List of 350cc World Riders' Champions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A man wearing a white leather top with writing on it. His arms are crossed and there is a man standing in front to his left.
Giacomo Agostini, who won seven 350cc championships

Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier championship of motorcycle road racing, which has been divided into three classes since 1990: 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP. Classes that have been discontinued include 350cc, 50cc/80cc and sidecar.[1] The Grand Prix Road-Racing World Championship was established in 1949 by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), and is the oldest motorsport World Championship.[2] The 350cc class existed from 1949 until 1982.[3] The 350cc referred to the size of the engines of the motorcycles that participated in the class. The engines had four cylinders, similar to the types of engines used in MotoGP today.[3]

Each season consisted of 5 to 12 Grands Prix contested on closed circuits, as opposed to public roads. Points earned in these events counted toward the drivers' and constructors' world championships. The driver's and constructor's championship were separate championships, but were based on the same point system. The points systems used in the championship varied over the years. The first championship in 1949 awarded 10 points to the race winner with 8, 7, 6 and 5 points from second place to fifth place, a point was also awarded for the rider who completed the fastest lap. The last championship in 1982 awarded 15 points for a win, with 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point from second place to tenth place.[4] Results from all Grands Prix counted towards the championships; however, in some seasons only a certain number of results were counted.[5]

Giacomo Agostini won the most championships with seven during his career. Jim Redman won the second most championships with four and John Surtees the third most with three championships.[6] Johnny Cecotto is the youngest rider to have won the championship: he was 19 years old when he won in 1975.[7] British riders won the most championships; eight riders won a total of 14 championships. Italian riders were second with eight championships between two riders and Rhodesians were third with five championships. MV Agusta was the constructor that riders won the most championships with; they won ten championships. Honda was second with six and Moto Guzzi third with five.[6] Freddie Frith won the inaugural championship in 1949. Anton Mang was the last champion before the class was discontinued in 1982.[8]

Winners[edit]

Key
Champion also won the 500cc championship in that season
Champion also won the 250cc championship in that season
Indicates information is not available
  • The "Season" column refers to the season the competition was held, and wikilinks to the article about that season.
  • The "Margin" column refers to the margin of points by which the winner defeated the runner-up.

By season[edit]

350cc Motorcycle World Champions
Season Country Rider Constructor Grands Prix Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Margin
1949  United Kingdom Freddie Frith Velocette 5 5 5 5 33 15
1950  United Kingdom Bob Foster Velocette 6 3 4 4 30 6
1951  United Kingdom Geoff Duke Norton 8 5 5 4 40 21
1952  United Kingdom Geoff Duke Norton 7 4 4 4 32 8
1953  United Kingdom Fergus Anderson Moto Guzzi 8 3 5 2 34 8
1954  United Kingdom Fergus Anderson Moto Guzzi 9 4 5 5 38 16
1955  United Kingdom Bill Lomas Moto Guzzi 7 4 6 5 32 14
1956  United Kingdom Bill Lomas Moto Guzzi 6 3 3 4 24 7
1957  United Kingdom Keith Campbell Moto Guzzi 6 3 4 1 30 8
1958  United Kingdom John Surtees MV Agusta 7 6 6 5 32 8
1959  United Kingdom John Surtees MV Agusta 6 6 6 5 48 32
1960  United Kingdom John Surtees[A] MV Agusta 5 2 4 3 22 0
1961  Rhodesia and Nyasaland Gary Hocking MV Agusta 7 4 5 5 32 6
1962  Rhodesia and Nyasaland Jim Redman Honda 6 4 5 2 32 10
1963  Rhodesia and Nyasaland Jim Redman Honda 7 5 7 5 32 4
1964  Rhodesia Jim Redman Honda 8 8 8 7 40 16
1965  Rhodesia Jim Redman Honda 9 4 5 3 38 6
1966  United Kingdom Mike Hailwood Honda 10 6 6 6 48 6
1967  United Kingdom Mike Hailwood Honda 8 6 6 5 40 8
1968  Italy Giacomo Agostini MV Agusta 7 7 7 7 32 14
1969  Italy Giacomo Agostini MV Agusta 10 8 8 7 90 43
1970  Italy Giacomo Agostini MV Agusta 10 9 9 9 90 32
1971  Italy Giacomo Agostini MV Agusta 11 6 6 8 90 27
1972  Italy Giacomo Agostini MV Agusta 12 6 7 7 102 23
1973  Italy Giacomo Agostini MV Agusta 11 4 6 3 84 7
1974  Italy Giacomo Agostini Yamaha 10 1 5 5 5 75 13
1975  Venezuela Johnny Cecotto Yamaha 10 3 4 5 6 78 19
1976  Italy Walter Villa Harley-Davidson 10 4 4 5 7 76 9
1977  Japan Takazumi Katayama Yamaha 11 0 5 7 7 95 39
1978  South Africa Kork Ballington Kawasaki 11 4 6 9 10 134 57
1979  South Africa Kork Ballington Kawasaki 11 5 5 5 9 99 9
1980  South Africa Jon Ekerold Bimota-Yamaha 6 0 4 5 6 63 3
1981  West Germany Anton Mang Kawasaki 8 6 5 7 8 103 51
1982  West Germany Anton Mang Kawasaki 9 1 1 6 7 81 17

Multiple champions[edit]

Multiple champions of the 350cc Motorcycle World Championship
Rider Total Seasons
Italy Giacomo Agostini 7 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974
Rhodesia Jim Redman 4 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965
United Kingdom John Surtees 3 1958, 1959, 1960
United Kingdom Geoff Duke 2 1951, 1952
United Kingdom Fergus Anderson 2 1953, 1954
United Kingdom Bill Lomas 2 1955, 1956
United Kingdom Mike Hailwood 2 1966, 1967
South Africa Kork Ballington 2 1978, 1979
West Germany Anton Mang 2 1981, 1982

By constructor[edit]

350cc championships won by constructors
Constructor Total
Italy MV Agusta 10
Japan Honda 6
Italy Moto Guzzi 5
Japan Kawasaki 4
Japan Yamaha 4
United Kingdom Norton 2
United Kingdom Velocette 2
United States Harley-Davidson 1

By nationality[edit]

Nations whose riders have won the 350cc championship
Country Riders Total
 United Kingdom 8 14
 Italy 2 8
 Rhodesia 3 5
 South Africa 2 3
 West Germany 1 2
 Japan 1 1
 Venezuela 1 1

Footnotes[edit]

A. ^ John Surtees and Gary Hocking finished the 1960 championship tied on 22 points. Surtees was declared the winner by virtue of having more third-place finishes than Hocking, as they were tied on first and second places finishes.[9]

References[edit]

General

  • "Winners". MotoGP. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  • "Stat search". MotoGP. Retrieved 30 April 2010.

Bibliography

  • Marshall, Anne (1997). Guinness Book of Knowledge. Guinness Publishing. ISBN 0-85112-046-6.
  • Morrison, Ian (1991). Guinness Motorcycle Fact Book. Guinness Publishing. ISBN 0-85112-953-6.

Specific

  1. ^ Marshall 1997, p. 289
  2. ^ "Basics". MotoGP. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  3. ^ a b "History". MotoGP. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  4. ^ Morrison 1991, p. 14
  5. ^ "Points". MotoGP. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
  6. ^ a b "Winners". MotoGP. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  7. ^ "Johnny Cecotto". Yamaha. Archived from the original on 10 May 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  8. ^ "Anton Mang". MotoGP. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  9. ^ "FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix Regulations" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). 1 January 2011. p. 43. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2011.