1971 FIM Motocross World Championship

1971 FIM Motocross World Championship
1971 FIM Motocross World Championship
Organizer	FIM
Duration	18 April/3 October
Number of races	24
Number of manufacturers	10
Champions
500cc	Roger De Coster
250cc	Joël Robert

The 1971 Motocross World Championship was the 15th edition of the Motocross World Championship organized by the FIM and reserved for 500cc and 250cc motorcycles.

Summary

The Suzuki factory won the premier 500cc class in their first attempt with rider Roger De Coster winning five of the 12 Grand Prix events to become the first Japanese manufacturer to win the 500cc World Championship.^[1] De Coster faced strong opposition from Maico factory team rider Åke Jonsson who won three rounds and was leading the championship going into the final event of the season in Holland.^[1]

At the season ending Dutch Grand Prix, Jonsson had built a sizeable lead over De Coster when his motorcycle’s spark plug came loose, allowing De Coster to take the lead and go to win the 1971 500 World Championship.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] For the second consecutive year, Jonsson had the World Championship slip from his grasp in the final round of the championship.^[1] De Coster became the first Belgian to claim the 500 division since Rene Baeten won in 1958.^[1]

In the middle of the 1971 season, the BSA factory announced that they were ceasing operations, leaving their team rider John Banks without a motorcycle.^[5] Banks would finish the season riding a privateer Husqvarna motorcycle.^[5] The BSA team remained competitive up to the end with Banks placing third at the British Grand Prix.

Suzuki also claimed the 250cc World Championship where Joël Robert dominated the smaller class, winning eight of the twelve Grand Prix events to clinch the title ahead of Husqvarna factory rider, Håkan Andersson.^[6]^[7] It would be Robert's fourth consecutive 250cc title, and second since joining the Suzuki factory racing team. It was his fifth 250cc world championship overall in his career. Four-time World Champion, Torsten Hallman, scored the Yamaha factory's first motocross world championship points with a 7th place at the 1971 250cc Dutch Grand Prix.^[8] Hallman retired at the end of the season. Siegfried Lerner scored the first motocross world championship points for the KTM factory with a 10th place at the 1971 250cc East German Grand Prix.

Grands Prix

500cc

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Location	Race 1 Winner	Race 2 Winner	Overall Winner	Report
1	April 18	Italian Grand Prix	Macerata	Roger De Coster	Roger De Coster	Roger De Coster	Report
2	May 2	Austrian Grand Prix	Sittendorf	Paul Friedrichs	Paul Friedrichs	Paul Friedrichs	Report
3	May 16	Swedish Grand Prix	Huskvarna	Roger De Coster	Christer Hammargren	Roger De Coster	Report
4	May 23	Finnish Grand Prix	Ruskeasanta	Paul Friedrichs	Åke Jonsson	Paul Friedrichs	Report
5	June 13	Czechoslovak Grand Prix	Stříbro	Roger De Coster	Adolf Weil	Roger De Coster	Report
6	June 20	Russian Grand Prix	Chișinău	Bengt Åberg	Åke Jonsson	Åke Jonsson	Report
7	June 27	East German Grand Prix	Schwerin	Bengt Åberg	Åke Jonsson	Bengt Åberg	Report
8	July 11	British Grand Prix	Farleigh Castle	Åke Jonsson	Paul Friedrichs	Åke Jonsson	Report
9	July 18	West German Grand Prix	Bielstein	Adolf Weil	Åke Jonsson	Adolf Weil	Report
10	August 1	Belgian Grand Prix	Namur	Roger De Coster	Roger De Coster	Roger De Coster	Report
11	August 8	Luxembourg Grand Prix	Ettelbruck	Roger De Coster	Åke Jonsson	Åke Jonsson	Report
12	August 22	Dutch Grand Prix	Sint Anthonis	Roger De Coster	Åke Jonsson	Roger De Coster	Report
Sources:^[4]^[9]^[10]

250cc

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Location	Race 1 Winner	Race 2 Winner	Overall Winner	Report
1	April 18	Spanish Grand Prix	Sabadell	Joël Robert	Joël Robert	Joël Robert	Report
2	April 25	Swiss Grand Prix	Payerne	Joël Robert	Joël Robert	Joël Robert	Report
3	May 2	Polish Grand Prix	Szczecin	Heikki Mikkola	Kalevi Vehkonen	Kalevi Vehkonen	Report
4	May 9	West German Grand Prix	Beuren	Joël Robert	Torleif Hansen	Heikki Mikkola	Report
5	May 16	Yugoslavian Grand Prix	Karlovac	Joël Robert	Joël Robert	Joël Robert	Report
6	May 23	Italian Grand Prix	Busca	Joël Robert	Joël Robert	Joël Robert	Report
7	June 20	Dutch Grand Prix	Bergharen	Joël Robert	Sylvain Geboers	Sylvain Geboers	Report
8	July 4	East German Grand Prix	Teutschenthal	Joël Robert	Joël Robert	Joël Robert	Report
9	August 8	Finnish Grand Prix	Hyvinkää	Sylvain Geboers	Sylvain Geboers	Sylvain Geboers	Report
10	August 15	Swedish Grand Prix	Ulricehamn	Joël Robert	Joël Robert	Joël Robert	Report
11	August 22	British Grand Prix	Bristol	Joël Robert	Joël Robert	Joël Robert	Report
12	October 3	Austrian Grand Prix	Launsdorf	Håkan Andersson	Heikki Mikkola	Joël Robert	Report
Sources:^[7]^[11]^[12]

Final standings

Points are awarded to the top 10 classified finishers. For the 250cc and 500cc final championship standings, the 7 best of 12 results are retained.

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

500cc

(Results in italics indicate overall winner)

Pos	Rider	Machine	ITA		AUT		SWE		FIN		CZE		USSR		GDR		UK		GER		BEL		LUX		NED		Points
Pos	Rider	Machine	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
1	Roger De Coster	Suzuki	1	1	2	-	1	2	4	6	1	2	4	3	-	-	2	4	2	3	1	1	1	2	1	2	97
2	Åke Jonsson	Maico	-	3	5	28	5	4	3	1	4	4	2	1	2	1	1	2	3	1	2	2	2	1	10	1	93
3	Adolf Weil	Maico	2	2	3	2	3	5	2	3	3	1	3	4	5	-	-	-	1	2	4	-	3	18	2	6	81
4	Paul Friedrichs	ČZ	4	-	1	1	2	3	1	2	-	-	-	-	6	6	4	1	-	-	-	-	6	3	-	-	70
5	Bengt Åberg	Husqvarna	-	-	7	24	-	-	-	-	2	5	1	2	1	2	3	-	-	-	3	3	8	4	-	-	52
6	Christer Hammargren	Husqvarna	-	-	8	6	4	1	5	8	9	8	-	-	4	4	-	-	-	-	10	8	4	5	-	-	45
7	John Banks	BSA	11	10	12	3	-	-	8	-	8	-	5	-	3	3	9	3	10	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	37
7	Husqvarna	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	4	9	9	-	-		37
8	Willy Bauer	Maico	-	-	6	4	12	8	9	-	7	6	6	5	-	7	7	9	4	-	7	9	7	8	7	8	36
9	Jaak van Velthoven	Husqvarna	7	-	4	27	16	6	22	5	6	3	-	-	9	5	6	5	9	7	-	5	-	-	4	4	32
10	Jiří Stodůlka	ČZ	5	4	21	11	15	12	-	-	5	-	-	-	-	-	10	6	6	-	5	7	5	6	14	10	27
11	Jan Johansson	Husqvarna	9	6	9	5	7	11	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	8	-	-	8	6	-	-	-	-	6	11	27
12	Gerrit Wolsink	Husqvarna	6	8	-	-	9	-	-	4	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	6	10	-	3	3	21
13	Willy van Loon	Husqvarna	10	5	13	8	20	15	-	-	15	-	-	-	-	-	14	11	-	-	-	-	14	10	5	5	16
14	Arne Kring	Husqvarna	8	7	10	7	6	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	14
15	Karel Konečný	ČZ	3	-	14	9	-	19	-	-	11	7	-	-	-	-	-	7	-	-	12	10	11	7	17	-	12
16	Jaroslav Homola	ČZ	17	-	-	15	8	13	6	10	12	9	-	-	-	-	8	10	-	-	11	-	12	-	18	-	10
17	Bert-Ove Wallner	Husqvarna	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	7	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	9
18	Hans Maisch	Maico	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
19	Herbert Schmitz	Maico	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
20	Heinz Hoppe	ČZ	12	18	16	12	13	10	-	-	19	10	7	6	-	-	12	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5
21	Jan Erik Sallqvist	Husqvarna	-	-	-	-	10	9	14	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5
21	Mikhail Rastvortsev	ČZ	-	-	-	-	18	16	-	-	-	-	9	-	7	13	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5
23	Viatcheslav Krasnotchekov	ČZ	-	-	-	-	21	-	-	-	14	14	8	7	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
23	Peter Willems	Husqvarna	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	7	4
25	Giuseppe Cavallero	ČZ	14	9	19	19	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Jim Aird	Husqvarna	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Riik Van Hoof	Husqvarna	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	11	-	11	-	-	2
28	Manfred Stein	ČZ	13	13	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	16	17	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Siegfried Lerner	KTM	-	-	11	13	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Vlastimil Válek	ČZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13	11	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Anatoly Botchkov	ČZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Vladimir Ovchinnikov	ČZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	11	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Walter Kalberer	Husqvarna	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Jo Keizer	Husqvarna	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13	12	-	-	9	9	1
-	Pauli Pippola	Husqvarna	-	-	15	10	11	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11	12	0
-	Andy Roberton	BSA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0
Sources:^[3]^[9]^[10]

250cc

(Results in italics indicate overall winner)

Pos	Rider	Machine	ESP		CH		POL		GER		YUG		ITA		NED		GDR		FIN		SWE		UK		AUT		Pts
Pos	Rider	Machine	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
1	Joël Robert	Suzuki	1	1	1	1	4	-	1	-	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	2	1	1	1	1	2	2	105
2	Håkan Andersson	Husqvarna	5	3	9	8	5	2	6	3	-	-	5	9	-	-	2	3	3	3	3	2	5	4	1	-	72
3	Sylvain Geboers	Suzuki	-	-	-	-	12	8	-	-	2	2	-	-	2	1	3	2	1	1	-	-	2	2	-	-	66
4	Heikki Mikkola	Husqvarna	-	-	2	3	1	3	2	2	-	-	2	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	3	1	63
5	Olle Pettersson	Suzuki	4	2	7	5	6	6	7	11	-	4	-	7	3	3	7	5	4	6	-	-	3	3	-	-	59
6	Uno Palm	Husqvarna	14	-	5	4	7	4	-	-	5	3	4	5	5	5	-	-	9	4	-	-	10	7	5	9	53
7	Miroslav Halm	ČZ	-	-	4	6	11	9	8	4	7	5	8	2	-	8	4	10	5	-	-	5	4	5	4	4	46
8	Vladimir Kavinov	ČZ	8	4	6	2	8	5	5	8	-	-	-	4	6	-	6	6	6	7	-	-	8	6	6	-	41
9	Jaroslav Falta	ČZ	-	-	8	10	-	-	3	7	3	7	6	6	9	-	9	7	-	10	-	-	13	-	7	3	36
10	Kalevi Vehkonen	Husqvarna	6	-	12	7	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	4	-	-	7	5	4	-	11	10	8	-	33
11	Gaston Rahier	ČZ	3	6	11	9	-	-	18	6	-	-	3	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	7	-	-	-	-	20
12	Torleif Hansen	Husqvarna	7	-	-	-	-	-	4	1	8	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	17
13	Pavel Rulev	ČZ	22	11	-	-	-	-	11	9	6	9	-	-	7	6	-	-	-	8	-	-	12	13	-	7	16
14	Marcel Wiertz	Bultaco	9	7	-	14	-	-	-	-	10	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	6	13
15	Gennady Moiseyev	ČZ	2	-	3	-	3	-	9	5	9	-	7	8	-	-	10	4	8	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	12
16	Bengt Arne Bonn	Husqvarna	11	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	3	16	-	-	-	10
17	Alexej Kibirine	ČZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	6	17	-	10	8	10
18	Gunnar Nilsson	Husqvarna	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	4	-	-	-	-	8
19	Bryan Wade	Husqvarna	12	5	-	-	9	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	-	-	-	8
20	Otakar Toman	ČZ	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	9	-	-	-	9	-	-	-	5	7
21	Siegfried Lerner	KTM	-	-	13	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	12	8	8	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	5
22	Torsten Hallman	Yamaha	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
23	François Minne	Ossa	13	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Jyrki Storm	Husqvarna	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	-	11	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	-	-	-	3
	Stig Pettersson	Husqvarna	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	9	7	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Andy Roberton	Husqvarna	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	9	-	-	3
27	Helmut Schadenberg	ČZ	-	-	-	13	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
28	George Houssonlonge	Montesa	17	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
28	Friedrich Schiechtl	Husqvarna	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	2
30	Lars Forsberg	Montesa	15	13	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Malcolm Davis	Bultaco	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Oldřich Hamršmíd	ČZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Erling Rasmussen	Husqvarna	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	22	15	-	-	1
	Jiří Churavý	ČZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	1
	Harry Everts	Puch	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11	1
-	Taichi Yoshimura	Suzuki	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0
Sources:^[6]^[11]^[12]

Notes

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Nicholls, B.R. (1 December 1971). "Continental Report". Cycle World. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
^ "Flashback Friday: Ake Jonsson's spark plug". motocrossactionmag.com. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
^ ^a ^b "1971 500cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
^ ^a ^b "1971 500cc motocross world championship race winners". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
^ ^a ^b Westlake, John (2022), John Banks, Mortons Motorcycle Media Ltd, ISSN 0142-890X, After John got third place at the British GP he was told the competition department was closing and he was unemployed.
^ ^a ^b "1971 250cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
^ ^a ^b "1971 250cc motocross world championship race winners". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
^ "Torsten Totte Hallman". silverpilen.net. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
^ ^a ^b "1971 500cc motocross world championship results" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
^ ^a ^b "1971 500cc motocross world championship complete results" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
^ ^a ^b "1971 250cc motocross world championship results" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
^ ^a ^b "1971 250cc motocross world championship complete results" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 23 January 2025.

External links

Official website

[Continental_Report-1] Nicholls, B.R. (1 December 1971). "Continental Report". Cycle World. Retrieved 23 January 2025.

[Flashback_Friday:_Ake_Jonsson's_spark_plug-2] "Flashback Friday: Ake Jonsson's spark plug". motocrossactionmag.com. Retrieved 23 January 2025.

[1971_500cc_motocross_world_championship_final_standings-3] "1971 500cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 23 January 2025.

[1971_500cc_motocross_world_championship_race_winners-4] "1971 500cc motocross world championship race winners". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 23 January 2025.

[John_Banks-5] Westlake, John (2022), John Banks, Mortons Motorcycle Media Ltd, ISSN 0142-890X, After John got third place at the British GP he was told the competition department was closing and he was unemployed.

[1971_250cc_motocross_world_championship_final_standings-6] "1971 250cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 23 January 2025.

[1971_250cc_motocross_world_championship_race_winners-7] "1971 250cc motocross world championship race winners". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 23 January 2025.

[8] "Torsten Totte Hallman". silverpilen.net. Retrieved 23 January 2025.

[1971_500cc_motocross_world_championship_results-9] "1971 500cc motocross world championship results" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 23 January 2025.

[1971_500cc_motocross_world_championship_complete_results-10] "1971 500cc motocross world championship complete results" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 13 February 2025.

[1971_250cc_motocross_world_championship_results-11] "1971 250cc motocross world championship results" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 23 January 2025.

[1971_250cc_motocross_world_championship_complete_results-12] "1971 250cc motocross world championship complete results" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 23 January 2025.

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