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1970 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

Sports season

Phil Read (8) finished second at the 1970 [[Dutch TT

The 1970 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 22nd 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 3 May, with West German Grand Prix and ended with Spanish Grand Prix on 27 September.

This is the most recent season before 2024 that the Japanese manufacturers failed to score a single win in the premier class.

Season summary

With no other manufacturers competing in the 500cc class the MV Agusta team continued to dominate as Giacomo Agostini won his fifth consecutive 500cc world championship. Kawasaki began to sell the Kawasaki H1R to privateer racing teams. The H1R was the first multi-cylinder two stroke racing motorcycle to be sold commercially. Ginger Molloy rode one of the Kawasakis to a second-place finish behind Agostini in the championship.

Life was a bit tougher for Agostini in the 350 class as Kel Carruthers and Renzo Pasolini on Benellis and Rod Gould on a factory Yamaha gave him a battle on more than one occasion. Gould would take the 250 title for Yamaha, battling Carruthers for the entire season. German Dieter Braun would give Suzuki the 125 crown while Derbi mounted Angel Nieto claimed the 50cc class for the second year in a row.

There were six fatalities among the competitors at the Isle of Man TT races, including world championship contender Santiago Herrero, making 1970 the deadliest year in the history of the event.

1970 Grand Prix season calendar

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit	50cc winner	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Sidecars 500cc winner
3 May	FRG West German Grand Prix	Nürburgring Nordschleife	ESP Angel Nieto	AUS John Dodds	AUS Kel Carruthers	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU Auerbacher / Hahn	Report
17 May	FRA French Grand Prix	Le Mans Bugatti	ESP Angel Nieto	FRG Dieter Braun	GBR Rodney Gould		ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU Enders / Kalauch	Report
24 May	Yugoslavia Yugoslavian Grand Prix	Opatija Circuit	ESP Angel Nieto	FRG Dieter Braun	ESP Santiago Herrero	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini		Report
12 June	IOM Isle of Man TT	Snaefell Mountain		FRG Dieter Braun	AUS Kel Carruthers	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU Enders / Kalauch	Report
27 June	NLD Dutch TT	Assen	ESP Angel Nieto	FRG Dieter Braun	GBR Rodney Gould	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU Auerbacher / Hahn	Report
5 July	BEL Belgian Grand Prix	Spa-Francorchamps	NLD Aalt Toersen	ESP Angel Nieto	GBR Rodney Gould		ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU Butscher / Huber	Report
12 July	DDR East German Grand Prix	Sachsenring	NLD Aalt Toersen	ESP Angel Nieto	GBR Rodney Gould	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini		Report
19 July	CSK Czechoslovak Grand Prix	Masaryk Circuit	NLD Aalt Toersen	ITA Gilberto Parlotti	AUS Kel Carruthers	ITA Giacomo Agostini		DEU Enders / Engelhardt	Report
2 August	FIN Finnish Grand Prix	Imatra Circuit		GBR Dave Simmonds	GBR Rodney Gould	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU Enders / Engelhardt	Report
15 August	NIR Ulster Grand Prix	Dundrod Circuit	ESP Angel Nieto		AUS Kel Carruthers	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU Enders / Engelhardt	Report
13 September	ITA Nations Grand Prix	Monza	NLD Jan de Vries	ESP Angel Nieto	GBR Rodney Gould	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini		Report
27 September	ESP Spanish Grand Prix	Montjuich	ESP Salvador Cañellas	ESP Angel Nieto	SWE Kent Andersson	ITA Angelo Bergamonti	ITA Angelo Bergamonti		Report

Scoring system

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

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Points
15	12	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1

500cc final standings

Pos	Rider	Machine	GER
DEU	FRA
FRA	YUG
YUG	MAN
IOM	HOL
NLD	BEL
BEL	DDR
DDR	FIN
FIN	ULS
NIR	NAC
ITA	ESP
ESP	Pts	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	=	=	19	20	21	22	23	=	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	=	34	35	36	37	38	39	=	41	42	43	44	45	46	=	=	=	50	51	52	53	=	=	=	57	58	59	60	=	62	63	64	65	=	=	68	69	70	71	72	73	=	=	76	77	=	=	80	=	=	=	84	85	86	=	88	89	90	91	=	=	94	95	96	97	98	99	=	101	=	103	104	=	106	107	=	109	=	111	=	113	114	115	116	117	118	119	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	=	-	-	-	-	-	-	=	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	=	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Pos	Rider	Bike	GER
DEU	FRA
FRA	YUG
YUG	MAN
GBR	HOL
NLD	BEL
BEL	DDR
DDR	FIN
FIN	ULS
Ulster	NAC
ITA	ESP
ESP	Pts
ITA Giacomo Agostini	MV Agusta	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1		90
NZL Ginger Molloy	Bultaco / Kawasaki	5	2	7		4	16	15	2	2	6	2	62
ITA Angelo Bergamonti	Aermacchi / MV Agusta		4	2		2					2	1	59
NIR Tommy Robb	Seeley	3	11		Ret	10	3	10	5	Ret		4	36
ITA Alberto Pagani	Linto		3	Ret		3	Ret	Ret	3		Ret	Ret	30
GBR Alan Barnett	Seeley-Matchless	2	7		Ret			4		Ret			24
FRA Christian Ravel	Kawasaki		8			Ret	2	5	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	24
AUS Jack Findlay	Seeley-Matchless / Seeley-Suzuki	Ret	Ret	4	4	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	4	Ret	Ret	24
FIN Martti Pesonen	Yamaha	7		5	Ret	Ret	8		8	7		7	24
GBR Peter Williams	Matchless				2	7				5			22
ITA Roberto Gallina	Paton			3		Ret					7	5	20
GBR Martin Carney	Kawasaki	Ret			Ret			3		6		6	20
CHE Gyula Marsovszky	Linto / Kawasaki	11	6	8		9	Ret	Ret	Ret		4	Ret	18
FRA Eric Offenstadt	Kawasaki	Ret	9				13	7	4		Ret		14
AUS John Dodds	Linto	Ret	Ret			Ret	Ret	2	Ret		Ret	Ret	12
ITA Silvano Bertarelli	Kawasaki		Ret								3		10
GBR Bill Smith	Kawasaki / Yamaha				3					Ret			10
GBR Percy Tait	Triumph / Seeley-Matchless						Ret			3			10
ITA Giuseppe Mandolini	Moto Guzzi											3	10
GBR Dave Simmonds	Kawasaki	Ret	12	6		12	12	8	Ret			9	10
DEU Karl Hoppe	Münch-URS / Seeley-URS	4	16			Ret		Ret					8
AUT Karl Auer	Matchless			Ret			4	Ret					8
ITA Gianpiero Zubani	Kawasaki			9							5		8
GBR John Williams	Matchless				5					9			8
GBR Godfrey Nash	Norton / Manx	Ret	Ret			Ret	11	9	6				7
GBR Billie Nelson	Paton	9				Ret	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	Ret		7
DEU Ernst Hiller	Kawasaki	8				Ret	7	Ret					7
GBR Lewis Young	Honda / Matchless	Ret	Ret	11		Ret	5		Ret			Ret	6
NIR Brian Steenson	Seeley-Matchless	15	5		Ret								6
GBR Paul Smart	Seeley-Matchless				Ret	5			Ret	Ret			6
AUS Terry Dennehy	Honda	10	Ret	Ret		13	6		Ret		Ret	Ret	6
GBR Tony Jefferies	Matchless				6					Ret			5
CHE Walter Rungg	Aermacchi	6	Ret	Ret									5
NLD Rob Bron	Suzuki					6							5
GBR Steve Ellis	Linto / Matchless	Ret	Ret	14			10	Ret	7				5
GBR Ron Chandler	Seeley-Matchless / Triumph	Ret				8	9			Ret			5
GBR Selwyn Griffiths	Matchless				7								4
NIR Gerry Mateer	Norton				Ret					8			3
GBR Brian Adams	Norton				8								3
ITA Giovanni Perrone	Kawasaki										8		3
GBR Vincent Duckett	Seeley-Matchless				9					13			2
DEU Hans-Otto Butenuth	BMW	Ret			Ret				9				2
ITA Paolo Campanelli	Kawasaki			Ret							9		2
CHE Jean Campiche	Honda		Ret	10				14	10		Ret		2
RHO Gordon Keith	Velocette	Ret			21			Ret				10	1
FRA André-Luc Appietto	Paton		10										1
GBR Charlie Dobson	Seeley-Matchless									10			1
ITA Vasco Loro	Norton-Kawasaki										10		1
GBR Steve Spencer	Norton				10								1
AUT Werner Bergold	Linto / Seeley		14					11					0
Wales Malcolm Uphill	Suzuki				Ret	11				Ret			0
ITA Emanuele Maugliani	Seeley							Ret			11		0
GBR Peter Berwick	Aermacchi									11			0
GBR John Burgess	Norton		Ret									11	0
GBR Jim Curry	Aermacchi								11				0
GBR Keith Heckles	Norton				11								0
DEU Heinrich Rosenbusch	Linto	12		Ret		14							0
GBR Alan Lawton	Norton				14					12			0
GBR George Fogarty	Shepherd				12					17			0
FIN Jouko Ryhänen	Matchless								12				0
CZE Frantisek Srna	Jawa			12									0
FRA Pierre-Louis Tebec	Kawasaki	26	13										0
DEU Gerhard Heukerott	Benelli			Ret		Ret			13		Ret		0
SWE Sven-Olov Gunnarsson	Kawasaki							13	Ret				0
GBR John Blanchard	Seeley	13											0
GBR Ken Tilley	Norton				13								0
CHE Alo Zanetta	Kawasaki			13									0
SWE Billy Andersson	Matchless / Crescent				39		14	Ret					0
DEU Ferdinand Kaczor	Seeley-URS	14	Ret										0
NIR Harris Healey	Norton									14			0
GBR Ken Kay	Aermacchi				28					15			0
GBR Bob Heath	BSA				Ret	15							0
BEL Serge Jamsin	Norton						15						0
FRA Hervé Lansac	Kawasaki		15										0
GBR Norman Price	Norton				15								0
GBR Maurice Hawthorne	Norton / Linto	16										Ret	0
GBR Peter Gibson	Seeley				16								0
NIR Cambell Gorman	Velocette									16			0
AUS Terry McDonald	Matchless							16					0
FRA Jean-Claude Costeux	Aermacchi		17										0
GBR Peter Darvill	Higley-Seeley				17								0
GBR Stephen Millard	Matchless	17											0
ITA Franco Trabalzini	Paton							17					0
GBR Chris Neve	Seeley				34					18			0
SWE Bo Granath	Husqvarna	18	Ret		Ret		Ret	Ret	Ret			Ret	0
GBR Bob Biscardine	Norton				18								0
HUN Arpad Juhos	Matchless							18					0
NIR Roy Reid	Norton				35					19			0
DEU Paul Eickelberg	Matchless / Norton	19		Ret					Ret				0
GBR Geoff Barry	Oakley-Matchless				19								0
GBR John Barton	Triumph				20								0
GBR Nigel Palmer	Matchless	20											0
NIR Harry Turner	Norton									20			0
CHE Gilbert Argo	Matchless	21											0
AUT Alois Maxwald	Matchless	22						Ret					0
GBR Don Grant	Norton				22								0
GBR Barry Randle	Seeley	23			Ret					Ret			0
GBR Brian Moses	Norton				23								0
DEU Willi Bertsch	Honda	24											0
GBR Dave Foulkes	Norton				24								0
GBR Brian Edwards	Kettle-Norton				25								0
FRA Jean-Marie Grandidier	Matchless	25											0
GBR Brian Swales	Norton				26								0
GBR Gordon Daniels	Matchless				27								0
GBR Jerry Lancaster	Aermacchi	27											0
DEU Rudolf Reinhardt	BMW	28											0
GBR Graham Sharp	Petty-Norton				29								0
DEU Jupp Tröblinger	Norton	29											0
GBR Don Harris	Norton				30								0
AUT Walfried Weingartner	Matchless	30											0
GBR Ron Baylie	Triumph				31								0
DEU Ted Janssen	Norton	31											0
GBR John Pepper	Norton				32								0
GBR Len Williams	Aermacchi				33								0
GBR Roger Fursman	Norton				36								0
GBR Dennis Trollope	Norton				37								0
GBR Carl Ward	Norton				38								0
GBR Mick Potter	Metisse				40								0
GBR Graham Penny	Honda				41								0
NLD Theo Louwes	Kawasaki / Matchless		Ret			Ret	Ret		Ret	Ret			0
NZL Keith Turner	Linto		Ret					Ret	Ret				0
GBR Cliff Carr	Kawasaki	Ret								Ret			0
GBR Tom Dickie	Kuhn-Seeley				Ret					Ret			0
GBR John-Tom Findlay	Norton				Ret					Ret			0
GBR Robert Graham	Matchless / Aermacchi				Ret					Ret			0
FIN Pentti Lehtelä	Matchless / Yamaha							Ret	Ret				0
ITA Renzo Pasolini	Benelli							Ret			Ret		0
CHE Philippe Schreyer	Kawasaki	Ret	Ret										0
GBR Stan Adams	Seeley	Ret											0
GBR Tom Armstrong	Norton				Ret								0
GBR Jim Ashton	Matchless				Ret								0
GBR George Barnacle	Triumph				Ret								0
GBR Rex Butcher	Metisse					Ret							0
GBR Doug Cash	Norton				Ret								0
GBR Paul Coombs	CRD				Ret								0
GBR Adrian Cooper	Norton				Ret								0
GBR John Cooper	Seeley				Ret								0
SWE Ake Dahli	Kawasaki							Ret					0
GBR Walter Dawson	Norton				Ret								0
GBR Charlie Dobson	Seeley				Ret								0
FRA Didier Dumesnil	Linto		Ret										0
GBR Robin Duffty	Norton				Ret								0
GBR Hugh Evans	CRD				Ret								0
GBR Derek Filler	Norton				Ret								0
GBR Denis Gallagher	Seeley									Ret			0
GBR Lou Geeson	Triumph				Ret								0
GBR Mick Grant	Velocette				Ret								0
GBR Chris Gregory	Norton				Ret								0
FRA René Guili	Matchless		Ret										0
FIN Osmo Hansen	Matchless								Ret				0
GBR Ray Knight	CRD				Ret								0
FIN Hannu Kuparinen	Matchless								Ret				0
GBR Cliff Lawson	Norton				Ret								0
GBR Derek Lee	Matchless				Ret								0
FRA Patrick Lefevre	Norton		Ret										0
USA Marty Lunde	Crescent		Ret										0
GBR Pat Mahoney	Kuhn-Seeley				Ret								0
GBR Percy May	Petty-Norton				Ret								0
NIR Ray McCullough	Seeley									Ret			0
ITA Gilberto Milani	Aermacchi										Ret		0
GBR Malcolm Moffatt	Seeley				Ret								0
DZA Mustapha Moulay	Paton		Ret										0
FRA Jean-Pierre Naudon	Matchless		Ret										0
ZAF Garth Neveling	Norton				Ret								0
GBR Derryl Pandlebury	Norton				Ret								0
GBR Dick Pipes	Norton				Ret								0
GBR Harry Reynolds	Norton				Ret								0
FRA Jacques Roca	Suzuki		Ret										0
GBR Barry Sheene	Bultaco											Ret	0
GBR Roy Simmons	Norton				Ret								0
GBR John Stanley	Seeley				Ret								0
CZE Frantisek Stastny	Jawa						Ret						0
FRA Thierry Tchernine	Velocette		Ret										0
DEU Rolf Thiemig	Ducati	Ret											0
ITA Franco Trabalzini	Paton	Ret											0
GBR Tony Turner	Norton				Ret								0
GBR Fred Walton	Velocette				Ret								0
NIR Charlie Watts	Norton									Ret			0
MLT John Wetherall	Norton				Ret								0
ITA Benedetto Zambotti	Bianchi										Ret		0

Bold – Pole

Italics – Fastest Lap |}

1970 350 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	ITA Giacomo Agostini	1	Italy	MV Agusta	90	9
2	AUS Kel Carruthers	7	Australia	Benelli	58	0
3	ITA Renzo Pasolini		Italy	Benelli	46	0
4	SWE Kent Andersson		Sweden	Yamaha	44	0
5	FIN Martti Pesonen		Finland	Yamaha	38	0
6	GBR Rodney Gould		United Kingdom	Yamaha	28	0
7	ITA Angelo Bergamonti		Italy	MV Agusta	27	1
8	DDR Günter Bartusch		East Germany	MZ	20	0
9	GBR Alan Barnett		United Kingdom	Aermacchi	20	0
10	GBR Tommy Robb		United Kingdom	Yamaha	18	0

1970 250 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	GBR Rodney Gould	6	United Kingdom	Yamaha	102	6
2	AUS Kel Carruthers		Australia	Yamaha	84	4
3	SWE Kent Andersson	2	Sweden	Yamaha	67	1
4	FIN Jarno Saarinen		Finland	Yamaha	57	0
5	SWE Börje Jansson	5	Sweden	Yamaha	34	0
6	GBR Chas Mortimer		United Kingdom	Yamaha	30	0
7	CHE Gyula Marsovsky		Switzerland	Yamaha	28	0
8	ESP Santiago Herrero	3	Spain	Ossa	27	1
9	SWE Bo Granath		Sweden	Yamaha	25	0
10	ITA Silvio Grassetti		Italy	Yamaha	24	0

1970 125 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	FRG Dieter Braun	2	West Germany	Suzuki	84	4
2	ESP Angel Nieto		Spain	Derbi	72	4
3	SWE Börje Jansson		Sweden	Maico	62	0
4	GBR Dave Simmonds	1	United Kingdom	Kawasaki	57	1
5	HUN László Szabó	8	Hungary	MZ	34	0
6	FRG Toni Gruber		West Germany	Maico	33	0
7	NLD Aalt Toersen		Netherlands	Suzuki	31	0
8	AUS John Dodds		Australia	Aermacchi	24	1
9	DDR Gunter Bartusch		East Germany	MZ	22	0
10	AUT Heinz Kriwanek		Austria	Rotax	25	0

1970 50 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	ESP Angel Nieto	1	Spain	Derbi	87	5
2	NLD Aalt Toersen	2	Netherlands	Jamathi	75	3
3	FRG Rudolf Kunz	8	West Germany	Kreidler	66	0
4	ESP Salvador Cañellas		Spain	Derbi	63	1
5	NLD Jan De Vries	4	Netherlands	Kreidler	60	1
6	NLD Jos Schurgers		Netherlands	Kreidler	41	0
7	NLD Martin Mijwaart	10	Netherlands	Jamathi	40	0
8	FRG Ludwig Fassbender	9	West Germany	Kreidler	17	0
9	ITA Gilberto Parlotti	6	Italy	Tomos	15	1
10	AUT Harald Bartol		Austria	Kreidler	11	0

References

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

References

(1999). "Motocourse: 50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix". Hazleton Publishing Ltd.
"World's fastest way to die: The most dangerous race on the planet". news.com.au.
"Two more deaths take Isle of Man TT Festival toll to five". express.co.uk.

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