1953 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

Geoff Duke (pictured in 1951) won his second 500cc World Championship title in 1953.

Werner Haas, the 1953 125cc and 250cc World Champion.

The 1953 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the fifth F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of nine Grand Prix races in five classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on 12 June, with Isle of Man TT and ended with Spanish Grand Prix on 4 October.

1953 Grand Prix season calendar[]

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Sidecars 500cc winner	Report
1	12 June	Isle of Man TT	Snaefell Mountain	Leslie Graham	Fergus Anderson	Ray Amm	Ray Amm		Report
2	27 June	Dutch TT	Assen	Werner Haas	Werner Haas	Enrico Lorenzetti	Geoff Duke
3	5 July	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa-Francorchamps			Fergus Anderson	Alfredo Milani	Oliver /
4	19 July	German Grand Prix	Schottenring	Carlo Ubbiali	Werner Haas	Carlo Bandirola †	Walter Zeller †
5	2 August	French Grand Prix	Rouen-Les-Essarts			Fergus Anderson	Geoff Duke	Oliver /
6	15 August	Ulster Grand Prix	Dundrod	Werner Haas	Reg Armstrong	Ken Mudford	Ken Kavanagh	/
7	23 August	Swiss Grand Prix	Bremgarten		Reg Armstrong	Fergus Anderson	Geoff Duke	Oliver /
8	6 September	Nations Grand Prix	Monza	Werner Haas	Enrico Lorenzetti	Enrico Lorenzetti	Geoff Duke	Oliver /
9	4 October	Spanish Grand Prix	Montjuïc	Angelo Copeta	Enrico Lorenzetti		Fergus Anderson

† After pronouncing the track unsafe before practice had begun, all the factory teams withdrew from the 350cc and 500cc classes in the proposed German Grand Prix. The event continued, but with the agreement that these two classes were only counted as an ordinary international event.^[1]

Standings[]

Scoring system[]

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

500cc final standings[]

Pos Rider Machine MAN Pts 1 Geoff Duke Gilera Ret 1 Ret 1 2 1 1 DNS 38 2 Reg Armstrong Gilera 3 2 3 2 4 3 4 Ret 24 (30) 3 Alfredo Milani Gilera Ret Ret 1 3 Ret 2 18 4 Ken Kavanagh Norton / Moto Guzzi Ret 3 4 4 1 Ret Ret 18 5 Ray Amm Norton 1 Ret 2 DNS 14 6 Jack Brett Norton 2 5 8 6 3 Ret 13 7 Dickie Dale Gilera Ret Ret 6 8 7 2 3 11 8 Giuseppe Colnago Gilera 4 Ret 5 4 4 11 9 Fergus Anderson Moto Guzzi Ret 7 Ret 1 8 10 Rod Coleman AJS / Norton 4 Ret 5 7 7 5 Ret 7 11 Carlo Bandirola MV Agusta Ret Ret 2 6 12 Libero Liberati Gilera 3 Ret 4 13 Bill Doran AJS 5 6 11 3 14 Matchless / AJS Ret 5 6 3 15 Nello Pagani Gilera 9 7 5 2 16 Cecil Sandford MV Agusta 5 Ret 2 17 Ken Mudford Norton Ret Ret 14 6 Ret 1 18 Tommy Wood Norton Ret Ret 6 1 19 Hermann Paul Müller Horex / MV Agusta Ret 6 1 20 Norton 6 1 21 Walter Zeller BMW Ret 7 8 Ret 0 22 Norton 7 0 = Ted Frend Norton 7 0 24 AJS 8 Ret Ret 0 25 Norton 8 0 = Norton 8 0 = Norton 8 0 = MV Agusta 8 DNS 0 29 Norton 10 Ret 9 0 = Matchless 9 Ret 10 0 31 Pierre Monneret AJS / Gilera 12 9 Ret 0 32 BSA 16 9 0 33 Norton 9 0 = Léon Martin Gilera 9 0 35 John Storr Norton Ret Ret 10 0 36 Hans Baltisberger BMW 10 Ret 0 = Norton 10 Ret 0 38 Robin Fitton Norton 10 0 = Alfredo Flores Norton 10 0 = Norton 10 0 41 Keith Bryen Norton Ret 11 18 0 42 Norton 11 0 = Norton 11 0 = Norton 11 0 = Sidney Mason Norton 11 0 = BMW 11 0 = Moto Guzzi 11 0 48 Matchless / AJS Ret Ret 12 Ret Ret 0 49 Norton Ret 12 Ret 0 50 Felice Benasedo Moto Guzzi 12 0 = AJS 12 0 = Norton 12 0 = Matchless 12 0 = DKW 12 0 55 Arthur Wheeler Matchless Ret Ret 13 15 0 56 Norton 20 13 0 57 Norton 22 13 0 58 Matchless 13 Ret 0 59 Norton 13 0 = Gilera 13 0 = Norton 13 0 62 Ray Laurent Norton 15 9 14 0 63 Matchless 14 Ret 0 = Norton Ret 14 0 65 Florian Camathias BMW 14 DNS 0 66 Keith Campbell Norton 15 DNS 0 = Norton 15 0 = Gilera 15 0 69 AJS 27 16 0 70 Roger Laurent Norton 16 0 = Norton 16 0 71 Norton Ret Ret 17 0 72 Norton Ret 17 0 73 Norton 17 0 = Norton 17 0 75 Norton 18 0 = Norton 18 0 77 Norton 19 0 = AJS 19 0 = Norton 19 0 80 AJS 20 0 81 AJS / Norton Ret 21 0 82 Norton 21 0 83 Norton Ret Ret 22 0 84 AJS 23 Ret 0 85 AJS 23 0 86 Norton 35 Ret 24 0 87 Matchless 24 0 88 Norton 25 0 = Norton 25 0 90 Fred Pusey Norton 26 0 = Norton 26 0 92 Norton 27 0 93 AJS 28 0 94 AJS 29 0 95 AJS 30 0 96 AJS 31 0 97 AJS 32 0 98 AJS 33 0 99 AJS 34 0 100 Norton 36 0 – Norton Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 – Matchless / Norton Ret Ret Ret 0 – Enrico Lorenzetti Moto Guzzi Ret Ret Ret 0 – Matchless Ret Ret Ret 0 – Matchless / AJS Ret Ret Ret 0 – Horex Ret Ret Ret 0 – Norton Ret Ret Ret 0 – Horex Ret Ret 0 – Gilera / Matchless Ret Ret 0 – Norton Ret Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – -JAP Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – George Brown Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – AJS Ret 0 – John Cooper Matchless Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Moto Guzzi Ret 0 – MV Agusta DNS Ret 0 – Leslie Graham MV Agusta Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Matchless Ret 0 – Triumph Ret 0 – August Hobl DKW Ret 0 – DKW Ret 0 – Triumph Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Umberto Masetti Gilera Ret 0 – Bob Matthews Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret DNS 0 – Matchless Ret 0 – Bob McIntyre Matchless Ret 0 – Triumph Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Matchless Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – AJS Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Simon Sandys-Winsch Norton Ret 0 – Horex Ret 0 – Gilera Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Matchless Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – Norton Ret 0 – MV Agusta DNS 0 – Norton DNS 0 – Norton DNS 0 – DKW DNS 0 – Norton DNS 0 Pos Rider Bike 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

350cc Standings[]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Fergus Anderson		United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	34	3
2	Enrico Lorenzetti		Italy	Moto Guzzi	26	2
3	Ray Amm		Southern Rhodesia	Norton	18	1
4	Ken Kavanagh		Australia	Norton	18	0
5	Jack Brett		United Kingdom	Norton	12	0
6	Rod Coleman		New Zealand	AJS	9	0
7	Ken Mudford		New Zealand	Norton	8	1
8	Bob McIntyre		United Kingdom	AJS	6	0
=	Pierre Monneret		France	AJS	6	0
10	Duilio Agostini		Italy	Moto Guzzi	4	0
11	August Hobl		Germany	DKW	3	0
=			Switzerland	Norton	3	0
=			United Kingdom	Velocette	3	0
14	Bill Doran		United Kingdom	AJS	3	0
=			United Kingdom	AJS	3	0
16	Tommy Wood		United Kingdom	Norton	2	0
=			Austria	AJS	2	0
=			New Zealand	AJS	2	0
=			United Kingdom	AJS	2	0
20			Germany	DKW	1	0
=	Ray Laurent		New Zealand	Norton	1	0
=			United Kingdom	AJS	1	0
=			Australia	Norton	1	0

250cc Standings[]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Werner Haas		Germany	NSU	28	2
2	Reg Armstrong		United Kingdom	NSU	23	2
3	Enrico Lorenzetti		Italy	Moto Guzzi	22	2
4	Fergus Anderson		United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	22	1
5	Alano Montanari		Italy	Moto Guzzi	19	0
6	Ken Kavanagh		Australia	Moto Guzzi	6	0
7			Germany	DKW	6	0
8	August Hobl		Germany	DKW	6	0
9			Germany	NSU	6	0
10	Arthur Wheeler		United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	4	0
11	Walter Reichert		Germany	NSU	3	0
12	Tommy Wood		United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	3	0
13			Germany	NSU	2	0
=			Australia	Velocette	2	0
15	Umberto Masetti		Italy	NSU	1	0
=	Rupert Hollaus		Austria	Moto Guzzi	1	0

125cc Standings[]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Werner Haas		Germany	NSU	30	3
2	Cecil Sandford		United Kingdom	MV Agusta	20	0
3	Carlo Ubbiali		Italy	MV Agusta	18	1
4	Angelo Copeta		Italy	MV Agusta	17	1
5	Leslie Graham		United Kingdom	MV Agusta	8	1
6			Germany	NSU	7	0
7	Emilio Mendogni		Italy	Morini	6	0
8			Germany	NSU	5	0
9	Reg Armstrong		United Kingdom	NSU	4	0
=	Rupert Hollaus		Austria	NSU	4	0
11			Italy	Morini	3	0
12			Spain	Montesa	2	0
=			Italy	MV Agusta	2	0
=			United Kingdom	MV Agusta	2	0
=	Walter Reichert		Germany	NSU	2	0
=			Netherlands	Morini	2	0
17	Georg Braun		Germany	Mondial	1	0
=			Italy	MV Agusta	1	0
=			Germany	MV Agusta	1	0
=			United Kingdom	MV Agusta	1	0
=			Netherlands	Mondial	1	0
=			United Kingdom	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.