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1966 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

Sports season

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 8 May, with Spanish Grand Prix and ended with Japanese Grand Prix on 17 October.

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
8 May	ESP Spanish Grand Prix	Montjuïc circuit	CHE Luigi Taveri	GBR Bill Ivy	GBR Mike Hailwood				Report
22 May	FRG West German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring	FRG Hans-Georg Anscheidt	CHE Luigi Taveri	GBR Mike Hailwood	GBR Mike Hailwood	RHO Jim Redman	CHE GBR Scheidegger / Robinson	Report
29 May	FRA French Grand Prix	Charade Circuit			GBR Mike Hailwood	GBR Mike Hailwood		CHE GBR Scheidegger / Robinson	Report
25 June	NLD Dutch TT	TT Circuit Assen	CHE Luigi Taveri	GBR Bill Ivy	GBR Mike Hailwood	GBR Mike Hailwood	RHO Jim Redman	CHE GBR Scheidegger / Robinson	Report
3 July	BEL Belgian Grand Prix	Spa-Francorchamps			GBR Mike Hailwood		ITA Giacomo Agostini	CHE GBR Scheidegger / Robinson	Report
17 July	DDR East German Grand Prix	Sachsenring		CHE Luigi Taveri	GBR Mike Hailwood	ITA Giacomo Agostini	CSK Frantisek Stastny		Report
24 July	CSK Czechoslovak Grand Prix	Masaryk Circuit		CHE Luigi Taveri	GBR Mike Hailwood	GBR Mike Hailwood	GBR Mike Hailwood		Report
7 August	FIN Finnish Grand Prix	Imatra Circuit		GBR Phil Read	GBR Mike Hailwood	GBR Mike Hailwood	ITA Giacomo Agostini		Report
20 August	NIR Ulster Grand Prix	Dundrod Circuit		CHE Luigi Taveri	NZL Ginger Molloy	GBR Mike Hailwood	GBR Mike Hailwood		Report
2 September	IOM Isle of Man TT	Snaefell Mountain	NIR Ralph Bryans	GBR Bill Ivy	GBR Mike Hailwood	ITA Giacomo Agostini	GBR Mike Hailwood	CHE GBR Scheidegger / Robinson	Report
11 September	ITA Nations Grand Prix	Monza	FRG Hans-Georg Anscheidt	CHE Luigi Taveri	GBR Mike Hailwood	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini		Report
17 October	JPN Japanese Grand Prix	Fuji Speedway	JPN Yoshimi Katayama	GBR Bill Ivy	JPN Hiroshi Hasegawa	GBR 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	Machine	GER
DEU	HOL
NLD	BEL
BEL	DDR
DDR	TCH
TCH	FIN
FIN	ULS
NIR	MAN
IOM	NAC
ITA	Pts	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	=	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	=	47	=	49	=	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	=	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Pos	Rider	Bike	GER
DEU	HOL
NLD	BEL
BEL	DDR
DDR	CZE
CZE	FIN
FIN	ULS
Ulster	MAN
GBR	NAC
ITA	Pts
ITA Giacomo Agostini	MV Agusta	2	2	1	Ret	2	1	2	2	1	36 (54)
GBR Mike Hailwood	Honda	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	1	2	1	1	Ret	30
AUS Jack Findlay	Matchless	11	6	Ret	2	4	3	4	8	3	20 (21)
CZE Frantisek Stastny	Jawa-CZ		3	Ret	1	Ret	Ret	3	6	Ret	17
RHO Jim Redman	Honda	1	1	Ret							16
CHE Gyula Marsovszky	Matchless	3	7	4	5	3	7	8		8	13
AUS Jack Ahearn	Norton	8	9	3	3	5	4		Ret		13
GBR Stuart Graham	Matchless	4	5	2	Ret	Ret	Ret				11
GBR Peter Williams	Matchless / AJS			9				6	7	2	7
GBR Chris Conn	Norton	Ret	Ret	Ret			Ret	5	3	Ret	6
GBR Ron Chandler	Matchless		Ret	6	4				5	Ret	6
GBR John Cooper	Norton	Ret	4	Ret		7		Ret		Ret	3
GBR Fred Stevens	Paton / Matchless / Metisse	Ret	8	14	Ret	Ret	8	12	12	4	3
GBR John Blanchard	Seeley / Matchless							Ret	4		3
GBR Lewis Young	Matchless	5	Ret	8	Ret	9	6			Ret	3
AUS Malcolm Stanton	Norton		14	Ret	Ret		5		10	Ret	2
DEU Walter Scheimann	Norton	10	Ret	Ret		14				5	2
GBR John Mawby	Norton			5	Ret					13	2
AUT Edy Lenz	Matchless	6		Ret	Ret	Ret			Ret	6	2
AUS John Dodds	Norton	Ret		13	6	10		Ret	Ret	Ret	1
AUS Eric Hinton	Norton				Ret	6	Ret				1
GBR Dan Shorey	Norton	7	12	11	8	13		Ret	19	Ret	0
SWE Bo Granath	Matchless			7	Ret	12	9				0
GBR Derek Lee	Matchless					Ret	Ret	17	Ret	7	0
GBR Joe Dunphy	Norton		Ret		7	Ret		Ret	Ret		0
Wales Selwyn Griffiths	Matchless							7	Ret		0
GBR Billie Nelson	Norton	9	Ret		9	8	12		Ret		0
NIR Billy McCosh	Matchless							10	9		0
CZE Gustav Havel	Jawa-CZ	Ret	11		14	11	Ret	9		Ret	0
FRA Philippe Canoui	Matchless			Ret	Ret					9	0
SWE Agne Carlsson	Matchless				10	Ret	10				0
AUS Kel Carruthers	Norton	Ret	10	Ret	Ret		Ret	13	11	Ret	0
AUS Len Atlee	Norton	Ret		10	Ret			15	21		0
SWE Billy Andersson	Matchless						11		16		0
HUN György Kurucz	Norton				11	Ret					0
ITA Giuseppe Dardanello	Norton									11	0
GBR Robin Fitton	Norton							11			0
GBR Maurice Hawthorne	Norton			12					18	10	0
CAN David Lloyd	Norton			Ret	12				20		0
ITA Vasco Loro	Norton									12	0
FIN Pentti Lehtelä	Norton				Ret	15	13				0
AUS Jack Saunders	Matchless				13			20	Ret		0
DEU Karl Hoppe	Matchless	Ret	13							Ret	0
GBR George Fogarty	Matchless								13		0
GBR Roly Capner	Matchless								14		0
GBR Barry Scully	Norton							14			0
GBR Godfrey Nash	Norton		15								0
GBR Charlie Sanby	Norton								15		0
AUT Rudi Thalhammer	Seeley / Norton / Matchless	Ret	16			Ret				Ret	0
CHE Ernst Weiss	Matchless				Ret	Ret		16	Ret		0
GBR Peter Sheppard	Norton					16					0
CAN Roger Beaumont	Norton	Ret	Ret	Ret		17			Ret		0
NZL Neville Landrebe	Matchless								17		0
GBR Dennis Gallagher	Matchless							18	Ret		0
AUS Tom Gill	Matchless							19	Ret		0
NZL Ray Breingan	Norton							21	Ret		0
CAN Stuart Morin	Norton				Ret		Ret		22		0
NIR Terence Taylor	Norton							22			0
NIR Brian Taggart	Norton							23			0
GBR Carl Ward	Norton								23		0
USA Byron Black	Matchless							24	28		0
GBR Dave Williams	Norton								24		0
GBR Steve Jolly	Norton								25		0
GBR Peter Darvill	Matchless								26		0
GBR Dave Duncan	Matchless								27		0
GBR Les Kempster	Norton								29		0
GBR Jim Ashton	Matchless								30		0
GBR Laurence Povey	Norton								31		0
GBR Harry Reynolds	Matchless								32		0
ZAF Ian Burne	Norton	Ret		Ret	Ret				Ret		0
GBR Griff Jenkins	Norton / Dunstall					Ret		Ret	Ret		0
GBR John Denty	Norton							Ret	Ret		0
RHO Owen Howard	Matchless							Ret	Ret		0
GBR Derek Minter	Seeley / Matchless	Ret	Ret								0
NZL Johnny Wales	Norton		Ret	Ret							0
IRL Stan Adams	Norton								Ret		0
DEU Hartmut Allner	BMW	Ret									0
SWE Kent Andersson	Husqvarna						Ret				0
FRA Alain Barbaroux	Norton			Ret							0
GBR Roy Bisbey	Norton								Ret		0
GBR David Brown	Norton		Ret								0
GBR Rex Butcher	Norton								Ret		0
DEU Hans-Otto Butenuth	BMW	Ret									0
GBR Kel Carlsson	Norton								Ret		0
GBR Conway Chivers	Norton								Ret		0
BEL Guy Cooremans	Norton				Ret						0
NIR Davy Crawford	Norton							Ret			0
GBR Dave Croxford	Matchless							Ret			0
GBR Brian Dennis	Velocette								Ret		0
ITA Gianfranco Domeniconi	Norton									Ret	0
GBR Vincent Duckett	Matchless								Ret		0
CAN Mike Duff	Matchless								Ret		0
DEU Fritjof Eccarius	Matchless	Ret									0
GBR Steve Ellis	Matchless								Ret		0
ZAF Ray Flack	Norton								Ret		0
JPN Toshio Fujii	Norton			Ret							0
NIR Robert Graham	AJS							Ret			0
NIR Billie Guthrie	Norton							Ret			0
GBR Albert Haddock	Triumph								Ret		0
GBR Trevor Holdsworth	Norton								Ret		0
GBR Alan Hunter	Norton								Ret		0
AUS David Johnson	Norton							Ret			0
GBR David Jones	BSA								Ret		0
NIR Jimmy Jones	Norton							Ret			0
GBR Ken Kay	Matchless								Ret		0
GBR Reay Mackay	Vincent HRD								Ret		0
GBR Tony McGurk	Matchless								Ret		0
GBR Michael McStay	Norton								Ret		0
DEU Helmut Morgenstern	Norton	Ret									0
GBR Albert Moule	Norton								Ret		0
GBR Frank Mumford	Norton								Ret		0
FIN Tauno Nurmi	Norton					Ret					0
NLD Bert Oosterhuis	Norton		Ret								0
ITA Giovanni Perrone	Bianchi									Ret	0
GBR Alan Prange	Matchless								Ret		0
GBR Norman Price	Norton								Ret		0
GBR Tom Read	Norton								Ret		0
NIR Robert Reid	Norton							Ret			0
FIN Jouko Ryhänen	Matchless						Ret				0
GBR Tony Rutter	Norton								Ret		0
GBR Alf Shaw	Norton								Ret		0
GBR John Simmonds	Norton								Ret		0
NOR Lars Skjelfoss	Matchless				Ret						0
GBR Bill Smith	Matchless								Ret		0
ZAF Hans Sommerhalder	Matchless								Ret		0
GBR Adrian Spooner	Norton								Ret		0
Wales Malcolm Uphill	Norton								Ret		0
GBR Brian Walmsley	Norton								Ret		0
AUS Ron Wilson	Norton							Ret			0
NIR Tony Wood	Norton							Ret			0
GBR Derek Woodman	Matchless			Ret							0
ITA Benedetto Zambotti	Norton									Ret	0

Bold – Pole

Italics – Fastest Lap |}

350cc Standings

Place	Rider	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	GBR Mike Hailwood	United Kingdom	Honda	48	6
2	ITA Giacomo Agostini	Italy	MV Agusta	42	3
3	ITA Renzo Pasolini	Italy	Aermacchi	17	0
4	CSK Frantisek Stastny	Czechoslovakia	Jawa	13	0
5	CSK Gustav Havel	Czechoslovakia	Jawa	12	0
6	ITA Alberto Pagani	Italy	Aermacchi	11	0
7	DDR Heinz Rosner	East Germany	MZ	10	0
8	GBR Phil Read	United Kingdom	Yamaha	8	1
9	AUS Jack Ahearn	Australia	Norton	8	0
10	RHO Bruce Beale	Rhodesia	Honda	7	0
11	ITA Tarquinio Provini	Italy	Benelli	6	0
=	GBR Peter Williams	United Kingdom	AJS	6	0
=	GBR Bill Ivy	United Kingdom	Yamaha	6	0
14	ITA Silvio Grassetti	Italy	Bianchi	6	0
15	RHO Jim Redman	Rhodesia	Honda	4	0
=	GBR Tommy Robb	United Kingdom	Bultaco	4	0
=	GBR Chris Conn	United Kingdom	Norton	4	0
18	ITA Gilberto Milani	Italy	Aermacchi	3	0
=	GBR Stuart Graham	United Kingdom	AJS	3	0
=	AUS Kel Carruthers	Australia	Norton	3	0
=	GBR Byron Black	United Kingdom	Honda	3	0
22	CSK Frantisek Bocek	Czechoslovakia	Jawa	3	0
23	GBR Dave Simmonds	United Kingdom	Honda-Norton	2	0
=	JPN Kenzo Muromachi	Japan	Honda	2	0
25	GBR John Blanchard	United Kingdom	AJS	1	0
=	GBR Joe Dunphy	United Kingdom	Norton	1	0
=	SWE Kent Andersson	Sweden	Husqvarna	1	0

250cc Standings

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

125cc Standings

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

50cc Standings

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

References

Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A.

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