1973 Formula 750 season

The 1973 Formula 750 season was the first season of the FIM Formula 750 Prize. The series had previously been run as a British competition under ACU rules.[1] Ten races were held over seven rounds. Although disqualified at Silverstone for using a different bike in the second race,[2] Barry Sheene won the championship.[3]

Calendar

1973 Calendar
Round	Race Title	Circuit	Date	Heat 1 Winner	Heat 2 Winner	Overall Winner
1	Imola 200	Imola	April 15	Jarno Saarinen	Jarno Saarinen	Jarno Saarinen
2	France[a]	Clermont-Ferrand	May 27	Barry Sheene
3	GP de Suède[a][b]	Anderstorp	July 22	Jack Findlay
4	Finland[a]	Hämeenlinna	August 1	Teuvo Länsivuori
5	John Player International	Silverstone	August 12	Paul Smart	Paul Smart	Paul Smart
6	Germany	Hockenheim	September 30	Jack Findlay	Stan Woods	Stan Woods
7	Spain[a]	Montjuïc	October 7	John Dodds
References[2][4]

Notes

1. The rounds in France, Sweden, Finland and Spain were run as a single race
2. The round in Sweden was part of the Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix weekend

The Ontario Motor Speedway in California, US was scheduled to hold a round in May 1973. Due to financial difficulties and management changes the event was rescheduled to October. The FIM rules are that a race date cannot be changed once the calendar is ratified so would not sanction the race. The race was therefore run as an AMA Road Race National not a F750 event.[3]

Points system

Points for each event were awarded as below, events at Imola, Silverstone and Hockenheim consisted of two races and points were awarded by aggregate times of the two. At Hockenheim, Jack Findlay won the first race but fell in the second. As there was no aggregate time over the two rounds for him he wasn't awarded points. Suzuki objected and the points awarded were based on positions in each race.[2]

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Points	15	12	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1

Only the four best results achieved by a rider counted towards the championship standings.[2]

Championship standings

Pos Rider Bike IMO CHA AND HEM SIL HOC MON Points (gross)[a] 1 Barry Sheene Suzuki TR750 - 1 3 2 DSQ 2 2 51 (61) 2 John Dodds Yamaha TZ 350 - 2 - - 3 3 1 47 3 Jack Findlay Suzuki 750 6 - 1 3 2 5 4 45 (56) 4 Stan Woods Suzuki 750 - 4 2 5 - 1 6 41 (46) 5 Guido Mandracci [it; es] Suzuki 750 - - 4 4 - - 3 26 6 Teuvo Länsivuori Yamaha 350 4 - - 1 - - - 23 7 Jarno Saarinen Yamaha 350 1 - - - - - - 15 = Paul Smart Suzuki 750 - - - - 1 - - 15 9 Ron Chandler Triumph 750 8 5 - - 7 - - 13 10 Bruno Spaggiari Ducati 750SS 2 - - - - - - 12 11 Walter Villa Kawasaki H2R 3 - - - - - - 10 = Peter Williams Norton 750 - 3 - - - - - 10 13 Mick Grant Yamaha 350 - - - - 4 - - 8 = Dieter Braun Yamaha 350 - - - - - 4 - 8 15 Werner Giger Yamaha 350 - - - - - 7 8 7 16 Kel Carruthers Yamaha 350 5 - - - - - - 6 = Michel Rougerie Harley-Davidson XR-750 - - 5 - - - - 6 = John Newbold Yamaha 350 - - - - 5 - - 6 = Alain Genoud Honda CR750 - - - - - - 5 6 20 Gilbert Argo Honda 750 - 6 - - - - - 5 = Johnny Bengtsson Yamaha 350 - - 6 - - - - 5 = Bruno Kneubühler Yamaha 350 - - - 6 - - - 5 = Pat Mahoney Kawasaki 750 - - - - 6 - - 5 = Billie Nelson Yamaha 350 - - - - - 6 - 5 25 Philippe Coulon Yamaha 350 - 8 - - - 9 - 5 26 Werner Pfirter Yamaha 350 7 - - - - - - 4 = Percy Tait Triumph 750 - 7 - - - - - 4 = Roberto Gallina Honda 750 - - 7 - - - - 4 = Marcel Ankoné [es] Yamsel 350 - - - 7 - - - 4 = Olivier Chevallier Yamaha 350 - - - - - - 7 4 31 David Nixon Triumph 750 - - 8 - - - - 3 = Eero Hyvärinen [es] Yamaha 350 - - - 8 - - - 3 = Darryl Pendlebury Triumph 750 - - - - 8 - - 3 = Kork Ballington Yamaha 350 - - - - - 8 - 3 35 Derek Chatterton Yamaha 350 9 - - - - - - 2 = Michel Garnier Moto Guzzi V7 Sport - 9 - - - - - 2 = Lars Påhlsson Yamaha 350 - - 9 - - - - 2 = Seppo Kangasniemi [es] Yamaha 350 - - - 9 - - - 2 = Éric Offenstadt [es; fr; pl] Kawasaki 750 - - - - 9 - - 2 = Víctor Palomo Yamaha 350 - - - - - - 9 2 41 Galeazzo Pederneschi Yamaha 350 10 - - - - - - 1 = Franz Kroon Yamaha 350 - 10 - - - - - 1 = Armando Toracca [es; it] Honda 750 - - 10 - - - - 1 = Pekka Nurmi [es] Yamaha 350 - - - 10 - - - 1 = Martin Sharpe BSA 750 - - - - 10 - - 1 = Klaus Leonhardt Yamaha 350 - - - - - 10 - 1 = Pentti Korhonen Yamaha 350 - - - - - - 10 1 Pos Rider Bike IMO CHA AND HEM SIL HOC MON Points (gross) References[2]

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX)

Notes

1. Only the best four results achieved by a rider counted towards the championship. Total points obtained in brackets

References

1. "Zapomenuté šampionáty: F750 World Championship - 1. část". Motoforum.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 24 April 2021.
2. "1973 Formula 750 final standings". Racingmemo.free.fr. Retrieved 2021-04-13.
3. Lawrence, Larry (4 December 2019). "Archives: The Short-Lived, but Influential World Championship". Cycle News. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
4. Gruber, Wolfgang (1977). Formel 750 [siebenhundertfünfzig] d. Klasse d. Asse (in German) (1. Aufl ed.). Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 9783879435234.