1957 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

The 1957 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the ninth 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 19 May, with German Grand Prix and ended with Nations Grand Prix in Italy on 1 September.

Season summary[]

1957 marked the end of a Golden Era in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. There had been an impressive variety of machinery competing during the 1950s including, works teams from AJS, Norton, Gilera, MV Agusta, Moto Guzzi, and BMW. That's six factories taking part with singles, twins and four-cylinder machines. Include privateer Nortons and Matchless and it made for a colorful competition.^[1]

Then the Italian firms dropped a bombshell by announcing they would pull out of racing at the conclusion of the 1957 season, citing escalating costs and dwindling motorcycle sales.^[1] MV Agusta initially went along with the pull out before reconsidering.^[1] The firm would go on to claim 17 consecutive 500cc crowns.

1957 would also mark a new era in other respects with the banning of the dustbin fairings due to their dangerous instability in crosswinds.^[1] Another harbinger of change was the introduction of two-stroke engines in competition. An East German firm named MZ placed respectably in races at the Nürburgring although few people viewed the two-strokes as a threat to the mighty four-strokes.^[1]

1957 Grand Prix season calendar[]

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Sidecars 500cc winner	Report
1	19 May	German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring	Carlo Ubbiali	Carlo Ubbiali	Libero Liberati	Libero Liberati	/
2	7 June	Isle of Man TT	Snaefell Mountain	Tarquinio Provini	Cecil Sandford	Bob McIntyre	Bob McIntyre	/	Report
3	29 June	Dutch TT	TT Circuit Assen	Tarquinio Provini	Tarquinio Provini	Keith Campbell	John Surtees	/
4	7 July	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa-Francorchamps	Tarquinio Provini	John Hartle	Keith Campbell	Libero Liberati	Schneider /
5	10 August	Ulster Grand Prix	Dundrod Circuit	Luigi Taveri	Cecil Sandford	Keith Campbell	Libero Liberati
6	1 September	Nations Grand Prix	Monza	Carlo Ubbiali	Tarquinio Provini	Bob McIntyre	Libero Liberati	/

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 Pts 1 Libero Liberati Gilera 1 2 1 1 1 32 (38) 2 Bob McIntyre Gilera 2 1 Ret 2 20 3 John Surtees MV Agusta Ret 2 1 Ret Ret 4 17 4 Geoff Duke Gilera 3 2 10 5 Jack Brett Norton Ret 4 2 Ret 9 6 Walter Zeller BMW 3 Ret 3 Ret 8 7 Keith Bryen Matchless / Norton / Moto Guzzi 13 6 3 5 7 8 Dickie Dale Moto Guzzi 4 4 6 9 Alfredo Milani Gilera Ret 3 4 10 Bob Brown Gilera 3 4 11 Terry Shepherd MV Agusta 5 Ret 6 6 4 12 Derek Minter Norton 16 9 4 3 13 Norton 28 4 3 14 Ernst Hiller BMW 6 5 3 15 Norton 29 10 5 2 16 Keith Campbell Moto Guzzi Ret 5 Ret Ret Ret 2 = Umberto Masetti MV Agusta Ret Ret 5 2 18 Norton / BMW 13 Ret 6 13 1 19 Norton 6 1 20 John Hempleman Norton Ret 7 Ret 11 0 21 Carlo Bandirola MV Agusta 7 0 = Alistair King Norton 7 0 = Bob Matthews Norton 7 0 = BMW 7 0 25 Norton 9 8 0 26 Norton 10 8 0 27 BMW Ret Ret Ret 8 0 28 BMW 8 0 = Matchless 8 0 30 Alois Huber BMW 9 11 0 31 Moto Guzzi Ret Ret Ret 9 0 = John Hartle Norton Ret Ret Ret 9 0 33 Norton Ret 10 0 34 Gilera 10 0 35 Norton 10 18 11 0 36 Bernard Codd Norton 11 0 = Norton 11 0 38 Matchless Ret 12 0 39 Norton 12 0 = Norton 12 0 = Norton 12 0 = BMW 12 0 43 BSA Ret 13 0 44 Norton 13 0 = Gilera 13 0 46 Ralph Rensen Norton Ret 14 0 47 Norton 14 0 = Norton 14 0 49 Matchless Ret 15 0 = Norton 15 Ret 0 51 Norton 16 0 52 Dennis Chapman Norton Ret 17 0 53 Norton 17 0 54 Dick Thomson Norton / Matchless Ret Ret 18 0 55 Norton 19 0 = Norton 19 0 57 BSA 27 20 0 58 Norton 20 Ret Ret 0 59 BSA Ret 21 0 60 Louis Carr Matchless 21 0 61 Norton 22 0 = Norton 22 0 63 BSA 23 0 = Arthur Wheeler Moto Guzzi 23 0 65 Norton 24 0 = AJS 24 0 67 Bob Coulter BSA 25 0 = Norton 25 0 69 Norton 26 0 = Norton 26 0 71 Norton 30 0 72 Norton 31 0 73 Norton 32 0 74 Norton 33 0 75 AJS 34 0 76 Norton 35 0 77 Norton 36 0 78 Norton 37 0 79 AJS 38 0 - Norton Ret Ret Ret 0 - Matchless Ret Ret 0 - BSA Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - John Banks Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - AJS Ret 0 - Gilera Ret 0 - Moto Guzzi Ret 0 - Dave Chadwick Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret Ret 0 - Giuseppe Colnago Moto Guzzi Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Matchless Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Gilera Ret 0 - BSA Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Matchless Ret 0 - BMW Ret 0 - Guy Ligier Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Gilera Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - BSA Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - BSA Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - BSA Ret 0 - George Salt Norton Ret 0 - Matchless Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Percy Tait Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Matchless Ret 0 - Danny Walker Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Moto Guzzi Ret 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

1957 350cc Roadracing World Championship final standings[]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Keith Campbell		Australia	Moto Guzzi	30	3
2	Bob McIntyre		United Kingdom	Gilera	22	2
3	Libero Liberati	7	Italy	Gilera	22	1
4	Keith Bryen		Australia	Moto Guzzi	12	0
5	John Hartle	8	United Kingdom	Norton	11	0
6	Giuseppe Colnago		Italy	Moto Guzzi	7	0
7	Bob Brown	17	Australia	Gilera	6	0
8	Alano Montanari	3	Italy	Moto Guzzi	5	0
9	Helmut Hallmeier		West Germany	NSU	4	0
10	Jack Brett	12	United Kingdom	Norton	3	0
10	Umberto Masetti	14	Italy	MV Agusta	3	0
10	Alfredo Milani		Italy	Gilera	3	0
10	John Surtees	4	United Kingdom	MV Agusta	3	0

1957 250cc Roadracing World Championship final standings[]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Cecil Sandford	5	United Kingdom	Mondial	26	2
2	Tarquinio Provini		Italy	Mondial	16	2
3	Sammy Miller	7	United Kingdom	Mondial	14	0
4	Roberto Colombo		Italy	MV Agusta	10	0
5	John Hartle	8	United Kingdom	MV Agusta	8	1
5	Carlo Ubbiali	1	Italy	MV Agusta	8	1
7	Luigi Taveri	2	Switzerland	MV Agusta	8	0
8	Dave Chadwick		United Kingdom	MV Agusta	7	0
9	Enrico Lorenzetti		Italy	Moto Guzzi	7	0
10	Remo Venturi	6	Italy	MV Agusta	6	0

1957 125cc Roadracing World Championship final standings[]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Tarquinio Provini	4	Italy	Mondial	30	3
2	Luigi Taveri	3	Switzerland	MV Agusta	22	1
3	Carlo Ubbiali	1	Italy	MV Agusta	22	2
4	Sammy Miller		United Kingdom	Mondial	12	0
5	Roberto Colombo		Italy	MV Agusta	11	0
6	Cecil Sandford		United Kingdom	Mondial	9	0
7	Remo Venturi		Italy	MV Agusta	6	0
8	Fortunato Libanori	5	Italy	MV Agusta	5	0
9	František Bartoš		Czechoslovakia	CZ	3	0
9	Dave Chadwick		United Kingdom	MV Agusta	3	0
9	Horst Fügner		East Germany	MZ	3	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.