1955 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

1955 F.I.M. Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
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The 1955 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 7th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of eight Grand Prix races in five classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on May 1, with Spanish Grand Prix and ended with Nations Grand Prix in Italy on September 4.

Contents

1955 Grand Prix season calendar

Round Date Grand Prix Circuit 125cc winner 250cc winner 350cc winner 500cc winner Sidecars 500cc winner Report
1 May 1 Spanish Grand Prix Montjuïc circuit Luigi Taveri Reg Armstrong Faust / Remmert Report
2 May 15 French Grand Prix Reims-Gueux Carlo Ubbiali Duilio Agostini Geoff Duke Report
3 June 10 Isle of Man TT Snaefell mountain course Carlo Ubbiali Bill Lomas Bill Lomas Geoff Duke Schneider / Strauß Report
4 June 26 German Grand Prix Nürburgring Carlo Ubbiali Hermann Paul Müller Bill Lomas Geoff Duke Faust / Remmert Report
5 July 3 Belgian Grand Prix Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Bill Lomas Giuseppe Colnago Noll / Cron Report
6 July 16 Dutch TT TT Circuit Assen Carlo Ubbiali Luigi Taveri Ken Kavanagh Geoff Duke Faust / Remmert Report
7 August 13 Ulster Grand Prix Dundrod Circuit John Surtees Bill Lomas Bill Lomas Report
8 September 4 Nations Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale Monza Carlo Ubbiali Carlo Ubbiali Dickie Dale Umberto Masetti Noll / Cron Report

Standings

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race. Only the four best races counted in the Sidecars, 125cc and 250cc, while in the 350cc and 500cc championships, the five best results were counted.

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th 
Points 8 6 4 3 2 1

500cc final standings

Pos Rider Bike ESP
FRA
MAN
GER
BEL
HOL
ULS
NAC
Pts
1 Geoff Duke Gilera Ret 1 1 1 Ret 1 3 36
2 Reg Armstrong Gilera 1 3 2 Ret Ret 2 2 30
3 Umberto Masetti MV Agusta 3 4 3 1 19
4 Giuseppe Colnago Gilera 7 5 1 Ret 4 13
5 Carlos Bandirola MV Agusta 2 11 3 Ret Ret 10
6 Bill Lomas Moto Guzzi 7 1 8
7 Pierre Monneret Gilera 10 2 Ret 6
8 John Hartle Norton 13 2 6
9 Libero Liberati Gilera 2 Ret 6
10 Walter Zeller BMW 2 6
11 Bob McIntyre Norton 5 4 5
12 Dickie Dale Moto Guzzi Ret 3 4
= Ken Kavanagh Moto Guzzi Ret 3 4
14 Léon Martin Gilera 3 4
15 Tito Forconi MV Agusta 6 4 Ret Ret 4
16 Duilio Agostini Moto Guzzi Ret 4 3
= Jack Brett Norton 4 Ret 3
18 Orlando Valdinoci Gilera 4 3
= Drikus Veer Gilera 4 3
20 Bob Brown Matchless 16 11 5 2
21 Alfredo Milani Gilera Ret 14 5 2
22 Peter Murphy Matchless Ret Ret Ret 5 2
23 Auguste Goffin Norton Ret Ret 5 2
24 Jacques Collot Norton 5 Ret 2
= Nello Pagani MV Agusta 5 Ret 2
26 Jack Ahearn Norton Ret 6 7 Ret Ret 1
27 Eddie Grant Matchless / Norton 14 16 6 1
28 John Clark Matchless Ret 6 1
= Ernst Riedelbauch BMW Ret 6 1
= John Storr Norton Ret 6 1
31 Firmin Dauwe Norton 6 1
= Derek Ennett Matchless 6 1
33 Hans-Günther Jäger Norton 7 8 0
= Eric Jones Norton 8 7 0
35 Florian Camathias Norton 7 Ret 0
= Gerold Klinger BMW Ret 7 0
37 Piet Bakker Norton 7 0
38 Len Aislabie Norton 20 Ret 8 Ret 0
39 Sven Andersson Norton Ret 8 Ret 0
40 William Hall Norton Ret 8 0
41 Marcel Beauvais Norton 8 0
= Alfredo Flores Norton 8 0
= Priem Rozenberg BMW 8 0
44 Bob Matthews Norton 11 9 Ret 11 0
45 Bill Collett Matchless 23 Ret 9 0
46 Derek Powell Matchless 9 Ret 0
= Percy Tait Norton Ret 9 0
48 Jean-Pierre Bayle Norton 9 0
= Enrico Galante Norton 9 0
= Kuno Johansson Matchless 9 0
51 Phil Heath Norton 14 13 10 Ret 0
52 Peter Davey Norton 10 Ret 0
= Ernst Hiller Matchless 10 Ret 0
= Maurice Low Triumph / BSA Ret 10 0
55 Artemio Cirelli Gilera 10 0
= Edouard Texidor Norton 10 0
56 Robin Fitton Norton Ret 11 Ret 0
= Piet Knijnenburg Matchless 11 0
= Ray Travers Norton 11 0
59 Malcolm Templeton Matchless 30 12 0
60 John Hempleman Norton Ret 12 Ret 0
61 Mike O'Rourke Norton 12 0
= Hans-Joachim Scheel Norton 12 0
63 Ken Tostevin Matchless Ret 13 0
64 Heinz Schreiber Norton 13 0
= Casper Swart Norton 13 0
66 Angus Martin Norton 40 14 0
67 Peter Davey Norton 14 0
68 Arthur Wheeler Matchless 17 15 Ret 0
69 Harry Pearce Matchless 15 0
= Karl-Heinz Scheifel Norton 15 0
= Gerrit Ten Kate Norton 15 0
= Harry Turner Norton 15 0
73 Ralph Rensen Norton 33 16 0
74 Frederick Cook Matchless 18 17 Ret Ret 0
75 Ernie Oliver Norton 17 0
76 Dick Knox Norton 18 0
77 Robert King Norton Ret 19 0
78 Ben Denton Norton 19 0
79 Ken Swallow Matchless 43 20 0
80 George Costain Norton 21 0
= Jimmy Hayes AJS 21 0
82 Roy Evans Matchless 22 0
= Ivor Lloyd Norton 22 0
84 Geoff Read Norton 24 0
85 Dave Chadwick Norton 25 Ret 0
86 Frank Perris Matchless 26 Ret 0
87 Eric Pantilin Norton 27 0
88 Albert Moule BSA 28 0
89 John Surtees Norton 29 Ret Ret 0
90 Bob Rowbottom Norton 31 0
91 George Catlin Norton 32 0
92 Philip Palmer BSA 34 0
93 Ken Tully Norton 35 0
94 Terry Shepherd Norton 36 0
95 Jack Bailey Norton 37 0
96 Bill Beevers Norton 38 0
97 Bill Robertson Norton 39 0
98 Joe Glazebrook Norton 41 0
99 Ray Fay BSA 42 0
100 Ralph Wijesinghe BSA 44 0
101 Walter Hancock BSA 45 0
102 Willie Wilshere Norton 46 0
103 Frank Norris Norton 47 0
- Tony McAlpine BMW Ret Ret Ret Ret 0
- Keith Campbell Norton Ret Ret Ret 0
- Chris Stormont BSA Ret Ret Ret 0
- Francis Flahaut Norton Ret Ret 0
- Ulf Gate Matchless Ret Ret 0
- Hans Haldemann Norton Ret Ret 0
- Dick Thomson Matchless Ret Ret 0
- Fergus Anderson Moto Guzzi Ret 0
- Fernando Aranda Norton Ret 0
- Bruno Böhrer Horex Ret 0
- Paolo Campanelli Gilera Ret 0
- Roly Capner BSA Ret 0
- Louis Carr Norton Ret 0
- Louis Carter Norton Ret 0
- Phil Carter Matchless Ret 0
- Eric Cheers Matchless Ret 0
- Franco Chinelli Gilera Ret 0
- Javier de Ortueta Norton Ret 0
- Rally Dean Norton Ret 0
- Stanley Dibben Norton Ret 0
- Anton Elbersen Norton Ret 0
- Lodovico Facchinelli Gilera Ret 0
- Luigi Folconi Moto Guzzi Ret 0
- Bob Ferguson AJS Ret 0
- Jack Forrest BMW Ret 0
- Frank Fox Norton Ret 0
- Martino Giani Gilera Ret 0
- Francisco González Norton Ret 0
- John Grace Norton Ret 0
- Francesco Guglielminetti Norton Ret 0
- Wilf Herron Norton Ret 0
- Eric Houseley Matchless Ret 0
- Roy Ingram Norton Ret 0
- Arnold Jones Matchless Ret 0
- Harald Karlsson Norton Ret 0
- Rudolf Knees Norton Ret 0
- George Leigh Norton Ret 0
- Robert McCracken Triumph Ret 0
- George Northwood BSA Ret 0
- Pierre Nicholas Norton Ret 0
- Tony Ovens Norton Ret 0
- Harry Plews Norton Ret 0
- Maurice Quincey Norton Ret 0
- Gerald Robarts Norton Ret 0
- Michael Roche Norton Ret 0
- Charlie Salt BSA Ret 0
- George Salt Matchless Ret 0
- W. Stewart Norton Ret 0
- Martinus van Son Norton Ret 0
- John Williamson Norton Ret 0
- Jack Wood Norton Ret 0
- Erich Wünsche Norton Ret 0
- Georg Braun Horex DNS 0
- Allen Burt Matchless DNS 0
- Ricardo Galvagni Norton DNS 0
- Sakari Järvimaa Matchless DNS 0
- Armando Poggi Norton DNS 0
- R. Siriwardena Norton DNS 0
- W.H. Spence Norton DNS 0
- D.A. Wright BSA DNS 0
Pos Rider Bike ESP
FRA
MAN
GER
BEL
HOL
ULS
NAC
Pts
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Finished, in points
Blue Finished, no points
Not classified (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not participate
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap

350cc Standings

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1 Bill Lomas 72 United Kingdom Moto Guzzi 32 4
2 Dickie Dale United Kingdom Moto Guzzi 18 1
3 August Hobl Germany DKW 17 0
4 Ken Kavanagh Australia Moto Guzzi 14 1
5 Cecil Sandford United Kingdom Moto Guzzi 13 0
6 John Surtees United Kingdom Norton 11 0
7 Duilio Agostini Italy Moto Guzzi 8 1
8 Bob McIntyre United Kingdom Norton 8 0
9 John Hartle United Kingdom Norton 7 0
10 Roberto Colombo Italy Moto Guzzi 7 0
11 Keith Campbell Australia Norton 4 0
12 Enrico Lorenzetti Italy Moto Guzzi 3 0
= Auguste Goffin Belgium Velocette 3 0
14 Peter Murphy New Zealand AJS 3 0
= Karl Hofmann Germany DKW 3 0
16 Maurice Quincey Australia Norton 2 0
17 Hans Bartl Netherlands DKW 2 0
18 Jacques Collot France Norton 1 0

250cc Standings

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1 Hermann Paul Müller Germany NSU 16 1
2 Cecil Sandford United Kingdom Moto Guzzi 14 0
3 Bill Lomas United Kingdom Moto Guzzi 13 1
4 Luigi Taveri Switzerland MV Agusta 11 1
5 Umberto Masetti Italy MV Agusta 11 0
6 Sammy Miller United Kingdom NSU 10 0
7 John Surtees United Kingdom NSU 8 1
= Carlo Ubbiali Italy MV Agusta 8 1
9 Hans Baltisberger Germany NSU 6 0
= Wolfgang Brandt Germany NSU 6 0
11 Arthur Wheeler United Kingdom Moto Guzzi 6 0
12 Enrico Lorenzetti Italy Moto Guzzi 3 0
13 Dave Chadwick United Kingdom RD Special 2 0
14 Bill Webster United Kingdom Velocette 1 0
= Helmut Hallmeier Germany NSU 1 0

125cc Standings

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1 Carlo Ubbiali Italy MV Agusta 32 5
2 Luigi Taveri Switzerland MV Agusta 26 1
3 Remo Venturi Italy MV Agusta 16 0
4 Giuseppe Lattanzi Italy Mondial 11 0
5 Angelo Copeta Italy MV Agusta 8 0
6 Romolo Ferri Italy Mondial 7 0
7 Bill Webster United Kingdom MV Agusta 5 0
8 Rudolf Grimas Austria Mondial 4 0
9 Bill Lomas United Kingdom MV Agusta 3 0
= August Hobl Germany DKW 3 0
= Karl Lottes Germany MV Agusta 3 0
= Tarquinio Provini Italy Mondial 3 0
13 Bernhard Petruschke Germany IFA 2 0
= Willi Scheidhauer Germany MV Agusta 2 0
= Sigfried Wünsche Germany DKW 2 0
16 Marcelo Cama Spain Montesa 1 0
= Paolo Campanelli Italy Mondial 1 0
= Erhard Krumpholz Germany IFA 1 0
= Ross Porter United Kingdom MV Agusta 1 0
= Erich Wünsche Germany MV Agusta 1 0

References