1951 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

Geoff Duke, the 1951 350cc and 500cc World Champion.

The 1951 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the third F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of eight Grand Prix races in five classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on 8 April, with Spanish Grand Prix and ended with Nations Grand Prix on 9 September. As of 2020, this is the most recent season the premier class was won by a non-Japanese and Italian constructor.

1951 Grand Prix season calendar[]

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Sidecars 500cc winner	Report
1	8 April	Spanish Grand Prix	Montjuïc	Guido Leoni		Tommy Wood	Umberto Masetti	Oliver /	Report
2	27 May	Swiss Grand Prix	Bremgarten		Dario Ambrosini	Leslie Graham	Fergus Anderson	/	Report
3	8 June	Isle of Man TT	Snaefell Mountain	Cromie McCandless	Tommy Wood	Geoff Duke	Geoff Duke		Report
4	1 July	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa-Francorchamps			Geoff Duke	Geoff Duke	Oliver /
5	7 July	Dutch TT	Assen	Gianni Leoni		Bill Doran	Geoff Duke
6	14 July	French Grand Prix	Albi		Bruno Ruffo	Geoff Duke	Alfredo Milani	Oliver /
7	18 August	Ulster Grand Prix	Clady	Cromie McCandless †	Bruno Ruffo	Geoff Duke	Geoff Duke
8	9 September	Nations Grand Prix	Monza	Carlo Ubbiali	Enrico Lorenzetti	Geoff Duke	Alfredo Milani	/

† The race saw only four competitors and was not counted as a round of the World Championship.

Standings[]

Scoring system[]

Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race. Only the best three races counted in the Sidecars, 125cc and 250cc, while in the 350cc and 500cc championships, the best five results counted.

500cc final standings[]

Pos Rider Machine ESP SUI MAN Pts 1 Geoff Duke Norton Ret 1 1 1 5 1 4 35 2 Alfredo Milani Gilera Ret Ret 2 2 1 4 1 31 3 Umberto Masetti Gilera 1 9 Ret 4 3 2 21 4 Bill Doran AJS 2 Ret Ret 2 6 6 14 5 Nello Pagani Gilera Ret Ret 5 10 3 8 3 10 6 Reg Armstrong AJS 2 Ret 4 Ret Ret 9 7 Fergus Anderson Moto Guzzi Ret 1 Ret Ret 7 8 8 Enrico Lorenzetti Norton / Moto Guzzi Ret 3 8 3 9 Ret 8 9 Tommy Wood Norton 2 11 14 16 6 10 Ken Kavanagh Norton Ret 2 Ret 6 11 Johnny Lockett Norton Ret 6 4 10 5 11 6 12 Carlo Bandirola MV Agusta 5 4 Ret Ret 9 5 13 Sante Geminiani Moto Guzzi Ret Ret 3 Ret 13 4 14 Arciso Artesiani MV Agusta 3 Ret Ret Ret 4 = Cromie McCandless Norton 3 4 16 Norton 4 3 = Norton 4 3 18 Jack Brett Norton 7 5 6 Ret 8 3 19 Bruno Ruffo Moto Guzzi Ret 5 2 20 Manliff Barrington Norton 5 2 = Benoit Musy Moto Guzzi 5 2 22 Norton 9 12 6 Ret 1 23 Norton 6 1 = Norton 6 1 = Gilera 6 1 26 Arthur Wheeler Norton Ret 7 14 11 Ret 0 27 Hans Baltisberger Norton 7 0 = Norton 7 0 = Norton 7 0 = Libero Liberati Gilera 7 0 31 Norton 8 9 0 32 AJS/ Norton Ret Ret 8 Ret 15 0 33 Triumph Ret 8 0 34 Gilera 8 0 35 Norton / Moto Guzzi 9 Ret 0 36 Norton 9 0 37 Rod Coleman Norton / AJS Ret 10 11 Ret Ret 0 38 Sidney Mason Norton 10 Ret 0 39 Ken Armstrong Norton 10 0 = Norton 10 0 = Norton 10 0 42 Ray Amm Norton 28 11 11 12 12 0 43 Norton 11 0 44 Norton Ret 12 0 = Norton / AJS 12 Ret 0 46 Norton 12 0 47 Norton Ret 13 0 48 Moto Guzzi 13 0 = Norton 13 0 50 AJS 14 0 = Giuseppe Colnago Gilera 14 0 = Norton 14 0 53 Velocette Ret 15 0 54 Jean Behra Moto Guzzi 15 0 = Gilera 15 0 = Velocette 15 0 57 Moto Guzzi Ret 17 Ret 16 0 58 Felice Benasedo Moto Guzzi Ret 31 16 Ret Ret 0 59 AJS 16 0 = AJS 16 0 61 AJS Ret 17 0 62 Syl Anderton Norton 17 0 = Gilera 17 0 = AJS 17 0 65 Gilera Ret 18 0 66 AJS 18 0 = 18 0 = Triumph 18 0 69 AJS 27 19 0 70 Velocette / Norton Ret 19 Ret 0 71 AJS 19 0 72 Norton 20 0 = Triumph 20 0 74 Norton 21 0 = BSA 21 0 76 Norton 22 0 77 Norton 23 0 78 Norton 24 0 79 AJS 25 0 80 AJS / Norton 26 Ret 0 81 Norton 29 0 82 AJS 30 0 83 Leslie Harris Norton 32 Ret 0 84 Norton 33 0 85 Velocette 34 0 86 Rudge-Whitworth 35 0 87 Velocette 36 0 88 J. Gunn Norton 37 0 89 AJS 38 0 90 AJS / Norton Ret 39 0 – Leslie Graham MV Agusta / Norton Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 – Bruno Bertacchini MV Agusta Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 – Norton Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 – Eric Oliver Norton Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 – AJS Ret Ret 0 – BSA / Velocette Ret Ret 0 – Norton Ret Ret 0 – Norton DNS Ret 0 – Moto Guzzi Ret 0 – AJS Ret 0 – Gilera Ret 0 – Charlie Brett Norton Ret 0 – AJS Ret 0 – Florian Camathias BMW Ret 0 – Triumph Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Triumph Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Gilera Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Gilera Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Vincent Ret 0 – Vincent Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – AJS Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Guido Leoni Moto Guzzi Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – AJS Ret 0 – Gilera Ret 0 – Velocette Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Velocette Ret 0 – Ken Mudford AJS Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – BSA Ret 0 – AJS Ret 0 – Triumph Ret 0 – Moto Guzzi Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Velocette Ret 0 – Triumph Ret 0 – Gilera Ret 0 – AJS Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Velocette Ret 0 Pos Rider Bike ESP SUI MAN Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (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 practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

Constructors' 500cc World Championship[]

Pos	Constructor	Pts
1	Norton	38 (44)
2	Gilera	36 (40)
3	AJS	21 (23)
4	Moto Guzzi	18
5	MV Agusta	7
–		0
–	BMW	0
–	BSA	0
–	Rudge-Whitworth	0
–	Triumph	0
–	Velocette	0
–	Vincent	0

350cc Standings[]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Geoff Duke		United Kingdom	Norton	40	5
2	Bill Doran		United Kingdom	AJS	19	1
3	John Lockett		United Kingdom	Norton	19	0
4	Ken Kavanagh		Australia	Norton	16	0
5	Jack Brett		United Kingdom	Norton	15	0
6	Leslie Graham		United Kingdom	Velocette	14	1
7	Reg Armstrong		Ireland	AJS	11	0
8			United Kingdom	AJS	10	0
9	Cecil Sandford		United Kingdom	Velocette	9	0
10	Tommy Wood		United Kingdom	Velocette	8	1
11	Bill Lomas		United Kingdom	Velocette	6	0
12	Rod Coleman		New Zealand	AJS	5	0
13			United Kingdom	AJS	4	0
14			Spain	Velocette	3	0
=			Switzerland	Velocette	3	0
16			United Kingdom	Velocette	2	0
=			Belgium	Velocette	2	0
=	Simon Sandys-Winsch		United Kingdom	Velocette	2	0
19			Gibraltar	Norton	1	0
=	Bob Matthews		Ireland	Velocette	1	0
=	Bob Foster		United Kingdom	Velocette	1	0
=			Austria	AJS	1	0

250cc Standings[]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Bruno Ruffo		Italy	Moto Guzzi	22	2
2	Tommy Wood		United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	18	1
3	Dario Ambrosini		Italy	Benelli	14	1
4	Enrico Lorenzetti		Italy	Moto Guzzi	12	1
5	Gianni Leoni		Italy	Moto Guzzi	10	0
6	Maurice Cann		United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	6	0
=	Arthur Wheeler		United Kingdom	Velocette	6	0
8	Fergus Anderson		United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	3	0
=			United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	3	0
=	Alano Montanari		Italy	Moto Guzzi	3	0
=	Benoit Musy		Switzerland	Moto Guzzi	3	0
12	Bill Lomas		United Kingdom	Velocette	2	0
=	Cecil Sandford		United Kingdom	Velocette	2	0
=			United Kingdom	Velocette	2	0
=			Italy	Moto Guzzi	2	0
16			United Kingdom	Norton	1	0
=			Ireland	Excelsior	1	0
=			Switzerland	Moto Guzzi	1	0
=			Italy	Parilla	1	0
=			Italy	Moto Guzzi	1	0

125cc Standings[]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Carlo Ubbiali		Italy	Mondial	20	1
2	Gianni Leoni		Italy	Mondial	12	1
3	Cromie McCandless		United Kingdom	Mondial	11	1
4			Italy	Morini	10	0
5	Guido Leoni		Italy	Mondial	8	1
6			Italy	Morini	7	0
7	Romolo Ferri		Italy	Mondial	6	0
8	Leslie Graham		United Kingdom	MV Agusta	4	0
9			Spain	Montesa	4	0
10	Nello Pagani		Italy	Mondial	3	0
=			Italy	Mondial	3	0
12			Italy	MV Agusta	2	0
=			Italy	Mondial	2	0
14	Emilio Mendogni		Italy	Morini	1	0
=			Spain	Mondial	1	0
=			Spain	Montesa	1	0
=			Italy	MV Agusta	1	0

References[]

• Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949–2000. Chronosports S.A. ISBN 2-940125-32-5
• "The Official MotoGP website". Retrieved 2010-07-06.