1974 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season explained

The 1974 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 26th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.

Season summary

MV Agusta and Phil Read claimed a second successive 500cc crown. It would be the Italian firm's last world championship and their seventeenth 500cc title in a row. Giacomo Agostini switched to the two-stroke Yamahas but was troubled by injuries and mechanical troubles. Suzuki started to get competitive with Barry Sheene and Jack Findlay on four cylinder two-strokes. MV Agusta pulled out of the 350cc class, giving Agostini a free run, taking his fourteenth world title. Walter Villa took over for the deceased Renzo Pasolini and won the 250cc crown giving Harley-Davidson the title after they bought the Aermacchi factory, reworked and renamed the bikes. Kent Andersson won his second championship title in the 125cc class. Kreidler continued to dominate the 50cc class with Dutchman Henk Van Kessel winning the crown.

Safety continued to be an issue with most riders boycotting the rainy German round at the improved Nürburgring Nordschleife as the track had not been fitted with straw bales to accommodate automobile racing on the same day. Thus, rather unknown German riders took all wins. It served as a focal point in the increasingly bitter debate about safety. British rider Billie Nelson died after crashing into the crowd during the 250cc Yugoslavian Grand Prix, injuring several spectators.^[1] He died later that night at a hospital.^[1]

1974 Grand Prix season calendar

Round	Date	Race	Location	50cc winner	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Report
1	April 21	French Grand Prix	Charade	Henk van Kessel	Kent Andersson		Giacomo Agostini	Phil Read	Report
2	April 28	German Grand Prix	Nürburgring Nordschleife	Ingo Emmerich	Fritz Reitmaier	Helmut Kassner	Helmut Kassner	Edmund Czihak	Report
3	May 5	Austrian Grand Prix	Salzburgring		Kent Andersson		Giacomo Agostini	Giacomo Agostini	Report
4	May 19	Nations Grand Prix	Imola	Henk van Kessel	Angel Nieto	Walter Villa	Giacomo Agostini	Franco Bonera	Report
5	June 6	Isle of Man TT	Snaefell Mountain			Charlie Williams	Tony Rutter	Phil Carpenter	Report
6	June 29	Dutch TT	Assen	Herbert Rittberger	Bruno Kneubühler	Walter Villa	Giacomo Agostini	Giacomo Agostini	Report
7	July 7	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa	Gerhard Thurow	Angel Nieto	Kent Andersson		Phil Read	Report
8	July 21	Swedish Grand Prix	Anderstorp	Henk van Kessel	Kent Andersson	Takazumi Katayama	Teuvo Lansivuori	Teuvo Lansivuori	Report
9	July 28	Finnish Grand Prix	Imatra	Julien van Zeebroeck		Walter Villa	John Dodds	Phil Read	Report
10	August 25	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Brno	Henk van Kessel	Kent Andersson	Walter Villa		Phil Read	Report
11	September 8	Yugoslavian Grand Prix	Opatija	Henk van Kessel	Kent Andersson	Chas Mortimer	Giacomo Agostini		Report
12	September 22	Spanish Grand Prix	Montjuich	Henk van Kessel	Benjamin Grau	John Dodds	Víctor Palomo		Report

Final standings

1974 500 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Phil Read	1	United Kingdom	MV Agusta	82	4
2	Franco Bonera		Italy	MV Agusta	69	1
3	Teuvo Lansivuori		Finland	Yamaha	67	1
4	Giacomo Agostini	3	Italy	Yamaha	47	2
5	Jack Findlay	5	Australia	Suzuki	34	0
6	Barry Sheene		United Kingdom	Suzuki	30	0
7	Dieter Braun		West Germany	Yamaha	22	0
8	Pentti Korhonen		Finland	Yamaha	22	0
9	Billie Nelson		United Kingdom	Yamaha	21	0
10	Charlie Williams		United Kingdom	Yamaha	18	0
11	John Williams				18
12	Helmut Kassner				17
13	Karl Auer				17
14	Phil Carpenter				15	1
15	Edmund Czihak				15	1
16	Michel Rougerie				14
17	Werner Giger				13
18	Tony Rutter				10
19	Walter Kaletsch				10
20	Christian Leon				9
21	Udo Kochanski				8
22	Billie Guthrie				8
23	Patrick Pons				8
24	Paul Cott				6
25	Roberto Gallina				6
26	Victor Palomo				6
27	Alex George				5
28	Chas Mortimer				4
29	Paul Eickelberg				4
30	Pete McKinley				3
31	Selwyn Griffiths				2
32	Philippe Coulon				2
33	R.Jimenez				2
34	Tom Herron				2
35	Jean Paul Boinet				1
36	Geoff Barry				1
37	Philippe Gerard				1

1974 350 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Giacomo Agostini	1	Italy	Yamaha	75	5
2	Dieter Braun	8	West Germany	Yamaha	62	0
3	Patrick Pons		France	Yamaha	47	0
4	John Dodds	4	Australia	Yamaha	31	1
5	Chas Mortimer		United Kingdom	Yamaha	29	0
6	Teuvo Lansivuori		Finland	Yamaha	27	1
7	Pentti Korhonen	10	Finland	Yamaha	25	0
7	Michel Rougerie		France	Harley-Davidson	25	0
9	Víctor Palomo		Spain	Yamaha	24	1
10	Billie Nelson	5	United Kingdom	Yamaha	21	0
11	Eddie Grant				18
12	Bruno Kneubühler				17
13	Tony Rutter				16
14	Helmut Kassner				15
15	Olivier Chevallier				15
16	Walter Villa				15
17	W.Stephan				12
18	Mario Lega				12
19	Christian Bourgeois				11
20	Paul Cott				10
21	Franz Weidacher				10
22	Tom Herron				10
23	Kjell Solberg				9
24	Karl Auer				9
25	Alex George				8
26	Walter Kaletsch				8
27	Werner Giger				8
28	F.V. Henderson				8
29	John Williams				7
30	Tapio Virtanen				6
31	Alfred Heck				6
32	Hans Mühlebach				5
33	Giovanni Proni				5
34	Billie Guthrie				5
35	Winfried Fries				5
36	G.Elementi				4
37	Tony Rogers				4
38	Udo Kochanski				4
39	R.Jimenez				4
40	John Newbold				4
41	Wolfgang Rubel				3
42	Ulrich Graf				3
43	Roger Nichols				3
44	G.Debrok				3
45	Phil Gurner				2
46	Nico Van Der Zanden				2
47	Adu Celso				2
48	Hans Dittberner				2
49	Armando Toracca				1
50	Noel Clegg				1

1974 250 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1		Walter Villa		Italy	Aermacchi Harley-Davidson	77	4
2	Dieter Braun	1	West Germany	Yamaha	58	0
3	Patrick Pons	6	France	Yamaha	50	0
4	Takazumi Katayama		Japan	Yamaha	43	1
5	Bruno Kneubühler	9	Switzerland	Yamaha	43	0
6	Chas Mortimer	6	United Kingdom	Yamaha	41	1
7	John Dodds	3	Australia	Yamaha	38	1
8	Kent Andersson		Sweden	Yamaha	34	1
9	Michel Rougerie	5	France	Harley-Davidson	21	0
10	Mick Grant		United Kingdom	Yamaha	18	0
10	Pentti Korhonen	4	Finland	Yamaha	18	0
12	Charlie Williams				15
13	Helmut Kassner				15
14	Tom Herron				14
15	Hans Mühlebach				13
16	Horst Lahfeld				12
17	Rolf Minhoff				11
18	Victor Palomo				11
19	Harry Hoffman				10
20	Kenny Roberts				10
21	Tony Rutter				10
22	Fritz Reitmaier				8
23	Giovanni Proni				8
24	Matti Salonen				7
25	Olivier Chevallier				7
26	Janos Reisz				6
27	Tapio Virtanen				6
28	Pete McKinley				5
29	Alfred Heck				5
30	Armando Toracca				5
31	Jean Louis Guignabodet				4
32	Ian Richards				4
33	Reinhard Scholtis				4
34	Tierry Tchernine				4
35	H.Kittler				3
36	Gerry Mateer				3
37	Paolo Pileri				3
38	Alex George				2
39	G.Forderer				2
40	A.Van Den Broecke				2
41	Brian Warburton				2
42	John Williams				2
43	Leif Gustafsson				2
44	Jean Paul Boinet				1
45	Barry Randle				1
46	Kjell Solberg				1

1974 125 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Kent Andersson	1	Sweden	Yamaha	87	5
2	Bruno Kneubühler		Switzerland	Yamaha	63	1
3	Angel Nieto	7	Spain	Derbi	60	2
4	Otello Buscherini	6	Italy	Malanca	60	0
5	Henk van Kessel		Netherlands	Bridgestone	30	0
6	Thierry Tchernine		France	Yamaha	25	0
7	Harald Bartol		Austria	Suzuki	23	0
8	Leif Gustafsson	4	Sweden	Maico	23	0
9	Benjamin Grau		Spain	Derbi	21	1
10	Gert Bender		West Germany	Bender	20	0

1974 50 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Henk van Kessel	5	Netherlands	Van Veen Kreidler	90	6
2	Herbert Rittberger		West Germany	Kreidler	65	1
3	Julien van Zeebroeck		Belgium	Kreidler	59	1
4	Gerhard Thurow	4	West Germany	Kreidler	57	1
5	Rudolf Kunz	9	West Germany	Kreidler	52	0
6	Ulrich Graf	7	West Germany	Kreidler	44	0
7	Jan Bruins		Netherlands	Jamathi	27	0
8	Otello Buscherini	8	Italy	Malanca	26	0
9	Stefan Dörflinger		Switzerland	Kreidler	25	0
10	Jan Huberts	8	Netherlands	Van Veen Kreidler	25	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

Web site: Billie Nelson at Motorsport Memorial . motorsportmemorial.org . 16 December 2011 .