X-Nico

unusual facts about 500cc



Similar

Alain Chevallier

Chevallier would move up to the premier 500cc class in 1984, building a race bike using Honda's NS500 engine.

Alfredo Milani

His best year was in 1951 when he won two Grand Prix races and finished second to Geoff Duke in the 500cc world championship.

Alistair King

His best season was in 1961 when he finished the year in fifth place in the 500cc world championship.

Benedicto Caldarella

He won in his only Grand Prix race at the 1962 500cc Argentine Grand Prix.

Brian Ball

He competed in only one Grand Prix race during the 1968 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, finishing the year in 12th place in the 500cc world championship.

Dieter König

They were used in Grand Prix motorcycle racing powering Kim Newcombe to second place in the 500cc class of the 1973 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, as well powering Rolf Steinhausen/Josef Huber to win two World Sidecar Championships.

Eric Geboers

Nicknamed The Kid, he was the first person to win world championships in the 125cc, 250cc and 500cc divisions.

Gilberto Milani

His best year was in 1969 when he finished ninth in the 500cc world championship.

GP500

After having been tested and approved by many of the contemporaries of the Motorcycle Grand Prix paddock (including Kenny Roberts Jr and Valentino Rossi, who would both go on to win on 500cc motorcycles), the game was released in 1999 and achieved popularity within the sim racing communities around the world for being the most advanced motorcycle racing game at the time.

Hawkstone Park Motocross Circuit

Popular singer Roy Orbison visited Hawkstone Park as a spectator at the 1965 500cc British Grand Prix.

Jaak van Velthoven

Van Velthoven's best individual performance was a third place in the 500cc World Championship in 1973 with the Yamaha factory racing team.

Jarno Saarinen

Finally, Saarinen was ready to challenge Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read in the 500cc class with competitive equipment.

Lakeside International Raceway

“If you can learn to race a motorbike at Lakeside, you can compete at any race track in the world.” Mick Doohan, 5 time 500cc Motorcycle Grand Prix World Champion.

Quarterbridge Road

During the 1953 Senior TT, Les Graham the inaugural 1949 500cc World Champion riding a 500cc MV Agusta motor-cycle on lap 2 of the race lost control on the uneven surface of the Quarterbridge Road and crashed fatally.

Raymond Roche

His best year in Grand Prix racing was in 1984 when he finished third in the 500cc world championship behind Eddie Lawson and Randy Mamola.

Ron Chandler

His best season was in 1969, when he finished in seventh place in the 500cc world championship.

Shayne King

King began competing in the F.I.M. world championships in 1993 and clinched the 500cc title in 1996 riding for the KTM team.

Teuvo Länsivuori

He had his most successful years in 1973 when he finished in second place behind Giacomo Agostini in the 350cc World Championship, second in the 250 championship to Dieter Braun, and in 1976 when he finished second to his Suzuki team-mate Barry Sheene, in the 500cc world championship.

Tom Herron

For the 1979 season, he finally got his big break, as a full works, manufacturer backed rider for the Texaco Heron Suzuki team in the 500cc world championship, alongside two-time world 500cc world champion Barry Sheene, and future Truck racer Steve Parrish.

Willy Bauer

Bauer moved back to the 500cc class with the KTM factory racing team in 1976 and placed tenth in the world championship.


see also