| Category | Motorcycle racing |
|---|---|
| Inaugural season | 1973 |
| Folded | 1979 |
| Last Riders' champion | Patrick Pons |
Formula 750 was a FIM motorcycle road racing series based on a 750 cubic centimeter engine capacity.
| Category | Motorcycle racing |
|---|---|
| Inaugural season | 1973 |
| Folded | 1979 |
| Last Riders' champion | Patrick Pons |
Formula 750 was a FIM motorcycle road racing series based on a 750 cubic centimeter engine capacity.
The series began in 1971 as a collaboration between the American Motorcyclist Association and the Auto Cycle Union. [2] [3] The FIM adopted the Formula 750 class for events in 1972. [4]
In 1973 it became a British-based series. In 1975 the series was upgraded to European championship status and in 1977, it attained world championship status. [5]
The Formula 750 class was seen as possibly overtaking the 500cc Grand Prix class as the premier racing division. However, the ultimate domination by one model (the Yamaha TZ750) as well as the increasingly popular superbike production class meant that the FIM discontinued the class after the 1979 season. [3]
Source: [6]
| Season | Rider | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 |  Barry Sheene | Suzuki |
| 1974 |  John Dodds | Yamaha |
| 1975 | Jack Findlay | Yamaha |
| 1976 |  Víctor Palomo | Yamaha |
| 1977 |  Steve Baker | Yamaha |
| 1978 |  Johnny Cecotto | Yamaha |
| 1979 |  Patrick Pons | Yamaha |
Barry Steven Frank Sheene was a British professional motorcycle racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing and was a two-time world champion, winning consecutive 500cc titles in 1976 and 1977.
AMA Superbike Championship is an American motorcycle racing series that has been run every year beginning in 1976. For most of its existence it has been considered the premier motorcycle road racing series in the United States. It is sanctioned by the AMA American Motorcyclist Association since its inception, and the promotion of the series has been licensed to several organizations over the years. Since 2015 the series has been run and promoted by MotoAmerica, who also manage several other AMA professional road racing championships, including the popular 600cc Supersport class.
Johnny Alberto Cecotto Persello, better known as Johnny Cecotto, is a Venezuelan former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer and auto racer. He rose to prominence as a teenage prodigy in 1975 when he became the youngest motorcycle road racing world champion at the age of 19. Despite the auspicious beginning to his motorcycle racing career, he suffered numerous injuries and mechanical problems which curtailed his success in motorcycle Grand Prix racing.
Kenneth Leroy Roberts is an American former professional motorcycle racer and racing team owner. In 1978, he became the first American to win a Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship. He was also a two-time winner of the A.M.A. Grand National Championship. Roberts is one of only four riders in American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) racing history to win the AMA Grand Slam, representing Grand National wins at a mile, half-mile, short-track, TT Steeplechase and road race events.
Randy Mamola is an American former professional motorcycle racer and television sports presenter. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing between 1979 and 1992. A 13-time Premier Class race winner, Mamola was one of the most charismatic Grand Prix road racers of his generation, becoming a favourite because of his interaction with race fans both on and off the track as well as his aggressive and spirited riding style.
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.
The Daytona 200 is an annual motorcycle road racing competition held in early spring at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The 200-mile (320 km) race was founded in 1937 when it was sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). The original course used the beach itself before moving to a paved closed circuit in 1961. The Daytona 200 reached its zenith of worldwide popularity in the 1970s when the race attracted the largest crowds of any AMA race along with some of the top rated international motorcycle racers.
Erv Kanemoto is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle mechanic and motorcycle race team owner. He was one of the most successful motorcycle racing tuners and race team crew chiefs of the 1970s through the early 2000s, working with motorcycle racers who won two national championships and six world championships. He is best known for his association with motorcycle racers Gary Nixon and Freddie Spencer.
Heikki Antero Mikkola is a Finnish former professional motocross racer and motocross team manager. He competed in the Motocross World Championships from 1967 to 1979, most prominently as a member of the Husqvarna factory racing team where he became the first competitor to win both the 250cc and 500cc world championships.
Steve Baker is an American former professional Grand Prix motorcycle roadracer. He is notable for being the first American to win a road racing world championship when he won the 1977 Formula 750 title.
Yvon Duhamel was a French Canadian professional motorcycle and snowmobile racer. A six-time winner of the White Trophy, the highest award in Canadian motorcycle racing, he was one of the most accomplished motorcycle racers in Canadian motorsports history. Duhamel was a versatile rider competing in numerous motorcycle racing disciplines including; trials, motocross, ice racing, drag racing, flat track racing and most prominently in road racing as a member of the Kawasaki factory racing team. His motorcycle racing career spanned the transition from the 60 horsepower four-stroke motorcycles of the 1960s, to the 100 horsepower two-stroke motorcycles of the 1970s. Even when Duhamel's motorcycle had a top speed advantage, he never slowed to conserve his machine, which led to spectacular crashes or mechanical failures as often as it led to race victories. Duhamel's reputation as a tenacious competitor with an aggressive riding style earned him the respect of other racers and made him popular with racing fans.
The AMA Motocross Championship (commercially known as Lucas Oil Pro Motocross) is an American motorcycle racing series. The motocross race series was founded and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1972. The series is the major outdoor motocross series in the United States and is sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing and managed by MX Sports Pro Racing.
Víctor Palomo was a Spanish world champion water skier, Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Olympic bobsleigh pilot.
Gavin Trippe was a motorcycle racing promoter, journalist, and publisher who was inducted to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2005. He died following an automobile accident in California.
American Flat Track is an American motorcycle racing series. The racing series, founded and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1954, originally encompassed five distinct forms of competitions including mile dirt track races, half-mile, short-track, TT steeplechase and road races. The championship was the premier motorcycle racing series in the United States from the 1950s up until the late 1970s.
The 1976 Formula 750 season was the fourth season of the FIM Formula 750 Prize. The confused results of the Venezuelan round caused the championship's final standings to be shrouded in controversy. Kawasaki's Gary Nixon appeared to have won the second leg of the Venezuelan race however, the race organizers credited Yamaha's Steve Baker with the victory. Víctor Palomo was crowned champion, winning three races on aggregate despite not winning a single heat. If Nixon had been awarded the victory in the Venezuelan round, he would have won the world championship by one point. Nixon protested the Venezuelan results to the FIM, who threw out the results of the event, thus denying his appeal.
The Yamaha TZ750 is a series production two-stroke race motorcycle built by Yamaha to compete in the Formula 750 class in the 1970s. Motorcyclist called it "the most notorious and successful roadracing motorcycle of the 1970s". Another journal called it the dominant motorcycle of the era, noting its nine consecutive Daytona 200 wins, starting in 1974.
The Transatlantic Trophy was an annual series of motorcycle races between the United Kingdom and America held from 1971 to 1988 and again in 1991. They were mostly held over the Easter weekend at Brands Hatch, Mallory Park and Oulton Park, although some races were held at Donington Park and Snetterton. Three different specifications of motorcycles were used in the series at various times: AMA/F750, Superbike and GP.
David William Potter was an English motorcycle racer who won the British Superbike Championship twice. Potter crashed during a race at Oulton Park on 31 August 1981 and suffered head injuries from which he died in hospital 17 days later.
The 1974 Formula 750 season was the second season of the FIM Formula 750 Prize. The series was originally planned for seven events, but when it was realised that the Yamaha TZ750 hadn't yet been homologized by the FIM and wouldn't be eligible to compete, several of the race organisers changed their races from F750 to open class to allow the Yamaha to compete. Only 3 events remained on the calendar for the Formula 750 Prize. The series was won by Australian John Dodds.
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