1960 Motocross World Championship

1960 Motocross World Championship
Action from the 500cc Dutch Grand Prix race on 24 July 1960 in Bergharen, Holland.
Organizer	FIM
Duration	23 April/14 August
Number of races	9
Number of manufacturers	15
Champions
500cc	Bill Nilsson
250cc [a]	Dave Bickers
Motocross World Championship seasons
← 1959 1961 →

The 1960 Motocross World Championship was the 4th edition of the Motocross World Championship organized by the FIM and reserved for 500cc and 250cc motorcycles.

The FIM implemented new rules dividing the races into two 45 minute heat races that were referred to as motos. ^{[1] [2]} In the event of a tie for example: 1-2 and 2-1, the total time of the two rounds is the decisive factor to determine the winner. However, the FIM allowed certain freedoms to Grand Prix race organizers who can maintain the old method of qualifying heat races for a single final round depending on the number of competitors participating in the Grand Prix. Two Grand Prix races, the Belgian and Luxembourg Grand Prix races are held as a single round.

Summary

Team Husqvarna's Rolf Tibblin had an early lead in the championship by winning the first two Grand Prix races of the year however, the battle for the title came down to fellow Swedes Bill Nilsson (Husqvarna) and Sten Lundin (Monark). Nilsson prevailed by a narrow 2 point margin to claim the second 500cc world championship of his career. ^{[3] [4]} Dave Bickers riding for the Greeves factory racing team claimed the 250cc European Motocross Championship over his countryman, Jeff Smith. ^{[5] [6]}

1958 500cc World Champion René Baeten was killed in a racing accident during an international non-championship race in Stekene, Belgium, on 5 June 1960. ^[7]

Grands Prix

500cc

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Location	Race 1 Winner	Race 2 Winner	Overall Winner	Report
1	April 24	Austrian Grand Prix	Sittendorf	Rolf Tibblin	Rolf Tibblin	Rolf Tibblin	Report
2	May 15	French Grand Prix	Vesoul	Rolf Tibblin	Sten Lundin	Rolf Tibblin	Report
3	May 22	Swedish Grand Prix	Knutstorp	Sten Lundin	Bill Nilsson	Bill Nilsson	Report
4	June 12	Italian Grand Prix	Imola	Sten Lundin	Bill Nilsson	Sten Lundin	Report
5	June 26	West German Grand Prix	Bielstein	Don Rickman	Sten Lundin	Sten Lundin	Report
6	July 3	British Grand Prix	Shrewsbury	Bill Nilsson	Bill Nilsson	Bill Nilsson	Report
7	July 24	Dutch Grand Prix	Bergharen	Bill Nilsson	Rolf Tibblin	Bill Nilsson	Report
8	August 7	Belgian Grand Prix*	Namur	-	-	Bill Nilsson	Report
9	August 14	Luxembourg Grand Prix*	Ettelbruck	-	-	Sten Lundin	Report
*Organizers of the Belgian and Dutch Grands Prix hold qualifying heat races for a single final round. Sources: [3] [8]

250cc

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Location	Race 1 Winner	Race 2 Winner	Overall Winner	Report
1	April 3	Swiss Grand Prix	Payerne	Torsten Hallman	Stig Rickardsson	Dave Bickers	Report
2	April 24	Belgian Grand Prix	Dison	Arthur Lampkin	Dave Bickers	Jaromír Čížek	Report
3	May 1	French Grand Prix	Pernes-les-Fontaines	Stig Rickardsson	Dave Bickers	Stig Rickardsson	Report
4	May 22	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Divoká Šárka	Miloslav Soucek	Jeff Smith	Miloslav Soucek	Report
5	May 29	Polish Grand Prix	Katowice-Zabrze	Dave Bickers	Dave Bickers	Dave Bickers	Report
6	June 5	Italian Grand Prix	Avigliana	Emilio Ostorero	Emilio Ostorero	Emilio Ostorero	Report
7	June 12	East German Grand Prix	Eisenach	Lennart Dahlen	Torsten Hallman	Stig Rickardsson	Report
8	June 19	Finnish Grand Prix	Helsinki	Arthur Lampkin	Arthur Lampkin	Arthur Lampkin	Report
9	June 26	Luxembourg Grand Prix	Schifflange	Jeff Smith	Dave Bickers	Jeff Smith	Report
10	July 17	British Grand Prix	Shrubland Park	Jeff Smith	Dave Bickers	Jeff Smith	Report
11	August 7	Swedish Grand Prix	Vannas	Dave Bickers	Stig Rickardsson	Dave Bickers	Report
12	September 4	West German Grand Prix	Leichlingen	Dave Bickers	Lennart Dahlen	Dave Bickers	Report
Sources: [5] [9]

Final standings

Points are awarded to the top 6 classified finishers. For the final championship standings, half of the competitors' results + 1 are retained. Thus with 9 500cc Grands Prix, the 5 best results are retained. With 12 250cc Grands Prix, the 7 best results are retained.

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

500cc

(Results in italics indicate overall winner)

Pos	Rider	Machine	AUT		FRA		SWE		ITA		GER		UK		NED		BEL	LUX	Pts
			R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1*	R1*
1	Bill Nilsson	Husqvarna	3	2	-	-	3	1	5	1	-	-	1	1	1	2	1	13	38
2	Sten Lundin	Monark	2	-	3	1	1	3	1	2	2	1	5	-	-	-	2	1	36
3	Rolf Tibblin	Husqvarna	1	1	1	2	-	-	22	-	-	-	6	6	3	1	4	8	26
4	Don Rickman	Triumph-Métisse	-	-	2	-	-	7	2	3	1	2	2	3	7	8	5	2	26
5	Gunnar Johansson	Lito	-	-	-	-	2	2	4	4	3	3	4	4	4	7	3	9	21
6	Ove Lundell	Monark	-	-	9	3	4	4	6	7	-	4	-	-	22	5	-	3	10
7	René Baeten	Matchless	6	3	8	4	6	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
8	Lars Gustavsson	Monark	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	-	5	3	-	4	7
9	Les Archer Jr.	Norton	4	6	-	-	-	-	3	5	-	-	-	-	6	6	-	7	7
10	John Burton	BSA	5	4	-	-	5	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5
11	Broer Dirkx	BSA	-	-	5	5	14	8	19	-	-	-	-	5	2	-	-	-	4
12	Hubert Scaillet	Matchless	-	-	7	-	-	-	7	6	5	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
13	Arthur Lampkin	BSA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	7	-	-	-	-	3
14	John Draper	BSA	-	5	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	5	3
15	Derek Rickman	Triumph-Métisse	-	-	-	-	-	-	21	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Jeff Smith	BSA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	2	-	-	-	-	2
17	Nic Jansen	Matchless	-	-	6	6	-	-	11	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	2
18	Herman De Soete	Matchless	-	-	11	-	-	-	10	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	1
-	Guy Bertrand	BSA	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0
	Albert Dirkx	BSA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	0
*Organizers of the Belgian and Luxembourg Grands Prix hold qualifying heat races for a single final round. Sources: [4] [8]

250cc

(Results in italics indicate overall winner)

Pos	Rider	Machine	CH		BEL		FRA		CZE		POL		ITA		GDR		FIN		LUX		UK		SWE		GER		Pts
			R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
1	Dave Bickers	Greeves	2	3	5	1	3	1	4	4	1	1	-	-	5	6	3	8	2	1	-	1	1	2	1	2	48
2	Jeff Smith	BSA	-	-	4	3	-	-	5	1	2	-	2	6	4	-	-	-	1	2	1	2	2	3	-	-	35
3	Miloslav Soucek	ESO	4	-	3	6	14	11	1	2	3	3	-	-	-	5	5	4	-	-	5	-	-	-	2	3	26
4	Stig Rickardsson	Husqvarna	-	1	11	-	1	2	-	-	-	-	5	4	2	2	-	-	-	-	2	9	6	1	9	-	25
5	Arthur Lampkin	BSA	7	2	1	4	-	-	-	-	-	2	11	-	6	3	1	1	19	-	3	-	3	6	3	6	25
6	Lennart Dahlén	Husqvarna	11	4	6	7	7	5	6	3	-	-	-	5	1	4	2	3	4	4	4	-	4	4	6	1	25
7	Torsten Hallman	Husqvarna	1	-	10	-	2	4	-	-	-	-	3	2	3	1	4	2	3	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	24
8	Jaromír Čížek	Jawa	3	5	2	2	12	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	14
9	Vlastimil Valek	ČZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	5	4	-	-	-	-	8	5	5	-	7	4	5	5	-	-	11
10	Emilio Ostorero	Bianchi	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	6	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	10
11	Sivert Eriksson	Husqvarna	-	-	18	9	6	16	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	3	-	-	-	-	6
12	Lanfranco Angelini	Aermacchi	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
13	Arnošt Zemen	ČZ	-	-	8	8	8	10	-	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
14	Willy Oesterle	Maico	8	15	-	-	5	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Fritz Betzelbacher	Maico	6	7	-	-	4	13	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	3
16	Christoph Specht	Maico	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	4	3
17	Bryan Sharp	Greeves	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	6	-	-	-	-	2
	Rolf Stagman	Husqvarna	5	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Tim Gibbes	AJS	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
20	Ervín Krajčovič	Jawa	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	7	8	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Raimo Rein	Jawa	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Frantisek Ron	Jawa	10	6	7	5	9	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Aarno Erola	Husqvarna	-	-	-	-	10	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Josef Chara	Jawa	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	1
	Otto Walz	Maico	9	-	-	-	16	6	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	John Draper	BSA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	1
-	Jean Crosset	Jawa	13	9	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	0
	Triss Sharp	Greeves	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	-	-	-	-	0
Sources: [6] [9]

Notes

1. Now called the European Championship.

References

1. "Motocross goes International 1947 through 1965". pigtailpals.com. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
2. "Namur MX The Heroic Years". namurmx.be. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
3. "1960 500cc motocross world championship race winners". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
4. "1960 500cc motocross world championship results". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
5. "1960 250cc motocross world championship race winners". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
6. "1960 250cc motocross world championship results". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
7. "René Baeten profile at Motorsport Memorial". motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
8. "1960 500cc motocross world championship results" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
9. "1960 250cc European motocross championship results" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 17 January 2023.