1958 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

1958 F.I.M. Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

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1957

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1959

John Surtees, the 1958 350cc and 500cc World Champion.

Tarquinio Provini (pictured in 1959), the 1958 250cc World Champion.

Carlo Ubbiali (pictured in 1956), the 1958 125cc World Champion.

The 1958 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the tenth F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of seven Grand Prix races in five classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on 6 June, with Isle of Man TT and ended with Nations Grand Prix in Italy on 14 September.

At the end of the 1957 season, Gilera, Mondial, Moto Guzzi and MV Agusta announced a multilateral withdrawal from GP racing, due to economic reasons and rising public pressure due to the large amount of fatal motorsport accidents occurring in Italy during the previous years. ^[1] MV Agusta reverted their decision several days later. This situation left reigning 500cc champion Libero Liberati and reigning 250cc champion Cecil Sandford without rides for 1958. ^{[2] [3]}

A major technical change for 1958 was the ban of dustbin fairings - streamlined bodywork that covered front wheels - in all classes. They were used by most entrants by the end of 1957, including privateers. As of 2023, the rule is still in place in MotoGP. ^[4]

1958 Grand Prix season calendar

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Sidecars 500cc winner	Report
1	6 June	Isle of Man TT	Snaefell Mountain	Carlo Ubbiali	Tarquinio Provini	John Surtees	John Surtees	Schneider / Strauß	Report
2	28 June	Dutch TT	TT Circuit Assen	Carlo Ubbiali	Tarquinio Provini	John Surtees	John Surtees	Camathias / Cecco	Report
3	6 July	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa-Francorchamps	Alberto Gandossi		John Surtees	John Surtees	Schneider / Strauß	Report
4	20 July	German Grand Prix	Nürburgring Nordschleife	Carlo Ubbiali	Tarquinio Provini	John Surtees	John Surtees	Schneider / Strauß	Report
5	27 July	Swedish Grand Prix	Hedemora Circuit	Alberto Gandossi	Horst Fügner	Geoff Duke	Geoff Duke		Report
6	9 August	Ulster Grand Prix	Dundrod Circuit	Carlo Ubbiali	Tarquinio Provini	John Surtees	John Surtees		Report
7	14 September	Nations Grand Prix †	Monza	Bruno Spaggiari	Emilio Mendogni	John Surtees	John Surtees		Report

† The Nations Grand Prix also held a non-championship 175 cc race, won by the Italian, Francesco Villa.

Standings

Scoring system

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

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Points	8	6	4	3	2	1

500cc final standings

Pos Rider Machine MAN HOL BEL GER SWE ULS NAC Pts 1 John Surtees MV Agusta 1 1 1 1 1 1 32 (48) 2 John Hartle MV Agusta Ret 2 3 2 3 Ret 20 3 Geoff Duke BMW / Norton Ret Ret 4 Ret 1 5 7 13 4 Dickie Dale BMW 10 5 5 5 2 6 4 13 (16) 5 Derek Minter Norton 4 3 Ret 4 10 6 Gary Hocking Norton 6 3 4 8 7 Ernst Hiller BMW 4 Ret 4 5 Ret 10 8 8 Bob Anderson Norton 2 Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret Ret 7 9 Keith Campbell Norton Ret Ret 2 6 10 Bob McIntyre Norton Ret 2 6 11 Remo Venturi MV Agusta 2 6 12 Bob Brown Norton / BMW 3 10 16 6 6 7 Ret 6 13 Terry Shepherd Norton Ret Ret 3 Ret 4 14 Umberto Masetti MV Agusta 3 4 15 Dave Chadwick Norton 5 Ret Ret Ret 6 3 16 Carlo Bandirola MV Agusta 5 2 17 John Anderson Norton / Matchless 6 12 1 18 Noel McCutcheon Norton 16 7 10 0 19 Alois Huber BMW 7 11 0 20 George Catlin Norton 7 Ret 13 0 21 Alan Trow Norton Ret Ret 7 Ret Ret 0 22 Paddy Driver Norton Ret Ret 7 0 23 Tom Phillis Norton 18 9 8 0 24 Ewan Haldane Norton 8 9 0 25 John Hempleman Norton 15 8 11 Ret Ret 0 26 Jack Brett Norton Ret 12 8 Ret 0 27 Ralph Rensen Norton 12 8 0 28 Giuseppe Cantoni MV Agusta 8 0 = Karl Peters Norton 8 0 30 Gerold Klinger BMW 9 9 0 31 Jim Redman Norton 19 Ret 9 0 32 Geoffrey Tanner Norton Ret Ret 9 Ret 0 33 Peter Pawson Norton 9 Ret 0 34 Jack Wood Matchless 22 10 0 35 Mike O'Rourke Norton Ret Ret 10 0 36 Hans-Günter Jäger BMW 10 0 37 Jack Ahearn Matchless 29 11 13 13 0 38 Don Chapman Norton Ret 11 0 = Eric Hinton Norton 11 Ret 0 40 Rudolf Gläser Norton 11 0 = Kurt Johannson Norton 11 0 42 Bob Ferguson Norton 31 12 0 43 Stig Andersson Norton 12 0 = Adolfo Covi Norton 12 0 = Jack Findlay Norton 12 0 46 Karl-Heinz Scheifel Matchless 13 27 0 47 Jacques Collot Norton 13 0 = Mike Hailwood Norton 13 0 49 Raymond Bogaerdt Norton 14 0 = Artemio Cirelli Gilera 14 0 = Evert Carlsson BMW 14 0 = Robin Fitton Norton 14 0 = Ken Tostevin Norton 14 0 54 Eric Cheers BSA Ret 15 0 55 Jean-Pierre Bayle Norton 15 0 = Gianvittorio Ziglioli Moto Guzzi 15 0 57 Stephen Murray AJS 16 0 58 Vernon Cottle Norton 33 17 0 59 Jimmy Buchan Norton 17 0 60 Davy Crawford Norton 18 0 61 Harry Grant Norton 19 0 62 Harry Plews Norton / AJS 30 20 0 63 Derek Powell Norton 20 0 64 Bertie Farlow Norton 21 0 = Ray Fay Norton 21 0 66 William McCosh Matchless 22 0 67 Jimmy Jones Norton 23 0 = Brian Purslow Norton 23 0 69 George Costain Norton 24 0 = Ernie Oliver AJS 24 0 71 Alan Holmes Norton 25 0 = Llewellyn Ranson AJS 25 0 73 Robert McCracken Norton 26 0 = Brian Setchell Norton 26 0 75 Bob Rowbottom Norton 27 Ret 0 76 Martin Brosnan Norton 28 0 77 Syd Mizen Norton 28 0 78 Philip Palmer Norton 32 0 79 Harry Voice Norton 34 0 80 Arthur Wheeler AJS 35 0 81 Louis Carr Norton 36 0 82 Barry Cortvriend Matchless 37 0 83 Albert Moule Norton 38 0 84 Bill Robertson Norton 39 0 85 John Marcotte AJS 40 0 86 Allen Burt AJS 41 Ret 0 87 Ian McGuffie Norton 42 0 88 Walter Hancock Norton 43 0 89 Grenville Pennington Norton 44 0 90 Jim Tompsett AJS 45 Ret 0 91 Roly Capner BSA 46 0 92 George Northwood Norton 47 0 93 Clarrie Dunn AJS 48 Ret 0 - Harry Hinton Jr. Norton Ret Ret 0 - Dick Thompson Norton Ret Ret 0 - Bob Webster Norton Ret Ret 0 - Bill Beevers Norton Ret 0 - Paolo Campanelli Norton Ret 0 - Austin Carson Norton Ret 0 - Borro Castellani Norton Ret 0 - Fabio Ceredi Moto Guzzi Ret 0 - Bob Coulter BSA Ret 0 - Ken Draper Norton Ret 0 - Gerardo Düring Matchless Ret 0 - Jack Forrest BMW Ret 0 - Laurie Flury AJS Ret 0 - Francesco Guglielminetti Norton Ret 0 - Roy Ingram Norton Ret 0 - Jacques Insermini Norton Ret 0 - Guy Ligier Norton Ret 0 - Alistair King Norton Ret 0 - Giuseppe Mantelli Gilera Ret 0 - Luigi Marcelli Norton Ret 0 - Emanuele Maugliani Gilera Ret 0 - Bob Matthews Norton Ret 0 - Tommy McLeod Norton Ret 0 - Alfredo Milani Gilera Ret 0 - Noel Orr Matchless Ret 0 - Len Rutherford Matchless Ret 0 - Bill Smith Norton Ret 0 - Gerry Turner Norton Ret 0 - Desmond Wolff Norton Ret 0 Pos Rider Bike MAN HOL BEL GER SWE ULS NAC Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

350cc Standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	John Surtees		United Kingdom	MV Agusta	32	6
2	John Hartle		United Kingdom	MV Agusta	24	0
3	Geoff Duke		United Kingdom	Norton	17	1
4	Dave Chadwick		United Kingdom	Norton	13	0
5	Bob Anderson		United Kingdom	Norton	11	0
6	Mike Hailwood		United Kingdom	Norton	9	0
7	Keith Campbell		Australia	Norton	8	0
8	Derek Minter		United Kingdom	Norton	7	0
=	Terry Shepherd		United Kingdom	Norton	7	0
10	Geoffrey Tanner		United Kingdom	Norton	4	0
11	Alan Trow		United Kingdom	Norton	3	0
12	Bob McIntyre		United Kingdom	Norton	2	0
=	Geoff Monty		United Kingdom	Norton	2	0
=	George Catlin		United Kingdom	Norton	2	0
15	Bob Brown		Australia	AJS	1	0
=	Alistair King		United Kingdom	Norton	1	0
=	Dickie Dale		United Kingdom	Norton	1	0
=	Luigi Taveri		Switzerland	Norton	1	0
=	Mike O'Rourke		United Kingdom	Norton	1	0

250cc Standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Tarquinio Provini		Italy	MV Agusta	32	4
2	Horst Fügner		East Germany	MZ	16	1
3	Carlo Ubbiali		Italy	MV Agusta	16	0
4	Mike Hailwood		United Kingdom	NSU	13	0
5	Dieter Falk		West Germany	Adler	11	0
6	Emilio Mendogni		Italy	Morini	8	1
7	Tommy Robb		United Kingdom	NSU	7	0
=	Giampiero Zubani		Italy	Morini	6	0
9	Günter Beer		West Germany	Adler	6	0
10	Dave Chadwick		United Kingdom	MV Agusta	4	0
=	Geoff Monty		United Kingdom	GMS-NSU	4	0
12	Horst Kassner		West Germany	NSU	4	0
13	Josef Autengruber		Austria	NSU	4	0
14	Ernst Degner		West Germany	MZ	3	0
=	Bob Brown		Australia	NSU	3	0
16	Arthur Wheeler		United Kingdom	Mondial	2	0
=	Xaver Heiß		West Germany	NSU	2	0
18	Dickie Dale		United Kingdom	NSU	1	0
=	Sammy Miller		United Kingdom	ČZ	1	0
=	Walter Reichert		West Germany	NSU	1	0
=	Wilhelm Lecke		West Germany	DKW	1	0

125cc

Riders' standings

Pos. Rider Bike MAN NED BEL GER SWE ULS NAT Pts 1 Carlo Ubbiali MV Agusta 1F 1 5 1F 3 1 32 (38) 2 Alberto Gandossi Ducati 4 1F 1 4F 2 25 (28) 3 Luigi Taveri Ducati 2F 6 2F 2 5 20 (21) 4 Tarquinio Provini MV Agusta 3 3 2 4 17 5 Dave Chadwick Ducati 3 5 4 3 4 14 (16) 6 Romolo Ferri Ducati 2 2 12 7 Ernst Degner MZ 5 6 3 5 9 8 Bruno Spaggiari Ducati 1F 8 9 Horst Fügner MZ 6 4 6 5 7 10 Francesco Villa Ducati 3 4 11 Sammy Miller Ducati 4 3 12 Walter Brehme MZ 5 2 13 Werner Musiol MZ 6 1 13 Arthur Wheeler Mondial 6 1 13 Enzo Vezzalini MV Agusta 6 1 Pos. Rider Bike MAN NED BEL GER SWE ULS NAT Pts

Race key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Annotation Meaning P Pole position F Fastest lap Rider key Colour Meaning Light blue Rookie rider

Constructors' standings

Each constructor is awarded the same number of points as their best placed rider in each race.

Pos.	Constructor	MAN	NED	BEL	GER	SWE	ULS	NAT	Pts
1	MV Agusta	1	1	3	1	3	1	6	32 (41)
2	Ducati	2	2	1		1	2	1	30 (42)
3	MZ	5	6		3	5	5		10 (11)
4	Mondial						6		1
Pos.	Constructor	MAN	NED	BEL	GER	SWE	ULS	NAT	Pts

Inline citations

1. Gustl, Kamikaze (2021-02-03). "Carlo Ubbiali story - part 6". MotoRacers. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
2. Oxley, Mat (2023-12-01). "Remembering Cecil Sandford, MV Agusta's history man". Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
3. "Motorsport Memorial -". www.motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
4. "About Those Dustbin Fairings of the 1950s". Cycle World. Retrieved 2023-12-05.

References

• Haefliger, Werner. "Lightweight class". FIM MotoGP Results 1949–2023 Guide (2024 ed.). pp. 32–34. ISBN   978-2-9701086-8-9.
• Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A. ISBN   2-940125-32-5
• "The Official MotoGP website". Archived from the original on 2020-07-23. Retrieved 2010-07-06.