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1968 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

Sports season

The 1968 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 20th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of ten Grand Prix races in six classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc, 50cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on 21 April, with German Grand Prix and ended with Nations Grand Prix on 15 September. As the sidecar race was cancelled at the Nations Grand Prix, it was announced that a replacement race would be held at Hockenheimring in October alongside the German national championship.

Season summary

With the departure of Honda from the Grand Prix scene, MV Agusta proceeded to dominate the larger classes with Giacomo Agostini winning every race in the 500 and 350 classes. The 250 crown went to Phil Read amidst a controversy between Yamaha teammates. Read was supposed to take the 125 title while leaving the 250 crown for Bill Ivy. After Read captured the 125 title, he ignored team orders and went after the 250 title as well. Ivy and Read finished the championship tying on points and race results, and in this unlikely scenario, the FIM decided to give Read the title based on aggregate race times. As a result, Yamaha would discharge Read and he would never regain a place on the factory team. Hans-Georg Anscheidt would capture his third consecutive 50cc championship for Suzuki.

1968 Grand Prix season calendar

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit	50cc winner	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Sidecars 500cc winner
21 April	DEU German Grand Prix	Nürburgring Sudschleife	FRG Hans-Georg Anscheidt	GBR Phil Read	GBR Bill Ivy	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU Fath / Kalauch	[Report](1968-german-motorcycle-grand-prix)
5 May	ESP Spanish Grand Prix	Montjuïc circuit	FRG Hans-Georg Anscheidt	ESP Salvador Cañellas	GBR Phil Read		ITA Giacomo Agostini		[Report](1968-spanish-motorcycle-grand-prix)
14 June	IOM Isle of Man TT	Snaefell Mountain	AUS Barry Smith	GBR Phil Read	GBR Bill Ivy	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU Schauzu/Horst Schneider	[Report](1968-isle-of-man-tt)
29 June	NLD Dutch TT	TT Circuit Assen	NLD Paul Lodewijkx	GBR Phil Read	GBR Bill Ivy	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU Attenberger / Schillinger	[Report](1968-dutch-tt)
7 July	BEL Belgian Grand Prix	Spa-Francorchamps	FRG Hans-Georg Anscheidt		GBR Phil Read		ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU Auerbacher / Hahn	[Report](1968-belgian-motorcycle-grand-prix)
14 July	DDR East German Grand Prix	Sachsenring		GBR Phil Read	GBR Bill Ivy	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini		[Report](1968-east-german-motorcycle-grand-prix)
21 July	CSK Czechoslovak Grand Prix	Masaryk Circuit		GBR Phil Read	GBR Phil Read	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini		[Report](1968-czechoslovak-motorcycle-grand-prix)
4 August	FIN Finnish Grand Prix	Imatra Circuit		GBR Phil Read	GBR Phil Read		ITA Giacomo Agostini	DEU Fath / Kalauch	[Report](1968-finnish-motorcycle-grand-prix)
17 August	NIR Ulster Grand Prix	Dundrod Circuit		GBR Bill Ivy	GBR Bill Ivy	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini		[Report](1968-ulster-motorcycle-grand-prix)
15 September	ITA Nations Grand Prix	Monza		GBR Bill Ivy	GBR Phil Read	ITA Giacomo Agostini	ITA Giacomo Agostini	Cancelled	[Report](1968-italian-motorcycle-grand-prix)
13 October	DEU Hockenheim Grand Prix	Hockenheimring						DEU Fath / Kalauch

;Footnotes:

Standings

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race. Only the best of three were counted on 50cc championships, best of five in 125cc championships, best of six in 250cc and 500cc championships, while in the Sidecars and 350cc, the best of four races were counted.

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	Points
8	6	4	3	2	1

500cc final standings

Pos	Rider	Machine	[GER](1968-german-motorcycle-grand-prix)
DEU	[ESP](1968-spanish-motorcycle-grand-prix)
ESP	[MAN](1968-isle-of-man-tt)
IOM	[HOL](1968-dutch-tt)
NLD	[BEL](1968-belgian-motorcycle-grand-prix)
BEL	[DDR](1968-german-motorcycle-grand-prix)
DDR	[TCH](1968-czechoslovak-motorcycle-grand-prix)
TCH	[FIN](1968-finnish-motorcycle-grand-prix)
FIN	[ULS](1968-ulster-motorcycle-grand-prix)
NIR	[NAC](1968-nations-motorcycle-grand-prix)
ITA	Pts	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	=	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	=	41	42	=	44	45	=	=	=	=	50	=	=	=	54	55	=	=	=	=	60	=	=	63	64	65	66	67	=	=	70	71	72	73	74	=	76	77	78	79	80	81	82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89	90	91	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Pos	Rider	Bike	[GER](1968-german-motorcycle-grand-prix)
DEU	[ESP](1968-spanish-motorcycle-grand-prix)
ESP	[MAN](1968-isle-of-man-tt)
GBR	[HOL](1968-dutch-tt)
NLD	[BEL](1968-belgian-motorcycle-grand-prix)
BEL	[DDR](1968-german-motorcycle-grand-prix)
DDR	[TCH](1968-czechoslovak-motorcycle-grand-prix)
TCH	[FIN](1968-finnish-motorcycle-grand-prix)
FIN	[ULS](1968-ulster-motorcycle-grand-prix)
Ulster	[NAC](1968-nations-motorcycle-grand-prix)
ITA	Pts
ITA Giacomo Agostini	MV Agusta	1	*1*	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	48 (80)
AUS Jack Findlay	Matchless / Cardani	Ret	2	Ret	2	2	3	2	2	5	Ret	34 (36)
CHE Gyula Marsovszky	Matchless / Seeley-Matchless	4	5	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	3	6	Ret	Ret	10
ITA Alberto Pagani	Linto				Ret	Ret	2	Ret			4	9
GBR Robin Fitton	Norton					4				2		9
GBR Peter Williams	Arter-Matchless	3		Ret	4	7	7	5		20	9	9
GBR Derek Woodman	Seeley	Ret		9	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	8
GBR John Cooper	Seeley / Norton			Ret	3	6	4	Ret		Ret		8
GBR Dan Shorey	Norton	2			Ret	Ret	10	6		Ret	Ret	7
ITA Angelo Bergamonti	Paton	Ret	4	Ret	Ret	Ret					3	7
AUS Kel Carruthers	Norton / Westlake	Ret		6	5	5	Ret	Ret	8	6	6	7
GBR Brian Ball	Seeley-Matchless / Matchless			2						18		6
ITA Renzo Pasolini	Benelli										2	6
AUS John Dodds	Norton	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	5		8	6
GBR Billie Nelson	Paton / Norton	Ret		7	Ret	Ret	5	4	7	Ret	Ret	5
GBR John Hartle	Metisse / MV Agusta	Ret		Ret	9	11	9	Ret		3		4
GBR Barry Randle	Norton			3								4
GBR Percy Tait	Triumph			Ret						4		3
GBR Bill Smith	Matchless / Paton			4						Ret	Ret	3
SUN Nikolai Sevostianov	Vostok								4			3
CZE Bohumil Stasa	ČZ	5			Ret	13					Ret	2
ITA Silvano Bertarelli	Paton										5	2
GBR Bernie Lund	Matchless			5								2
GBR Rodney Gould	Norton / Triumph	6		Ret	8	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	1
GBR Ron Chandler	Matchless / Seeley-Matchless	7			6	9	Ret	Ret			10	1
GBR Rex Butcher	Norton / Matchless / Seeley	Ret	6	8	Ret		Ret	Ret		Ret	Ret	1
GBR Godfrey Nash	Norton				Ret		6	Ret			Ret	1
GBR Derek Lee	Gazelle / Matchless		Ret					7		9		0
DEU Walter Scheimann	Norton	12	7		12	12					11	0
Wales Malcolm Uphill	Manning-Norton			Ret	7					Ret		0
GBR John Blanchard	Metisse									7		0
ZAF Errol Cowan	Matchless / Norton / Metisse	8			Ret		12	10				0
NZL Keith Turner	Matchless	15		10	Ret		8	Ret	Ret			0
SWE Bo Granath	Matchless / Seeley				Ret	14	14	8	Ret	Ret		0
GBR Steve Jolly	Higley-Matchless			Ret	Ret					8		0
RHO Gordon Keith	Monark		8									0
DEU Paul Eickelberg	Norton	10	9					13		19	14	0
FIN Pentti Lehtelä	Matchless						13	14	9			0
DEU Heinrich Rosenbusch	Norton	9										0
CZE Frantisek Srna	Jawa							9				0
NLD Theo Louwes	Norton				10					12		0
FIN Hannu Kuparinen	Matchless								10			0
NIR William McCosh	Matchless									10		0
HUN György Kurucz	Matchless / Metisse	18				15	15	11				0
DEU Armand Nerger	Honda	11										0
NLD Bert Oosterhuis	Norton				11							0
FIN Matti Salonen	Yamaha								11			0
AUS Ron Wilson	Norton									11		0
GBR John Williams	Matchless			11								0
AUT Werner Bergold	Matchless							12				0
ITA Paolo Campanelli	Matchless										12	0
GBR Tony Godfrey	Norton			12								0
AUT Wolfgang Stropek	Norton								12			0
DEU Karl Hoppe	Matchless	Ret			13	Ret	Ret	Ret				0
DEU Dieter Dögmann	BMW	13										0
ITA Gianfranco Domeniconi	Norton										13	0
GBR George Fogarty	Matchless			13								0
FIN Osmo Hansen	Matchless								13			0
SWE Jack Lindh	Seeley									13		0
AUT Edy Lenz	Matchless	14										0
GBR Charlie Sanby	Norton			14								0
GBR Barry Scully	Norton									14		0
GBR Peter Humber	Humber-Crescent			Ret						15		0
GBR Peter Darvill	Norton			15								0
GBR Alan Lawton	Norton			16						16		0
DEU Ferdinand Kaczor	BMW	16										0
DEU Hartmut Allner	Matchless	17										0
NIR Bob McCurry	Matchless									17		0
NLD Jan Strijbis	Norton			17								0
GBR Jim Evans	Norton			18								0
DEU Ralf Engelhardt	Norton	19							Ret			0
Wales Selwyn Griffiths	Matchless			19								0
GBR Norman Price	Norton			20								0
NIR Harris Healey	Norton									21		0
GBR Ian Munro	Matchless			21								0
GBR Peter Gibson	Matchless			22								0
GBR George Barnacle	Triumph			23								0
GBR Brian Adams	Norton			24								0
GBR Adrian Cooper	Norton			25								0
GBR Bob Heath	BSA			26								0
CHE Gilbert Argo	Matchless			27								0
GBR Walter Dawson	Norton			28								0
GBR Jim Curry	Aermacchi / Metisse			29						Ret		0
GBR Jim Ashton	Matchless			30								0
GBR John Burgess	Norton			31			Ret					0
GBR Graham Robinson	Read Titan			32								0
GBR Brian Hunter	Matchless			33								0
GBR Chris Neve	Matchless			34								0
GBR Dennis Trollope	Norton			35								0
GBR Reay Mackay	Vincent HRD			36								0
NIR Roy Reid	Norton			37								0
USA Marty Lunde	Norton	Ret					Ret			Ret		0
CZE František Šťastný	Jawa					Ret		Ret		Ret		0
GBR Vincent Duckett	Matchless			Ret						Ret		0
GBR Denis Gallagher	Matchless			Ret						Ret		0
ITA Silvio Grassetti	Bianchi		Ret		Ret							0
GBR Maurice Hawthorne	Norton	Ret					Ret					0
CHE Ernst Weiss	Seeley	Ret								Ret		0
SWE Billy Andersson	Matchless			Ret								0
FRA Jean Aureal	Aermacchi					Ret						0
GBR Alan Barnett	Kirby-Metisse			Ret								0
DEU Rupert Bauer	BMW	Ret										0
GBR Bob Biscardine	Velocette			Ret								0
CZE Karel Bojer	ČZ					Ret						0
NZL Ray Breingan	Norton			Ret								0
SWE Bo Brolin	Matchless								Ret			0
GBR Mick Burns	BSA-Metisse			Ret								0
DEU Hans-Otto Butenuth	BMW	Ret										0
DEU Heiner Butz	Bianchi	Ret										0
ESP Salvador Cañellas	Bultaco		Ret									0
GBR Doug Cash	Norton			Ret								0
CAN Bert Clark	Rickman-Metisse			Ret								0
GBR Roger Corbett	Norton			Ret								0
GBR Conway Chivers	Norton			Ret								0
CHE Herbert Denzler	Matchless							Ret				0
GBR Tom Dickie	Petty-Norton			Ret								0
GBR Hugh Evans	BSA			Ret								0
DEU Rolf Fenker	Norton	Ret										0
GBR Derek Filler	Norton			Ret								0
GBR Bill Fulton	Norton			Ret								0
GBR Roger Fursman	Norton			Ret								0
DEU Manfred Gäckle	Matchless	Ret										0
GBR Albert Haddock	Triton			Ret								0
GBR Mike Hailwood	Benelli										Ret	0
DEU Peter Hampe	Norton	Ret										0
GBR Mick Hatherill	Matchless-Metisse			Ret								0
GBR Keith Heckles	Norton			Ret								0
CAN Oliver Howe	Norton						Ret					0
GBR Griff Jenkins	Matchless			Ret								0
GBR John Jones	Triumph			Ret								0
NIR Brian Kemp	Triumph									Ret		0
DEU Willi Kern	Norton	Ret										0
Estonian SSR Endel Kiisa	Vostok								Ret			0
CZE Stanislav Klatil	Jawa							Ret				0
GBR Ray Knight	Hughes-Triumph			Ret								0
DEU Udo Konchanski	BMW	Ret										0
FIN Toivo Lehtinen	Norton								Ret			0
FIN Taneli Lepo	Matchless								Ret			0
ITA Vasco Loro	Norton										Ret	0
GBR Pat Mahoney	Oakley-Matchless			Ret								0
ITA Emanuele Maugliani	Norton										Ret	0
GBR Dennis May	Petty-Norton			Ret								0
GBR Tony McGurk	Matchless			Ret								0
DEU Hans-Jürgen Melcher	Honda	Ret										0
GBR David Menzies	Norton			Ret								0
ITA Gilberto Milani	Linto										Ret	0
NZL Ginger Molloy	Bultaco		Ret									0
NIR Stephen Murray	Matchless									Ret		0
ZAF Gart Neveling	Norton			Ret								0
FIN Ilari Pekkinen	Norton								Ret			0
ITA Giovanni Perrone	Matchless										Ret	0
GBR Harry Reynolds	Matchless-Metisse			Ret								0
GBR Tony Rutter	Norton			Ret								0
GBR Brian Sapsford	Lyster-Norton			Ret								0
AUS Jack Saunders	Matchless						Ret					0
GBR Peter Sheppard	Norton			Ret								0
ITA Bruno Spaggiari	Ducati		Ret									0
GBR Steve Spencer	Norton	Ret										0
AUS Malcolm Stanton	Norton					Ret						0
GBR John Taylor	Kirby-Matchless			Ret								0
DEU Rolf Thiemig	Norton	Ret										0
GBR Colin Thompson	Norton			Ret								0
ITA Franco Trabalzini	Norton										Ret	0
NIR Harry Turner	Norton									Ret		0
GBR Tom Walker	Triumph			Ret								0
GBR Brian Walmsley	Norton			Ret								0
MLT John Wetherall	Norton			Ret								0
GBR Lewis Young	Matchless							Ret				0
ITA Benedetto Zambotti	Bianchi										Ret	0

Bold – Pole

Italics – Fastest Lap |}

350cc Standings

Place	Rider	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	ITA Giacomo Agostini	Italy	MV Agusta	32	7
2	ITA Renzo Pasolini	Italy	Benelli	18	0
3	AUS Kel Carruthers	Australia	Aermacchi	17	0
4	DDR Heinz Rosner	East Germany	MZ	12	0
=	NZL Ginger Molloy	New Zealand	Bultaco	12	0
6	GBR Derek Woodman	United Kingdom	Aermacchi	9	0
7	CSK Frantisek Stastny	Czechoslovakia	Jawa	8	0
8	CSK Bohumil Stasa	Czechoslovakia	ČZ	7	0
9	GBR Bill Smith	United Kingdom	Honda	4	0
=	ITA Gilberto Milani	Italy	Aermacchi	4	0
=	GBR Brian Steenson	United Kingdom	Aermacchi	4	0
=	ITA Silvio Grassetti	Italy	Benelli	4	0
13	GBR Billie Nelson	United Kingdom	Norton	3	0
14	GBR Dan Shorey	United Kingdom	Norton	2	0
=	GBR John Cooper	United Kingdom	Seeley	2	0
=	FRG Karl Hoppe	West Germany	Aermacchi	2	0
=	ITA Bruno Spaggiari	Italy	Ducati	2	0
18	AUS Jack Findlay	Australia	Aermacchi	1	0
=	GBR Dave Simmonds	United Kingdom	Kawasaki	1	0

250cc Standings

Place	Rider	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	GBR Phil Read	United Kingdom	Yamaha	46	5
2	GBR Bill Ivy	United Kingdom	Yamaha	46	5
3	DDR Heinz Rosner	East Germany	MZ	32	0
4	GBR Rodney Gould	United Kingdom	Yamaha	21	0
5	NZL Ginger Molloy	New Zealand	Bultaco	19	0
6	ITA Renzo Pasolini	Italy	Benelli	10	0
7	ESP Santiago Herrero	Spain	Ossa	8	0
8	SWE Kent Andersson	Sweden	Yamaha	6	0
9	GBR Malcolm Uphill	United Kingdom	Suzuki	5	0
=	HUN László Szabó	Hungary	MZ	5	0
=	AUS Jack Findlay	Australia	Bultaco	5	0
12	ESP Carlos Giró-Vila	Spain	Ossa	3	0
=	RHO Gordon Keith	Rhodesia	Yamaha	3	0
14	ESP Carlos Rocamora	Spain	Bultaco	2	0
=	ITA Gilberto Milani	Italy	Aermacchi	2	0
16	FRG Paul Eickelberg	West Germany	Aermacchi	1	0
=	GBR Bill Smith	United Kingdom	Yamaha	1	0
=	CHE Gyula Marsovsky	Switzerland	Bultaco	1	0
=	GBR Rex Butcher	United Kingdom	Suzuki	1	0

125cc Standings

Place	Rider	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	GBR Phil Read	United Kingdom	Yamaha	40	6
2	GBR Bill Ivy	United Kingdom	Yamaha	34	2
3	NZL Ginger Molloy	New Zealand	Bultaco	15	0
4	DDR Heinz Rosner	East Germany	MZ	12	0
5	ESP Salvador Cañellas	Spain	Bultaco	11	1
6	HUN László Szabó	Hungary	MZ	11	0
=	FRG Dieter Braun	West Germany	MZ-Neckermann	11	0
8	FRG Hans-Georg Anscheidt	West Germany	Suzuki	10	0
9	DDR Günter Bartusch	East Germany	MZ	8	0
10	AUS Kel Carruthers	Australia	Honda	6	0
11	GBR Tommy Robb	United Kingdom	Bultaco	5	0
12	FRG Siegfried Möhringer	West Germany	MZ-Neckermann	4	0
=	NLD Jan Huberts	Netherlands	MZ	4	0
14	FRG Walter Scheimann	West Germany	Honda	3	0
=	DDR Friedhelm Kohlar	East Germany	MZ	3	0
=	GBR Dave Simmonds	United Kingdom	Kawasaki	3	0
17	SWE Kent Andersson	Sweden	MZ	2	0
=	RHO Gordon Keith	Rhodesia	Montesa	2	0
=	DDR Hartmut Bischoff	East Germany	MZ	2	0
=	FRG Lothar John	West Germany	MZ	2	0
=	DDR Jürgen Lenk	East Germany	MZ	2	0
=	DDR Thomas Heuschkel	East Germany	MZ	2	0
23	ESP Pedro Alvarez	Spain	Bultaco	1	0
=	GBR Steve Murray	United Kingdom	Honda	1	0
=	ITA Giuseppe Visenzi	Italy	Montesa	1	0
=	HUN János Reisz	Hungary	MZ	1	0

50cc Standings

Place	Rider	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	FRG Hans-Georg Anscheidt	West Germany	Suzuki	30	3
2	NLD Paul Lodewijkx	Netherlands	Jamathi	17	1
3	AUS Barry Smith	Australia	Derbi	15	1
4	ESP Angel Nieto	Spain	Derbi	10	0
5	FRG Rudolf Kunz	West Germany	Kreidler	6	0
=	GBR Chris Walpole	United Kingdom	Honda	6	0
=	FRG Rudolf Schmälzle	West Germany	Kreidler	6	0
8	GBR Leslie Griffiths	United Kingdom	Honda	4	0
=	NLD Aalt Toersen	Netherlands	Kreidler	4	0
10	FRG Ludwig Faßbender	West Germany	Kreidler	3	0
=	GBR Brian Lock	United Kingdom	Honda	3	0
=	NLD Jan de Vries	Netherlands	Kreidler	3	0
13	NLD Cees van Dongen	Netherlands	Kreidler	2	0
=	ESP Carlos Giró-Vila	Spain	Derbi	2	0
=	GBR Jim Pink	United Kingdom	Honda	2	0
=	NLD Jos Schurgers	Netherlands	Kreidler	2	0
=	NLD Martin Mijwaart	Netherlands	Jamathi	2	0
18	Yugoslavia Janco Florjan-Stefe	Yugoslavia	Tomos	1	0
=	ESP Francisco Cufi	Spain	Derbi	1	0
=	GBR Robin Udall	United Kingdom	Honda	1	0

References

Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A.

References

Walker, Mick. (1999). "Mick Walker's German Racing Motorcycles". Redline Books.
(1999). "Motocourse: 50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix". Hazleton Publishing Ltd.
Gustl, Kamikaze. (2021-01-24). "Bill Ivy story - part 4".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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