1974 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

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This article recaps the 1974 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season.

[edit] 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. Giacomo Agostini switched to the two-stroke Yamahas but was troubled by injuries and mechanical troubles. Suzuki started to get competitive with Barry Sheene and Jack Findlay on four cylinder two-strokes. MV Agusta pulled out of the 350cc class giving Agostini a free run, taking his fourteenth world title. Walter Villa won the 250cc crown giving Harley-Davidson the title after they bought the Aermacchi factory and renamed the bikes. Kent Andersson won his second 125cc championship title in the 125cc class. Kreidler continued to dominate the 50cc class with Dutchman Henk Van Kessel winning the crown.

Safety continued to be an issue with most riders boycotting the rainy German round over the lack of straw bales. It served as a focal point in the increasingly bitter debate about safety.

[edit] 500 cc Season review

Round	Race	Location	Winning rider	Winning team	Report
1	French Grand Prix	Clermont-Ferrand	Phil Read	MV Agusta	Report
2	West German Grand Prix	Nürburgring	Edmund Czihak	Yamaha	Report
3	Austrian Grand Prix	Salzburgring	Giacomo Agostini	Yamaha	Report
4	Nations Grand Prix	Imola	Franco Bonera	MV Agusta	Report
5	Isle of Man TT	Isle of Man	Phil Carpenter	Yamaha	Report
6	Dutch TT	Assen	Giacomo Agostini	Yamaha	Report
7	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa	Phil Read	MV Agusta	Report
8	Swedish Grand Prix	Anderstorp	Teuvo Lansivuori	Yamaha	Report
9	Finnish Grand Prix	Imatra	Phil Read	MV Agusta	Report
10	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Brno	Phil Read	MV Agusta	Report

[edit] 1974 500 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Phil Read	1	United Kingdom	MV Agusta	82	4
2	Franco Bonera		Italy	MV Agusta	69	1
3	Teuvo Lansivuori		Finland	Yamaha	67	1
4	Giacomo Agostini	3	Italy	Yamaha	47	2
5	Jack Findlay	5	Australia	Suzuki	34	0
6	Barry Sheene		United Kingdom	Suzuki	30	0
7	Dieter Braun		West Germany	Yamaha	22	0
8	Pentti Korhonen		Finland	Yamaha	22	0
9	Billie Nelson		United Kingdom	Yamaha	21	0
10	Charlie Williams		United Kingdom	Yamaha	18	0

[edit] 350 cc Season review

Round	Race	Location	Winning rider	Winning team	Report
1	French Grand Prix	Clermont-Ferrand	Giacomo Agostini	Yamaha	Report
2	West German Grand Prix	Nürburgring	Helmut Kassner	Yamaha	Report
3	Austrian Grand Prix	Salzburgring	Giacomo Agostini	Yamaha	Report
4	Nations Grand Prix	Imola	Giacomo Agostini	Yamaha	Report
5	Isle of Man TT	Isle of Man	Tony Rutter	Yamaha	Report
6	Dutch TT	Assen	Giacomo Agostini	Yamaha	Report
7	Swedish Grand Prix	Anderstorp	Teuvo Lansivuori	Yamaha	Report
8	Finnish Grand Prix	Imatra	John Dodds	Yamaha	Report
9	Yugoslavian Grand Prix	Opatija	Giacomo Agostini	Yamaha	Report
10	Spanish Grand Prix	Montjuich	Víctor Palomo	Yamaha	Report

[edit] 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

[edit] 250 cc Season review

Round	Race	Location	Winning rider	Winning team	Report
1	West German Grand Prix	Nürburgring	Helmut Kassner	Yamaha	Report
2	Nations Grand Prix	Imola	Walter Villa	Harley-Davidson	Report
3	Isle of Man TT	Isle of Man	Charlie Williams	Yamaha	Report
4	Dutch TT	Assen	Walter Villa	Harley-Davidson	Report
5	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa	Kent Andersson	Yamaha	Report
6	Swedish Grand Prix	Anderstorp	Takazumi Katayama	Yamaha	Report
7	Finnish Grand Prix	Imatra	Walter Villa	Harley-Davidson	Report
8	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Brno	Walter Villa	Harley-Davidson	Report
9	Yugoslavian Grand Prix	Opatija	Chas Mortimer	Yamaha	Report
10	Spanish Grand Prix	Montjuich	John Dodds	Yamaha	Report

[edit] 1974 250 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Walter Villa		Italy	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	Harley-Davidson	21	0
10	Mick Grant		United Kingdom	Yamaha	18	0
10	Pentti Korhonen	4	Finland	Yamaha	18	0

[edit] 125 cc Season review

Round	Race	Location	Winning rider	Winning team	Report
1	French Grand Prix	Clermont-Ferrand	Kent Andersson	Yamaha	Report
2	West German Grand Prix	Nürburgring	Fritz Reitmaier	Maico	Report
3	Austrian Grand Prix	Salzburgring	Kent Andersson	Yamaha	Report
4	Nations Grand Prix	Imola	Angel Nieto	Derbi	Report
5	Dutch TT	Assen	Bruno Kneubühler	Yamaha	Report
6	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa	Angel Nieto	Derbi	Report
8	Swedish Grand Prix	Anderstorp	Kent Andersson	Yamaha	Report
9	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Brno	Kent Andersson	Yamaha	Report
10	Yugoslavian Grand Prix	Opatija	Kent Andersson	Yamaha	Report
11	Spanish Grand Prix	Montjuich	Benjamin Grau	Derbi	Report

[edit] 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

[edit] 50 cc Season review

Round	Race	Location	Winning rider	Winning team	Report
1	French Grand Prix	Clermont-Ferrand	Henk van Kessel	Kreidler	Report
2	West German Grand Prix	Nürburgring	Ingo Emmerich	Kreidler	Report
3	Nations Grand Prix	Imola	Henk van Kessel	Kreidler	Report
4	Dutch TT	Assen	Herbert Rittberger	Kreidler	Report
5	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa	Gerhard Thurow	Kreidler	Report
6	Swedish Grand Prix	Anderstorp	Henk van Kessel	Kreidler	Report
7	Finnish Grand Prix	Imatra	Julien van Zeebroeck	Kreidler	Report
8	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Brno	Henk van Kessel	Kreidler	Report
9	Yugoslavian Grand Prix	Opatija	Henk van Kessel	Kreidler	Report
10	Spanish Grand Prix	Montjuich	Henk van Kessel	Kreidler	Report

[edit] 1974 50 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Henk van Kessel	5	Netherlands	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	Kreidler	25	0

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