1961 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

1961 F.I.M. Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
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The 1961 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 13th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of eleven Grand Prix races in five classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on April 23, with Spanish Grand Prix and ended with Argentine Grand Prix on October 15.

Contents

1961 Grand Prix season calendar

Round Date Grand Prix Circuit 125cc winner 250cc winner 350cc winner 500cc winner Sidecars 500cc winner Report
1 April 23 Spanish Grand Prix Montjuïc circuit Tom Phillis Gary Hocking Fath / Wohlgemuth Report
2 May 14 West German Grand Prix Hockenheimring Ernst Degner Kunimitsu Takahashi Frantisek Stastny Gary Hocking Deubel / Hörner Report
3 May 21 French Grand Prix Charade Circuit Tom Phillis Tom Phillis Gary Hocking Scheidegger / Burkhardt Report
4 June 12 Isle of Man TT Snaefell mountain course Mike Hailwood Mike Hailwood Phil Read Mike Hailwood Deubel / Hörner Report
5 June 24 Dutch TT TT Circuit Assen Tom Phillis Mike Hailwood Gary Hocking Gary Hocking Deubel / Hörner Report
6 July 2 Belgian Grand Prix Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Luigi Taveri Jim Redman Gary Hocking Scheidegger / Burkhardt Report
7 July 30 East German Grand Prix Sachsenring Ernst Degner Mike Hailwood Gary Hocking Gary Hocking Report
8 August 12 Ulster Grand Prix Dundrod Circuit Kunimitsu Takahashi Bob McIntyre Gary Hocking Gary Hocking Report
9 September 3 Nations Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale Monza Ernst Degner Jim Redman Gary Hocking Mike Hailwood Report
10 September 17 Swedish Grand Prix Kristianstad Luigi Taveri Mike Hailwood Frantisek Stastny Gary Hocking Report
11 October 15 Argentine Grand Prix Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez Tom Phillis Tom Phillis Jorge Kissling Report

Standings

Scoring system

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

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

500cc final standings

Pos Rider Bike GER
FRA
MAN
HOL
BEL
DDR
ULS
NAC
SWE
ARG
Pts
1 Gary Hocking MV Agusta 1 1 Ret 1 1 1 1 Ret 1 48 (56)
2 Mike Hailwood Norton / MV Agusta 4 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 40 (55)
3 Frank Perris Norton 2 5 Ret Ret 3 3 16
4 Bob McIntyre Norton 2 3 3 14
5 Alistair King Norton 4 3 2 Ret 13
6 Bert Schneider Norton 18 Ret 3 5 4 9
7 Jorge Kissling Matchless 1 8
8 Ron Langston Matchless 5 5 4 Ret 7
9 Juan Carlos Salatino Norton 2 6
10 Paddy Driver Norton Ret Ret 6 Ret 3 5
11 Mike Duff Matchless 14 4 10 5 5
12 Hans-Günter Jäger BMW / Norton 3 8 4
13 Tom Phillis Norton 3 Ret 4
14 Antoine Paba Norton 3 4
15 John Farnsworth Matchless / Norton 38 4 9 Ret 3
16 Phil Read Norton Ret 4 Ret 3
17 Gyula Marsovszky Norton 4 Ret 3
18 Alberto Pagani Norton 4 3
= Juan Perkins Norton 4 3
20 Jack Findlay Norton DNS DNS 8 5 8 6 Ret 3
21 Ernst Hiller BMW / Matchless 5 19 Ret 11 Ret 2
22 Derek Chatterton Norton 20 5 2
23 Fritz Masserli Matchless 5 44 2
24 Eduardo Salatino Norton 5 2
25 Peter Pawson Matchless / Norton 8 Ret 7 6 1
26 Roland Föll Matchless 8 6 Ret 11 1
27 Lothar John BMW 6 10 14 9 10 1
28 Ron Miles Norton 12 6 NEL 1
29 Tom Thorp Norton 13 6 1
30 Anssi Resko Norton / Matchless 6 11 1
31 Horacio Costa Norton 6 1
= Tony Godfrey Norton 6 1
33 Karl Hoppe Norton Ret 7 11 7 0
34 Tommy Robb Matchless Ret 7 8 0
35 Roy Ingram Norton 7 10 Ret 0
36 Vernon Cottle Norton 7 21 11 12 0
37 Rudi Thalhammer Norton 11 7 0
38 Tommy Robinson Norton 7 Ret 0
39 Raphaël Orinel Norton 7 0
40 Trevor Pound Norton 8 9 0
41 Jacques Insermini Norton 12 11 Ret 8 Ret 0
42 Louis Bernagozzi Norton 8 0
43 Rudolf Gläser Norton Ret Ret 15 9 Ret 0
44 Edy Lenz Norton 45 9 0
45 Ellis Boyce Norton 9 Ret 0
46 Rene Goetz BSA 9 0
= Klaus Hamelmann Norton 9 0
48 Heinz Kauert Matchless 10 Ret 0
= Toni Schmitz Norton Ret Ret 10 0
50 Georges Comy Norton 10 0
= Fred Stevens Norton 10 0
= Roberto Vigorito Norton 10 0
53 Peter Horton Norton 11 Ret 0
= Jack Bullock Norton 11 0
55 Alf Shaw Norton 41 12 0
56 Geoffrey Tanner Norton Ret Ret 12 0
57 Dan Shorey Norton Ret 12 0
58 Joachim Claus Norton 12 0
= Bruno Hofmann Norton 12 0
= Benedetto Zambotti Gilera 12 0
61 Anton Elbersen BMW 13 0
= Sven-Olov Gunnarsson Norton 13 0
= Tommy Holmes Matchless 13 0
= Emanuele Maugliani Gilera 13 0
= Johannes Müller Norton 13 0
= Jules Nies Norton 13 0
67 Joop Vegelzang Norton 14 15 0
68 Bror-Erland Carlsson Matchless / AJS Ret 14 0
69 Alfonz Breznik Gilera 14 0
= Jimmy Jones Norton 14 0
71 John Brown Norton 15 0
= Anthony Horton Norton 15 0
= Brian Setchell Norton 15 0
74 Campbell Donaghy BSA 16 0
= Derek Powell Matchless 16 0
76 Martin Brosnan Norton 17 0
= Bill Smith Matchless 17 0
78 Dennis Craig Matchless 37 18 0
79 George Catlin Matchless 19 0
80 Billy McCosh Matchless 22 0
81 Monty Buxton Norton 23 0
82 Don Chapman Norton 24 Ret 0
83 Mike O'Rourke Norton 25 0
84 George Purvis Matchless 26 0
85 Arthur Wheeler Matchless 27 0
86 Harold Riley BSA 28 0
87 Den Jarman AJS 29 0
88 Derek Minter Norton 30 0
89 Louis Carr Norton 31 0
90 Alan Dugdale Matchless 32 0
91 Ronald Cousins Norton 33 0
92 Geoff Eccles BSA 34 0
93 Dave Wildman AJS 35 0
94 Billy Andersson AJS 36 0
95 Albert Moule Norton 39 0
96 Bill Robertson AJS 40 0
97 John Simmonds Matchless 42 0
98 Maurice Gittins Norton 43 0
- Hugh Anderson Norton Ret Ret Ret 0
- John Hartle Norton Ret Ret Ret 0
- William Van Leeuwen Norton Ret Ret Ret 0
- Hans Pesl Norton Ret Ret 0
- Chris Anderson Norton Ret 0
- R. Bennett Norton Ret 0
- Richard Brinnand Norton Ret 0
- Ralph Bryans Norton Ret 0
- Roly Capner BSA Ret 0
- Fred Chase Norton Ret 0
- Artemio Cirelli Gilera Ret 0
- Gianfranco Demeniconi Norton Ret 0
- Graham Downes Matchless Ret 0
- Peter Evans Matchless Ret 0
- Harry Grant BSA Ret 0
- Alois Huber BMW Ret 0
- Len Ireland Norton Ret 0
- Pierre James Norton Ret 0
- Vasco Loro Norton Ret 0
- Giuseppe Mantelli Gilera Ret 0
- Peter Middleton Norton Ret 0
- Gilberto Milani Norton Ret 0
- George Northwood Norton Ret 0
- Karl Recktenwald Norton Ret 0
- Ralph Rensen Norton Ret 0
- Ladislaus Richter Norton Ret 0
- Renzo Rossi Gilera Ret 0
- Derek Russell Norton Ret 0
- Walter Scheimann Norton Ret 0
- Douglas Smith Matchless Ret 0
- Graham Smith Norton Ret 0
- Lewis Young Norton Ret 0
Pos Rider Bike GER
FRA
MAN
HOL
BEL
DDR
ULS
NAC
SWE
ARG
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 Gary Hocking Rhodesia MV Agusta 32 4
2 Frantisek Stastny Czechoslovakia Jawa 26 2
3 Gustav Havel Czechoslovakia Jawa 19 0
4 Phil Read United Kingdom Norton 13 1
5 Bob McIntyre United Kingdom Bianchi 10 0
6 Rudi Thalhammer Austria Norton 7 0
= Ralph Rensen United Kingdom Norton 7 0
8 Alistair King United Kingdom Bianchi 6 0
= Mike Hailwood United Kingdom MV Agusta 6 0
10 Ernesto Brambilla Italy Bianchi 5 0
= Alan Shepherd United Kingdom AJS 5 0
12 Tommy Robb United Kingdom AJS 4 0
13 Derek Minter United Kingdom Norton 3 0
14 Hans Pesl West Germany Norton 2 0
= Silvio Grassetti Italy Benelli 2 0
= Ron Langston United Kingdom AJS 2 0
17 Frank Perris United Kingdom Norton 2 0
= Mike Duff Canada AJS 2 0
19 Roy Ingram United Kingdom Norton 1 0
= Bert Schneider Austria Norton 1 0
= Hugh Anderson New Zealand Norton 1 0

250cc Standings

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1 Mike Hailwood United Kingdom Honda 44 4
2 Tom Phillis Australia Honda 38 2
3 Jim Redman Rhodesia Honda 36 2
4 Kunimitsu Takahashi Japan Honda 29 1
5 Bob McIntyre United Kingdom Honda 14 1
6 Tarquinio Provini Italy Morini 10 0
7 Silvio Grassetti Italy Benelli 10 0
8 Gary Hocking Rhodesia MV Agusta 8 1
9 Fumio Ito Japan Yamaha 7 0
10 Luigi Taveri Switzerland Honda 6 0
11 Alan Shepherd United Kingdom MZ 6 0
= Frantisek Stastny Czechoslovakia Jawa 6 0
13 Ernst Degner East Germany MZ 3 0
= Sadao Shimazaki Japan Honda 3 0
15 Hans Fischer East Germany MZ 3 0
16 Naomi Taniguchi Japan Honda 2 0
17 Dan Shorey United Kingdom NSU 1 0
= Yoshikazu Sunako Japan Yamaha 1 0
= Werner Musiol East Germany MZ 1 0

125cc Standings

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1 Tom Phillis Australia Honda 44 4
2 Ernst Degner East Germany MZ 42 3
3 Luigi Taveri Switzerland Honda 29 2
4 Jim Redman Rhodesia Honda 28 0
5 Kunimitsu Takahashi Japan Honda 24 1
6 Mike Hailwood United Kingdom EMC / Honda 16 1
7 Alan Shepherd United Kingdom MZ 12 0
8 Walter Brehme East Germany MZ 7 0
9 Teisuke Tanaka Japan Honda 6 0
10 Sadao Shimazaki Japan Honda 5 0
= Werner Musiol East Germany MZ 5 0
12 Hans Fischer East Germany MZ 3 0
= Phil Read United Kingdom EMC 3 0
= László Szabó Hungary MZ 3 0
15 John Grace United Kingdom Bultaco 2 0
= Ulf Svensson Sweden Ducati 2 0
= Naomi Taniguchi Japan Honda 2 0
18 Rex Avery United Kingdom EMC 2 0
19 Ricardo Quintanilla Spain Bultaco 1 0
= Ralph Rensen United Kingdom Bultaco 1 0
= Héctor Pochettino Argentina Bultaco 1 0

References