John Dodds (born 13 November 1943) is an Australian former

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

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 on the Grand Prix circuit from

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

. His best finish was a third place behind Dieter Braun and Teuvo Länsivuori in 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. ...

250cc world championship.

Motorcycle racing career

Dodds won his first world championship Grand Prix at the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

125cc West German Grand Prix held in rainy conditions at the challenging, long

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

racetrack, riding a single-cylinder Aermacchi motorcycle. During the

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

season, Dodds helped fellow racer

Kim Newcombe Kim Newcombe (2 January 1944 – 14 August 1973), was a Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from New Zealand. Biography Born in Nelson, Newcombe grew up in Auckland, then moved to Australia (first Brisbane, then Melbourne) in 1963, and subsequent ...

develop a motorcycle using a two-stroke outboard motor designed by

Dieter König Dieter König (19 May 1931 – 17 August 1991) raced hydroplanes and was also responsible for manufacturing the engines that powered them. During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s his "König" engines dominated the sport. The engines were manufactured in ...

. Newcombe and the König were the first to challenge the dominance of the

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 ...

s after the departure of Honda from Grand Prix competition at the end of the

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

season. In 1974, Dodds won the preseason invitational 500cc Mettet Grand Prix and then, claimed the Formula 750 world championship on a Yamaha TZ750.

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Points system from 1950 to 1968: Points system from 1969 onwards: ( key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodds, John 1943 births Living people Australian motorcycle racers 125cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders 350cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders