1966 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

1966 F.I.M. Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Previous: 1965 Next: 1967

The 1966 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 18th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of twelve Grand Prix races in six classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc, 50cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on May 8, with Spanish Grand Prix and ended with Japanese Grand Prix on October 17.

Contents

Season summary

Honda stepped up their racing program with a new four-cylinder 500cc bike, as well as bikes in the four smaller classes. Despite Honda's increased efforts, Suzuki would claim the 50cc title with Hans-Georg Anscheidt winning the championship from Honda's Luigi Taveri at the last race of the season in Japan. Yamaha would battle Honda all season for the 125 crown, each factory taking five wins, with Honda's Taveri taking the title from Yamaha's Bill Ivy.

Mike Hailwood, having left the MV Agusta team to ride for Honda, stormed to the 250 crown, winning the first eight races of the season, as Phil Read struggled with Yamaha's new v-four race bike. Hailwood would make it a double when he also claimed the 350 class ahead of MV Agusta's Giacomo Agostini. Honda's plan was for Jim Redman to lead their 500 class campaign before he retired. All started well with Redman winning the first two races of the year however, Honda's hopes were dashed when he crashed in the rain in Belgium and broke his wrist. This gave Agostini the championship lead, which he held despite Hailwood taking three of the last six races. Honda took some consolation by winning all five constructor's titles for a clean sweep.

1966 Grand Prix season calendar

Round Date Grand Prix Circuit 50cc winner 125cc winner 250cc winner 350cc winner 500cc winner Sidecars 500cc winner Report
1 May 8 Spanish Grand Prix Montjuïc circuit Luigi Taveri Bill Ivy Mike Hailwood Report
2 May 22 West German Grand Prix Hockenheimring Hans-Georg Anscheidt Luigi Taveri Mike Hailwood Mike Hailwood Jim Redman Scheidegger / Robinson Report
3 May 29 French Grand Prix Charade Circuit Mike Hailwood Mike Hailwood Scheidegger / Robinson Report
4 June 25 Dutch TT TT Circuit Assen Luigi Taveri Bill Ivy Mike Hailwood Mike Hailwood Jim Redman Scheidegger / Robinson Report
5 July 3 Belgian Grand Prix Spa Mike Hailwood Giacomo Agostini Scheidegger / Robinson Report
6 July 17 East German Grand Prix Sachsenring Luigi Taveri Mike Hailwood Giacomo Agostini Frantisek Stastny Report
7 July 24 Czechoslovakian Grand Prix Masaryk Circuit Luigi Taveri Mike Hailwood Mike Hailwood Mike Hailwood Report
8 August 7 Finnish Grand Prix Imatra Circuit Phil Read Mike Hailwood Mike Hailwood Giacomo Agostini Report
9 August 20 Ulster Grand Prix Dundrod Circuit Luigi Taveri Ginger Molloy Mike Hailwood Mike Hailwood Report
10 August 31 Isle of Man TT Snaefell mountain course Ralph Bryans Bill Ivy Mike Hailwood Giacomo Agostini Mike Hailwood Scheidegger / Robinson Report
11 September 11 Nations Grand Prix Monza Hans-Georg Anscheidt Luigi Taveri Mike Hailwood Giacomo Agostini Giacomo Agostini Report
12 October 17 Japanese Grand Prix Fuji Speedway Yoshimi Katayama Bill Ivy Hiroshi Hasegawa Phil Read Report

Standings

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race. Only the best of four were counted on 50cc championships, best of five in 350cc and 500cc championships, best of six in 125cc and 250cc championships, while in the Sidecars, only the best of three races were counted.

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

500cc final standings

Pos Rider Bike GER
 HOL
 BEL
 DDR
 CZE
 FIN
 ULS
 MAN
 NAC
 Pts
1 Giacomo Agostini MV Agusta 2 2 1 Ret 2 1 2 2 1 36 (53)
2 Mike Hailwood Honda Ret Ret Ret Ret 1 2 1 1 Ret 30
3 Jack Findlay Matchless 11 6 Ret 2 4 3 4 8 3 20 (21)
4 Frantisek Stastny Jawa-CZ 3 Ret 1 Ret Ret 3 6 Ret 17
5 Jim Redman Honda 1 1 Ret 16
6 Gyula Marsovszky Matchless 3 7 4 5 3 7 8 8 13
7 Jack Ahearn Norton 8 9 3 3 5 4 Ret 13
8 Stuart Graham Matchless 4 5 2 Ret Ret Ret 11
9 Peter Williams Matchless / AJS 9 6 7 2 7
10 Chris Conn Norton Ret Ret Ret Ret 5 3 Ret 6
11 Ron Chandler Matchless Ret 6 4 5 Ret 6
12 John Cooper Norton Ret 4 Ret 7 Ret Ret 3
13 Fred Stevens Paton / Matchless / Metisse Ret 8 14 Ret Ret 8 12 12 4 3
14 John Blanchard Seeley / Matchless Ret 4 3
15 Lewis Young Matchless 5 Ret 8 Ret 9 6 Ret 3
16 Malcolm Stanton Norton 14 Ret Ret 5 10 Ret 2
17 Walter Scheimann Norton 10 Ret Ret 14 5 2
18 John Mawby Norton 5 Ret 13 2
19 Edy Lenz Matchless 6 Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 2
20 John Dodds Norton Ret 13 6 10 Ret Ret Ret 1
21 Eric Hinton Norton Ret 6 Ret 1
22 Dan Shorey Norton 7 12 11 8 13 Ret 19 Ret 0
23 Bo Granath Matchless 7 Ret 12 9 0
24 Derek Lee Matchless Ret Ret 17 Ret 7 0
25 Joe Dunphy Norton Ret 7 Ret Ret Ret 0
26 Selwyn Griffiths Matchless 7 Ret 0
27 Billie Nelson Norton 9 Ret 9 8 12 Ret 0
28 Billy McCosh Matchless 10 9 0
29 Gustav Havel Jawa-CZ Ret 11 14 11 Ret 9 Ret 0
30 Philippe Canoui Matchless Ret Ret 9 0
31 Agne Carlsson Matchless 10 Ret 10 0
32 Kel Carruthers Norton Ret 10 Ret Ret Ret 13 11 Ret 0
33 Len Atlee Norton Ret 10 Ret 15 21 0
34 Billy Andersson Matchless 11 16 0
35 György Kurucz Norton 11 Ret 0
36 Giuseppe Dardanello Norton 11 0
= Robin Fitton Norton 11 0
38 Maurice Hawthorne Norton 12 18 10 0
39 David Lloyd Norton Ret 12 20 0
40 Vasco Loro Norton 12 0
41 Pentti Lehtelä Norton Ret 15 13 0
42 Jack Saunders Matchless 13 20 Ret 0
43 Karl Hoppe Matchless Ret 13 Ret 0
44 George Fogarty Matchless 13 0
45 Roly Capner Matchless 14 0
= Barry Scully Norton 14 0
47 Godfrey Nash Norton 15 0
= Charlie Sanby Norton 15 0
49 Rudi Thalhammer Seeley / Norton / Matchless Ret 16 Ret Ret 0
= Ernst Weiss Matchless Ret Ret 16 Ret 0
51 Peter Sheppard Norton 16 0
52 Roger Beaumont Norton Ret Ret Ret 17 Ret 0
53 Neville Landrebe Matchless 17 0
54 Dennis Gallagher Matchless 18 Ret 0
55 Tom Gill Matchless 19 Ret 0
56 Ray Breingan Norton 21 Ret 0
57 Stuart Morin Norton Ret Ret 22 0
58 Terence Taylor Norton 22 0
59 Brian Taggart Norton 23 0
= Carl Ward Norton 23 0
61 Byron Black Matchless 24 28 0
62 Dave Williams Norton 24 0
63 Steve Jolly Norton 25 0
64 Peter Darvill Matchless 26 0
65 Dave Duncan Matchless 27 0
66 Les Kempster Norton 29 0
67 Jim Ashton Matchless 30 0
68 Laurence Povey Norton 31 0
69 Harry Reynolds Matchless 32 0
- Ian Burne Norton Ret Ret Ret Ret 0
- Griff Jenkins Norton / Dunstall Ret Ret Ret 0
- John Denty Norton Ret Ret 0
- Owen Howard Matchless Ret Ret 0
- Derek Minter Seeley / Matchless Ret Ret 0
- Johnny Wales Norton Ret Ret 0
- Stan Adams Norton Ret 0
- Hartmut Allner BMW Ret 0
- Kent Andersson Husqvarna Ret 0
- Alain Barbaroux Norton Ret 0
- Roy Bisbey Norton Ret 0
- David Brown Norton Ret 0
- Rex Butcher Norton Ret 0
- Hans-Otto Butenuth BMW Ret 0
- Kel Carlsson Norton Ret 0
- Conway Chivers Norton Ret 0
- Guy Cooremans Norton Ret 0
- Davy Crawford Norton Ret 0
- Dave Croxford Matchless Ret 0
- Brian Dennis Velocette Ret 0
- Gianfranco Domeniconi Norton Ret 0
- Vincent Duckett Matchless Ret 0
- Mike Duff Matchless Ret 0
- Fritjof Eccarius Matchless Ret 0
- Steve Ellis Matchless Ret 0
- Ray Flack Norton Ret 0
- Toshio Fujii Norton Ret 0
- Robert Graham AJS Ret 0
- Billie Guthrie Norton Ret 0
- Albert Haddock Triumph Ret 0
- Trevor Holdsworth Norton Ret 0
- Alan Hunter Norton Ret 0
- David Johnson Norton Ret 0
- David Jones BSA Ret 0
- Jimmy Jones Norton Ret 0
- Ken Kay Matchless Ret 0
- Reay Mackay Vincent HRD Ret 0
- Tony McGurk Matchless Ret 0
- Michael McStay Norton Ret 0
- Helmut Morgenstern Norton Ret 0
- Albert Moule Norton Ret 0
- Frank Mumford Norton Ret 0
- Tauno Nurmi Norton Ret 0
- Bert Oosterhuis Norton Ret 0
- Giovanni Perrone Bianchi Ret 0
- Alan Prange Matchless Ret 0
- Norman Price Norton Ret 0
- Tom Read Norton Ret 0
- Robert Reid Norton Ret 0
- Jouko Ryhänen Matchless Ret 0
- Tony Rutter Norton Ret 0
- Alf Shaw Norton Ret 0
- John Simmonds Norton Ret 0
- Lars Skjelfoss Matchless Ret 0
- Bill Smith Matchless Ret 0
- Hans Sommerhalder Matchless Ret 0
- Adrian Spooner Norton Ret 0
- Malcolm Uphill Norton Ret 0
- Brian Walmsley Norton Ret 0
- Ron Wilson Norton Ret 0
- Tony Wood Norton Ret 0
- Derek Woodman Matchless Ret 0
- Benedetto Zambotti Norton Ret 0
Pos Rider Bike GER
 HOL
 BEL
 DDR
 CZE
 FIN
 ULS
 MAN
 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 Mike Hailwood United Kingdom Honda 48 6
2 Giacomo Agostini Italy MV Agusta 42 3
3 Renzo Pasolini Italy Aermacchi 17 0
4 Frantisek Stastny Czechoslovakia Jawa 13 0
5 Gustav Havel Czechoslovakia Jawa 12 0
6 Alberto Pagani Italy Aermacchi 11 0
7 Heinz Rosner East Germany MZ 10 0
8 Phil Read United Kingdom Yamaha 8 1
9 Jack Ahearn Australia Norton 8 0
10 Bruce Beale Rhodesia Honda 7 0
11 Tarquinio Provini Italy Benelli 6 0
= Peter Williams United Kingdom AJS 6 0
= Bill Ivy United Kingdom Yamaha 6 0
14 Silvio Grassetti Italy Bianchi 6 0
15 Jim Redman Rhodesia Honda 4 0
= Tommy Robb United Kingdom Bultaco 4 0
= Chris Conn United Kingdom Norton 4 0
18 Gilberto Milani Italy Aermacchi 3 0
= Stuart Graham United Kingdom AJS 3 0
= Kel Carruthers Australia Norton 3 0
= Byron Black United Kingdom Honda 3 0
22 Frantisek Bocek Czechoslovakia Jawa 3 0
23 Dave Simmonds United Kingdom Honda-Norton 2 0
= Kenzo Muromachi Japan Honda 2 0
25 John Blanchard United Kingdom AJS 1 0
= Joe Dunphy United Kingdom Norton 1 0
= Kent Andersson Sweden Husqvarna 1 0

250cc Standings

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1 Mike Hailwood United Kingdom Honda 56 10
2 Phil Read United Kingdom Yamaha 34 0
3 Jim Redman Rhodesia Honda 20 0
4 Derek Woodman United Kingdom MZ 18 0
5 Stuart Graham United Kingdom Honda 15 0
6 Heinz Rosner East Germany MZ 15 0
7 Jack Findlay Australia Bultaco 14 0
8 Frantisek Stastny Czechoslovakia Jawa 11 0
9 Mike Duff Canada Yamaha 9 0
10 Ginger Molloy New Zealand Bultaco 8 1
= Hiroshi Hasegawa Japan Yamaha 8 1
12 Gyula Marsovsky Switzerland Bultaco 8 0
13 Bill Ivy United Kingdom Yamaha 5 0
14 Renzo Pasolini Italy Aermacchi 4 0
= Kevin Cass Australia Bultaco 4 0
= Peter Inchley United Kingdom Villiers 4 0
= Alberto Pagani Italy Aermacchi 4 0
= Akiyasu Motohashi Japan Yamaha 4 0
19 Bruce Beale Rhodesia Honda 4 0
20 Kent Andersson Sweden Husqvarna 4 0
21 Selwyn Griffiths United Kingdom Royal Enfield 3 0
22 Tommy Robb United Kingdom Bultaco 3 0
23 Chris Anderson United Kingdom Yamaha 2 0
= Jim Curry United Kingdom Honda 2 0
25 Günter Beer West Germany Honda 1 0
= Daniel Lhéraud France Yamaha 1 0
= Len Atlee Australia Cotton 1 0
= Bill Smith United Kingdom Bultaco 1 0
= Giuseppe Visenzi Italy Aermacchi 1 0

125cc Standings

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1 Luigi Taveri Switzerland Honda 46 5
2 Bill Ivy United Kingdom Yamaha 40 4
3 Ralph Bryans United Kingdom Honda 32 0
4 Phil Read United Kingdom Yamaha 29 1
5 Hugh Anderson New Zealand Suzuki 15 0
6 Yoshimi Katayama Japan Suzuki 14 0
7 Frank Perris United Kingdom Suzuki 10 0
8 Akiyasu Motohashi Japan Yamaha 5 0
9 Mike Duff Canada Yamaha 4 0
= Mitsuo Itoh Japan Suzuki 4 0
11 Tommy Robb United Kingdom Yamaha 3 0
12 Francesco Villa Italy Montesa 2 0
= Hans-Georg Anscheidt West Germany Suzuki 2 0
= Peter Williams United Kingdom EMC 2 0
15 José Medrano Spain Bultaco 1 0
= Herbert Mann West Germany MZ 1 0
= Mike Hailwood United Kingdom Honda 1 0
= Friedhelm Kohlar East Germany MZ 1 0
= Hartmut Bischoff East Germany MZ 1 0
= Walter Scheimann West Germany Honda 1 0
= Yasuharu Yuzawa Japan Yamaha 1 0

50cc Standings

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1 Hans-Georg Anscheidt West Germany Suzuki 28 2
2 Ralph Bryans United Kingdom Honda 26 1
3 Luigi Taveri Switzerland Honda 26 2
4 Hugh Anderson New Zealand Suzuki 16 0
5 Yoshimi Katayama Japan Suzuki 10 1
6 Barry Smith Australia Derbi 3 0
= Ernst Degner West Germany Suzuki 3 0
= Mitsuo Itoh Japan Suzuki 3 0
9 Angel Nieto Spain Derbi 2 0
= Oswald Dittrich West Germany Kreidler 2 0
= Brian Gleed United Kingdom Honda 2 0
= Tommy Robb United Kingdom Bridgestone 2 0
13 Cees van Dongen Netherlands Kreidler 1 0
= Isao Morishita Japan Bridgestone 1 0
= Dave Simmonds United Kingdom Honda 1 0
= André Roth Switzerland Derbi 1 0
= Jack Findlay Australia Bridgestone 1 0

References

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