1974 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Racing world cup
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1974 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 26th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
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Season summary
MV Agusta and Phil Read claimed a second successive 500cc crown. It would be the Italian firm's last world championship and their seventeenth 500cc title in a row.[1] Giacomo Agostini switched to the two-stroke Yamahas but was troubled by injuries and mechanical troubles.[1] Suzuki started to get competitive with Barry Sheene and Jack Findlay on four cylinder two-strokes.[1] MV Agusta pulled out of the 350cc class, giving Agostini a free run, taking his fourteenth world title.[1] Walter Villa took over for the deceased Renzo Pasolini and won the 250cc crown giving Harley-Davidson the title after they bought the Aermacchi factory, reworked and renamed the bikes.[1] Kent Andersson won his second championship title in the 125cc class. Kreidler continued to dominate the 50cc class with Dutchman Henk Van Kessel winning the crown.[1]
Safety continued to be an issue with most riders boycotting the rainy German round at the improved Nürburgring Nordschleife as the track had not been fitted with straw bales to accommodate automobile racing on the same day.[1] Thus, rather unknown German riders took all wins. It served as a focal point in the increasingly bitter debate about safety.[1] British rider Billie Nelson died after crashing into the crowd during the 250cc Yugoslavian Grand Prix, injuring several spectators.[2] He died later that night at a hospital.[2]
1974 Grand Prix season calendar
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 in the 50cc, 125cc, 250cc, 350cc and 500cc championships, the best of six results were counted.[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 |
GER |
AUT |
NAC |
MAN |
HOL  |
BEL  |
SWE |
FIN |
CZE |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Phil Read |
MV Agusta | MV500 | 1 | DNS | Ret | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 82 | |
| 2 | Gianfranco Bonera |
MV Agusta | MV500 | 3 | DNS | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 69 | |
| 3 | Teuvo Länsivuori |
Yamaha Motor NV | YZR500 | 4 | DNS | Ret | 2 | 2 | Ret | 1 | 3 | 3 | 67 | |
| 4 | Giacomo Agostini |
Yamaha Motor NV | YZR500 | Ret | DNS | 1 | Ret | 1 | 2 | Ret | 6 | 47 | ||
| 5 |  Jack Findlay |
Suzuki GB | RG500 | 12 | DNS | 4 | 4 | Ret | Ret | 5 | Ret | 4 | 7 | 34 |
| 6 | Barry Sheene |
Suzuki GB | RG500 | 2 | DNS | 3 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 4 | 30 | ||
| 7 | Dieter Braun |
Mitsui Maschinen | YZ634A | Ret | 5 | 3 | 5 | 22 | ||||||
| 8 | Pentti Korhonen |
Arwidson Yamaha | YZ634A | DNS | Ret | 21 | 7 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 22 | ||
| 9 | Billie Nelson |
YZ634A | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | Ret | 18 | 6 | Ret | 13 | 21 | ||
| 10 | Charlie Williams |
H. Dugdale Motors | Maxton-Yamaha | 2 | 5 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 18 | |||||
| 11 | John Williams |
Gerald E. Brown | Maxton-Yamaha | 7 | DNS | 8 | Ret | 10 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 18 | ||
| 12 | Helmut Kassner |
YZ634A | 2 | 12 | 6 | 20 | 17 | |||||||
| 13 | Karl Auer |
Teppichland | YZ634A | DNS | 6 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 5 | 10 | 17 | 17 | ||
| 14 | Phil Carpenter |
Norman Ball | TZ350 | 1 | 15 | |||||||||
| Edmund Czihak |
Zweirad | YZ634A | 1 | 15 | ||||||||||
| 16 | Michel Rougerie |
Aermacchi-Harley Davidson | RR500 | 5 | DNS | Ret | 6 | 8 | 14 | |||||
| 17 |  Werner Giger |
YZ634A | Ret | Ret | 7 | 9 | Ret | 7 | 8 | 13 | ||||
| 18 | Walter Kaletsch |
YZ634A | 19 | 3 | 10 | |||||||||
| Tony Rutter |
Bob Priest | YZ634A | 3 | 10 | ||||||||||
| 20 | Christian Léon |
Elf Kawasaki-France | H1R-RW | 13 | 9 | 8 | Ret | 7 | 9 | |||||
| 21 | Udo Kochanski |
König | König 500 | 4 | 8 | |||||||||
| Billie Guthrie |
Danfay-Yamaha | YZ634A | 4 | 8 | ||||||||||
| Patrick Pons |
Sonauto-Yamaha | YZR500 | Ret | 4 | Ret | 8 | ||||||||
| 24 | Roberto Gallina |
YZ634A | 5 | 6 | ||||||||||
| Paul Cott |
YZ634A | 5 | 6 | |||||||||||
| 26 |  Victor Palomo |
YZ634A | Ret | Ret | 8 | Ret | 8 | DNS | 11 | 6 | ||||
| 27 | Alex George |
Hermetite Ltd | YZ634A | Ret | 6 | Ret | 13 | Ret | 12 | Ret | Ret | 5 | ||
| 28 | Chas Mortimer |
YZ634A | 8 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 10 | 4 | ||||||
| 29 | Paul Eickelberg |
König | König 500 | DNS | 9 | Ret | 12 | 9 | Ret | Ret | 4 | |||
| 30 | Pete McKinley |
YZ634A | 8 | 3 | ||||||||||
| 31 | Selwyn Griffiths |
Ray Cowles Motorcycles | Matchless G50 | 9 | 2 | |||||||||
| Philippe Coulon |
YZ634A | 9 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Ramon Jimenez |
YZ634A | 9 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Tom Herron |
Thermo King | YZ634A | 11 | 15 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 2 | ||||||
| 35 | Jean Paul Boinet |
YZ634A | Ret | 10 | Ret | 14 | 1 | |||||||
| Geoff Barry |
YZ634A | 10 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Philippe Gerard |
YZ634A | 10 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Place | Rider | Team | Machine | FRA |
GER |
AUT |
NAC |
MAN |
HOL |
BEL |
SWE |
FIN |
CZE |
Pts |
| Sources:[1][3][4][5][6] | ||||||||||||||
1974 350 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings
| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giacomo Agostini |
1 | Italy | Yamaha | 75 | 5 |
| 2 | Dieter Braun |
8 | West Germany | Yamaha | 62 | 0 |
| 3 | Patrick Pons |
France | Yamaha | 47 | 0 | |
| 4 | John Dodds |
4 | Australia | Yamaha | 31 | 1 |
| 5 | Chas Mortimer |
United Kingdom | Yamaha | 29 | 0 | |
| 6 | Teuvo Lansivuori |
Finland | Yamaha | 27 | 1 | |
| 7 | Pentti Korhonen |
10 | Finland | Yamaha | 25 | 0 |
| 7 | Michel Rougerie |
France | Harley-Davidson | 25 | 0 | |
| 9 |  Víctor Palomo |
Spain | Yamaha | 24 | 1 | |
| 10 | Billie Nelson |
5 | United Kingdom | Yamaha | 21 | 0 |
| 11 | Eddie Grant | 18 | ||||
| 12 | Bruno Kneubühler | 17 | ||||
| 13 | Tony Rutter | 16 | ||||
| 14 | Helmut Kassner | 15 | ||||
| 15 | Olivier Chevallier | 15 | ||||
| 16 | Walter Villa | 15 | ||||
| 17 | W.Stephan | 12 | ||||
| 18 | Mario Lega | 12 | ||||
| 19 | Christian Bourgeois | 11 | ||||
| 20 | Paul Cott | 10 | ||||
| 21 | Franz Weidacher | 10 | ||||
| 22 | Tom Herron | 10 | ||||
| 23 | Kjell Solberg | 9 | ||||
| 24 | Karl Auer | 9 | ||||
| 25 | Alex George | 8 | ||||
| 26 | Walter Kaletsch | 8 | ||||
| 27 | Werner Giger | 8 | ||||
| 28 | F.V. Henderson | 8 | ||||
| 29 | John Williams | 7 | ||||
| 30 | Tapio Virtanen | 6 | ||||
| 31 | Alfred Heck | 6 | ||||
| 32 | Hans Mühlebach | 5 | ||||
| 33 | Giovanni Proni | 5 | ||||
| 34 | Billie Guthrie | 5 | ||||
| 35 | Winfried Fries | 5 | ||||
| 36 | G.Elementi | 4 | ||||
| 37 | Tony Rogers | 4 | ||||
| 38 | Udo Kochanski | 4 | ||||
| 39 | R.Jimenez | 4 | ||||
| 40 | John Newbold | 4 | ||||
| 41 | Wolfgang Rubel | 3 | ||||
| 42 | Ulrich Graf | 3 | ||||
| 43 | Roger Nichols | 3 | ||||
| 44 | G.Debrok | 3 | ||||
| 45 | Phil Gurner | 2 | ||||
| 46 | Nico Van Der Zanden | 2 | ||||
| 47 | Adu Celso | 2 | ||||
| 48 | Hans Dittberner | 2 | ||||
| 49 | Armando Toracca | 1 | ||||
| 50 | Noel Clegg | 1 | ||||
1974 250 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings
| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walter Villa |
Italy | Aermacchi Harley-Davidson | 77 | 4 | |
| 2 | Dieter Braun |
1 | West Germany | Yamaha | 58 | 0 |
| 3 | Patrick Pons |
6 | France | Yamaha | 50 | 0 |
| 4 |  Takazumi Katayama |
Japan | Yamaha | 43 | 1 | |
| 5 | Bruno Kneubühler |
9 | Switzerland | Yamaha | 43 | 0 |
| 6 | Chas Mortimer |
6 | United Kingdom | Yamaha | 41 | 1 |
| 7 | John Dodds |
3 | Australia | Yamaha | 38 | 1 |
| 8 | Kent Andersson |
Sweden | Yamaha | 34 | 1 | |
| 9 | Michel Rougerie |
5 | France | Aermacchi-Harley-Davidson | 21 | 0 |
| 10 | Mick Grant |
United Kingdom | Yamaha | 18 | 0 | |
| 10 | Pentti Korhonen |
4 | Finland | Yamaha | 18 | 0 |
| 12 | Charlie Williams | 15 | ||||
| 13 | Helmut Kassner | 15 | ||||
| 14 | Tom Herron | 14 | ||||
| 15 | Hans Mühlebach | 13 | ||||
| 16 | Horst Lahfeld | 12 | ||||
| 17 | Rolf Minhoff | 11 | ||||
| 18 | Victor Palomo | 11 | ||||
| 19 | Harry Hoffman | 10 | ||||
| 20 | Kenny Roberts | 10 | ||||
| 21 | Tony Rutter | 10 | ||||
| 22 | Fritz Reitmaier | 8 | ||||
| 23 | Giovanni Proni | 8 | ||||
| 24 | Matti Salonen | 7 | ||||
| 25 | Olivier Chevallier | 7 | ||||
| 26 | Janos Reisz | 6 | ||||
| 27 | Tapio Virtanen | 6 | ||||
| 28 | Pete McKinley | 5 | ||||
| 29 | Alfred Heck | 5 | ||||
| 30 | Armando Toracca | 5 | ||||
| 31 | Jean Louis Guignabodet | 4 | ||||
| 32 | Ian Richards | 4 | ||||
| 33 | Reinhard Scholtis | 4 | ||||
| 34 | Tierry Tchernine | 4 | ||||
| 35 | H.Kittler | 3 | ||||
| 36 | Gerry Mateer | 3 | ||||
| 37 | Paolo Pileri | 3 | ||||
| 38 | Alex George | 2 | ||||
| 39 | G.Forderer | 2 | ||||
| 40 | A.Van Den Broecke | 2 | ||||
| 41 | Brian Warburton | 2 | ||||
| 42 | John Williams | 2 | ||||
| 43 | Leif Gustafsson | 2 | ||||
| 44 | Jean Paul Boinet | 1 | ||||
| 45 | Barry Randle | 1 | ||||
| 46 | Kjell Solberg | 1 | ||||
1974 125 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings
| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kent Andersson |
1 | Sweden | Yamaha | 87 | 5 |
| 2 | Bruno Kneubühler |
Switzerland | Yamaha | 63 | 1 | |
| 3 | Angel Nieto |
7 | Spain | Derbi | 60 | 2 |
| 4 | Otello Buscherini |
6 | Italy | Malanca | 60 | 0 |
| 5 | Henk van Kessel |
Netherlands | Bridgestone | 30 | 0 | |
| 6 | Thierry Tchernine |
France | Yamaha | 25 | 0 | |
| 7 | Harald Bartol |
Austria | Suzuki | 23 | 0 | |
| 8 | Leif Gustafsson |
4 | Sweden | Maico | 23 | 0 |
| 9 | Benjamin Grau |
Spain | Derbi | 21 | 1 | |
| 10 | Gert Bender |
West Germany | Bender | 20 | 0 | |
1974 50 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings
| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henk van Kessel |
5 | Netherlands | Van Veen Kreidler | 90 | 6 |
| 2 | Herbert Rittberger |
West Germany | Kreidler | 65 | 1 | |
| 3 | Julien van Zeebroeck |
Belgium | Kreidler | 59 | 1 | |
| 4 | Gerhard Thurow |
4 | West Germany | Kreidler | 57 | 1 |
| 5 | Rudolf Kunz |
9 | West Germany | Kreidler | 52 | 0 |
| 6 | Ulrich Graf |
7 | West Germany | Kreidler | 44 | 0 |
| 7 | Jan Bruins |
Netherlands | Jamathi | 27 | 0 | |
| 8 | Otello Buscherini |
8 | Italy | Malanca | 26 | 0 |
| 9 | Stefan Dörflinger |
Switzerland | Kreidler | 25 | 0 | |
| 10 | Jan Huberts |
8 | Netherlands | Van Veen Kreidler | 25 | 0 |