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 The FIM implemented new rules for the 1968 season, limiting all gearboxes to six-speeds, 125cc and 250cc motorcycles to no more than two cylinders, and 350cc and 500cc motorcycles to four cylinders. The new rules favored two-stroke engines over four-stroke engines in the smaller displacement classes, and since the Honda factory had a company policy to race only four-stroke motorcycles, they decided to withdraw from motorcycle racing to concentrate on Formula One racing. Hailwood would also retire from motorcycle racing to pursue a career in Formula One racing.
In the wake of Honda's withdrawal, Giacomo Agostini and the MV Agusta team faced little opposition in the larger displacement classes from any major manufacturers, competing largely against privateer racers using ageing machinery. Agostini won 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 Report 1 21 April German Grand Prix Nürburgring Sudschleife Hans-Georg Anscheidt Phil Read Bill Ivy Giacomo Agostini Giacomo Agostini Fath / Kalauch Report 2 5 May Spanish Grand Prix Montjuïc circuit Hans-Georg Anscheidt Salvador Cañellas Phil Read Giacomo Agostini Report 3 14 June Isle of Man TT Snaefell Mountain Barry Smith Phil Read Bill Ivy Giacomo Agostini Giacomo Agostini Schauzu/Horst Schneider Report 4 29 June Dutch TT TT Circuit Assen Paul Lodewijkx Phil Read Bill Ivy Giacomo Agostini Giacomo Agostini Attenberger / Schillinger Report 5 7 July Belgian Grand Prix Spa-Francorchamps Hans-Georg Anscheidt Phil Read Giacomo Agostini Auerbacher / Hahn Report 6 14 July East German Grand Prix Sachsenring Phil Read Bill Ivy Giacomo Agostini Giacomo Agostini Report 7 21 July Czechoslovak Grand Prix Masaryk Circuit Phil Read Phil Read Giacomo Agostini Giacomo Agostini Report 8 4 August Finnish Grand Prix Imatra Circuit Phil Read Phil Read Giacomo Agostini Fath / Kalauch Report 9 17 August Ulster Grand Prix Dundrod Circuit Bill Ivy Bill Ivy Giacomo Agostini Giacomo Agostini Report 10 15 September Nations Grand Prix Monza Bill Ivy Phil Read Giacomo Agostini Giacomo Agostini Cancelled Report 11 13 October Hockenheim Grand Prix Hockenheimring 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 ESP MAN HOL BEL DDR TCH FIN ULS NAC Pts 1 Giacomo Agostini MV Agusta 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 48 (80) 2 Jack Findlay Matchless / Cardani Ret 2 Ret 2 2 3 2 2 5 Ret 34 (36) 3 Gyula Marsovszky Matchless / Seeley-Matchless 4 5 Ret Ret Ret 11 3 6 Ret Ret 10 4 Alberto Pagani Linto Ret Ret 2 Ret 4 9 5 Robin Fitton Norton 4 2 9 6 Peter Williams Arter-Matchless 3 Ret 4 7 7 5 20 9 9 7 Derek Woodman Seeley Ret 9 Ret 3 Ret Ret 3 Ret Ret 8 8 John Cooper Seeley / Norton Ret 3 6 4 Ret Ret 8 9 Dan Shorey Norton 2 Ret Ret 10 6 Ret Ret 7 10 Angelo Bergamonti Paton Ret 4 Ret Ret Ret 3 7 11 Kel Carruthers Norton / Westlake Ret 6 5 5 Ret Ret 8 6 6 7 12 Brian Ball Seeley-Matchless / Matchless 2 18 6 13 Renzo Pasolini Benelli 2 6 14 John Dodds Norton Ret 3 Ret Ret 10 Ret Ret 5 8 6 15 Billie Nelson Paton / Norton Ret 7 Ret Ret 5 4 7 Ret Ret 5 16 John Hartle Metisse / MV Agusta Ret Ret 9 11 9 Ret 3 4 17 Barry Randle Norton 3 4 18 Percy Tait Triumph Ret 4 3 19 Bill Smith Matchless / Paton 4 Ret Ret 3 20 Nikolai Sevostianov Vostok 4 3 21 Bohumil Staša ČZ 5 Ret 13 Ret 2 22 Silvano Bertarelli Paton 5 2 = Bernie Lund Matchless 5 2 24 Rodney Gould Norton / Triumph 6 Ret 8 8 Ret Ret Ret Ret 7 1 25 Ron Chandler Matchless / Seeley-Matchless 7 6 9 Ret Ret 10 1 26 Rex Butcher Norton / Matchless / Seeley Ret 6 8 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 1 27 Godfrey Nash Norton Ret 6 Ret Ret 1 28 Derek Lee Gazelle / Matchless Ret 7 9 0 29 Walter Scheimann Norton 12 7 12 12 11 0 30 Malcolm Uphill Manning-Norton Ret 7 Ret 0 31 John Blanchard Metisse 7 0 32 Errol Cowan Matchless / Norton / Metisse 8 Ret 12 10 0 33 Keith Turner Matchless 15 10 Ret 8 Ret Ret 0 34 Bo Granath Matchless / Seeley Ret 14 14 8 Ret Ret 0 35 Steve Jolly Higley-Matchless Ret Ret 8 0 36 Gordon Keith Monark 8 0 37 Paul Eickelberg Norton 10 9 13 19 14 0 38 Pentti Lehtelä Matchless 13 14 9 0 39 Heinrich Rosenbusch Norton 9 0 = Frantisek Srna Jawa 9 0 41 Theo Louwes Norton 10 12 0 42 Hannu Kuparinen Matchless 10 0 = William McCosh Matchless 10 0 44 György Kurucz Matchless / Metisse 18 15 15 11 0 45 Armand Nerger Honda 11 0 = Bert Oosterhuis Norton 11 0 = Matti Salonen Yamaha 11 0 = Ron Wilson Norton 11 0 = John Williams Matchless 11 0 50 Werner Bergold Matchless 12 0 = Paolo Campanelli Matchless 12 0 = Tony Godfrey Norton 12 0 = Wolfgang Stropek Norton 12 0 54 Karl Hoppe Matchless Ret 13 Ret Ret Ret 0 55 Dieter Dögmann BMW 13 0 = Gianfranco Domeniconi Norton 13 0 = George Fogarty Matchless 13 0 = Osmo Hansen Matchless 13 0 = Jack Lindh Seeley 13 0 60 Edy Lenz Matchless 14 0 = Charlie Sanby Norton 14 0 = Barry Scully Norton 14 0 63 Peter Humber Humber-Crescent Ret 15 0 64 Peter Darvill Norton 15 065 Alan Lawton Norton 16 16 0 66 Ferdinand Kaczor BMW 16 0 67 Hartmut Allner Matchless 17 0 = Bob McCurry Matchless 17 0 = Jan Strijbis Norton 17 0 70 Jim Evans Norton 18 0 71 Ralf Engelhardt Norton 19 Ret 0 72 Selwyn Griffiths Matchless 19 0 73 Norman Price Norton 20 0 74 Harris Healey Norton 21 0 = Ian Munro Matchless 21 0 76 Peter Gibson Matchless 22 0 77 George Barnacle Triumph 23 0 78 Brian Adams Norton 24 0 79 Adrian Cooper Norton 25 0 80 Bob Heath BSA 26 0 81 Gilbert Argo Matchless 27 0 82 Walter Dawson Norton 28 0 83 Jim Curry Aermacchi / Metisse 29 Ret 0 84 Jim Ashton Matchless 30 0 85 John Burgess Norton 31 Ret 0 86 Graham Robinson Read Titan 32 0 87 Brian Hunter Matchless 33 0 88 Chris Neve Matchless 34 0 89 Dennis Trollope Norton 35 0 90 Reay Mackay Vincent HRD 36 0 91 Roy Reid Norton 37 0 Pos Rider Bike GER ESP MAN HOL BEL DDR TCH FIN ULS NAC PtsBold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap
350cc Standings Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins1 Giacomo Agostini Italy MV Agusta3272 Renzo Pasolini Italy Benelli1803 Kel Carruthers Australia Aermacchi1704 Heinz Rosner East Germany MZ120= Ginger Molloy New Zealand Bultaco1206 Derek Woodman United Kingdom Aermacchi907 František Šťastný Czechoslovakia Jawa808 Bohumil Staša Czechoslovakia ČZ709 Bill Smith United Kingdom Honda40= Gilberto Milani Italy Aermacchi40= Brian Steenson United Kingdom Aermacchi40= Silvio Grassetti Italy Benelli4013 Billie Nelson United Kingdom Norton3014 Dan Shorey United Kingdom Norton20= John Cooper United Kingdom Seeley20= Karl Hoppe West Germany Aermacchi20= Bruno Spaggiari Italy Ducati2018 Jack Findlay Australia Aermacchi10= Dave Simmonds United Kingdom Kawasaki10
250cc Standings Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins1 Phil Read United Kingdom Yamaha4652 Bill Ivy United Kingdom Yamaha4653 Heinz Rosner East Germany MZ3204 Rodney Gould United Kingdom Yamaha2105 Ginger Molloy New Zealand Bultaco1906 Renzo Pasolini Italy Benelli1007 Santiago Herrero Spain Ossa808 Kent Andersson Sweden Yamaha609 Malcolm Uphill United Kingdom Suzuki50= László Szabó Hungary MZ50= Jack Findlay Australia Bultaco5012 Carlos Giró-Vila Spain Ossa30= Gordon Keith Rhodesia Yamaha3014 Carlos Rocamora Spain Bultaco20= Gilberto Milani Italy Aermacchi2016 Paul Eickelberg West Germany Aermacchi10= Bill Smith United Kingdom Yamaha10= Gyula Marsovsky Switzerland Bultaco10= Rex Butcher United Kingdom Suzuki10
125cc Standings Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins1 Phil Read United Kingdom Yamaha4062 Bill Ivy United Kingdom Yamaha3423 Ginger Molloy New Zealand Bultaco1504 Heinz Rosner East Germany MZ1205 Salvador Cañellas Spain Bultaco1116 László Szabó Hungary MZ110= Dieter Braun West Germany MZ-Neckermann1108 Hans-Georg Anscheidt West Germany Suzuki1009 Günter Bartusch East Germany MZ8010 Kel Carruthers Australia Honda6011 Tommy Robb United Kingdom Bultaco5012 Siegfried Möhringer West Germany MZ-Neckermann40= Jan Huberts Netherlands MZ4014 Walter Scheimann West Germany Honda30= Friedhelm Kohlar East Germany MZ30= Dave Simmonds United Kingdom Kawasaki3017 Kent Andersson Sweden MZ20= Gordon Keith Rhodesia Montesa20= Hartmut Bischoff East Germany MZ20= Lothar John West Germany MZ20= Jürgen Lenk East Germany MZ20= Thomas Heuschkel East Germany MZ2023 Pedro Alvarez Spain Bultaco10= Steve Murray United Kingdom Honda10= Giuseppe Visenzi Italy Montesa10= János Reisz Hungary MZ10
50cc Standings Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins1 Hans-Georg Anscheidt West Germany Suzuki3032 Paul Lodewijkx Netherlands Jamathi1713 Barry Smith Australia Derbi1514 Angel Nieto Spain Derbi1005 Rudolf Kunz West Germany Kreidler60= Chris Walpole United Kingdom Honda60= Rudolf Schmälzle West Germany Kreidler608 Leslie Griffiths United Kingdom Honda40= Aalt Toersen Netherlands Kreidler4010 Ludwig Faßbender West Germany Kreidler30= Brian Lock United Kingdom Honda30= Jan de Vries Netherlands Kreidler3013 Cees van Dongen Netherlands Kreidler20= Carlos Giró-Vila Spain Derbi20= Jim Pink United Kingdom Honda20= Jos Schurgers Netherlands Kreidler20= Martin Mijwaart Netherlands Jamathi2018 Janco Florjan-Stefe Yugoslavia Tomos10= Francisco Cufi Spain Derbi10= Robin Udall United Kingdom Honda10
References
Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A.