The 1972 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 24th F.I.M.

Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix 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 of ...

season. The season consisted of twelve Grand Prix races in six classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc, 50cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on 30 April, with West German Grand Prix and ended with

Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de España, ca, Gran Premi d'Espanya) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating it ...

on 23 September.

Season summary

Another year, another championship for

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 ...

, claiming a record 11 victories to take his seventh consecutive 500cc crown for

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 ...

. Things were tighter in the 350cc class with

Jarno Saarinen Jarno Karl Keimo Saarinen (11 December 1945 – 20 May 1973) was a Finnish professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. In the early 1970s, he was considered one of the most promising and talented motorcycle racers of his era until he was kil ...

giving Agostini a strong challenge by winning three races, including a victory at the

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history; the Nürburgring in Rh ...

held at the daunting

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

race track, where Saarinen defeated Agostini for the first time in a head-to-head race. Saarinen also scored a double victory at the Czechoslovakian Grand Prix with victories in both the 250cc and 350cc classes. The threat from Saarinen's

two stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...

Yamaha was so strong that the previously dominant MV Agusta factory was forced to produce a new 350cc motorcycle for Agostini. In the 250cc division, Saarinen would win a tight race in a season-long battle with

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 champ ...

and Rod Gould. Angel Nieto claimed a double, winning the 125cc and 50cc championships for

Derbi Derbi is a manufacturer of motorcycles, scooters, mopeds and recreational all-terrain vehicles produced by Nacional Motor S.A.U., a Spanish subsidiary of Piaggio & Co. SpA. History Derbi's origins began with a little bicycle workshop in the v ...

before the Spanish factory announced its pull out from Grand Prix racing. The Yamaha factory won its first-ever 500cc Grand Prix race at the season ending Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama when

Chas Mortimer Charles 'Chas' Mortimer (born 14 April 1949) is an English former professional motorcycle short-circuit road racer and race-school instructor. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle road racing world championships from 1969 to 1979. He rema ...

won the race after Agostini sat out the event after already winning the championship, This would be the final season for the East German Grand Prix as a championship race, as SED officials, troubled by fans singing ''

Das Lied der Deutschen The "" (; "Song of Germany"), officially titled "" (; "The Song of the Germans"), has been the national anthem of Germany either wholly or in part since 1922, except for a seven-year gap following World War II in West Germany. In East German ...

'' (the West German national anthem) after Dieter Braun's victory the previous season, limited entries to only Eastern Bloc nations beginning in 1973.

1972 Grand Prix season calendar

Scoring system

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

500cc final standings

1972 350 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

1972 250 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

1972 125 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

1972 50 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

References

* Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). ''Continental Circus 1949–2000''. Chronosports S.A. * {{DEFAULTSORT:1972 Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing Season Grand Prix motorcycle racing seasons Grand Prix motorcycle racing season