The 1971 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 23rd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of twelve Grand Prix races in six classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc, 50cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on 9 May, with Austrian Grand Prix and ended with Spanish Grand Prix on 26 September.

Season summary

Giacomo Agostini would claim his tenth world championship in 1971, passing Carlo Ubbiali and Mike Hailwood as the all time championship leader.^[1] Angel Nieto challenged for the 50cc and 125cc titles. A crash in the final 50cc race handed the title to Dutchman Jan de Vries but, Nieto was able to claim the 125 crown over a young Barry Sheene.^[1] Phil Read captured the 250 championship on a private Yamaha-powered Eric Cheney-designed chassis, after falling out with the Yamaha factory.^[1][2]

Agostini won the 350 title for the fourth year in a row but a newcomer served notice when young Finn, Jarno Saarinen, won his first Grand Prix at the Czechoslovakian round then won again in Italy.^[1] Agostini had things his way in the 500cc class, winning the first eight rounds of the eleven race series against minimal factory-sponsored opposition.^[1] For the second consecutive year a New Zealand rider finished second in the premier class – Ginger Molloy in 1970 and Keith Turner in 1971.^[1]

Jack Findlay's victory at the 1971 Ulster Grand Prix not only marked the first victory for a Suzuki motorcycle in the premier 500cc class, but also the first-ever 500cc class victory for a motorcycle powered by a two stroke engine.^[3][4] Kawasaki won their first 500cc class victory at the season ending Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama when Dave Simmonds won the race after Agostini sat out the event after already winning the championship.^[1] The inaugural Austrian Grand Prix was held at the new high-speed Salzburgring.

1971 Grand Prix season calendar

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit	50cc winner	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Sidecars 500cc winner	Report
1	9 May	Austrian Grand Prix	Salzburgring	Jan de Vries	Angel Nieto	Silvio Grassetti	Giacomo Agostini	Giacomo Agostini	Butscher / Huber	Report
2	16 May	West German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring	Jan de Vries	Dave Simmonds	Phil Read	Giacomo Agostini	Giacomo Agostini	Auerbacher / Hahn	Report
3	12 June	Isle of Man TT	Snaefell Mountain		Chas Mortimer	Phil Read	Tony Jefferies	Giacomo Agostini	Schauzu / Kalauch	Report
4	26 June	Dutch TT	Assen	Angel Nieto	Angel Nieto	Phil Read	Giacomo Agostini	Giacomo Agostini	Owesle / Kremer	Report
5	4 July	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa-Francorchamps	Jan de Vries	Barry Sheene	Silvio Grassetti		Giacomo Agostini	Schauzu / Kalauch	Report
6	11 July	East German Grand Prix	Sachsenring	Angel Nieto	Angel Nieto	Dieter Braun	Giacomo Agostini	Giacomo Agostini		Report
7	18 July	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Brno	Barry Sheene	Angel Nieto	János Drapál	Jarno Saarinen		Schauzu / Kalauch	Report
8	25 July	Swedish Grand Prix	Anderstorp	Angel Nieto	Barry Sheene	Rodney Gould	Giacomo Agostini	Giacomo Agostini		Report
9	1 August	Finnish Grand Prix	Imatra		Barry Sheene	Rodney Gould	Giacomo Agostini	Giacomo Agostini	Owesle / Rutterford	Report
10	14 August	Ulster Grand Prix	Dundrod			Ray McCullough	Peter Williams	Jack Findlay	Owesle / Rutterford	Report
11	12 September	Nations Grand Prix	Monza	Jan de Vries	Gilberto Parlotti	Gyula Marsovsky	Jarno Saarinen	Alberto Pagani		Report
12	26 September	Spanish Grand Prix	Jarama	Jan de Vries	Angel Nieto	Jarno Saarinen	Teuvo Länsivuori	Dave Simmonds		Report

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top ten finishers in each race. Only the best of six races were counted on 50cc, 125cc, 350cc and 500cc championships, best of seven in 250cc, while in the Sidecars, the best of five races were counted.

500cc final standings

Pos Rider Machine AUT GER MAN HOL BEL DDR SWE FIN ULS NAC ESP Pts 1 Giacomo Agostini MV Agusta 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Ret 90 (120) 2 Keith Turner Coleman-Suzuki 2 Ret 7 4 Ret 2 2 4 Ret 6 5 58 (67) 3 Rob Bron Suzuki 2 2 4 8 Ret 3 2 57 4 Dave Simmonds Kawasaki Ret 3 Ret 6 2 3 1 52 5 Jack Findlay Suzuki / Jada 4 Ret Ret 3 10 5 1 5 6 50 (51) 6 Eric Offenstadt Kawasaki 3 Ret Ret 2 Ret Ret Ret Ret 3 32 7 Tommy Robb Hurst-Seeley / Matchless 6 15 7 Ret 3 9 3 31 8 Alberto Pagani Linto / MV Agusta 7 5 Ret Ret Ret Ret 7 1 29 9 Kaarlo Koivuniemi Seeley-Matchless 5 5 Ret 2 24 10 Ron Chandler Kawasaki 3 Ret 5 Ret 8 Ret 19 11 Frank Perris Suzuki / Seeley / Linto 3 7 Ret Ret Ret 14 12 Lothar John Yamaha 5 Ret 12 Ret Ret Ret 8 7 13 13 Gianpiero Zubani Kawasaki Ret 2 12 14 Peter Williams Arter-Matchless 2 12 15 Bo Granath Husqvarna 8 Ret Ret 8 Ret 6 10 Ret 12 16 Billie Nelson Paton 6 6 10 11 17 Ernst Hiller Kawasaki Ret 11 Ret Ret 3 10 18 Maurice Hawthorne Kawasaki Ret 4 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 8 19 Hans-Rudolf Brünger Bultaco 4 Ret 8 20 Benjamin Grau Bultaco 4 8 = Selwyn Griffiths Cowles-Matchless 4 8 = Ulfe Nilsson Seeley-Matchless 4 8 = Phil Read Ducati 4 8 = Percy Tait Seeley-Matchless 4 8 25 Ivan Carlsson Yamaha Ret Ret 11 6 Ret Ret Ret 9 7 26 Jim Curry Seeley-Matchless Ret 5 Ret 6 27 Gerry Mateer Norton Ret 5 6 = Gordon Pantall Padgett-Kawasaki 5 Ret 6 29 Karl Auer Matchless Ret Ret 6 Ret 5 30 Matti Salonen Yamaha Ret Ret 6 5 31 Roger Sutcliffe Matchless 6 5 32 Hans-Otto Butenuth BMW 7 10 Ret Ret 5 33 Piet Van der Wal Kawasaki Ret 9 Ret 8 5 34 Peter Jones Suzuki 19 Ret 7 4 35 Jean Campiche Honda 7 Ret 4 36 Tom Herron Seeley 7 4 = Morgan Radberg Monark 7 4 38 Kurt-Willy Bertsch BMW 8 3 = Joan Bordons Bultaco 8 3 = Jerry Lancaster Yamaha 8 3 = Charlie Sanby Seeley-Matchless 8 3 42 Paul Eickelberg Yamaha 9 10 Ret 3 43 Johnny Bengtsson Kawasaki 9 Ret 2 = Pentti Lehtelä Yamaha 9 Ret 2 45 Tom Dickie Cowles-Matchless 9 2 = Horst Dzierzawa Yamaha 9 2 = Giuseppe Mongardi Ducati 9 2 = Donnie Robinson Padgett-Yamaha 9 2 49 John Dodds König Ret 10 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 1 50 Emanuele Maugliani Seeley-Matchless 10 1 = Rob Noorlander Norton 10 1 = Stan Woods Norton 10 1 53 Brian Moses Norton 11 16 0 54 Charlie Dobson Seeley Ret Ret Ret 11 0 55 Werner Bergold Kawasaki Ret 11 Ret 0 56 Larbi Habbiche Yamaha 11 0 57 Robert Graham Norton Ret 12 0 58 Norman Price Norton 12 0 59 Alan Lawton Norton 13 13 0 60 Rolf Rott Kawasaki 13 0 61 Derek Lee Matchless 14 0 = Roger Nichols Matchless 14 0 63 Roy Reid Seeley 32 15 0 64 Roy Bisbey Norton 16 0 65 Geoff Barry Oakley-Matchless / Seeley 17 Ret 0 66 Brian Scully Scott 17 0 67 Bob Ramsey Seeley 18 0 = Jeff Wade Tickle Manx Norton 18 0 69 Chris Neve Seeley 30 19 0 70 Don Harris Norton 20 0 71 Dave Foulkes Norton 21 0 72 Jeff Boniface Norton 22 0 73 Brian Edwards Norton 23 0 74 Fred Walton Velocette Metisse 24 0 75 Len Williams Aermacchi 25 0 76 Tom Loughridge Suzuki 26 0 77 Gordon Daniels TWS Suzuki 27 0 78 Jim Ashton Seeley 28 0 79 John Stanley Seeley 29 0 80 Trevor Armstrong Norton 31 0 – Gyula Marsovszky Linto Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 – Theo Louwes Kawasaki Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 – Hannu Kuparinen Suzuki Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 – Martin Carney Kawasaki Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 – Cristian Ravel Kawasaki Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 – Alan Barnett Aermacchi Ret Ret Ret 0 – Silvano Bertarelli Kawasaki Ret Ret Ret 0 – Karl Hoppe König Ret Ret Ret 0 – Börje Andersson Honda Ret Ret 0 – Vincent Duckett Seeley Ret Ret 0 – Roberto Gallina Paton Ret Ret 0 – Steve Ellis Yamaha Ret Ret 0 – Sven-Olov Gunnarsson Kawasaki Ret Ret 0 – Tony Jefferies Arter-Matchless Ret Ret 0 – Kai Kuparinen Suzuki Ret Ret 0 – Billy McCosh Seeley Ret Ret 0 – Ginger Molloy Kawasaki Ret Ret 0 – Borge Nielsen Honda Ret Ret 0 – Bill Smith Seeley / Kawasaki Ret Ret 0 – John Williams Arter-Matchless Ret Ret 0 – Brian Adams Norton Ret Ret 0 – Abe Alexander Seeley Ret 0 – Tony Anderson Matchless Ret 0 – Martin Ashwood Quaife Metisse Ret 0 – Sergio Baroncini Ducati Ret 0 – Jöram Blom Seeley Ret 0 – Hans Braumandl Matchless Ret 0 – Clive Brown Norton Ret 0 – Paolo Campanelli Kawasaki Ret 0 – Alistair Copeland Norton Ret 0 – Walter Dawson Norton Ret 0 – Terry Dennehy Honda Ret 0 – Derek Filler Seeley Ret 0 – George Fogarty Cunningham-Suzuki Ret 0 – Bill Fulton Stafford-Matchless Ret 0 – Denis Gallagher Seeley Ret 0 – Alex George Kawasaki Ret 0 – Peter Gibson Seeley Ret 0 – Tony Godfrey Tickle Manx Norton Ret 0 – Campbell Gorman Seeley Ret 0 – Don Grant Norton Ret 0 – Terry Grotefeld Padgett-Yamaha Ret 0 – Billie Guthrie Yamaha Ret 0 – Osmo Hansen Linto Ret 0 – Morten Hauger Honda Ret 0 – Harris Healey Norton Ret 0 – Bob Health BSA Ret 0 – Keith Heckles Norton Ret 0 – Ari Heikkilä Matchless Ret 0 – John Hughes Yamaha Ret 0 – Albert Hund Honda Ret 0 – Ted Janssen Suzuki Ret 0 – Malcolm Jefery Norton Ret 0 – Lasse Johansson HM Ret 0 – Arpad Juhos Aermacchi Ret 0 – Austin Kinsella Matchless Ret 0 – Ray Knight Hughes-Triumph Ret 0 – Udo Kochanski BMW Ret 0 – Otto Labitzke BMW Ret 0 – Horst Lahfeld König Ret 0 – Vasco Loro Yamaha Ret 0 – Alois Maxwald Linto Ret 0 – Ray McCullough Seeley Ret 0 – Ian McGregor Norton Ret 0 – Stephen Murray Seeley Ret 0 – Godfrey Nash Honda Ret 0 – Oiva Papunen Kawasaki Ret 0 – Anssi Resko Suzuki Ret 0 – Walter Rungg Aermacchi Ret 0 – Hasse Rutgersson HRS Ret 0 – Reinhard Scholtis Kawasaki Ret 0 – Alfred Schwander Suzuki Ret 0 – Bruno Spaggiari Ducati Ret 0 – Bo Strandell Linto Ret 0 – Claus Tarum Honda Ret 0 – Ken Tilley Norton Ret 0 – Jupp Tröblinger König Ret 0 – Dennis Trollope Seeley Ret 0 – Brian Walsh Norton Ret 0 – Carl Ward Norton Ret 0 – Manfred Weingartner Matchless Ret 0 – Max Wiener Aermacchi Ret 0 – Louis With Kawasaki Ret 0 – Ray Wittich Saunders-Norton Ret 0 – Benedetto Zambotti Kawasaki Ret 0 Pos Rider Bke AUT GER MAN HOL BEL DDR SWE FIN ULS NAC ESP Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third 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

1971 350 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Giacomo Agostini	1	Italy	MV Agusta	90	6
2	Jarno Saarinen		Finland	Yamaha	63	2
3	Ivan Carlsson		Sweden	Yamaha	39	0
4	Theo Bult		Netherlands	Yamaha	36	0
5	Paul Smart		United Kingdom	Yamaha	34	0
6	Werner Pfirter		Switzerland	Yamaha	33	0
7	Bo Granath	10	Sweden	Yamaha	30	0
7	László Szabó		Hungary	Yamaha	29	0
9	Tony Jefferies		United Kingdom	Yamaha	25	1
10	Teuvo Lansivuori		Finland	Yamaha	25	1

1971 250 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Phil Read		United Kingdom	Yamaha	73	3
2	Rodney Gould	1	United Kingdom	Yamaha	68	2
3	Jarno Saarinen	4	Finland	Yamaha	64	1
4	John Dodds		Australia	Yamaha	59	0
5	Dieter Braun		West Germany	Yamaha	58	1
6	Gyula Marsovsky	7	Switzerland	Yamaha	57	1
7	Silvio Grassetti	10	Italy	MZ	43	2
8	Chas Mortimer	6	United Kingdom	Yamaha	42	0
9	János Drapál		Hungary	Yamaha	26	1
10	Theo Bult	20	Netherlands	Yamaha	22	0

1971 125 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Angel Nieto	1	Spain	Derbi	87	5
2	Barry Sheene		United Kingdom	Suzuki	79	3
3	Börje Jansson	3	Sweden	Maico	64	0
4	Dieter Braun		West Germany	Maico	54	0
5	Chas Mortimer		United Kingdom	Yamaha	48	1
6	Dave Simmonds	4	United Kingdom	Kawasaki	48	1
7	Gert Bender		West Germany	Maico	41	0
8	Gilberto Parlotti		Italy	Morbidelli	39	1
9	Kent Andersson		Sweden	Yamaha	30	0
10	Jurgen Lenk		East Germany	MZ	27	0

1971 50 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Jan De Vries	5	Netherlands	Kreidler	75	5
2	Angel Nieto	1	Spain	Derbi	69	3
3	Jos Schurgers	6	Netherlands	Kreidler	42	0
4	Herman Meyers	10	Netherlands	Jamathi	41	0
5	Rudolf Kunz		West Germany	Kreidler	36	0
6	Aalt Toersen		Netherlands	Jamathi	24	0
7	Barry Sheene		United Kingdom	Kreidler	23	1
8	Gilberto Parlotti	9	Italy	Derbi	22	0
9	Federico van der Hoeven		Netherlands	Derbi	22	0
10	Jan Bruins		Netherlands	Kreidler	19	0