1956 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

Bill Lomas (left) and John Surtees (right), the 1956 350cc and 500cc World Champion respectively.

Carlo Ubbiali, the 1956 125cc and 250cc World Champion.

The 1956 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the eighth 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 500cc. It began on 8 June, with Isle of Man TT and ended with Nations Grand Prix in Italy on 9 September.

1956 Grand Prix season calendar[]

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Sidecars 500cc winner	Report
1	8 June	Isle of Man TT	Snaefell Mountain	Carlo Ubbiali	Carlo Ubbiali	Ken Kavanagh	John Surtees	/	Report
2	30 June	Dutch TT	TT Circuit Assen	Carlo Ubbiali	Carlo Ubbiali	Bill Lomas	John Surtees	/	Report
3	8 July	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa-Francorchamps	Carlo Ubbiali	Carlo Ubbiali	John Surtees	John Surtees	/	Report
4	22 July	German Grand Prix	Solitude	Romolo Ferri	Carlo Ubbiali	Bill Lomas	Reg Armstrong	/	Report
5	11 August	Ulster Grand Prix	Dundrod Circuit	Carlo Ubbiali	Luigi Taveri	Bill Lomas	John Hartle	/	Report
6	9 September	Nations Grand Prix	Monza	Carlo Ubbiali	Carlo Ubbiali	Libero Liberati	Geoff Duke	/	Report

Standings[]

Scoring system[]

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

500cc final standings[]

Pos Rider Machine MAN HOL BEL GER ULS NAC Pts 1 John Surtees MV Agusta 1 1 1 24 2 Walter Zeller BMW 4 2 2 Ret Ret 6 16 3 John Hartle Norton 2 1 14 4 Pierre Monneret Gilera 3 3 3 12 5 Reg Armstrong Gilera Ret 1 Ret 4 11 6 Umberto Masetti MV Agusta DNS Ret 4 2 Ret 9 7 Geoff Duke Gilera Ret Ret Ret 1 8 8 Bob Brown Matchless Ret 2 6 9 Libero Liberati Gilera 2 6 10 Norton 37 3 11 5 6 11 Jack Brett Norton 3 6 5 12 Matchless Ret 3 4 13 Keith Bryen Norton Ret 4 10 6 4 14 BMW 4 9 3 15 Norton Ret 4 3 16 Alfredo Milani Gilera 5 8 2 17 Bill Lomas Moto Guzzi 5 Ret Ret Ret Ret 2 18 Matchless Ret 5 Ret Ret 2 19 Carlo Bandirola MV Agusta 5 2 = Norton 5 2 21 Ernst Hiller BMW 6 8 10 1 22 Matchless 6 1 = Norton 6 1 24 Norton 7 9 0 25 Norton 15 7 0 26 Norton 22 Ret 7 Ret 0 27 Alois Huber BMW RS 7 Ret 0 28 Norton 7 0 = Roberto Colombo MV Agusta 7 0 30 John Storr Norton 8 Ret 12 0 31 Dave Chadwick Norton 23 8 0 32 Norton 8 0 = Matchless 8 0 34 Velocette / Norton 24 Ret 9 Ret 0 35 Bob Matthews Norton 9 Ret 0 36 BMW 9 0 = George Salt Norton 9 0 38 Dennis Chapman Norton 10 11 0 39 Matchless 18 10 13 17 0 40 Angus Martin Matchless Ret 10 0 41 Norton Manx 10 Ret 0 42 BMW Ret 11 11 0 43 Ralph Rensen Norton 11 13 0 44 Norton 11 0 45 Norton Ret Ret 12 0 = Norton Ret Ret 12 0 47 Norton 12 0 = Norton 12 0 49 MV Agusta 13 0 = Norton 13 0 = BMW 13 0 52 Frank Perris Matchless 14 Ret 0 53 Norton DNS 14 0 = Norton 14 0 = Norton 14 0 56 Norton 15 0 = Norton 15 0 = Norton 15 0 59 Norton 16 0 = Matchless 16 0 = Norton 16 0 62 BSA 17 0 = Norton 17 0 64 BSA 41 18 0 = Norton 18 0 66 Norton 19 0 = Norton 19 0 68 Matchless 20 0 69 Matchless 21 Ret 0 70 Norton 25 0 71 Matchless 26 0 72 Louis Carr Matchless 27 0 73 Norton 28 Ret 0 74 Norton 29 0 75 Dick Thomson Matchless 30 Ret 0 76 Norton 31 0 77 Norton 32 0 78 Norton 33 0 79 Norton 34 0 80 Norton 35 0 81 AJS 36 Ret 0 82 Norton 38 0 83 Norton 39 0 84 BSA 40 0 85 AJS 42 0 86 BSA 43 0 87 BSA 44 0 88 Norton 45 0 - Keith Campbell Norton / Moto Guzzi Ret Ret Ret 0 - Norton Ret Ret 0 - Norton Ret Ret 0 - Norton Ret Ret 0 - Ken Kavanagh Moto Guzzi DNS Ret Ret DNS 0 - Olle Nygren Matchless Ret Ret 0 - Jawa Ret Ret 0 - Matchless Ret Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Horex Ret 0 - Gilera Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Gilera Ret 0 - Matchless Ret 0 - BSA Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Dickie Dale Moto Guzzi Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Matchless Ret 0 - Matchless Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - BSA Ret 0 - Robin Fitton Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Gilera Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Gustav Havel Jawa Ret 0 - Jawa Ret 0 - Norton DNS Ret 0 - Matchless Ret 0 - BSA Ret 0 - Matchless Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 = Ivor Lloyd Norton Ret 0 = Gilera Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Bob McIntyre Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Moto Guzzi Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Matchless Ret 0 - BSA Ret 0 - AJS Ret 0 - Terry Shepherd Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - František Šťastný Jawa Ret 0 - Matchless Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Pike-BSA Ret 0 - Jawa Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Arthur Wheeler Moto Guzzi Ret 0 - BSA Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton DNS 0 - Rod Coleman Norton DNS 0 - Norton DNS 0 - Derek Minter BSA DNS 0 - Norton DNS 0 - Norton DNS 0 - BSA DNS 0 - Norton DNS 0 - Norton DNS 0 - Norton DNS 0 Pos Rider Bike MAN HOL BEL GER ULS NAC 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	Bill Lomas		United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	24	3
2	Dickie Dale		United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	17	0
=	August Hobl		Germany	DKW	17	0
4	John Surtees		United Kingdom	MV Agusta	14	1
5	Cecil Sandford		United Kingdom	DKW	13	0
6	Ken Kavanagh		Australia	Moto Guzzi	10	1
7	Libero Liberati		Italy	Gilera	8	1
8	John Hartle		United Kingdom	Norton	8	0
9			United Kingdom	AJS	6	0
10			Germany	DKW	6	0
11	Roberto Colombo		Italy	MV Agusta	4	0
12	Jack Brett		United Kingdom	Norton	3	0
13			Netherlands	DKW	3	0
14	Umberto Masetti		Italy	MV Agusta	2	0
=			New Zealand	AJS	2	0
=			South Africa	Norton	2	0
17	Bob Brown		Australia	AJS	1	0
=	Bob Matthews		United Kingdom	Norton	1	0
=			United Kingdom	Norton	1	0

250cc Standings[]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Carlo Ubbiali		Italy	MV Agusta	32	5
2	Luigi Taveri		Switzerland	MV Agusta	26	1
3	Enrico Lorenzetti		Italy	Moto Guzzi	10	0
4	Roberto Colombo		Italy	MV Agusta	9	0
=	Horst Kassner		Germany	NSU	9	0
6	Remo Venturi		Italy	MV Agusta	8	0
7	Sammy Miller		United Kingdom	NSU	7	0
8	Hans Baltisberger		Germany	NSU	7	0
9	Arthur Wheeler		United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	5	0
10			New Zealand	NSU	3	0
=	Kees Koster		Netherlands	NSU	3	0
12	František Bartoš		Czechoslovakia	ČZ	2	0
=			United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	2	0
=			Netherlands	NSU	2	0
=	Alano Montanari		Italy	Moto Guzzi	2	0
=	Bob Brown		Australia	NSU	2	0
17			France	NSU	1	0
=			Switzerland	NSU	1	0
=			Germany	NSU	1	0
=	Jiří Koštíř		Czechoslovakia	ČZ	1	0

125cc Standings[]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Carlo Ubbiali		Italy	MV Agusta	32	5
2	Romolo Ferri		Italy	Gilera	14	1
3	Luigi Taveri		Switzerland	MV Agusta	12	0
4	Tarquinio Provini		Italy	Mondial	10	0
5	Fortunato Libanori		Italy	MV Agusta	9	0
6			Spain	Montesa	6	0
7	August Hobl		Germany	DKW	6	0
8			Germany	DKW	5	0
9	Pierre Monneret		France	Gilera	4	0
=			Spain	Montesa	4	0
=			Italy	Mondial	4	0
=			United Kingdom	MV Agusta	4	0
13	Cecil Sandford		United Kingdom	Mondial	4	0
14			Spain	Montesa	3	0
=			United Kingdom	MV Agusta	3	0
16			Italy	Ducati	2	0
=	Dave Chadwick		United Kingdom	LEF	2	0
=			United Kingdom	MV Agusta	2	0
=	František Bartoš		Czechoslovakia	ČZ	1	0
=			Gibraltar	Montesa	1	0
=			Czechoslovakia	ČZ	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.