1973 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
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The 1973 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 25th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
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] 1973 marked the first year that most of the top competitors joined Agostini in boycotting the Isle of Man TT event over safety concerns.[2]
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
- Footnotes
- 1 2 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
Scoring system
Points were awarded to the top ten finishers in each race. Only the best of five results were counted in the Sidecars championship, while only the best of four results were counted in the in the 50cc championship. The best of seven results were counted in the 125cc championship while only the top six results were counted in the 250cc, 350cc and 500cc championships.[1]
(key)
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
500cc final standings
| Place | Rider | Team | Machine | FRA |
AUT |
GER |
NAC |
MAN |
YUG |
HOL  |
BEL  |
CZE |
SWE |
FIN |
ESP |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Phil Read |
MV Agusta | MV500 | 2 | Ret | 1 | DNS | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 84 | ||
| 2 |  Kim Newcombe |
König | König 500 | 5 | 3 | Ret | 1 | 2 | 4 | Ret | 3 | 4 | Ret | 63 | ||
| 3 | Giacomo Agostini |
MV Agusta | MV500 | Ret | Ret | Ret | DNS | Ret | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Ret | 57 | ||
| 4 |  Werner Giger |
YZ634A | Ret | 6 | 2 | 5 | 6 | Ret | Ret | 5 | 7 | 3 | 44 | |||
| 5 |  Jack Findlay |
Suzuki | TR500 | 10 | Ret | Ret | 1 | Ret | 5 | 3 | 5 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 38 | |
| 6 | Bruno Kneubühler |
YZ634A | Ret | 9 | Ret | Ret | 3 | Ret | 3 | 2 | 34 | |||||
| 7 | Jarno Saarinen |
Yamaha NV | YZR500 | 1 | 1 | Ret | 30 | |||||||||
| 8 |  Hideo Kanaya |
Yamaha NV | YZR500 | 3 | 2 | Ret | 22 | |||||||||
| 9 | Ernst Hiller |
König | König 500 | 19 | Ret | 3 | Ret | 7 | 6 | 19 | ||||||
| Alex George |
Hermetite Ltd | YZ634A | Ret | 9 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 14 | Ret | Ret | 7 | 19 | ||||
| Billie Nelson |
YZ634A | 9 | 8 | 5 | Ret | 8 | 10 | Ret | 7 | 10 | Ret | 19 | ||||
| 12 | Christian Bourgeois |
YZ634A | Ret | 3 | Ret | Ret | 6 | 9 | Ret | 17 | ||||||
| Eric Offenstadt |
Kawasaki-France | H1R-RW | 7 | Ret | 9 | Ret | 4 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 17 | |||||
| 14 | Guido Mandracci |
TR500 | 6 | 4 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 15 | ||||||
| 15 | Peter Williams |
Tom Arter | Matchless G50 | 2 | 15 | |||||||||||
| Steve Ellis |
YZ634A | 2 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 14 | ||||||||
| Bo Granath |
Husqvarna | 12 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 14 | 8 | Ret | 13 | 6 | 13 | |||||
| 18 | Paul Eickelberg |
König | König 500 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 14 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 5 | Ret | 10 | |||
| 19 | Gianfranco Bonera |
YZ634A | 3 | Ret | Ret | 10 | ||||||||||
| Seppo Kangasniemi |
YZ634A | 22 | 4 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 10 | |||||||||
| 21 |  Børge Nielsen |
YZ634A | Ret | Ret | Ret | 4 | 10 | 9 | ||||||||
| Georg Pohlmann |
YZ634A | 4 | 10 | 9 | ||||||||||||
| 23 | Christian Léon |
Kawasaki-France | H1R-RW | 4 | 8 | |||||||||||
| Wil Hartog |
YZ634A | 4 | 8 | |||||||||||||
| Chas Mortimer |
YZ634A | Ret | 15 | Ret | 11 | 4 | 8 | |||||||||
| Marcel Ankoné |
YZ634A | 9 | 5 | 8 | ||||||||||||
| 27 | Roberto Gallina |
YZ634A | Ret | 5 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 6 | |||||||
| Michel Rougerie |
Aermacchi-Harley Davidson | RR500 | Ret | Ret | 5 | 6 | ||||||||||
| Roger Nichols |
TWS-Suzuki | TR500 | 5 | 6 | ||||||||||||
| 30 | Reinhard Hiller |
König | König 500 | Ret | Ret | 6 | Ret | Ret | 5 | |||||||
| Dave Hughes |
Tom Arter | Matchless G50 | 6 | 5 | ||||||||||||
| Bohumil Staša |
YZ634A | 6 | Ret | 5 | ||||||||||||
| 33 | Mario Lega |
YZ634A | 7 | Ret | 4 | |||||||||||
| Gyula Marsovszky |
YZ634A | Ret | Ret | 7 | Ret | 13 | Ret | Ret | 4 | |||||||
| Donnie Robinson |
Crooks-Suzuki | TR500 | 7 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Peter Stocksiefen |
TR500 | 7 | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Derek Chatterton |
YZ634A | Ret | 7 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Peter van der Wal |
YZ634A | 8 | 10 | Ret | 4 | |||||||||||
| Sven Gunnarsson |
H1R-RW | 15 | 11 | 10 | Ret | 15 | Ret | 8 | Ret | Ret | 4 | |||||
| 40 | Jean-François Baldé |
YZ634A | 8 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Derek Lee |
TR500 | 18 | 13 | 8 | 16 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Ivan Carlsson |
YZ634A | Ret | Ret | Ret | 8 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Udo Kochansk |
König | König 500 | 8 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| John Taylor |
Seeley TR500 | 8 | 3 | |||||||||||||
| 45 | Ted Jansen |
König | König 500 | 9 | Ret | 2 | ||||||||||
| Selwyn Griffiths |
Ray Cowles Motorcycles | Matchless G50 | 9 | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Jean Paul Boinet |
H1R-RW | 9 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Lothar John |
TR500 | Ret | 15 | 12 | 9 | Ret | 2 | |||||||||
| 49 | Graham Bailey |
H1R-RW | 10 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Bo Brolin |
TR500 | 10 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Hans Maxwald |
Rotax | 11 | 10 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 1 | |||||||||
| Jerome Van Halter |
TR500 | 10 | 18 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| - | Charlie Sanby |
TR500 | 3 | - | ||||||||||||
| Place | Rider | Team | Machine | FRA |
AUT |
GER |
NAC |
MAN |
YUG |
HOL |
BEL |
CZE |
SWE |
FIN |
ESP |
Pts |
| Sources:[1][3][4][5]
Notes: The 1973 500cc Nations Grand Prix was cancelled after the deaths of Saarinen and Pasolini in the 350 race.[1] The major factory teams refused to participate in the Yugoslavian Grand Prix in a dispute over safety conditions at the Opatija Circuit.[1] Charlie Sanby scored a third-place result at the 1973 Isle of Man Senior TT but is not classified in the FIM championship final standings.[2] | ||||||||||||||||
1973 350 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Noyes, Dennis; Scott, Michael (1999), Motocourse: 50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix, Hazleton Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1-874557-83-7
- 1 2 "1973 Isle of Man TT summary". iomtt.com. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- 1 2 "1973 500cc World Championship race results". motogp.com. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- 1 2 "1973 500cc World Championship race results". motorsportmagazine.com. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- ↑ "500cc Grand Prix entry lists for 1972 to 1975". f1network.net. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- 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.
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