From a French Motor magazine in the mid-1950s, an advertisement with “the Monneret’s”, who at that time ran 4 workshops and, with the success of Senior plus the first of the sons, did original PR.

In honor of the new MotoGP heroes of France – the story about the debut

We couldn’t help but thanks to our huge archive here in honor of the first double winners from the land of the brave Gauls. The story of the first French 500cc winner and his 1954 season. His father, Georges Monneret, was one of the most successful French motorcycle pilots in history. Like his son Pierre later, he did an incredible amount for motorcycling in France. He also hit the headlines in 1952 when he crossed the English Channel (Calais-Dover) on a Vespa. To do this, he mounted his Vespa on a pedal boat catamaran. The propeller for the propulsion was driven by a roller and on the second attempt it had made it despite the bad weather. Not only his son Pierre, but also his half-brother Philippe Monneret became a motorcycle racer. He won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1991 with his teammates Bruno Bonhuil and Rachel Nicotte. This is about Pierre and his 1954 World Cup season, which should go down in history.

Die Marseillaise (French national anthem) was played on April 4, 2021, for the seventh time after a MotoGP race in the premier class and this time it was thanks to world championship leader Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati, left) and the now 4-time MotoGP winner Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) even the first double victory for “les Bleus”.
In 1954, one often thinks of Austria’s only world champion, Rupert Hollaus (on the left, multi-champion Werner Haas as third from left) and his teammates from NSU. For more about these drivers and their racing successes, see our richly illustrated history. Unfortunately, the second sensationally successful year of this successful team was overshadowed by the premature death of Rupert.

Pierre Monneret and his 1954 season as the first MotoGP (500 cc) winner in France

Pierre, who died on March 1, 2010, at the age of 79, naturally came to racing through his father. He drove his first world championship race in 1953 at the home race in Rouen-les-Essarts at the 350 cc French Grand Prix on A.J.S, an English manufacturer that was very successful in earlier decades of motorcycle racing. With second place behind the eventual world champion Fergus Anderson (Moto Guzzi), Monneret was the first Frenchman on the podium in a World Championship race. Because in those years only the first drivers of a Grand Prix received World Championship points and the season at that time only consisted of 7 races, with this result he finished eighth in the World Championship. At that time, all races were held in Europe, and it was only for the second year that German drivers were allowed to compete in the “World Championship” that had been held since 1949. In any case, it was clear to Pierre that he wanted to compete again next year.

Start at the Hockenheimring for the 350 cc race – although Pierre Monneret didn’t have very far to Baden-Württemberg, he limited himself to races in France in 1953 and only came to the Grand Prix Circus a year later for a whole season. For Germany, which was divided into two parts, it was the first golden years of racing in the post-war period and the GDR also had strong drivers and MZ was a serious competitor.
In Germany, too, motorcycle racing was still saloon-friendly at that time and drivers like Georg “Schorsch” Meier, Hermann Paul Müller and Siegfried “Sissi” Wünsche were on everyone’s lips. There have been countless races in this country on both sides of the Iron Curtain with up to 400,000 spectators.

The factory teams of all classes for the 1954 season

NSU engine, wonderful and hand-drawn, as was very common back then and presented in a French Moto magazine from 1954. Immediately after they were able to take part in the world championship, they were immediately successful and won several titles in the smaller classes 125cc and 250cc. After the tragic death of Rupert Hollaus in September 1954, the Neckarsulm plant withdrew from the World Cup.
What a beautiful scooter that was featured here in a French magazine in 1954. It’s unbelievable what kind of works of art Ducati used to make.

Der Saisonauftakt in Reims mit dem Sensations-Sieg des Franzosen

At the start of the world championship on May 30, 1954, Pierre Monneret was back in the French run. This time he survived both races, while that year he did not finish in the 500 cc class. As a local hero, the Frenchman won the run in the premier class as well as in the 350s, to the delight of the large local audience. Below is a photo of the MotoGP winner’s gallery of the double winner from France, the first winner of a race in the premier class from his country. It would take more than 20 years before the second followed and 21 years after his death Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco became the first double winners from his country.

In Germany, too, the victory of the outsider and privateer at the first World Cup event of the season attracted attention in both of the larger categories, which this photo with the short report proves.
Start of the GP of Roubaix, which is not part of the World Championships, with Pierre Monneret on Gilera, who later retired, as second from the right. But thanks to the later third George Monneret (also on Gilera) behind the Italian Pagani (Gilera) and the Belgian Goffin (Norton), the family honor was saved back then. This had already finished sixth in the 350cc race.
At the international race in Lyon, Pierre Monneret won the 350cc race and came second in the category up to 500cc.

The French 500cc winners ahead of their successor Fabio Quartararo