1959 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

John Surtees (pictured in 1958) won all races to retain his 350cc and 500cc World Championship title.

Carlo Ubbiali (pictured in 1956) successfully defended his 125cc World Championship title. He also became the 250cc World Champion in 1959.

The 1959 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 11th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of seven Grand Prix races in five classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on 17 May, with French Grand Prix and ended with Nations Grand Prix in Italy on 6 September.

1959 Grand Prix season calendar[]

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Sidecars 500cc winner	Report
1	17 May	French Grand Prix	Charade Circuit			John Surtees	John Surtees	Scheidegger/
2	6 June	Isle of Man TT	Snaefell Mountain	Tarquinio Provini	Tarquinio Provini	John Surtees	John Surtees	Schneider /	Report
3	14 June	German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring	Carlo Ubbiali	Carlo Ubbiali	John Surtees	John Surtees	Camathias /
4	27 June	Dutch TT	TT Circuit Assen	Carlo Ubbiali	Tarquinio Provini	Bob Brown †	John Surtees	Camathias /
5	5 July	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa-Francorchamps	Carlo Ubbiali	Gary Hocking †		John Surtees	Schneider /
6	26 July	Swedish Grand Prix		Tarquinio Provini	Gary Hocking	John Surtees	Bob Brown †
7	8 August	Ulster Grand Prix	Dundrod Circuit	Mike Hailwood	Gary Hocking	John Surtees	John Surtees
8	6 September	Nations Grand Prix††	Monza	Ernst Degner	Carlo Ubbiali	John Surtees	John Surtees

† Race did not count towards the World Championship.

†† The Nations Grand Prix also held a non-championship 175 cc race, won by the Italian, .

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 John Surtees MV Agusta 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 32 (56) 2 Remo Venturi MV Agusta 2 2 3 5 2 22 (24) 3 Bob Brown Norton 9 3 3 2 4 5 4 17 (22) 4 Geoff Duke Norton 9 3 3 3 12 5 Gary Hocking Norton 3 Ret Ret 2 Ret Ret 10 6 Bob McIntyre Norton 5 2 8 7 Alistair King Norton 2 6 7 8 Dickie Dale BMW 4 Ret Ret 4 8 7 Ret 6 9 Terry Shepherd Norton 5 Ret 4 5 10 John Hempleman Norton 17 5 Ret Ret 8 5 4 11 Matchless 4 14 3 12 Ken Kavanagh Norton DNS 4 Ret Ret 3 13 Paddy Driver Norton 6 6 Ret Ret Ret 6 3 14 Jim Redman Norton Ret Ret 5 9 Ret Ret 2 15 Bob Anderson Norton 8 Ret Ret 6 1 16 Norton 12 12 6 11 1 17 Alois Huber BMW 6 1 18 Tom Phillis Norton 7 16 Ret Ret 7 Ret 0 19 BMW 11 10 7 16 8 0 20 Ernst Hiller BMW 8 Ret 7 0 21 Norton Ret 7 9 11 0 22 Alan Shepherd Matchless 7 9 0 23 Matchless 8 0 = BMW 8 0 25 Ralph Rensen Norton 10 9 10 0 26 Norton 9 0 27 Derek Minter Norton Ret Ret 10 0 = Norton 10 Ret Ret 0 29 Norton 10 0 30 Norton Ret 11 0 = Norton 11 0 = BMW 11 0 33 Norton Ret 12 0 34 Norton 12 0 = Norton 12 0 = Matchless 12 0 37 Mike Hailwood MV Agusta / Norton Ret 13 Ret 0 = Alfredo Milani Gilera Ret Ret 13 0 39 Guy Ligier Norton 13 0 = Norton 13 0 = Robin Fitton Norton Ret 13 0 = Bill Smith Matchless 13 0 43 Norton 14 0 = Norton 14 0 = Norton 14 0 = Matchless 14 0 47 Norton Ret 15 0 48 Norton 15 0 = Norton 15 0 = Norton 15 0 51 Tommy McLeod Norton 16 0 = Norton 16 0 53 Norton Ret Ret 17 0 = Matchless Ret 17 0 55 Norton 17 0 56 Norton / Matchless 18 22 0 = Norton 18 0 58 Matchless 19 0 = Fred Stevens AJS 19 0 60 Norton 20 0 = BMW 20 0 62 Norton 21 0 = Norton 21 0 64 Norton 22 0 66 Norton 23 0 67 AJS 24 0 68 BSA 25 0 69 Norton 26 0 - Norton Ret Ret Ret 0 - Norton Ret Ret 0 - Jack Findlay Norton Ret Ret 0 - John Hartle MV Agusta Ret Ret 0 - Norton Ret Ret 0 - Ernesto Brambilla MV Agusta Ret 0 - Jack Brett Norton Ret 0 - Matchless Ret 0 - Louis Carr Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Gilera Ret 0 - Matchless Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Dick Creith Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Peter Ferbrache Matchless Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - AJS Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Triumph Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - BSA Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Lothar John BMW Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Angus Martin Norton Ret 0 - Gilera Ret 0 - Gilera Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Ret 0 - Norton Dunstall Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Frank Perris Norton Ret 0 - AJS Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Gilera Ret 0 - Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Arthur Wheeler AJS Ret 0 - Norton Ret 0 - Gilera 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

350cc Standings[]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	John Surtees		United Kingdom	MV Agusta	48	6
2	John Hartle		United Kingdom	MV Agusta	16	0
3	Bob Brown		Australia	Norton	14	0
4	Gary Hocking		Rhodesia	Norton	12	0
5	Geoff Duke		United Kingdom	Norton	10	0
6	Remo Venturi		Italy	MV Agusta	6	0
7	Dickie Dale		United Kingdom	AJS	6	0
8	John Hempleman		New Zealand	Norton	6	0
9	Bob Anderson		United Kingdom	Norton	5	0
10	Alistair King		United Kingdom	Norton	4	0
=	Ernesto Brambilla		Italy	MV Agusta	4	0
12	Paddy Driver		South Africa	Norton	4	0
13	Mike Hailwood		United Kingdom	AJS	2	0
=	Tom Phillis		Australia	Norton	2	0
15	Jim Redman		Rhodesia	Norton	2	0
16	Terry Shepherd		United Kingdom	Norton	1	0
=	Dave Chadwick		United Kingdom	Norton	1	0
=	Gilberto Milani		Italy	Norton	1	0

250cc Standings[]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Carlo Ubbiali		Italy	MV Agusta	28	2
2	Tarquinio Provini		Italy	MV Agusta	16	2
=	Gary Hocking		Rhodesia	MZ	16	2
4	Ernst Degner		East Germany	MZ	14	0
5	Mike Hailwood		United Kingdom	Mondial	13	0
6	Emilio Mendogni		Italy	Morini	10	0
7	Derek Minter		United Kingdom	Morini	7	0
8	Tommy Robb		United Kingdom	GMS-MZ	7	0
9	Horst Fügner		East Germany	MZ	6	0
10	Geoff Duke		United Kingdom	Benelli	5	0
11	Dave Chadwick		United Kingdom	MV Agusta	4	0
12	Libero Liberati		Italy	Morini	3	0
13	Horst Kassner		West Germany	NSU	2	0
=			United Kingdom	NSU	2	0
=	Luigi Taveri		Switzerland	MZ	2	0
16	Rudi Thalhammer		Austria	NSU	1	0
=	Dickie Dale		United Kingdom	Benelli	1	0
18			West Germany	Adler	1	0

125cc Standings[]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Carlo Ubbiali		Italy	MV Agusta	30	3
2	Tarquinio Provini		Italy	MV Agusta	28	2
3	Mike Hailwood		United Kingdom	Ducati	20	1
4	Luigi Taveri		Switzerland	MZ / Ducati	14	0
5	Ernst Degner		East Germany	MZ	13	1
6	Bruno Spaggiari		Italy	Ducati	8	0
7	Derek Minter		United Kingdom	MZ	8	0
8	Ken Kavanagh		Australia	Ducati	8	0
9	Gary Hocking		Rhodesia	MZ / MV Agusta	7	0
10	Horst Fügner		East Germany	MZ	6	0
11			East Germany	MZ	4	0
12			Italy	Ducati	3	0
13	Alberto Pagani		Italy	Ducati	2	0
14	Naomi Taniguchi		Japan	Honda	1	0
=			West Germany	Ducati	1	0
=			Sweden	Ducati	1	0
=	Arthur Wheeler		United Kingdom	Ducati	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". Archived from the original on 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2010-07-06.