Bruno Kneubühler (born 3 December 1946) is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

former professional

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

road racer Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...

. He competed in the

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

world championships from 1972 to 1989. During his career, he competed in every Grand Prix class from

50 cc The 50 cc class was the ultra-lightweight class in Grand Prix motorcycle racing, and formed part of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) World Championships from 1962 until 1983; when the class was replaced by 80 cc. History a ...

to 500cc.

Motorcycle racing career

In his first Grand Prix season in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

, Kneubühler finished the 500cc season in third place behind the dominant

MV Agusta MV Agusta (, full name: MV AGUSTA Motor S.p.A., original name: Meccanica Verghera Agusta or MV) is a motorcycle manufacturer founded by Count Domenico Agusta on 19 January 1945 as one of the branches of the Agusta aircraft company near Milan in ...

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

racing team of

Giacomo Agostini Giacomo Agostini (; born 16 June 1942) is an Italian multi-time world champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Nicknamed Ago, he amassed 122 Grand Prix wins and 15 World Championship titles. Of these, 68 wins and 8 titles came in the 500 ...

and

Alberto Pagani Alberto Pagani (29 August 1938 – 11 September 2017) was an Italian professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. His best year was in 1972 when he finished second in the 500cc world championship, behind his MV Agusta teammate, Giacomo Agost ...

. He also won the season-ending 350cc Spanish Grand Prix held on the Montjuich

street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor races. Airport runways and taxiways are also sometimes part of street circuits. Facilities such as the p ...

, finishing ahead of

Renzo Pasolini Renzo Pasolini (18 July 1938 – 20 May 1973), nicknamed "Paso", was an Italian professional motorcycle road racer. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1964 to 1972. Although he never won a world cham ...

and

János Drapál János Drapál (3 February 1948 – 11 August 1985) was a Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from Budapest. He had little chance to race in the Grand Prix world championships during the Cold War, but still won four Grand Prix races. Drapál had ...

. A year later, he showed his versatility at the

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

Spanish Grand Prix by scoring second-place finishes in the 50cc, 250cc and 500cc classes. At the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

250cc

Dutch TT The Dutch Tourist Trophy, also known as the ''TT Assen'', is an annual Dutch motorsport event established in 1925 for road racing motorcycles held on the TT Circuit Assen, also known as the ‘Cathedral of Speed'. The event attained world champ ...

, he scored a second-place finish ahead of third-place finisher and future three-time world champion

Kenny Roberts Kenneth Leroy Roberts (born December 31, 1951, in Modesto, California) is an American former professional motorcycle racer and racing team owner. In 1978, he became the first American to win a Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship. He ...

in the American rider's first Grand Prix race. He had his best year in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

when he won two Grand Prix races and finished second to

Angel Nieto In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

in the 125cc class. While he never won a championship, he finished in second place three times, winning 5 Grand Prix races and scoring 33 podium results. He retired in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

at the age of 43. His lengthy Grand Prix career saw him compete against many champions from Giacomo Agostini to

Mick Doohan Michael Sydney Doohan (born 4 June 1965) is an Australian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion, who won five consecutive 500 cc World Championships. Biography Originally from the Gold Coast, Queensland, Doohan attended S ...

. Kneubühler is now back in Classic racing with a Yamaha TZ 350 participating in the International Classic Grand Prix series in races such as

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Points system from 1969 to 1987: Points system from 1988 to 1991: (

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kneubuhler, Bruno 1946 births Living people Swiss motorcycle racers 50cc World Championship riders 125cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders 350cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Place of birth missing (living people)