7, 10 ??? Harley-Davidson 21 Michel Rougerie 1 Yamaha 23 Peter McKinley 1 26 Christian Léon 3 König 38 10 28 36 Horst Lahfeld 2, 9 Yamaha 44 12 27 Steve Ellis 9 Gauloises 46 38 Olivier Chevallier 10 64 51 10 Patrick Pons 1 ??? 48 14 6 Dieter Braun 2-3, 8 König König 69 Christian Léon 7 ??? Yamaha 93 Thierry Tchernine 2, 4, 7 ??? Billie Guthrie 5 ??? Steve Tonkin 5 Source: [3]

Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider

Final standings

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top ten finishers in each race. Only the best of five races were counted on 50cc and Sidecars championships, while in the 125cc, 250cc, 350cc and 500cc championships, the best of seven races were counted.

500cc standings

Pos Rider Bike FRA AUT GER NAC MAN HOL BEL SWE FIN CZE Pts 1 Giacomo Agostini Yamaha 1 Ret 1 1 2 Ret Ret 1 2 84 2 Phil Read MV Agusta 3 3 2 2 3 1 2 Ret 1 76 3 Hideo Kanaya Yamaha 2 1 4 3 45 4 Teuvo Länsivuori Suzuki Ret 2 3 5 2 Ret 40 5 John Williams Yamaha Ret Ret 2 7 5 3 Ret Ret 36 6 Barry Sheene Suzuki Ret Ret 1 Ret 1 Ret Ret 30 7 Alex George Yamaha 9 9 8 6 Ret Ret 4 11 Ret 3 30 8 John Newbold Suzuki Ret 12 7 4 2 Ret 24 9 Armando Toracca MV Agusta 4 4 Ret 4 24 10 Jack Findlay Suzuki Ret Ret 10 Ret Ret 3 9 3 Ret 23 11 Chas Mortimer Yamaha Ret DNS 3 Ret Ret 4 6 23 12 Karl Auer Yamaha 8 7 Ret 9 Ret 4 17 13 Dieter Braun Yamaha Ret 6 6 Ret 5 16 14 Mick Grant Kawasaki 1 15 15 Gianfranco Bonera MV Agusta 6 Ret 4 Ret 13 16 Stan Woods Suzuki Ret 5 5 12 17 Horst Lahfeld König Ret 5 Ret Ret 6 Ret 11 18 Christian Leon König 7 Ret Ret 5 9 19 Billie Guthrie Yamaha 4 8 20 Olivier Chevallier Yamaha 6 21 Patrick Pons Yamaha 6 22 Steve Tonkin Yamaha 6 23 Steve Ellis Yamaha 6 24 Tierry Tchernine Yamaha 6 25 Pentti Korhonen Yamaha 5 26 Pete McKinley Yamaha 5 27 Geoff Barry Yamsel 5 28 Thierry Van Der Veken Yamaha 4 29 Charlie Williams Yamaha 4 30 Michel Rougerie Harley Davidson 4 31 Gerard Choukroun Yamaha 4 32 Marcel Ankone Suzuki 4 33 Alan North Harley Davidson 4 34 Edmar Ferreira Yamaha 3 35 Tom Herron Yamaha 3 36 Tony Rutter Yamaha 3 37 Francis Holleberg Yamaha 8 3 38 Hans Stadelmann Yamaha Ret 8 3 39 Johnny Bengtsson Yamaha 8 3 40 Hans Braumandl Yamaha 15 8 3 41 Bjorn Hasli Yamaha 17 9 2 42 Helmut Kassner Yamaha 13 13 13 9 11 Ret Ret 2 43 Borge W.Nielsen Yamaha Ret 9 2 44 Bernard Fau Yamaha Ret 9 Ret 2 45 Adu Celso Yamaha 12 Ret 9 2 46 Seppo Kangasniemi Yamaha 10 1 47 Pekka Nurmi Yamaha 20 10 1 48 Kjell Solberg Yamaha 10 1 49 Jean-François Baldé Yamaha 10 1 50 Anssi Resko Yamaha 10 1 51 Peter Van Der Wal Yamaha 10 1 52 Rudolph Keller Yamaha DNS 10 1 53 Les Kenny Yamaha 17 Ret 10 1 Pos Rider Bike FRA AUT GER NAC MAN HOL BEL SWE FIN CZE Pts 350cc standings Pos Rider Bike FRA SPA AUT GER NAC MAN HOL BEL SWE FIN CZE YUG Pts 1 Johnny Cecotto Yamaha 78 2 Giacomo Agostini Yamaha 59 3 Pentti Korhonen Yamaha 48 4 Dieter Braun Yamaha 47 5 Patrick Pons Yamaha 32 6 Chas Mortimer Yamaha 31 7 Gerard Choukroun Yamaha 28 8 Otello Buscherini Yamaha 27 9 Tom Herron Yamaha 26 10 Hideo Kanaya Yamaha 25 11 Víctor Palomo Yamaha 22 12 Alex George Yamaha 20 13 Philippe Coulon Yamaha 16 14 Charlie Williams Yamaha 15 15 Hans Stadelmann Yamaha 14 16 Jon Ekerold Yamaha 13 17 Olivier Chevallier Yamaha 12 18 Adu Celso Yamaha 12 19 Karl Auer Yamaha 12 20 Jean-Louis Guignabodet Yamaha 8 21 Bruno Kneubühler Yamaha 8 22 Steve Tonkin Yamaha 8 23 Christian Huguet Yamaha 6 24 Rudolf Kunz Yamaha 6 25 Derek Chatterton Yamaha 6 26 Billie Guthrie Yamaha 5 27 Anton Mang SMZ 5 28 Jean-François Baldé Yamaha 5 29 Wil Hartog Yamaha 5 30 Bill Henderson Yamaha 5 31 Giovanni Proni Yamaha 5 32 Marco Lucchinelli Yamaha 4 33 Mario Lega Yamaha 4 34 Gerry Mateer Yamaha 4 35 Max Wiener Yamaha 4 36 Tony Rutter Yamaha 3 37 Walter Villa Harley Davidson 3 38 Boet van Dulmen Yamaha 3 39 Tapio Virtanen Yamaha 3 40 Geoff Barry Yamaha 3 41 Pete McKinley Yamaha 3 42 Les Kenny Yamaha 2 43 Noel Clegg Yamaha 2 44 Guido Mandracci Yamaha 2 45 Janos Reisz Yamaha 2 46 Titer Balaz Yamaha 1 47 John Dodds Yamaha 1 48 Martin Sharpe Yamaha 1 49 John Williams Dugdale 1 50 Kjell Solberg Yamaha 1 250cc standings Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins 1 Walter Villa 1 Italy Aermacchi Harley-Davidson 85 5 2 Michel Rougerie 9 France Harley-Davidson 76 2 3 Dieter Braun 2 West Germany Yamaha 56 1 4 Johnny Cecotto 19 Venezuela Yamaha 54 2 5 Patrick Pons 3 France Yamaha 48 0 6 Chas Mortimer United Kingdom Yamaha 46 0 7 Otello Buscherini Italy Yamaha 40 0 8 Leif Gustafsson Sweden Yamaha 33 0 9 Bruno Kneubühler 5 Switzerland Yamaha 22 0 10 Tapio Virtanen Finland Yamaha 20 0 11 Víctor Palomo 18 12 Harald Bartol 18 13 Tom Herron 16 14 John Williams 15 15 Derek Chatterton 12 16 Ikujiro Takai 12 17 Benjamin Grau 10 18 Alex George 9 19 John Dodds 9 20 Pentti Korhonen 9 21 Tony Rutter 8 22 Rolf Minhoff 8 23 Edmar Ferreira 8 24 Paolo Pileri 6 25 Yvon Duhamel 6 26 Mario Lega 5 27 Gerard Choukroun 5 28 Bill Henderson 5 29 Neil Tuxworth 4 30 Olivier Chevallier 3 31 Duilio Agostini 3 32 Helmut Kassner 3 33 Nico Van Der Zanden 3 34 Pete McKinley 3 35 Jean Louis Guignabodet 2 36 Eddie Roberts 2 37 Horst Lahfeld 2 38 Vincenzo Cascino 1 39 Philippe Bouzanne 1 40 Clive Horton 1 41 Jean-François Baldé 1 125cc standings Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins 1 Paolo Pileri Italy Morbidelli 90 7 2 Pier Paolo Bianchi Italy Morbidelli 72 0 3 Kent Andersson 1 Sweden Yamaha 67 1 4 Leif Gustafsson 8 Sweden Yamaha 57 1 5 Eugenio Lazzarini Italy Piovaticci 47 0 6 Bruno Kneubühler 2 Switzerland Yamaha 43 0 7 Henk van Kessel Netherlands Condor 38 0 8 Harald Bartol 7 Austria Suzuki 21 0 9 Johan Zemzauer Austria Rotax 21 0 10 Pierluigi Conforti Italy Morbidelli 18 0 11 Dieter Braun 15 12 Hans Müller 14 13 Cees van Dongen 9 14 Peter Frohnmeyer 8 15 Jos Schurgers 6 16 Horst Seel 6 17 Maurice Maingret 5 18 Otello Buscherini 5 19 Matti Kinnunen 5 20 Oriol Fernandez 4 21 Gert Bender 4 22 Hans Hallberg 4 23 Matti Salonen 4 24 V.Novella 2 25 R.Cornelis 2 26 Alberto Ieva 2 27 J.Lazo 2 28 J.Svensson 2 29 Tierry Tchernine 2 30 R.Thiele 2 31 Xaver Tschannen 1 32 P.Van Niel 1 33 Ulrich Graf 1 34 Ivan Carlsson 1 35 Zbynek Havrda 1 36 Hans Hummel 1 37 M.Arias 1 50cc standings Pos Rider Bike SPA GER NAC HOL BEL SWE FIN YUG Pts 1 Angel Nieto Kreidler 75 2 Eugenio Lazzarini Piovaticci 61 3 Julien van Zeebroeck Kreidler 43 4 Rudolf Kunz Kreidler 37 5 Herbert Rittberger Kreidler 31 6 Stefan Dörflinger Kreidler 31 7 Nico Polane Kreidler 28 8 Gerhard Thurow Kreidler 21 9 Hans Hummel Kreidler 20 10 Claudio Lusuardi Derbi 16 11 Theo Timmer Jamathi 13 12 Henk van Kessel Kreidler 12 13 Aldo Pero Kreidler 10 14 Ulrich Graf Kreidler 10 15 Gerrit Strikker 8 16 Cees Van Dongen 8 17 Jan Huberts 5 18 Rolf Blatter 4 19 Ramon Gali 4 20 Walter Werner 4 21 Jaime Alguersuari Sr. 4 22 Theo Van Geffen 3 23 Karl Gotesson 3 24 Jan Bruins 3 25 Robert Laver 3 26 Cesare Guerrini 2 27 Ingo Emmerich 2 28 Joaquim Gali 1 29 Pierre Audry 1 30 Germano Zanetti 1 31 Günter Schirnhofer 1 References Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A. ISBN 2-940125-32-5 "The Official MotoGP website". Retrieved 2010-07-06. External links