1966 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

Sports season 1966 F.I.M. Grand Prix motorcycle racing season 1965 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 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 Report 1 8 May ESP 1945 Spanish Grand Prix Montjuïc circuit CHE Luigi Taveri GBR Bill Ivy GBR Mike Hailwood Report 2 22 May FRG West German Grand Prix Hockenheimring FRG Hans-Georg Anscheidt CHE Luigi Taveri GBR Mike Hailwood GBR Mike Hailwood RHO 1964 Jim Redman CHE GBR Scheidegger / Robinson Report 3 29 May FRA French Grand Prix Charade Circuit GBR Mike Hailwood GBR Mike Hailwood CHE GBR Scheidegger / Robinson Report 4 25 June NLD Dutch TT TT Circuit Assen CHE Luigi Taveri GBR Bill Ivy GBR Mike Hailwood GBR Mike Hailwood RHO 1964 Jim Redman CHE GBR Scheidegger / Robinson Report 5 3 July BEL Belgian Grand Prix Spa-Francorchamps GBR Mike Hailwood ITA Giacomo Agostini CHE GBR Scheidegger / Robinson Report 6 17 July DDR East German Grand Prix Sachsenring CHE Luigi Taveri GBR Mike Hailwood ITA Giacomo Agostini TCH František Šťastný Report 7 24 July TCH Czechoslovak Grand Prix Masaryk Circuit CHE Luigi Taveri GBR Mike Hailwood GBR Mike Hailwood GBR Mike Hailwood Report 8 7 August FIN Finnish Grand Prix Imatra Circuit GBR Phil Read GBR Mike Hailwood GBR Mike Hailwood ITA Giacomo Agostini Report 9 20 August NIR Ulster Grand Prix Dundrod Circuit CHE Luigi Taveri NZL Ginger Molloy GBR Mike Hailwood GBR Mike Hailwood Report 10 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 11 September ITA Nations Grand Prix Monza FRG Hans-Georg Anscheidt CHE Luigi Taveri GBR Mike Hailwood ITA Giacomo Agostini ITA Giacomo Agostini Report 12 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 GERDEU HOLNLD BELBEL DDRDDR TCHTCH FINFIN ULSNIR MANIOM NACITA Pts 1 ITA Giacomo Agostini MV Agusta 2 2 1 Ret 2 1 2 2 1 36 (54) 2 GBR Mike Hailwood Honda Ret Ret Ret Ret 1 2 1 1 Ret 30 3 AUS Jack Findlay Matchless 11 6 Ret 2 4 3 4 8 3 20 (21) 4 TCH František Šťastný Jawa-CZ 3 Ret 1 Ret Ret 3 6 Ret 17 5 RHO 1964 Jim Redman Honda 1 1 Ret 16 6 CHE Gyula Marsovszky Matchless 3 7 4 5 3 7 8 8 13 7 AUS Jack Ahearn Norton 8 9 3 3 5 4 Ret 13 8 GBR Stuart Graham Matchless 4 5 2 Ret Ret Ret 11 9 GBR Peter Williams Matchless / AJS 9 6 7 2 7 10 GBR Chris Conn Norton Ret Ret Ret Ret 5 3 Ret 6 11 GBR Ron Chandler Matchless Ret 6 4 5 Ret 6 12 GBR John Cooper Norton Ret 4 Ret 7 Ret Ret 3 13 GBR Fred Stevens Paton / Matchless / Metisse Ret 8 14 Ret Ret 8 12 12 4 3 14 GBR John Blanchard Seeley / Matchless Ret 4 3 15 GBR Lewis Young Matchless 5 Ret 8 Ret 9 6 Ret 3 16 AUS Malcolm Stanton Norton 14 Ret Ret 5 10 Ret 2 17 DEU Walter Scheimann Norton 10 Ret Ret 14 5 2 18 GBR John Mawby Norton 5 Ret 13 2 19 AUT Edy Lenz Matchless 6 Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 2 20 AUS John Dodds Norton Ret 13 6 10 Ret Ret Ret 1 21 AUS Eric Hinton Norton Ret 6 Ret 1 22 GBR Dan Shorey Norton 7 12 11 8 13 Ret 19 Ret 0 23 SWE Bo Granath Matchless 7 Ret 12 9 0 24 GBR Derek Lee Matchless Ret Ret 17 Ret 7 0 25 GBR Joe Dunphy Norton Ret 7 Ret Ret Ret 0 26 Wales Selwyn Griffiths Matchless 7 Ret 0 27 GBR Billie Nelson Norton 9 Ret 9 8 12 Ret 0 28 NIR Billy McCosh Matchless 10 9 0 29 TCH Gustav Havel Jawa-CZ Ret 11 14 11 Ret 9 Ret 0 30 FRA Philippe Canoui Matchless Ret Ret 9 0 31 SWE Agne Carlsson Matchless 10 Ret 10 0 32 AUS Kel Carruthers Norton Ret 10 Ret Ret Ret 13 11 Ret 0 33 AUS Len Atlee Norton Ret 10 Ret 15 21 0 34 SWE Billy Andersson Matchless 11 16 0 35 HUN György Kurucz Norton 11 Ret 0 36 ITA Giuseppe Dardanello Norton 11 0 = GBR Robin Fitton Norton 11 0 38 GBR Maurice Hawthorne Norton 12 18 10 0 39 CAN David Lloyd Norton Ret 12 20 0 40 ITA Vasco Loro Norton 12 0 41 FIN Pentti Lehtelä Norton Ret 15 13 0 42 AUS Jack Saunders Matchless 13 20 Ret 0 43 DEU Karl Hoppe Matchless Ret 13 Ret 0 44 GBR George Fogarty Matchless 13 0 45 GBR Roly Capner Matchless 14 0 = GBR Barry Scully Norton 14 0 47 GBR Godfrey Nash Norton 15 0 = GBR Charlie Sanby Norton 15 0 49 AUT Rudi Thalhammer Seeley / Norton / Matchless Ret 16 Ret Ret 0 = CHE Ernst Weiss Matchless Ret Ret 16 Ret 0 51 GBR Peter Sheppard Norton 16 0 52 CAN Roger Beaumont Norton Ret Ret Ret 17 Ret 0 53 NZL Neville Landrebe Matchless 17 0 54 GBR Dennis Gallagher Matchless 18 Ret 0 55 AUS Tom Gill Matchless 19 Ret 0 56 NZL Ray Breingan Norton 21 Ret 0 57 CAN Stuart Morin Norton Ret Ret 22 0 58 NIR Terence Taylor Norton 22 0 59 NIR Brian Taggart Norton 23 0 = GBR Carl Ward Norton 23 0 61 USA Byron Black Matchless 24 28 0 62 GBR Dave Williams Norton 24 0 63 GBR Steve Jolly Norton 25 0 64 GBR Peter Darvill Matchless 26 0 65 GBR Dave Duncan Matchless 27 0 66 GBR Les Kempster Norton 29 0 67 GBR Jim Ashton Matchless 30 0 68 GBR Laurence Povey Norton 31 0 69 GBR Harry Reynolds Matchless 32 0 - ZAF 1928 Ian Burne Norton Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 - GBR Griff Jenkins Norton / Dunstall Ret Ret Ret 0 Pos Rider Bike GERDEU HOLNLD BELBEL DDRDDR TCHTCH FINFIN ULSUlster MANGBR NACITA PtsBold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap 350cc Standings Place Rider Number 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 TCH František Šťastný Czechoslovakia Jawa 13 0 5 TCH 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 1964 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 1964 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 TCH František Boček 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 Number Country Machine Points Wins 1 GBR Mike Hailwood United Kingdom Honda 56 10 2 GBR Phil Read United Kingdom Yamaha 34 0 3 RHO 1964 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 TCH František Šťastný Czechoslovakia Jawa 11 0 9 CAN Michelle 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 1964 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 Number 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 1945 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 Number 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 1945 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. 2-940125-32-5 The Official MotoGP website http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics/1966/NAT/500cc/World+Standing 2010-07-06 2012-09-18 https://web.archive.org/web/20120918192621/http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics/1966/NAT/500cc/World+Standing dead Category:Grand Prix motorcycle racing seasons Grand Prix motorcycle racing season