1968 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season explained

The 1968 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 20th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of ten Grand Prix races in six classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc, 50cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on 21 April, with German Grand Prix and ended with Nations Grand Prix on 15 September. As the sidecar race was cancelled at the Nations Grand Prix, it was announced that a replacement race would be held at Hockenheimring in October alongside the German national championship.^[1]

Season summary

With the departure of Honda from the Grand Prix scene, MV Agusta proceeded to dominate the larger classes with Giacomo Agostini winning every race in the 500 and 350 classes. The 250 crown went to Phil Read amidst a controversy between Yamaha teammates. Read was supposed to take the 125 title while leaving the 250 crown for Bill Ivy. After Read captured the 125 title, he ignored team orders and went after the 250 title as well. Ivy and Read finished the championship tying on points and race results, and in this unlikely scenario, the FIM decided to give Read the title based on aggregate race times.^[2] As a result, Yamaha would discharge Read and he would never regain a place on the factory team. Hans-Georg Anscheidt would capture his third consecutive 50cc championship for Suzuki.

1968 Grand Prix season calendar

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit	50cc winner	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Sidecars 500cc winner	Report
1	21 April	German Grand Prix	Nürburgring Sudschleife	Hans-Georg Anscheidt	Phil Read	Bill Ivy	Giacomo Agostini	Giacomo Agostini	Fath / Kalauch	Report
2	5 May	Spanish Grand Prix	Montjuïc circuit	Hans-Georg Anscheidt	Salvador Cañellas	Phil Read		Giacomo Agostini		Report
3	14 June	Isle of Man TT	Snaefell Mountain	Barry Smith	Phil Read	Bill Ivy	Giacomo Agostini	Giacomo Agostini	Schauzu/Horst Schneider	Report
4	29 June	Dutch TT	TT Circuit Assen	Paul Lodewijkx	Phil Read	Bill Ivy	Giacomo Agostini	Giacomo Agostini	Attenberger / Schillinger	Report
5	7 July	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa-Francorchamps	Hans-Georg Anscheidt		Phil Read		Giacomo Agostini	Auerbacher / Hahn	Report
6	14 July	East German Grand Prix	Sachsenring		Phil Read	Bill Ivy	Giacomo Agostini	Giacomo Agostini		Report
7	21 July	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Masaryk Circuit		Phil Read	Phil Read	Giacomo Agostini	Giacomo Agostini		Report
8	4 August	Finnish Grand Prix	Imatra Circuit		Phil Read	Phil Read		Giacomo Agostini	Fath / Kalauch	Report
9	17 August	Ulster Grand Prix	Dundrod Circuit		Bill Ivy	Bill Ivy	Giacomo Agostini	Giacomo Agostini		Report
10	15 September	Nations Grand Prix	Monza		Bill Ivy	Phil Read	Giacomo Agostini	Giacomo Agostini	Cancelled	Report
11	13 October	Hockenheim Grand Prix	Hockenheimring						Fath / Kalauch

Footnotes:

Standings

Scoring system

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

500cc final standings

Pos	Rider	Machine	GER	ESP	MAN	HOL	BEL	DDR	CZE	FIN	ULS	NAC	Pts
1	Giacomo Agostini	MV Agusta	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	48 (80)
2	Jack Findlay	Matchless / Cardani	Ret	2	Ret	2	2	3	2	2	5	Ret	34 (36)
3	Gyula Marsovszky	Matchless / Seeley-Matchless	4	5	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	3	6	Ret	Ret	10
4	Alberto Pagani	Linto				Ret	Ret	2	Ret			4	9
5	Robin Fitton	Norton					4				2		9
6	Peter Williams	Arter-Matchless	3		Ret	4	7	7	5		20	9	9
7	Derek Woodman	Seeley	Ret		9	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	8
8	John Cooper	Seeley / Norton			Ret	3	6	4	Ret		Ret		8
9	Dan Shorey	Norton	2			Ret	Ret	10	6		Ret	Ret	7
10	Angelo Bergamonti	Paton	Ret	4	Ret	Ret	Ret					3	7
11	Kel Carruthers	Norton / Westlake	Ret		6	5	5	Ret	Ret	8	6	6	7
12	Brian Ball	Seeley-Matchless / Matchless			2						18		6
13	Renzo Pasolini	Benelli										2	6
14	John Dodds	Norton	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	5		8	6
15	Billie Nelson	Paton / Norton	Ret		7	Ret	Ret	5	4	7	Ret	Ret	5
16	John Hartle	Metisse / MV Agusta	Ret		Ret	9	11	9	Ret		3		4
17	Barry Randle	Norton			3								4
18	Percy Tait	Triumph			Ret						4		3
19	Bill Smith	Matchless / Paton			4						Ret	Ret	3
20	Nikolai Sevostianov	Vostok								4			3
21	Bohumil Stasa	ČZ	5			Ret	13					Ret	2
22	Silvano Bertarelli	Paton										5	2
=	Bernie Lund	Matchless			5								2
24	Rodney Gould	Norton / Triumph	6		Ret	8	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	1
25	Ron Chandler	Matchless / Seeley-Matchless	7			6	9	Ret	Ret			10	1
26	Rex Butcher	Norton / Matchless / Seeley	Ret	6	8	Ret		Ret	Ret		Ret	Ret	1
27	Godfrey Nash	Norton				Ret		6	Ret			Ret	1
28	Derek Lee	Gazelle / Matchless		Ret					7		9		0
29	Walter Scheimann	Norton	12	7		12	12					11	0
30	Malcolm Uphill	Manning-Norton			Ret	7					Ret		0
31	John Blanchard	Metisse									7		0
32	Errol Cowan	Matchless / Norton / Metisse	8			Ret		12	10				0
33	Keith Turner	Matchless	15		10	Ret		8	Ret	Ret			0
34	Bo Granath	Matchless / Seeley				Ret	14	14	8	Ret	Ret		0
35	Steve Jolly	Higley-Matchless			Ret	Ret					8		0
36	Gordon Keith	Monark		8									0
37	Paul Eickelberg	Norton	10	9					13		19	14	0
38	Pentti Lehtelä	Matchless						13	14	9			0
39	Heinrich Rosenbusch	Norton	9										0
=	Frantisek Srna	Jawa							9				0
41	Theo Louwes	Norton				10					12		0
42	Hannu Kuparinen	Matchless								10			0
=	William McCosh	Matchless									10		0
44	György Kurucz	Matchless / Metisse	18				15	15	11				0
45	Armand Nerger	Honda	11										0
=	Bert Oosterhuis	Norton				11							0
=	Matti Salonen	Yamaha								11			0
=	Ron Wilson	Norton									11		0
=	John Williams	Matchless			11								0
50	Werner Bergold	Matchless							12				0
=	Paolo Campanelli	Matchless										12	0
=	Tony Godfrey	Norton			12								0
=	Wolfgang Stropek	Norton								12			0
54	Karl Hoppe	Matchless	Ret			13	Ret	Ret	Ret				0
55	Dieter Dögmann	BMW	13										0
=	Gianfranco Domeniconi	Norton										13	0
=	George Fogarty	Matchless			13								0
=	Osmo Hansen	Matchless								13			0
=	Jack Lindh	Seeley									13		0
60	Edy Lenz	Matchless	14										0
=	Charlie Sanby	Norton			14								0
=	Barry Scully	Norton									14		0
63	Peter Humber	Humber-Crescent			Ret						15		0
64	Peter Darvill	Norton			15								0
65	Alan Lawton	Norton			16						16		0
66	Ferdinand Kaczor	BMW	16										0
67	Hartmut Allner	Matchless	17										0
=	Bob McCurry	Matchless									17		0
=	Jan Strijbis	Norton			17								0
70	Jim Evans	Norton			18								0
71	Ralf Engelhardt	Norton	19							Ret			0
72	Selwyn Griffiths	Matchless			19								0
73	Norman Price	Norton			20								0
74	Harris Healey	Norton									21		0
=	Ian Munro	Matchless			21								0
76	Peter Gibson	Matchless			22								0
77	George Barnacle	Triumph			23								0
78	Brian Adams	Norton			24								0
79	Adrian Cooper	Norton			25								0
80	Bob Heath	BSA			26								0
81	Gilbert Argo	Matchless			27								0
82	Walter Dawson	Norton			28								0
83	Jim Curry	Aermacchi / Metisse			29						Ret		0
84	Jim Ashton	Matchless			30								0
85	John Burgess	Norton			31			Ret					0
86	Graham Robinson	Read Titan			32								0
87	Brian Hunter	Matchless			33								0
88	Chris Neve	Matchless			34								0
89	Dennis Trollope	Norton			35								0
90	Reay Mackay	Vincent HRD			36								0
91	Roy Reid	Norton			37								0
-	Marty Lunde	Norton	Ret					Ret			Ret		0
-	František Šťastný	Jawa					Ret		Ret		Ret		0
-	Vincent Duckett	Matchless			Ret						Ret		0
-	Denis Gallagher	Matchless			Ret						Ret		0
-	Silvio Grassetti	Bianchi		Ret		Ret							0
-	Maurice Hawthorne	Norton	Ret					Ret					0
-	Ernst Weiss	Seeley	Ret								Ret		0
-	Billy Andersson	Matchless			Ret								0
-	Jean Aureal	Aermacchi					Ret						0
-	Alan Barnett	Kirby-Metisse			Ret								0
-	Rupert Bauer	BMW	Ret										0
-	Bob Biscardine	Velocette			Ret								0
-	Karel Bojer	ČZ					Ret						0
-	Ray Breingan	Norton			Ret								0
-	Bo Brolin	Matchless								Ret			0
-	Mick Burns	BSA-Metisse			Ret								0
-	Hans-Otto Butenuth	BMW	Ret										0
-	Heiner Butz	Bianchi	Ret										0
-	Salvador Cañellas	Bultaco		Ret									0
-	Doug Cash	Norton			Ret								0
-	Bert Clark	Rickman-Metisse			Ret								0
-	Roger Corbett	Norton			Ret								0
-	Conway Chivers	Norton			Ret								0
-	Herbert Denzler	Matchless							Ret				0
-	Tom Dickie	Petty-Norton			Ret								0
-	Hugh Evans	BSA			Ret								0
-	Rolf Fenker	Norton	Ret										0
-	Derek Filler	Norton			Ret								0
-	Bill Fulton	Norton			Ret								0
-	Roger Fursman	Norton			Ret								0
-	Manfred Gäckle	Matchless	Ret										0
-	Albert Haddock	Triton			Ret								0
-	Mike Hailwood	Benelli										Ret	0
-	Peter Hampe	Norton	Ret										0
-	Mick Hatherill	Matchless-Metisse			Ret								0
-	Keith Heckles	Norton			Ret								0
-	Oliver Howe	Norton						Ret					0
-	Griff Jenkins	Matchless			Ret								0
-	John Jones	Triumph			Ret								0
-	Brian Kemp	Triumph									Ret		0
-	Willi Kern	Norton	Ret										0
-	Endel Kiisa	Vostok								Ret			0
-	Stanislav Klatil	Jawa							Ret				0
-	Ray Knight	Hughes-Triumph			Ret								0
-	Udo Konchanski	BMW	Ret										0
-	Toivo Lehtinen	Norton								Ret			0
-	Taneli Lepo	Matchless								Ret			0
-	Vasco Loro	Norton										Ret	0
-	Pat Mahoney	Oakley-Matchless			Ret								0
-	Emanuele Maugliani	Norton										Ret	0
-	Dennis May	Petty-Norton			Ret								0
-	Tony McGurk	Matchless			Ret								0
-	Hans-Jürgen Melcher	Honda	Ret										0
-	David Menzies	Norton			Ret								0
-	Gilberto Milani	Linto										Ret	0
-	Ginger Molloy	Bultaco		Ret									0
-	Stephen Murray	Matchless									Ret		0
-	Gart Neveling	Norton			Ret								0
-	Ilari Pekkinen	Norton								Ret			0
-	Giovanni Perrone	Matchless										Ret	0
-	Harry Reynolds	Matchless-Metisse			Ret								0
-	Tony Rutter	Norton			Ret								0
-	Brian Sapsford	Lyster-Norton			Ret								0
-	Jack Saunders	Matchless						Ret					0
-	Peter Sheppard	Norton			Ret								0
-	Bruno Spaggiari	Ducati		Ret									0
-	Steve Spencer	Norton	Ret										0
-	Malcolm Stanton	Norton					Ret						0
-	John Taylor	Kirby-Matchless			Ret								0
-	Rolf Thiemig	Norton	Ret										0
-	Colin Thompson	Norton			Ret								0
-	Franco Trabalzini	Norton										Ret	0
-	Harry Turner	Norton									Ret		0
-	Tom Walker	Triumph			Ret								0
-	Brian Walmsley	Norton			Ret								0
-	John Wetherall	Norton			Ret								0
-	Lewis Young	Matchless							Ret				0
-	Benedetto Zambotti	Bianchi										Ret	0
Pos	Rider	Bike	GER	ESP	MAN	HOL	BEL	DDR	CZE	FIN	ULS	NAC	Pts

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap

350cc Standings

Place	Rider	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Giacomo Agostini	Italy	MV Agusta	32	7
2	Renzo Pasolini	Italy	Benelli	18	0
3	Kel Carruthers	Australia	Aermacchi	17	0
4	Heinz Rosner	East Germany	MZ	12	0
=	Ginger Molloy	New Zealand	Bultaco	12	0
6	Derek Woodman	United Kingdom	Aermacchi	9	0
7	Frantisek Stastny	Czechoslovakia	Jawa	8	0
8	Bohumil Stasa	Czechoslovakia	ČZ	7	0
9	Bill Smith	United Kingdom	Honda	4	0
=	Gilberto Milani	Italy	Aermacchi	4	0
=	Brian Steenson	United Kingdom	Aermacchi	4	0
=	Silvio Grassetti	Italy	Benelli	4	0
13	Billie Nelson	United Kingdom	Norton	3	0
14	Dan Shorey	United Kingdom	Norton	2	0
=	John Cooper	United Kingdom	Seeley	2	0
=	Karl Hoppe	West Germany	Aermacchi	2	0
=	Bruno Spaggiari	Italy	Ducati	2	0
18	Jack Findlay	Australia	Aermacchi	1	0
=	Dave Simmonds	United Kingdom	Kawasaki	1	0

250cc Standings

Place	Rider	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Phil Read	United Kingdom	Yamaha	46	5
2	Bill Ivy	United Kingdom	Yamaha	46	5
3	Heinz Rosner	East Germany	MZ	32	0
4	Rodney Gould	United Kingdom	Yamaha	21	0
5	Ginger Molloy	New Zealand	Bultaco	19	0
6	Renzo Pasolini	Italy	Benelli	10	0
7	Santiago Herrero	Spain	Ossa	8	0
8	Kent Andersson	Sweden	Yamaha	6	0
9	Malcolm Uphill	United Kingdom	Suzuki	5	0
=	László Szabó	Hungary	MZ	5	0
=	Jack Findlay	Australia	Bultaco	5	0
12	Carlos Giró-Vila	Spain	Ossa	3	0
=	Gordon Keith	Rhodesia	Yamaha	3	0
14	Carlos Rocamora	Spain	Bultaco	2	0
=	Gilberto Milani	Italy	Aermacchi	2	0
16	Paul Eickelberg	West Germany	Aermacchi	1	0
=	Bill Smith	United Kingdom	Yamaha	1	0
=	Gyula Marsovsky	Switzerland	Bultaco	1	0
=	Rex Butcher	United Kingdom	Suzuki	1	0

125cc Standings

Place	Rider	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Phil Read	United Kingdom	Yamaha	40	6
2	Bill Ivy	United Kingdom	Yamaha	34	2
3	Ginger Molloy	New Zealand	Bultaco	15	0
4	Heinz Rosner	East Germany	MZ	12	0
5	Salvador Cañellas	Spain	Bultaco	11	1
6	László Szabó	Hungary	MZ	11	0
=	Dieter Braun	West Germany	MZ-Neckermann	11	0
8	Hans-Georg Anscheidt	West Germany	Suzuki	10	0
9	Günter Bartusch	East Germany	MZ	8	0
10	Kel Carruthers	Australia	Honda	6	0
11	Tommy Robb	United Kingdom	Bultaco	5	0
12	Siegfried Möhringer	West Germany	MZ-Neckermann	4	0
=	Jan Huberts	Netherlands	MZ	4	0
14	Walter Scheimann	West Germany	Honda	3	0
=	Friedhelm Kohlar	East Germany	MZ	3	0
=	Dave Simmonds	United Kingdom	Kawasaki	3	0
17	Kent Andersson	Sweden	MZ	2	0
=	Gordon Keith	Rhodesia	Montesa	2	0
=	Hartmut Bischoff	East Germany	MZ	2	0
=	Lothar John	West Germany	MZ	2	0
=	Jürgen Lenk	East Germany	MZ	2	0
=	Thomas Heuschkel	East Germany	MZ	2	0
23	Pedro Alvarez	Spain	Bultaco	1	0
=	Steve Murray	United Kingdom	Honda	1	0
=	Giuseppe Visenzi	Italy	Montesa	1	0
=	János Reisz	Hungary	MZ	1	0

50cc Standings

Place	Rider	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Hans-Georg Anscheidt	West Germany	Suzuki	30	3
2	Paul Lodewijkx	Netherlands	Jamathi	17	1
3	Barry Smith	Australia	Derbi	15	1
4	Angel Nieto	Spain	Derbi	10	0
5	Rudolf Kunz	West Germany	Kreidler	6	0
=	Chris Walpole	United Kingdom	Honda	6	0
=	Rudolf Schmälzle	West Germany	Kreidler	6	0
8	Leslie Griffiths	United Kingdom	Honda	4	0
=	Aalt Toersen	Netherlands	Kreidler	4	0
10	Ludwig Faßbender	West Germany	Kreidler	3	0
=	Brian Lock	United Kingdom	Honda	3	0
=	Jan de Vries	Netherlands	Kreidler	3	0
13	Cees van Dongen	Netherlands	Kreidler	2	0
=	Carlos Giró-Vila	Spain	Derbi	2	0
=	Jim Pink	United Kingdom	Honda	2	0
=	Jos Schurgers	Netherlands	Kreidler	2	0
=	Martin Mijwaart	Netherlands	Jamathi	2	0
18	Janco Florjan-Stefe	Yugoslavia	Tomos	1	0
=	Francisco Cufi	Spain	Derbi	1	0
=	Robin Udall	United Kingdom	Honda	1	0

References

Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A.
Web site: The Official MotoGP website . 2010-07-06.

Notes and References

Book: Walker, Mick . Mick Walker's German Racing Motorcycles . 1999 . Redline Books . 0953131122 . 81.
Web site: Gustl . Kamikaze . 2021-01-24 . Bill Ivy story - part 4 . 2024-01-03 . MotoRacers . en-US.