1949 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

The 1949 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the inaugural F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of six Grand Prix races in five classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc and Sidecars 600cc. It began on June 17, with Isle of Man TT and ended with Nations Grand Prix on September 4.

1949 Grand Prix season calendar

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Sidecars 600cc winner	Report
1	June 17	Isle of Man TT	Snaefell mountain course		Manliff Barrington	Freddie Frith	Harold Daniell		Report
2	July 3	Swiss Grand Prix	Circuit Bremgarten	Nello Pagani	Bruno Ruffo	Freddie Frith	Leslie Graham	Oliver / Jenkinson	Report
3	July 9	Dutch TT	TT Circuit Assen	Nello Pagani		Freddie Frith	Nello Pagani		Report
4	July 9	Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps			Freddie Frith	Bill Doran	Oliver / Jenkinson	Report
5	August 20	Ulster Grand Prix	Clady Circuit		Maurice Cann	Freddie Frith	Leslie Graham		Report
6	September 4	Nations Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	Gianni Leoni	Dario Ambrosini		Nello Pagani	Frigerio / Dobelli	Report

Standings

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top five finishers in each race with an extra point for the race finisher with the fastest lap. All rounds counted towards the championship in the 125cc, 250cc and Sidecar categories, while in the 350cc and 500cc championships, only the best three results counted.

500cc final standings

Pos Rider Bike MAN SUI HOL BEL ULS NAT Pts 1 Leslie Graham AJS 10 1 2 Ret 1 Ret 30 (31) 2 Nello Pagani Gilera 4 1 5 3 1 29 (40) 3 Arciso Artesiani Gilera 2 3 2 Ret 2 25 (32) 4 Bill Doran AJS 8 Ret 1 4 3 23 5 Artie Bell Norton 4 Ret 4 4 2 20 (26) 6 Harold Daniell Norton 1 3 6 7 17 7 Johnny Lockett Norton 2 Ret 5 Ret Ret 13 8 Enrico Lorenzetti Moto Guzzi 10 3 7 9 Ernie Lyons Velocette 3 7 10 Guido Leoni Moto Guzzi 6 Ret 6 4 6 11 Syd Jensen Triumph 5 Ret 9 5 12 Freddie Frith Velocette Ret 5 Ret Ret 5 13 Bruno Bertacchini Moto Guzzi Ret Ret 5 5 14 Jock West AJS 5 5 15 Ken Armstrong AJS 6 0 = Cromie McCandless Norton 6 0 = Fred Stevens Triumph 6 0 18 Ken Bills Velocette 7 Ret 10 0 19 Harry Turner Norton 18 7 0 20 Umberto Masetti Gilera 7 Ret 0 21 Reg Armstrong AJS 7 0 = Felice Benasedo Moto Guzzi 7 0 23 Harry Hinton Norton 9 8 16 0 24 George Morrison Norton 31 Ret 8 Ret 0 25 Roger Richoz Norton 8 0 = Ricardo Sabbadini Moto Guzzi 8 0 = James Scott Triumph 8 0 28 Oscar Clemencich Gilera 9 Ret 15 0 29 Sante Geminiani Moto Guzzi 9 0 = Hans Kaufmann Gilera 9 0 31 Dante Bianchi Moto Guzzi 10 0 = Georges Cordey Norton 10 0 = Ernie Callahan Triumph 10 0 34 Arthur Wheeler Triumph Ret Ret 11 0 35 Phil Heath Norton 11 Ret 0 36 Adelmo Mandolini Moto Guzzi 11 0 = Benoit Musy Moto Guzzi 11 0 = Drikus Veer Triumph 11 0 38 Oliver Scott Norton Ret 12 15 0 39 Bill Beevers Norton 16 12 Ret Ret Ret 0 40 Antonio Dalle Fusine Gilera 12 Ret 0 = Bill Petch Triumph 12 Ret 0 42 Lodovico Facchinelli Gilera 12 0 43 Edward Nicholls Triumph 13 9 0 44 Guy Newman Norton 13 0 = Nandor Puhony Gilera 13 0 = Orlando Valdinoci Gilera 13 0 = Albert Vertriest Triumph 13 0 48 Alfeo Maramotti Moto Guzzi 14 0 = Eric McPherson AJS 14 0 = Jacques Schot Norton 14 0 = László Szabó Gilera 14 0 = Jules Tacheny Triumph 14 0 53 Roy Evans Norton 15 0 = Gerard Hoek BMW 15 0 55 Jack Bailey Triumph 17 Ret 0 56 Johnny Hodgkin Norton 19 0 57 Dick Addie Norton 20 0 58 Albert Moule Triumph 21 0 59 George Paterson Triumph 22 0 60 Bob Matthews Norton 23 0 61 George Hayden Norton 24 0 62 John Purnell Norton 25 0 63 Lesly Hill Norton 26 0 64 Archie Fenn Norton 27 0 65 Harry Francis Norton 28 0 66 Eric Hardy Norton 29 0 67 Jack Brett Norton 30 0 68 Lennart Fenning Norton 32 0 69 Rob Weston Norton 33 0 70 Joe Glazebrook Triumph 34 0 71 Joe Dent Norton 35 0 - Bob Foster Moto Guzzi Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 - Carlo Bandirola Gilera Ret Ret Ret 0 - Eric Briggs Norton Ret Ret Ret 0 - Les Dear Norton Ret Ret Ret 0 - Ted Frend AJS Ret Ret Ret 0 - Fergus Anderson Moto Guzzi Ret Ret 0 - Wilf Billington Norton Ret Ret 0 - Norman Croft Triumph Ret Ret 0 - Frank Fry Norton Ret Ret 0 - Eric Oliver Norton Ret Ret 0 - Ernie Thomas Triumph Ret Ret 0 - David Whitworth Triumph Ret Ret 0 - Dario Ambrosini Gilera Ret 0 - Syl Anderton Triumph Ret 0 - Syd Barnett Norton Ret 0 - Jean Behra Moto Guzzi Ret 0 - Aldo Bernardoni Gilera Ret 0 - Ernie Braine Norton Ret 0 - Charlie Brett Velocette Ret 0 - Aldo Brini Gilera Ret 0 - Gerard Carter Norton Ret 0 - Javier de Ortueta Norton Ret 0 - Roland Dumond Moto Guzzi Ret 0 - Juhan Franta Moto Guzzi Ret 0 - Auguste Goffin Triumph Ret 0 - Arthur Good Norton Ret 0 - Hans Haldemann Moto Guzzi Ret 0 - Piet Knijnenburg BMW Ret 0 - Roger Laurent Moto Guzzi Ret 0 - Sid Lawton Triumph Ret 0 - Reg Lee Norton Ret 0 - Leon Martin Gilera Ret 0 - Reginald MacDonald Triumph Ret 0 - Tommy McEwan Triumph Ret 0 - Armando Miele Gilera Ret 0 - Stan Miller Norton Ret 0 - Bert Myers Triumph Ret 0 - Billy Graham Norton Ret 0 - Ashley Parry Norton Ret 0 - Hub Pellikaan BMW Ret 0 - Henry Pinnington Norton Ret 0 - Charlie Salt Norton Ret 0 - Emilio Soprani Gilera Ret 0 - Jan Veer Triumph Ret 0 - Roy Walker Norton Ret 0 - Tom Wycherley Norton Ret 0 Pos Rider Bike MAN SUI HOL BEL ULS NAT Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Finished, in points Blue Finished, no points Not classified (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

Constructors' 500cc World Championship

Pos	Constructor							Pts
1	AJS	6	1	2	1	1	3	32 (48)
2	Gilera	–	2	1	2	3	1	31 (46)
3	Norton	1	3	4	4	2	Ret	25 (37)
4	Moto Guzzi	Ret	6	10	3	Ret	4	13
5	Velocette	3	5	Ret	10	–	–	12
6	Triumph	5	Ret	11	9	8	Ret	5
–	BMW	–	–	15	–	–	–	0

350cc final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Freddie Frith		United Kingdom	Velocette	33	5
2	Reg Armstrong		Ireland	AJS	18	0
3	Bob Foster		United Kingdom	Velocette	16	0
4	Eric McPherson		Australia	AJS	16	0
5	Johnny Lockett		United Kingdom	Norton	14	0
6	David Whitworth		United Kingdom	Velocette	12	0
7	Leslie Graham		United Kingdom	AJS	8	0
8	Ernie Lyons		Ireland	Velocette	8	0
9	Charlie Salt		United Kingdom	Velocette	8	0
10	Bill Doran		United Kingdom	AJS	7	0

250cc final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Bruno Ruffo		Italy	Moto Guzzi	24	1
2	Dario Ambrosini		Italy	Benelli	19	1
3	Ronald Mead		United Kingdom	Norton	13	0
4	Maurice Cann		United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	11	1
5	Claudio Mastellari		Italy	Moto Guzzi	11	0
6	Manliff Barrington		Ireland	Moto Guzzi	10	1
7	Russel Wood		South Africa	Moto Guzzi	9	0
8	Fergus Anderson		United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	8	0
9	Gianni Leoni		Italy	Moto Guzzi	8	0
10	Umberto Masetti		Italy	Benelli	7	0

125cc final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Nello Pagani		Italy	Mondial	27	2
2	Renato Magi		Italy	Morini	14	0
3	Umberto Masetti		Italy	Morini	13	0
4	Carlo Ubbiali		Italy	Mondial	13	0
5	Gianni Leoni		Italy	Mondial	11	1
6	Oscar Clemengich		Italy	Mondial	8	0
7	Umberto Praga		Italy	Mondial	7	0
8	Celeste Cavaciuti		Italy	Mondial	7	0
9	Franco Bertoni		Italy	MV Agusta	6	0
10	Giuseppe Matucci		Italy	MV Agusta	5	0

Sidecar final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Eric Oliver / Denis Jenkinson		UK	Norton	27	2
2	Ercole Frigerio / Lorenzo Dobelli		Italy	Gilera	18	1
3	Frans Vanderschrick / Martin Whitney		Belgium/United Kingdom	Norton	16	0
4	Ernesto Merlo / Aldo Veglio		Italy	Gilera	13	0
5	Albino Milani / Ezio Ricotti		Italy	Gilera	12	1
6	Hans Haldemann / Herbert Läderach		Switzerland	Norton	8	0
7	Roland Benz / Max Hirzel		Switzerland	BMW	6	0
8	Jakob Keller / Ernst Brutschi		Switzerland	Gilera	6	0
9	Peter 'Pip' Harris / Neil Smith		United Kingdom	Norton	5	0

References

• Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949–2000. Chronosports S.A. ISBN 2-940125-32-5
• "The Official MotoGP website". http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics/1949/NAT/500cc/World+Standing. Retrieved 2010-07-06. 

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