The 1956 Motocross European Championship was the 5th edition of the Motocross European Championship organized by the FIM and reserved for 500cc motorcycles.[1]
Since 1957 this championship has then become the current Motocross World Championship.[2]
It should not be confused with the European Motocross Championship, now organized by the FIM Europe, whose first edition was held in 1988.[3]
| Round | Date | Grand Prix | Location | Winner | Team | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 6 |  Swiss Grand Prix | Geneva | Geoff Ward | BSA | Report | ||
| 2 | May 13 | Dutch Grand Prix | Schijndel | Jan Clynk | BSA | Report | ||
| 3 | June 3 |  Italian Grand Prix | Imola |  Bill Nilsson | BSA | Report | ||
| 4 | June 10 |  French Grand Prix | Rouen | Les Archer Jr. | Norton | Report | ||
| 5 | July 8 | British Grand Prix | Hawkstone Park | Les Archer Jr. | Norton | Report | ||
| 6 | August 5 |  Belgian Grand Prix | Balen | Les Archer Jr. | Norton | Report | ||
| 7 | August 12 |  Luxembourg Grand Prix | Ettelbruck | John Draper | BSA | Report | ||
| 8 | August 19 | Swedish Grand Prix | Saxtorp | Bill Nilsson | BSA | Report | ||
| 9 | September 2 | Danish Grand Prix | Randers | Les Archer Jr. | Norton | Report | ||
| Sources:[4] [5] | ||||||||
Points are awarded to the top 6 classified finishers.[1]
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Pos | Rider | Machine | CH | NED | ITA | FRA | GBR | BEL | LUX | SWE | DEN | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Les Archer Jr. | Norton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 32 | ||||
| 2 | John Draper | BSA | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 26 | |||||
| 3 | Nic Jansen | Matchless | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 19 | |||||
| 4 | Sten Lundin | BSA | 4 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 17 | ||||
| 5 | Bill Nilsson | BSA | 1 | 1 | 16 | ||||||||
| 6 | Geoff Ward | BSA | 1 | 3 | 3 | 16 | |||||||
| 7 | Auguste Mingels | FN | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 13 | ||||||
| 8 | René Baeten | FN | 5 | 4 | 2 | 11 | |||||||
| 9 | Brian Stonebridge | BSA | 3 | 6 | 3 | 9 | |||||||
| 10 | Jan Clijnk | BSA | 1 | 8 | |||||||||
| 11 | Jeff Smith | BSA | 6 | 2 | 7 | ||||||||
| 12 | Piet Vanden Oever | BSA | 3 | 4 | |||||||||
| 13 | Lars Gustavsson | BSA | 5 | 5 | 4 | ||||||||
| 14 | Broer Dirkx | Matchless | 4 | 3 | |||||||||
| David Curtis | Matchless | 4 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Terry Cheshire | BSA | 4 | 3 | ||||||||||
| 17 | Jean Somja | FN | 5 | 2 | |||||||||
| Pol Breesselers | Matchless | 5 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Ejvind Hansen | BSA | 5 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 20 | Raymond Sigvardsson | AJS | 6 | 1 | |||||||||
| Hendrik Rietman | BSA | 6 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Jean Rombauts | BSA | 6 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Hubert Scaillet | FN | 6 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Frans Baudouin | Matchless | 6 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Source: | |||||||||||||