1973 Grand Prix season calendar
- Footnotes
- 1 2 The 250cc race was stopped, following an accident on the first lap that resulted in the deaths of Jarno Saarinen and Renzo Pasolini. The race meeting was ultimately cancelled.
The 1973 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 25th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
MV Agusta teammates Phil Read and Giacomo Agostini battled it out for supremacy of the 500cc class but the season was overshadowed by the deaths of Jarno Saarinen and Renzo Pasolini at the Italian round at Monza. [1] The 500cc title runner-up, Kim Newcombe, also died at a non-championship race at Silverstone late in the year. [1] Agostini claimed his 13th championship in the 350cc class. [1] In the 250cc class, West German Dieter Braun won the crown for Yamaha. Kent Andersson gave Yamaha another title in the 125cc class while Kreidler dominated the 50cc class after the Derbi factory pulled out of racing with Dutchman Jan de Vries taking the crown. [1]
| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Phil Read | United Kingdom | MV Agusta | 84 | 4 | |
| 2 |  Kim Newcombe | 10 | New Zealand | König | 63 | 1 |
| 3 |  Giacomo Agostini | 1 | Italy | MV Agusta | 57 | 3 |
| 4 |  Werner Giger | Switzerland | Yamaha | 44 | 0 | |
| 5 |  Jack Findlay | 8 | Australia | Suzuki | 38 | 1 |
| 6 | Bruno Kneubühler | 3 | Switzerland | Yamaha | 34 | 0 |
| 7 |  Jarno Saarinen | 4 | Finland | Yamaha | 30 | 2 |
| 8 |  Hideo Kanaya | Japan | Yamaha | 22 | 0 | |
| 9 |  Ernst Hiller | West Germany | König | 19 | 0 | |
| 10 | Alex George | United Kingdom | Yamaha | 19 | 0 |
| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giacomo Agostini | 1 | Italy | MV Agusta | 84 | 4 |
| 2 | Teuvo Länsivuori | 7 | Finland | Yamaha | 77 | 3 |
| 3 | Phil Read | 5 | United Kingdom | MV Agusta | 56 | 0 |
| 4 | John Dodds | Australia | Yamaha | 49 | 0 | |
| 5 | Billie Nelson | United Kingdom | Yamaha | 38 | 0 | |
| 6 |  Kent Andersson | Sweden | Yamaha | 38 | 0 | |
| 7 |  Adu Celso-Santos | Brazil | Yamaha | 33 | 1 | |
| 8 | Dieter Braun | 8 | West Germany | Yamaha | 33 | 0 |
| 9 |  János Drapál | Hungary | Yamaha | 30 | 2 | |
| 10 | Pentti Korhonen | Finland | Yamaha | 25 | 0 |
| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dieter Braun | West Germany | Yamaha | 80 | 4 | |
| 2 | Teuvo Länsivuori | 5 | Finland | Yamaha | 64 | 2 |
| 3 | John Dodds | 6 | Australia | Yamaha | 58 | 1 |
| 4 | Jarno Saarinen | 1 | Finland | Yamaha | 45 | 3 |
| 5 |  Michel Rougerie | France | Harley-Davidson | 45 | 0 | |
| 6 | Chas Mortimer | United Kingdom | Yamaha | 40 | 0 | |
| 7 | Hideo Kanaya | 11 | Japan | Yamaha | 36 | 0 |
| 8 | Roberto Gallina | Italy | Yamaha | 32 | 0 | |
| 9 | Bruno Kneubühler | Switzerland | Yamaha | 28 | 0 | |
| 10 | Silvio Grassetti | 4 | Italy | Yamaha | 21 | 0 |
| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kent Andersson | 2 | Sweden | Yamaha | 99 | 5 |
| 2 | Chas Mortimer | United Kingdom | Yamaha | 75 | 1 | |
| 3 |  Jos Schurgers | 9 | Netherlands | Bridgestone | 70 | 1 |
| 4 | Börje Jansson | 4 | Sweden | Maico | 64 | 1 |
| 5 | Eugenio Lazzarini | Italy | Maico | 59 | 1 | |
| 6 | Otello Buscherini | Italy | Malanca | 51 | 2 | |
| 7 |  Angel Nieto | Spain | Morbidelli | 46 | 0 | |
| 8 | Rolf Minhoff | 4 | West Germany | Maico | 42 | 0 |
| 9 | Matti Salonen | Finland | Yamaha | 32 | 0 | |
| 10 | Pentti Salonen | Finland | Yamaha | 28 | 0 | |
| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan de Vries | 2 | Netherlands | Kreidler | 60 | 5 |
| 2 | Bruno Kneubühler | Switzerland | Kreidler | 51 | 1 | |
| 3 | Theo Timmer | 3 | Netherlands | Jamathi | 47 | 1 |
| 4 | Gerhard Thurow | West Germany | Kreidler | 36 | 0 | |
| 5 | Henk van Kessel | Netherlands | Kreidler | 27 | 0 | |
| 6 | Herbert Rittberger | West Germany | Kreidler | 22 | 0 | |
| 7 | Ulrich Graf | Switzerland | Kreidler | 21 | 0 | |
| 8 | Jan Huberts | 8 | Netherlands | Kreidler | 21 | 0 |
| 9 | Rudolf Kunz | 9 | West Germany | Kreidler | 14 | 0 |
| 10 | Wolfgang Gedlich | West Germany | Kreidler | 13 | 0 | |
Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start of the twentieth century and large national events were often given the title Grand Prix. The foundation of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme as the international governing body for motorcycle sport in 1949 provided the opportunity to coordinate rules and regulations in order that selected events could count towards official World Championships. It is the oldest established motorsport world championship.
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Jarno Karl Keimo Saarinen was a Finnish professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. In the early 1970s, he was considered one of the most promising and talented motorcycle racers of his era until he was killed during the 1973 Nations Grand Prix in Italy. Saarinen's death led to increased demands for better safety conditions for motorcycle racers competing in the world championships. He remains the only Finn to have won a motorcycle road racing world championship. Saarinen was inducted into the F.I.M. MotoGP Hall of Fame in 2009.
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The MV Agusta 500 four-cylinder (1973-1976) was a racing motorcycle manufactured by the Italian company MV Agusta, for competing in the 500 cc series, the premier class of the FIM World Motorcycle Championship. With this motorcycle MV Agusta won the 1973 constructor's world champion and Phil Read won the 1973 and 1974 500 cc riders world championships.
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