Early final of the 1953 Motorcycle World Championship After the title decision in the 350cc class for solo machines had only been made before Monza and Fergus Anderson (Moto-Guzzi) had already been confirmed as the new champion, the second to last lap at the Grand Prix of Nations took on particular significance. As our following […]
2023 versus 1953
Thoughts on the past 2023 season and 70 years before that Some people are familiar with the saying “everything used to be better” and we don’t want to toot that horn here. Nevertheless, everyone is allowed to think about what was better 70 years ago than today and in which areas we can be happy […]
GP year 1953 – part 3
Season continues with reinvented Ulster Grand Prix Instead of the dangerous and selective Clady Circuit, the Dundrod Circuit was used. In addition, for the first time after the Tourist Trophy and the Dutch TT, all classes were at the start again. The organizers had spent a lot on the new edition of the Ulster GP, […]
GP year 1953 – part 2
The third of 9 rounds in the Ardennes After the Dutch TT, we continued not far from Assen in Belgium to the beautifully situated Spa-Francorchamps track, which, like the track in the Netherlands, is still used today with a much improved layout. After Enrico Lorenzetti on Moto-Guzzi won the Dutch TT for the first time […]
GP year 1953 – part 1
The starting point before the second real motorcycle world championship Because the most successful pilots and works of the last pre-war years until 1939 were not eligible to participate in the first 4 years of the motorcycle world championship newly introduced from 1949, it is difficult to accept this name. The Germans had won more […]
GP year 1952 – part 4
Starting point before the last 3 Grand Prix weekends The Norton factory racing team was already severely weakened at the German Grand Prix on the Solitude due to the failure of two drivers. The reigning world champion Geoff Duke was still in hospital in Schotten, although his condition had improved so much that it was […]
GP-Year 1952 – part 3
The first German World Championship race on the Solitude The expectations of the fans, teams and pilots from Germany before this premiere were certainly low, but thanks to many fast drivers, their hopes were still very high. Many secretly hoped that there would be cause for celebration. The Solitude race track near Stuttgart had a […]
GP year 1952 part 2
Outlook for 1952 and the favorites before the start of the season After Benelli withdrew from Grand Prix racing, Moto-Guzzi was alone in the 250cc class from a purely Italian perspective and the title was therefore unlikely to be taken away from them. For the first time after 3 years of banishment, three German factories, […]
GP year 1952 part 1
The first real motorcycle Grand Prix year in history Today, most fans of two-wheeled racing are no longer aware of how high the number of spectators at two-wheeled road racing events was in the golden 1950s. Shortly after the Second World War, which lasted almost six years, the FIM, as the highest motorsport authority, decided […]
WSBK annoyances 2023
Dark shadows over WorldSBK’s most boring season After 2022, the commentators of the Superbike World Championship had a very difficult time creating anything like excitement in the following year. Right from the start, at the season opener in Phillip Island (Australia), the Ducati riders were so far superior to the competition that even the factory […]