1973 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

The 1973 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 25th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.

Season summary

MV Agusta teammates Phil Read and Giacomo Agostini battled it out for supremacy of the 500cc class but the season was overshadowed by the deaths of Jarno Saarinen and Renzo Pasolini at the Italian round at Monza.^[1] The 500cc title runner-up, Kim Newcombe, also died at a non-championship race at Silverstone late in the year.^[1] Agostini claimed his 13th championship in the 350cc class.^[1] In the 250cc class, West German Dieter Braun won the crown for Yamaha. Kent Andersson gave Yamaha another title in the 125cc class while Kreidler dominated the 50cc class after the Derbi factory pulled out of racing with Dutchman Jan de Vries taking the crown.^[1]

1973 Grand Prix season calendar

Round	Date	Race	Location	50cc winner	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Report
1	22 April	French Grand Prix	Paul Ricard		Kent Andersson	Jarno Saarinen	Giacomo Agostini	Jarno Saarinen	Report
2	6 May	Austrian Grand Prix	Salzburgring		Kent Andersson	Jarno Saarinen	János Drapál	Jarno Saarinen	Report
3	13 May	West German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring	Theo Timmer	Kent Andersson	Jarno Saarinen	Teuvo Länsivuori	Phil Read	Report
4	20 May	Nations Grand Prix	Monza	Jan de Vries	Kent Andersson	Race cancelled^{[N 1]}	Giacomo Agostini	Race cancelled^{[N 1]}	Report
5	8 June	Isle of Man TT	Snaefell Mountain		Tommy Robb	Charlie Williams	Tony Rutter	Jack Findlay	Report
6	17 June	Yugoslavian Grand Prix	Opatija	Jan de Vries	Kent Andersson	Dieter Braun	János Drapál	Kim Newcombe	Report
7	23 June	Dutch TT	Assen	Bruno Kneubühler	Eugenio Lazzarini	Dieter Braun	Giacomo Agostini	Phil Read	Report
8	1 July	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa	Jan de Vries	Jos Schurgers	Teuvo Länsivuori		Giacomo Agostini	Report
9	15 July	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Brno		Otello Buscherini	Dieter Braun	Teuvo Länsivuori	Giacomo Agostini	Report
10	21 July	Swedish Grand Prix	Anderstorp	Jan de Vries	Börje Jansson	Dieter Braun	Teuvo Länsivuori	Phil Read	Report
11	29 July	Finnish Grand Prix	Imatra		Otello Buscherini	Teuvo Länsivuori	Giacomo Agostini	Giacomo Agostini	Report
12	23 September	Spanish Grand Prix	Jarama	Jan de Vries	Chas Mortimer	John Dodds	Adu Celso-Santos	Phil Read	Report

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b The 250cc race was stopped, following an accident on the first lap that resulted in the deaths of Jarno Saarinen and Renzo Pasolini. The race meeting was ultimately cancelled.

Final standings

1973 500 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Phil Read		United Kingdom	MV Agusta	84	4
2	Kim Newcombe	10	New Zealand	König	63	1
3	Giacomo Agostini	1	Italy	MV Agusta	57	3
4	Werner Giger		Switzerland	Yamaha	44	0
5	Jack Findlay	8	Australia	Suzuki	38	1
6	Bruno Kneubühler	3	Switzerland	Yamaha	34	0
7	Jarno Saarinen	4	Finland	Yamaha	30	2
8	Hideo Kanaya		Japan	Yamaha	22	0
9	Ernst Hiller		West Germany	König	19	0
10	Alex George		United Kingdom	Yamaha	19	0

1973 350 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Giacomo Agostini	1	Italy	MV Agusta	84	4
2	Teuvo Länsivuori	7	Finland	Yamaha	77	3
3	Phil Read	5	United Kingdom	MV Agusta	56	0
4	John Dodds		Australia	Yamaha	49	0
5	Billie Nelson		United Kingdom	Yamaha	38	0
6	Kent Andersson		Sweden	Yamaha	38	0
7	Adu Celso-Santos		Brazil	Yamaha	33	1
8	Dieter Braun	8	West Germany	Yamaha	33	0
9	János Drapál		Hungary	Yamaha	30	2
10	Pentti Korhonen		Finland	Yamaha	25	0

1973 250 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Dieter Braun		West Germany	Yamaha	80	4
2	Teuvo Länsivuori	5	Finland	Yamaha	64	2
3	John Dodds	6	Australia	Yamaha	58	1
4	Jarno Saarinen	1	Finland	Yamaha	45	3
5	Michel Rougerie		France	Harley-Davidson	45	0
6	Chas Mortimer		United Kingdom	Yamaha	40	0
7	Hideo Kanaya	11	Japan	Yamaha	36	0
8	Roberto Gallina		Italy	Yamaha	32	0
9	Bruno Kneubühler		Switzerland	Yamaha	28	0
10	Silvio Grassetti	4	Italy	Yamaha	21	0

1973 125 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Kent Andersson	2	Sweden	Yamaha	99	5
2	Chas Mortimer		United Kingdom	Yamaha	75	1
3	Jos Schurgers	9	Netherlands	Bridgestone	70	1
4	Börje Jansson	4	Sweden	Maico	64	1
5	Eugenio Lazzarini		Italy	Maico	59	1
6	Otello Buscherini		Italy	Malanca	51	2
7	Angel Nieto		Spain	Morbidelli	46	0
8	Rolf Minhoff	4	West Germany	Maico	42	0
9	Matti Salonen		Finland	Yamaha	32	0
10	Pentti Salonen		Finland	Yamaha	28	0

1973 50 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Jan de Vries	2	Netherlands	Kreidler	60	5
2	Bruno Kneubühler		Switzerland	Kreidler	51	1
3	Theo Timmer	3	Netherlands	Jamathi	47	1
4	Gerhard Thurow		West Germany	Kreidler	36	0
5	Henk van Kessel		Netherlands	Kreidler	27	0
6	Herbert Rittberger		West Germany	Kreidler	22	0
7	Ulrich Graf		Switzerland	Kreidler	21	0
8	Jan Huberts	8	Netherlands	Kreidler	21	0
9	Rudolf Kunz	9	West Germany	Kreidler	14	0
10	Wolfgang Gedlich		West Germany	Kreidler	13	0

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Noyes, Dennis; Scott, Michael (1999), Motocourse: 50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix, Hazleton Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1-874557-83-7

Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A. ISBN 2-940125-32-5
"The Official MotoGP website". Archived from the original on 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2010-07-06.

[monza-2] The 250cc race was stopped, following an accident on the first lap that resulted in the deaths of Jarno Saarinen and Renzo Pasolini. The race meeting was ultimately cancelled.

[Motocourse:_50_Years_Of_Moto_Grand_Prix-1] Noyes, Dennis; Scott, Michael (1999), Motocourse: 50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix, Hazleton Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1-874557-83-7

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