1973 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

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

Season summary

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

Round Date Race Location 50cc winner 125cc winner 250cc winner 350cc winner 500cc winner Report
1 22 April France French Grand Prix Paul Ricard Sweden Kent Andersson Finland Jarno Saarinen Italy Giacomo Agostini Finland Jarno Saarinen Report
2 6 May Austria Austrian Grand Prix Salzburgring Sweden Kent Andersson Finland Jarno Saarinen Hungary János Drapál Finland Jarno Saarinen Report
3 13 May West Germany West German Grand Prix Hockenheimring Netherlands Theo Timmer Sweden Kent Andersson Finland Jarno Saarinen Finland Teuvo Länsivuori United Kingdom Phil Read Report
4 20 May Italy Nations Grand Prix Monza Netherlands Jan de Vries Sweden Kent Andersson Race cancelled[N 1] Italy Giacomo Agostini Race cancelled[N 1] Report
5 8 June United Kingdom Isle of Man TT Snaefell Mountain United Kingdom Tommy Robb United Kingdom Charlie Williams United Kingdom Tony Rutter Australia Jack Findlay Report
6 17 June Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavian Grand Prix Opatija Netherlands Jan de Vries Sweden Kent Andersson West Germany Dieter Braun Hungary János Drapál New Zealand Kim Newcombe Report
7 23 June Netherlands Dutch TT Assen Switzerland Bruno Kneubühler Italy Eugenio Lazzarini West Germany Dieter Braun Italy Giacomo Agostini United Kingdom Phil Read Report
8 1 July Belgium Belgian Grand Prix Spa Netherlands Jan de Vries Netherlands Jos Schurgers Finland Teuvo Länsivuori Italy Giacomo Agostini Report
9 15 July Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakian Grand Prix Brno Italy Otello Buscherini West Germany Dieter Braun Finland Teuvo Länsivuori Italy Giacomo Agostini Report
10 21 July Sweden Swedish Grand Prix Anderstorp Netherlands Jan de Vries Sweden Börje Jansson West Germany Dieter Braun Finland Teuvo Länsivuori United Kingdom Phil Read Report
11 29 July Finland Finnish Grand Prix Imatra Italy Otello Buscherini Finland Teuvo Länsivuori Italy Giacomo Agostini Italy Giacomo Agostini Report
12 23 September Spain Spanish Grand Prix Jarama Netherlands Jan de Vries United Kingdom Chas Mortimer Australia John Dodds Brazil Adu Celso-Santos United Kingdom 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

1973 500 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

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

1973 350 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

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

1973 250 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

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

1973 125 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

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

1973 50 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

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

References

  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.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1973_Grand_Prix_motorcycle_racing_season&oldid=1159235151"