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1971 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

Sports season

Jarno Saarinen (48) at 1971 Nations Grand Prix

The 1971 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 23rd 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 9 May, with Austrian Grand Prix and ended with Spanish Grand Prix on 26 September.

Season summary

Giacomo Agostini would claim his tenth world championship in 1971, passing Carlo Ubbiali and Mike Hailwood as the all time championship leader. Angel Nieto challenged for the 50cc and 125cc titles. A crash in the final 50cc race handed the title to Dutchman Jan de Vries but, Nieto was able to claim the 125 crown over a young Barry Sheene. Phil Read captured the 250 championship on a private Yamaha-powered Eric Cheney-designed chassis, after falling out with the Yamaha factory.

Agostini won the 350 title for the fourth year in a row but a newcomer served notice when young Finn, Jarno Saarinen, won his first Grand Prix at the Czechoslovak round then won again in Italy. Agostini had things his way in the 500cc class, winning the first eight rounds of the eleven race series against minimal factory-sponsored opposition. For the second consecutive year a New Zealand rider finished second in the premier class – Ginger Molloy in 1970 and Keith Turner in 1971.

Jack Findlay's victory at the 1971 Ulster Grand Prix not only marked the first victory for a Suzuki motorcycle in the premier 500cc class, but also the first-ever 500cc class victory for a motorcycle powered by a two stroke engine. Kawasaki won their first 500cc class victory at the season ending Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama when Dave Simmonds won the race after Agostini sat out the event after already winning the championship. The inaugural Austrian Grand Prix was held at the new high-speed Salzburgring.

1971 Grand Prix season calendar

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit	50cc winner	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Sidecars 500cc winner
9 May	AUT Austrian Grand Prix	Salzburgring	NLD Jan de Vries	ESP Angel Nieto	ITA Silvio Grassetti	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU Butscher / Huber	Report
16 May	FRG West German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring	NLD Jan de Vries	GBR Dave Simmonds	GBR Phil Read	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU Auerbacher / Hahn	Report
12 June	IOM Isle of Man TT	Snaefell Mountain		GBR Chas Mortimer	GBR Phil Read	GBR Tony Jefferies	ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU Schauzu / Kalauch	Report
26 June	NLD Dutch TT	Assen	ESP Angel Nieto	ESP Angel Nieto	GBR Phil Read	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU Owesle / Kremer	Report
4 July	BEL Belgian Grand Prix	Spa-Francorchamps	NLD Jan de Vries	GBR Barry Sheene	ITA Silvio Grassetti		ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU Schauzu / Kalauch	Report
11 July	DDR East German Grand Prix	Sachsenring	ESP Angel Nieto	ESP Angel Nieto	FRG Dieter Braun	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini		Report
18 July	CSK Czechoslovak Grand Prix	Brno	GBR Barry Sheene	ESP Angel Nieto	HUN János Drapál	FIN Jarno Saarinen		DEU Schauzu / Kalauch	Report
25 July	SWE Swedish Grand Prix	Anderstorp	ESP Angel Nieto	GBR Barry Sheene	GBR Rodney Gould	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini		Report
1 August	FIN Finnish Grand Prix	Imatra		GBR Barry Sheene	GBR Rodney Gould	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU GBR Owesle / Rutterford	Report
14 August	NIR Ulster Grand Prix	Dundrod			NIR Ray McCullough	GBR Peter Williams	AUS Jack Findlay	DEU GBR Owesle / Rutterford	Report
12 September	ITA Nations Grand Prix	Monza	NLD Jan de Vries	ITA Gilberto Parlotti	CHE Gyula Marsovsky	FIN Jarno Saarinen	ITA Alberto Pagani		Report
26 September	ESP Spanish Grand Prix	Jarama	NLD Jan de Vries	ESP Angel Nieto	FIN Jarno Saarinen	FIN Teuvo Länsivuori	GBR Dave Simmonds		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	AUT
AUT	GER
DEU	MAN
IOM	HOL
NLD	BEL
BEL	DDR
DDR	SWE
SWE	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	17	18	19	20	=	=	=	=	25	26	27	=	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	=	38	=	=	=	42	43	=	45	=	=	=	49	50	=	=	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60	61	=	63	64	65	66	67	=	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	Pos	Rider	Bke	AUT
AUT	GER
DEU	MAN
IOM	HOL
NLD	BEL
BEL	DDR
DDR	SWE
SWE	FIN
FIN	ULS
NIR	NAC
ITA	ESP
ESP	Pts
ITA Giacomo Agostini	MV Agusta	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1		Ret		90 (120)
NZL Keith Turner	Coleman-Suzuki	2	Ret	7	4	Ret	2	2	4	Ret	6	5	58 (67)
NLD Rob Bron	Suzuki		2		2	4	8	Ret	3	2			57
GBR Dave Simmonds	Kawasaki		Ret		3	Ret		6	2		3	1	52
AUS Jack Findlay	Suzuki / Jada	4	Ret		Ret	3		10	5	1	5	6	50 (51)
FRA Eric Offenstadt	Kawasaki	3	Ret		Ret	2	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret		3	32
NIR Tommy Robb	Hurst-Seeley / Matchless		6	15	7	Ret		3	9	3			31
ITA Alberto Pagani	Linto / MV Agusta	7	5	Ret	Ret	Ret		Ret	7		1		29
FIN Kaarlo Koivuniemi	Seeley-Matchless						5	5	Ret			2	24
GBR Ron Chandler	Kawasaki		3		Ret	5		Ret		8	Ret		19
GBR Frank Perris	Suzuki / Seeley / Linto			3		7		Ret	Ret		Ret		14
DEU Lothar John	Yamaha	5	Ret		12	Ret	Ret	Ret	8		7		13
ITA Gianpiero Zubani	Kawasaki	Ret									2		12
GBR Peter Williams	Arter-Matchless			2									12
SWE Bo Granath	Husqvarna				8	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	6	10	Ret	12
GBR Billie Nelson	Paton	6			6	10							11
DEU Ernst Hiller	Kawasaki	Ret	11		Ret	Ret	3						10
GBR Maurice Hawthorne	Kawasaki	Ret	4		Ret	Ret	Ret		Ret		Ret	Ret	8
CHE Hans-Rudolf Brünger	Bultaco						4					Ret	8
ESP Benjamin Grau	Bultaco											4	8
Wales Selwyn Griffiths	Cowles-Matchless			4									8
SWE Ulfe Nilsson	Seeley-Matchless							4					8
GBR Phil Read	Ducati										4		8
GBR Percy Tait	Seeley-Matchless									4			8
SWE Ivan Carlsson	Yamaha	Ret	Ret		11	6	Ret	Ret			Ret	9	7
GBR Jim Curry	Seeley-Matchless		Ret		5	Ret							6
NIR Gerry Mateer	Norton			Ret						5			6
GBR Gordon Pantall	Padgett-Kawasaki			5						Ret			6
AUT Karl Auer	Matchless	Ret	Ret				6				Ret		5
FIN Matti Salonen	Yamaha						Ret	Ret	6				5
GBR Roger Sutcliffe	Matchless			6									5
DEU Hans-Otto Butenuth	BMW		7	10	Ret				Ret				5
NLD Piet Van der Wal	Kawasaki				Ret	9	Ret				8		5
AUS Peter Jones	Suzuki			19				Ret				7	4
CHE Jean Campiche	Honda						7				Ret		4
NIR Tom Herron	Seeley									7			4
SWE Morgan Radberg	Monark							7					4
DEU Kurt-Willy Bertsch	BMW		8										3
ESP Joan Bordons	Bultaco											8	3
GBR Jerry Lancaster	Yamaha					8							3
GBR Charlie Sanby	Seeley-Matchless			8									3
DEU Paul Eickelberg	Yamaha				9				10		Ret		3
SWE Johnny Bengtsson	Kawasaki							9	Ret				2
FIN Pentti Lehtelä	Yamaha						9		Ret				2
GBR Tom Dickie	Cowles-Matchless			9									2
DEU Horst Dzierzawa	Yamaha		9										2
ITA Giuseppe Mongardi	Ducati										9		2
NIR Donnie Robinson	Padgett-Yamaha									9			2
AUS John Dodds	König	Ret	10		Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret		Ret	Ret		1
ITA Emanuele Maugliani	Seeley-Matchless											10	1
NLD Rob Noorlander	Norton				10								1
GBR Stan Woods	Norton									10			1
GBR Brian Moses	Norton			11						16			0
GBR Charlie Dobson	Seeley		Ret					Ret	Ret	11			0
AUT Werner Bergold	Kawasaki	Ret	11				Ret						0
DZA Larbi Habbiche	Yamaha											11	0
GBR Robert Graham	Norton			Ret						12			0
GBR Norman Price	Norton			12									0
GBR Alan Lawton	Norton			13						13			0
DEU Rolf Rott	Kawasaki		13										0
GBR Derek Lee	Matchless									14			0
GBR Roger Nichols	Matchless			14									0
NIR Roy Reid	Seeley			32						15			0
GBR Roy Bisbey	Norton			16									0
GBR Geoff Barry	Oakley-Matchless / Seeley			17						Ret			0
GBR Brian Scully	Scott									17			0
NIR Bob Ramsey	Seeley									18			0
GBR Jeff Wade	Tickle Manx Norton			18									0
GBR Chris Neve	Seeley			30						19			0
GBR Don Harris	Norton			20									0
GBR Dave Foulkes	Norton			21									0
GBR Jeff Boniface	Norton			22									0
GBR Brian Edwards	Norton			23									0
GBR Fred Walton	Velocette Metisse			24									0
GBR Len Williams	Aermacchi			25									0
GBR Tom Loughridge	Suzuki			26									0
GBR Gordon Daniels	TWS Suzuki			27									0
GBR Jim Ashton	Seeley			28									0
GBR John Stanley	Seeley			29									0
GBR Trevor Armstrong	Norton			31									0
CHE Gyula Marsovszky	Linto	Ret	Ret		Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret		0
NLD Theo Louwes	Kawasaki	Ret	Ret		Ret	Ret	Ret						0
FIN Hannu Kuparinen	Suzuki	Ret			Ret		Ret		Ret				0
GBR Martin Carney	Kawasaki		Ret			Ret	Ret			Ret			0
FRA Cristian Ravel	Kawasaki	Ret	Ret		Ret	Ret							0
GBR Alan Barnett	Aermacchi			Ret	Ret	Ret							0
ITA Silvano Bertarelli	Kawasaki	Ret	Ret								Ret		0
DEU Karl Hoppe	König	Ret			Ret		Ret						0
SWE Börje Andersson	Honda							Ret	Ret				0
GBR Vincent Duckett	Seeley			Ret						Ret			0
ITA Roberto Gallina	Paton	Ret									Ret		0
GBR Steve Ellis	Yamaha				Ret			Ret					0
SWE Sven-Olov Gunnarsson	Kawasaki						Ret		Ret				0
GBR Tony Jefferies	Arter-Matchless			Ret						Ret			0
FIN Kai Kuparinen	Suzuki						Ret		Ret				0
NIR Billy McCosh	Seeley			Ret						Ret			0
NZL Ginger Molloy	Kawasaki	Ret	Ret										0
DNK Borge Nielsen	Honda							Ret	Ret				0
GBR Bill Smith	Seeley / Kawasaki			Ret						Ret			0
GBR John Williams	Arter-Matchless			Ret						Ret			0
GBR Brian Adams	Norton			Ret						Ret			0
NIR Abe Alexander	Seeley									Ret			0
GBR Tony Anderson	Matchless			Ret									0
GBR Martin Ashwood	Quaife Metisse			Ret									0
ITA Sergio Baroncini	Ducati										Ret		0
SWE Jöram Blom	Seeley							Ret					0
AUT Hans Braumandl	Matchless	Ret											0
GBR Clive Brown	Norton			Ret									0
ITA Paolo Campanelli	Kawasaki										Ret		0
GBR Alistair Copeland	Norton			Ret									0
GBR Walter Dawson	Norton			Ret									0
AUS Terry Dennehy	Honda				Ret								0
GBR Derek Filler	Seeley			Ret									0
GBR George Fogarty	Cunningham-Suzuki			Ret									0
GBR Bill Fulton	Stafford-Matchless			Ret									0
GBR Denis Gallagher	Seeley									Ret			0
GBR Alex George	Kawasaki			Ret									0
GBR Peter Gibson	Seeley			Ret									0
GBR Tony Godfrey	Tickle Manx Norton			Ret									0
NIR Campbell Gorman	Seeley									Ret			0
GBR Don Grant	Norton			Ret									0
GBR Terry Grotefeld	Padgett-Yamaha			Ret									0
NIR Billie Guthrie	Yamaha									Ret			0
FIN Osmo Hansen	Linto								Ret				0
NOR Morten Hauger	Honda							Ret					0
NIR Harris Healey	Norton									Ret			0
GBR Bob Health	BSA			Ret									0
GBR Keith Heckles	Norton			Ret									0
FIN Ari Heikkilä	Matchless								Ret				0
GBR John Hughes	Yamaha			Ret									0
DEU Albert Hund	Honda		Ret										0
DEU Ted Janssen	Suzuki		Ret										0
GBR Malcolm Jefery	Norton			Ret									0
SWE Lasse Johansson	HM							Ret					0
HUN Arpad Juhos	Aermacchi						Ret						0
IRL Austin Kinsella	Matchless									Ret			0
GBR Ray Knight	Hughes-Triumph			Ret									0
DEU Udo Kochanski	BMW		Ret										0
DEU Otto Labitzke	BMW			Ret									0
DEU Horst Lahfeld	König		Ret										0
ITA Vasco Loro	Yamaha										Ret		0
AUT Alois Maxwald	Linto	Ret											0
NIR Ray McCullough	Seeley									Ret			0
NIR Ian McGregor	Norton									Ret			0
NIR Stephen Murray	Seeley									Ret			0
GBR Godfrey Nash	Honda							Ret					0
FIN Oiva Papunen	Kawasaki							Ret					0
FIN Anssi Resko	Suzuki								Ret				0
CHE Walter Rungg	Aermacchi				Ret								0
SWE Hasse Rutgersson	HRS							Ret					0
DEU Reinhard Scholtis	Kawasaki		Ret										0
DEU Alfred Schwander	Suzuki		Ret										0
ITA Bruno Spaggiari	Ducati										Ret		0
SWE Bo Strandell	Linto							Ret					0
DNK Claus Tarum	Honda							Ret					0
GBR Ken Tilley	Norton			Ret									0
DEU Jupp Tröblinger	König		Ret										0
GBR Dennis Trollope	Seeley			Ret									0
AUS Brian Walsh	Norton			Ret									0
GBR Carl Ward	Norton			Ret									0
AUT Manfred Weingartner	Matchless	Ret											0
AUT Max Wiener	Aermacchi	Ret											0
GBR Louis With	Kawasaki							Ret					0
GBR Ray Wittich	Saunders-Norton			Ret									0
ITA Benedetto Zambotti	Kawasaki										Ret		0

Bold – Pole

Italics – Fastest Lap |}

1971 350 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	ITA Giacomo Agostini	1	Italy	MV Agusta	90	6
2	FIN Jarno Saarinen		Finland	Yamaha	63	2
3	SWE Ivan Carlsson		Sweden	Yamaha	39	0
4	NLD Theo Bult		Netherlands	Yamaha	36	0
5	GBR Paul Smart		United Kingdom	Yamaha	34	0
6	CHE Werner Pfirter		Switzerland	Yamaha	33	0
7	SWE Bo Granath	10	Sweden	Yamaha	30	0
7	HUN László Szabó		Hungary	Yamaha	29	0
9	GBR Tony Jefferies		United Kingdom	Yamaha	25	1
10	FIN Teuvo Lansivuori		Finland	Yamaha	25	1

1971 250 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	GBR Phil Read		United Kingdom	Yamaha	73	3
2	GBR Rodney Gould	1	United Kingdom	Yamaha	68	2
3	FIN Jarno Saarinen	4	Finland	Yamaha	64	1
4	AUS John Dodds		Australia	Yamaha	59	0
5	FRG Dieter Braun		West Germany	Yamaha	58	1
6	CHE Gyula Marsovsky	7	Switzerland	Yamaha	57	1
7	ITA Silvio Grassetti	10	Italy	MZ	43	2
8	GBR Chas Mortimer	6	United Kingdom	Yamaha	42	0
9	HUN János Drapál		Hungary	Yamaha	26	1
10	NLD Theo Bult	20	Netherlands	Yamaha	22	0

1971 125 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	ESP Angel Nieto	1	Spain	Derbi	87	5
2	GBR Barry Sheene		United Kingdom	Suzuki	79	3
3	SWE Börje Jansson	3	Sweden	Maico	64	0
4	FRG Dieter Braun		West Germany	Maico	54	0
5	GBR Chas Mortimer		United Kingdom	Yamaha	48	1
6	GBR Dave Simmonds	4	United Kingdom	Kawasaki	48	1
7	FRG Gert Bender		West Germany	Maico	41	0
8	ITA Gilberto Parlotti		Italy	Morbidelli	39	1
9	SWE Kent Andersson		Sweden	Yamaha	30	0
10	DDR Jurgen Lenk		East Germany	MZ	27	0

1971 50 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	NLD Jan De Vries	5	Netherlands	Kreidler	75	5
2	ESP Angel Nieto	1	Spain	Derbi	69	3
3	NLD Jos Schurgers	6	Netherlands	Kreidler	42	0
4	NLD Herman Meyers	10	Netherlands	Jamathi	41	0
5	FRG Rudolf Kunz		West Germany	Kreidler	36	0
6	NLD Aalt Toersen		Netherlands	Jamathi	24	0
7	GBR Barry Sheene		United Kingdom	Kreidler	23	1
8	ITA Gilberto Parlotti	9	Italy	Derbi	22	0
9	ESP Federico van der Hoeven		Netherlands	Derbi	22	0
10	NLD Jan Bruins		Netherlands	Kreidler	19	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.
Melling, Frank. (10 January 2002). "Obituary:Eric Cheney". The Guardian.
[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1553493/Jack-Findlay.html Jack Findlay obituary - The Telegraph]
(22 May 2003). "MotoGP Milestones". crash.net.

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