1981 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
| 1981 F.I.M. Grand Prix motorcycle racing season | |||
| Previous: | 1980 | Next: | 1982 |
The 1981 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 33rd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
Contents
Season summary
Suzuki riders Marco Lucchinelli and Randy Mamola battled it out to the final race of the season with the Italian rider claiming the crown and Mamola finishing runner-up for the second consecutive year.[1] Barry Sheene would win the final race of his career with a win in Sweden while a young American named Freddie Spencer made his first foray into the GP world, riding the four-stroke Honda NR500 up to fifth place at the British Grand Prix before it broke down.[1]
Germany's Anton Mang scored double world championships, defeating defending champion Jon Ekerold for the 350cc title and winning ten of twelve 250 events to take that title.[1] Frenchman Michel Rougerie, who finished second in 1975 250 championship, was killed when he was hit by another rider after crashing in the 350 race in Yugoslavia.[2] Angel Nieto won his tenth championship by winning eight of twelve rounds on his Minarelli while Ricardo Tormo won the 50cc crown for Bultaco.[1]
Beginning in 1981, motorcycle frame technology evolved quickly as motorcycle manufacturers moved from the steel, featherbed frame chassis first developed in the 1950s, to aluminium frames featuring large, twin beams as first pioneered by Spanish constructor, Antonio Cobas.[3]
Grands Prix
Final standings
500cc standings
350cc standings
| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Anton Mang |
2 | West Germany | Kawasaki | 103 | 5 |
| 2 |  Jon Ekerold |
1 | South Africa | Kawasaki | 52 | 2 |
| 3 |  Jean-François Baldé |
3 | France | Kawasaki | 49 | 0 |
| 4 | Patrick Fernandez |
10 | France | Yamaha | 46 | 1 |
| 5 |  Carlos Lavado |
Venezuela | Yamaha | 41 | 0 | |
| 6 |  Keith Huewen |
United Kingdom | Yamaha | 29 | 0 | |
| 7 | Thierry Espié |
France | Yamaha | 24 | 0 | |
| 8 |  Jacques Cornu |
7 | Switzerland | Yamaha | 20 | 0 |
| 9 | Eric Saul |
6 | France | Yamaha | 18 | 0 |
| 10 |  Graeme McGregor |
Australia | Yamaha | 14 | 0 | |
| 11 | Greame Geddes | 11 | ||||
| 12 | Martin Wimmer | 11 | ||||
| 13 | Gustav Reiner | 10 | ||||
| 14 | Massimo Matteoni | 10 | ||||
| 15 | Jeffrey Sayle | 10 | ||||
| 16 | Marc Schouten | 10 | ||||
| 17 | Wolfgang Von Muralt | 8 | ||||
| 18 | Didier de Radiguès | 8 | ||||
| 19 | Peter Looijensteijn | 8 | ||||
| 20 | Charlie Williams | 6 | ||||
| 21 | Pekka Nurmi | 6 | ||||
| 22 | Sauro Pazzaglia | 6 | ||||
| 23 | R.Sibille | 5 | ||||
| 24 | Alan North |
South Africa | 5 | |||
| 25 | R.Eskelinen | 4 | ||||
| 26 | Tony Rogers | 3 | ||||
| 27 | Rene Delaby | 3 | ||||
| 28 | Edi Stoellinger | 3 | ||||
| 29 | Donnie Robinson | 2 | ||||
| 30 | Tony Head | 2 | ||||
| 31 | Paolo Ferretti | 2 | ||||
| 32 | Michel Rougerie | 1 | ||||
| 33 | B.Elgh | 1 | ||||
| 34 | Vincenzo Cascino | 1 |
250cc standings
| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anton Mang |
1 | West Germany | Kawasaki | 160 | 10 |
| 2 | Jean-François Baldé |
3 | France | Kawasaki | 95 | 1 |
| 3 | Roland Freymond |
5 | Switzerland | Ad Majora | 72 | 0 |
| 4 | Carlos Lavado |
6 | Venezuela | Yamaha | 56 | 0 |
| 5 | Patrick Fernandez |
10 | France | Yamaha | 43 | 0 |
| 6 | Jean-Louis Guignabodet |
France | Kawasaki | 36 | 0 | |
| 7 | Jean-Louis Tournadre |
France | Yamaha | 34 | 0 | |
| 8 | Martin Wimmer |
West Germany | Yamaha | 33 | 0 | |
| 9 |  Didier de Radiguès |
Belgium | Yamaha | 26 | 0 | |
| 10 |  Richard Schlachter |
United States | Yamaha | 25 | 0 | |
| 11 | Thierry Espie |
France | 24 | |||
| 12 |  Maurizio Massimiani |
Italy | 22 | |||
| 13 | Eric Saul |
France | 19 | |||
| 14 | Paolo Ferretti | 16 | ||||
| 15 | Greame Geddes | 14 | ||||
| 16 | Jean Marc Toffolo | 12 | ||||
| 17 | Christian Estrosi | 12 | ||||
| 18 | Graeme McGregor | 11 | ||||
| 19 | R.Sibille | 11 | ||||
| 20 | Herve Guilleux | 10 | ||||
| 21 | Pier Luigi Conforti | 8 | ||||
| 22 | Edi Stoellinger | 7 | ||||
| 23 | Eero Hyvärinen | 6 | ||||
| 24 | Jeffrey Sayle | 6 | ||||
| 25 | Angel Nieto | 6 | ||||
| 26 | Pierre Bolle | 6 | ||||
| 27 | Bruno Kneubühler | 5 | ||||
| 28 | Sito Pons | 4 | ||||
| 29 | Jacques Bolle | 4 | ||||
| 30 | Loris Reggiani | 3 | ||||
| 31 | A.Gouin | 3 | ||||
| 32 | Steve Tonkin | 1 | ||||
| 33 | B.Elgh | 1 | ||||
| 34 | Siegfried Minich | 1 |
125cc standings
50cc standings
| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23x15px Ricardo Tormo | 4 | Spain | Bultaco | 90 | 6 |
| 2 |  Theo Timmer |
7 | Netherlands | Bultaco | 65 | 1 |
| 3 | Stefan Dörflinger |
2 | Switzerland | Kreidler | 51 | 1 |
| 4 |  Hans Hummel |
3 | Austria | Sachs | 43 | 0 |
| 5 | Hagen Klein |
West Germany | Kreidler | 40 | 0 | |
| 6 | Rolf Blatter |
Switzerland | Kreidler | 39 | 0 | |
| 7 | Henk van Kessel |
5 | Netherlands | Kreidler | 36 | 0 |
| 8 | Giuseppe Ascareggi |
Italy | Minarelli | 28 | 0 | |
| 9 | Claudio Lusuardi |
8 | Italy | Villa | 23 | 0 |
| 10 | George Looijesteyn |
Netherlands | Kreidler | 21 | 0 | |
| 11 | Rudolf Kunz |
West Germany | 20 | |||
| 12 | Yves Dupont |
France | 14 | |||
| 13 | 23x15px Joaquim Gali | Spain | 11 | |||
| 14 | Ingo Emmerich |
West Germany | 10 | |||
| 15 | Otto Machinek |
Austria | 8 | |||
| 16 | Kasimer Rapczynski |
West Germany | 6 | |||
| 17 | Pascal Kambourian |
France | 6 | |||
| 18 | Gerhard Bauer | 4 | ||||
| 19 | Günter Schirnhofer | 4 | ||||
| 20 | Cees Van Dongen | 3 | ||||
| 21 | K.Kull | 2 | ||||
| 22 | Chris Baert | 2 | ||||
| 23 | H.Engelhardt | 1 | ||||
| 24 | Rainer Scheidhauer | 1 |
References
- Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A. ISBN 2-940125-32-5
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Grand Prix motorcycle racing seasons
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