1956 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Appearance
The 1956 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the eighth F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of six Grand Prix races in five classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on 8 June, with Isle of Man TT and ended with Nations Grand Prix in Italy on 9 September.
Reigning 500cc champion Geoff Duke had to serve a six months ban at the start of the season for supporting a strike by privateer riders over starting money at the 1955 Dutch TT.[1][2]
1956 Grand Prix season calendar
[edit]Round | Date | Grand Prix | Circuit | 125cc winner | 250cc winner | 350cc winner | 500cc winner | Sidecars 500cc winner | Report |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 8 June | Isle of Man TT | Snaefell Mountain | Carlo Ubbiali | Carlo Ubbiali | Ken Kavanagh | John Surtees | Hillebrand / Grunwald | Report |
2 | 30 June | Dutch TT | TT Circuit Assen | Carlo Ubbiali | Carlo Ubbiali | Bill Lomas | John Surtees | Hillebrand / Grunwald | Report |
3 | 8 July | Belgian Grand Prix | Spa-Francorchamps | Carlo Ubbiali | Carlo Ubbiali | John Surtees | John Surtees | Noll / Cron | Report |
4 | 22 July | German Grand Prix | Solitude | Romolo Ferri | Carlo Ubbiali | Bill Lomas | Reg Armstrong | Noll / Cron | Report |
5 | 11 August | Ulster Grand Prix | Dundrod Circuit | Carlo Ubbiali | Luigi Taveri | Bill Lomas | John Hartle | Noll / Cron | Report |
6 | 9 September | Nations Grand Prix | Monza | Carlo Ubbiali | Carlo Ubbiali | Libero Liberati | Geoff Duke | Milani / Milani | Report |
Standings
[edit]Scoring system
[edit]Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race. Only the four best races were counted in all five classes: the Sidecars, 125cc, 250cc, 350cc and 500cc championships.
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Points | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
500cc final standings
[edit]350cc Standings
[edit]Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bill Lomas | United Kingdom | Moto Guzzi | 24 | 3 | |
2 | Dickie Dale | United Kingdom | Moto Guzzi | 17 | 0 | |
= | August Hobl | Germany | DKW | 17 | 0 | |
4 | John Surtees | United Kingdom | MV Agusta | 14 | 1 | |
5 | Cecil Sandford | United Kingdom | DKW | 13 | 0 | |
6 | Ken Kavanagh | Australia | Moto Guzzi | 10 | 1 | |
7 | Libero Liberati | Italy | Gilera | 8 | 1 | |
8 | John Hartle | United Kingdom | Norton | 8 | 0 | |
9 | Derek Ennett | United Kingdom | AJS | 6 | 0 | |
10 | Karl Hofmann | Germany | DKW | 6 | 0 | |
11 | Roberto Colombo | Italy | MV Agusta | 4 | 0 | |
12 | Jack Brett | United Kingdom | Norton | 3 | 0 | |
13 | Hans Bartl | Netherlands | DKW | 3 | 0 | |
14 | Umberto Masetti | Italy | MV Agusta | 2 | 0 | |
= | Peter Murphy | New Zealand | AJS | 2 | 0 | |
= | Eddie Grant | South Africa | Norton | 2 | 0 | |
17 | Bob Brown | Australia | AJS | 1 | 0 | |
= | Bob Matthews | United Kingdom | Norton | 1 | 0 | |
= | Alan Trow | United Kingdom | Norton | 1 | 0 |
250cc Standings
[edit]Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Carlo Ubbiali | Italy | MV Agusta | 32 | 5 | |
2 | Luigi Taveri | Switzerland | MV Agusta | 26 | 1 | |
3 | Enrico Lorenzetti | Italy | Moto Guzzi | 10 | 0 | |
4 | Roberto Colombo | Italy | MV Agusta | 9 | 0 | |
= | Horst Kassner | Germany | NSU | 9 | 0 | |
6 | Remo Venturi | Italy | MV Agusta | 8 | 0 | |
7 | Sammy Miller | United Kingdom | NSU | 7 | 0 | |
8 | Hans Baltisberger | Germany | NSU | 7 | 0 | |
9 | Arthur Wheeler | United Kingdom | Moto Guzzi | 5 | 0 | |
10 | Bob Coleman | New Zealand | NSU | 3 | 0 | |
= | Kees Koster | Netherlands | NSU | 3 | 0 | |
12 | František Bartoš | Czechoslovakia | ČZ | 2 | 0 | |
= | Bill Maddrick | United Kingdom | Moto Guzzi | 2 | 0 | |
= | Lo Simons | Netherlands | NSU | 2 | 0 | |
= | Alano Montanari | Italy | Moto Guzzi | 2 | 0 | |
= | Bob Brown | Australia | NSU | 2 | 0 | |
17 | Jean-Pierre Bayle | France | NSU | 1 | 0 | |
= | Maurice Büla | Switzerland | NSU | 1 | 0 | |
= | Roland Heck | Germany | NSU | 1 | 0 | |
= | Jiří Koštíř | Czechoslovakia | ČZ | 1 | 0 |
125cc Standings
[edit]Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Carlo Ubbiali | Italy | MV Agusta | 32 | 5 | |
2 | Romolo Ferri | Italy | Gilera | 14 | 1 | |
3 | Luigi Taveri | Switzerland | MV Agusta | 12 | 0 | |
4 | Tarquinio Provini | Italy | Mondial | 10 | 0 | |
5 | Fortunato Libanori | Italy | MV Agusta | 9 | 0 | |
6 | Marcelo Cama | Spain | Montesa | 6 | 0 | |
7 | August Hobl | Germany | DKW | 6 | 0 | |
8 | Karl Hofman | Germany | DKW | 5 | 0 | |
9 | Pierre Monneret | France | Gilera | 4 | 0 | |
= | Francisco Gonzalez | Spain | Montesa | 4 | 0 | |
= | Renato Sartori | Italy | Mondial | 4 | 0 | |
= | Bill Webster | United Kingdom | MV Agusta | 4 | 0 | |
13 | Cecil Sandford | United Kingdom | Mondial | 4 | 0 | |
14 | Enrico Sirera | Spain | Montesa | 3 | 0 | |
= | Bill Maddrick | United Kingdom | MV Agusta | 3 | 0 | |
16 | Sandro Artusi | Italy | Ducati | 2 | 0 | |
= | Dave Chadwick | United Kingdom | LEF | 2 | 0 | |
= | Frank Cope | United Kingdom | MV Agusta | 2 | 0 | |
= | František Bartoš | Czechoslovakia | ČZ | 1 | 0 | |
= | Johnny Grace | Gibraltar | Montesa | 1 | 0 | |
= | Vaclav Parus | Czechoslovakia | ČZ | 1 | 0 |
Sources
[edit]- ^ "GEOFF DUKE: FIRST GENTLEMAN OF RACING". Australian Motorcycle News. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
- ^ "Geoff Duke would have been 100 years old today". www.speedweek.com. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
References
[edit]- Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A. ISBN 2-940125-32-5
- "The Official MotoGP website". Retrieved 2010-07-06.