1959 Motocross World Championship

The 1959 Motocross World Championship was the 3rd edition of the Motocross World Championship organized by the FIM and reserved for 500cc motorcycles.^[1]

1959 Motocross World Championship
Action from the 1959 500cc Dutch Grand Prix, held in Norg on 26 July 1959.
Organizer	FIM
Duration	12 April/26 August
Number of races	11
Number of manufacturers	8
Champions
500cc	Sten Lundin
250cc[a]	Rolf Tibblin

Summary

After five editions of the European Championship, from 1952 to 1956, the championship from 1957 took the name of the World Championship, at least for the 500cc class. The 250cc class, introduced this season, will also dispute five running-in seasons, from 1957 to 1961, a period in which it will take on the name of the European Cup, to become World Championship as well starting from the 1962 season.^[1]

From April 12 to August 23, the 500cc class held 9 grands prix which awarded points to the first six classified competitors, respectively: 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1. The score in the final classification of each competitor was calculated on the best four results.^[2]

Grands Prix

500cc

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Location	Winner	Team	Report
1	April 12	Austrian Grand Prix	Sittendorf	Sten Lundin	Monark	Report
2	April 26	Swiss Grand Prix	Geneva	Bill Nilsson	Crescent-AJS	Report
3	May 10	Danish Grand Prix	Rjenberg	Les Archer Jr.	Norton	Report
4	May 17	French Grand Prix	Mayenne	Les Archer Jr.	Norton	Report
5	June 14	Italian Grand Prix	Imola	Sten Lundin	Monark	Report
6	June 21	West German Grand Prix	Bielstein	Sten Lundin	Monark	Report
7	July 5	British Grand Prix	Shrewsbury	Jeff Smith	BSA	Report
8	July 26	Dutch Grand Prix	Norg	Broer Dirkx	BSA	Report
9	August 2	Belgian Grand Prix	Des Houlpaix - Jupille	Bill Nilsson	Crescent-AJS	Report
10	August 9	Luxembourg Grand Prix	Ettelbruck	Sten Lundin	Monark	Report
11	August 23	Swedish Grand Prix	Saxtorp	Bill Nilsson	Crescent-AJS	Report
Sources:[3][4]

250cc

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Location	Winner	Team	Report
1	April 12	Austrian Grand Prix	Sittendorf	Miloslav Soucek	ESO	Report
2	May 11	Swiss Grand Prix	Geneva	Brian Stonebridge	Greeves	Report
3	April 26	Belgian Grand Prix	Ypres	Jaromír Čížek	Jawa	Report
4	May 17	East German Grand Prix	Teterow	Jaromír Čížek	Jawa	Report
5	May 24	Czechoslovak Grand Prix	Divoká Šárka	Jaromír Čížek	Jawa	Report
6	May 31	Polish Grand Prix	Katowice-Zabrze	Jaromír Čížek	Jawa	Report
7	June 7	West German Grand Prix	Ludweiler	Rolf Tibblin	Husqvarna	Report
8	June 21	Italian Grand Prix	Pinerolo	Brian Stonebridge	Greeves	Report
9	June 28	French Grand Prix	Cassel	Rolf Tibblin	Husqvarna	Report
10	July 12	Dutch Grand Prix	Lichtenvoorde	Rolf Tibblin	Husqvarna	Report
11	July 19	British Grand Prix	Beenhan Park	Rolf Tibblin	Husqvarna	Report
12	August 9	Luxembourg Grand Prix	Ettelbruck	Rolf Tibblin	Husqvarna	Report
13	August 16	Swedish Grand Prix	Vetlanda	Rolf Tibblin	Husqvarna	Report
Sources:[5][6]

Final standings

500cc

Points are awarded to the top 6 classified finishers. For the final championship standings, half of the competitors' results + 1 are retained. Thus with 11 500cc Grand Prix, the 6 best results are retained. With 13 250cc Grand Prix, the 7 best results are retained.^[1]

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Points	8	6	4	3	2	1

Pos	Rider	Machine	AUT	CH	DEN	FRA	ITA	GER	UK	NED	BEL	LUX	SWE	Pts
1	Sten Lundin	Monark	1	2		3	1	1		4	2	1	4	44
2	Bill Nilsson	Crescent-AJS 7R	4	1		2		4			1		1	36
3	Dave Curtis	Matchless		4		5		2	2	2	3	4	3	34
4	Broer Dirkx	BSA	2	6	3			3	4	1			6	27
5	Les Archer Jr.	Norton		3	1	1					4			23
6	Jeff Smith	BSA				4	6	5	1		6	2		21
7	Don Rickman	Triumph-Métisse					3		3			3		12
8	Lars Gustavsson	Monark						6	6	3			2	12
9	René Baeten	AJS 7R special			2					6		5		9
10	Derek Rickman	Triumph-Métisse					2							6
11	Hubert Scaillet	Matchless	3									6		5
12	Nic Jansen	Saroléa			5		4							5
13	Rolf Tibblin	Husqvarna		5							5			4
	John Draper	BSA							5	5				4
15	Boris Rasbro	BSA			4									3
16	Ove Lundell	Monark					5							2
	Jaw Rombauts	BSA	5											2
	Raymond Sigvardsson	Matchless											5	2
19	Gunnar Johansson	Crescent-AJS 7R	6											1
	Ejvind Hansen	BSA			6									1
	Jean Hazianis	BSA				6								1
Source:[4]

250cc

Pos	Rider	Machine	AUT	CH	BEL	GDR	CSK	POL	RFA	ITA	FRA	NED	UK	LUX	SWE	Pts
1	Rolf Tibblin	Husqvarna					4		1		1	1	1	1	1	51
2	Brian Stonebridge	Greeves		1	1				4	1	2		6	2		40
3	Jaromír Čížek	Jawa	3			1	1	1		2						34
4	Jaroslav Kmoch	Jawa	2	2		4	5	3	3	3						29
5	Stig Rickardsson	Husqvarna				2		4	2		5	2				23
6	Frantisek Ron	Jawa	6	5			6	2	5	4	3		3			22
7	Lennart Dahlén	Husqvarna	5	3	3	5				6	4	3			4	22
8	Miloslav Soucek	ESO	1			3			6							13
9	Torsten Hallman	Husqvarna										4			2	9
10	Dave Bickers	Greeves											4	3	5	9
11	Willy Oesterle	Maico					2				6			6		8
	Fritz Betzelbacher	Maico			6	6	3							5		8
13	Jeff Smith	BSA											2			6
	Fernand Neri	Aermacchi			2											6
15	Jean Crosset	Jawa			5									4		5
16	Per Olaf Persson	Husqvarna													3	4
17	Rolf Müller	Maico		4												3
18	Emilio Ostorero	Mival		6						5						3
	Otto Walz	Maico	4													3
	Klaus Kamper	Maico			4											3
21	Eungenius Frelich	Jawa						5								2
	Sivert Eriksson	Husqvarna										5				2
	John Draper	BSA											5			2
24	Eungenius Krokowski	Jawa						6								1
	Rudi Boom	Greeves										6				1
	Ove Lundell	Husqvarna													6	1
Source:[6]

Notes

1. Now called the European Championship.