Bruno Kneubühler (born 3 December 1946) is a Swiss former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1972 to 1989. During his career, he competed in every Grand Prix class from 50 cc to 500cc.
Motorcycle racing career
In his first Grand Prix season in 1972, Kneubühler finished the 500cc season in third place behind the dominant MV Agusta factory racing team of Giacomo Agostini and Alberto Pagani. He also won the season-ending 350cc Spanish Grand Prix held on the Montjuich street circuit, finishing ahead of Renzo Pasolini and János Drapál.
A year later, Kneubühler showed his versatility at the 1973 Spanish Grand Prix by scoring second-place finishes in the 50cc, 250cc and 500cc classes. At the 1974 250cc Dutch TT, he scored a second-place finish ahead of third-place finisher and future three-time world champion Kenny Roberts in the American rider's first Grand Prix race. He had his best year in 1983 when he won two Grand Prix races and finished second to Angel Nieto in the 125cc class.
While he never won a championship, Kneubühler finished in second place three times, winning 5 Grand Prix races and scoring 33 podium results. He retired in 1989 at the age of 43. His lengthy Grand Prix career saw him compete against many champions from Giacomo Agostini to Mick Doohan. Kneubühler is now back in Classic racing with a Yamaha TZ 350, participating in the International Classic Grand Prix series in races such as 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Motorcycle Grand Prix results Points system from 1969 to 1987: Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 Points system from 1988 to 1991: Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Points 20 17 15 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Points Rank Wins1972 350cc Yamaha GER- FRA8 AUT- NAT- IOM- YUG5 NED9 DDR8 CZE4 SWE9 FIN4 ESP1 45 6th 1 500cc Yamaha GER- FRA4 AUT8 NAT5 IOM- YUG- NED3 BEL3 DDR4 CZE3 SWE7 FIN- ESP4 54 3rd 01973 50cc Kreidler GER- NAT2 YUG- NED1 BEL2 SWE2 ESP2 51 2nd 1 250cc Yamaha FRA- AUT- GER- IOM- YUG- NED- BEL- CZE8 SWE4 FIN6 ESP2 28 9th 0350cc Harley Davidson FRA8 AUT10 GER- NAT- IOM- YUG- 533rd0 Yamaha NED10 CZE- SWE- FIN- ESP- 500cc Yamaha FRA- AUT9 GER- IOM- YUG- NED- BEL- CZE3 SWE- FIN3 ESP2 34 6th 01974 125cc Yamaha FRA2 GER- AUT- NAT- IOM- NED1 BEL3 SWE3 CZE5 YUG6 ESP3 63 2nd 1 250cc Yamaha GER- NAT2 IOM- NED2 BEL- SWE- FIN8 CZE4 YUG- ESP4 43 5th 0 350cc Yamaha FRA6 GER- AUT- NAT- IOM- NED- SWE- FIN2 YUG- ESP- 17 12th 01975 125cc Yamaha FRA- ESP3 AUT6 GER6 NAT6 NED3 BEL8 SWE6 CZE4 YUG- 43 6th 0 250cc Yamaha FRA- ESP- GER7 NAT- IOM- NED4 BEL4 SWE- FIN- CZE9 YUG- 22 9th 0 350cc Yamaha FRA- ESP- AUT- GER- NAT- IOM- NED- FIN4 CZE- YUG- 8 20th 01976 250cc Yamaha FRA- NAT6 YUG6 IOM- NED8 BEL- SWE7 FIN- TCH5 GER5 ESP- 29 8th 0 350cc Yamaha FRA- AUT- NAT- YUG4 IOM- NED4 FIN5 TCH- GER9 ESP5 28 7th 01977 250cc Yamaha VEN- GER- NAT- ESP10 FRA6 YUG- NED- BEL- SWE- FIN- TCH- GBR- 6 26th 0 350cc Yamaha VEN- GER- NAT5 ESP4 FRA3 YUG- NED- SWE- FIN- TCH- GBR- 24 11th 0 1978 500cc Suzuki VEN- ESP- AUT10 FRA- NAT- NED- BEL- SWE- FIN10 GBR- GER- 2 29th 0 1979 125cc MBA VEN- AUT10 GER- NAT4 ESP- YUG5 NED5 BEL- SWE- FIN- GBR9 CZE6 FRA4 36 9th 0 1980 125cc MBA NAT3 ESP3 FRA- YUG4 NED7 BEL8 FIN4 GBR2 CZE4 GER6 68 4th 0 1981 250cc Rotax ARG- GER8 NAT- FRA- ESP- NED- BEL- RSM- GBR- FIN9 SWE- CZE- 5 27th 0 1982 125cc MBA ARG- AUT- FRA- ESP7 NAT7 NED- BEL- YUG- GBR9 SWE7 FIN- CZE7 RSM- GER- 18 15th 0 1983 125cc MBA FRA7 NAT5 GER4 ESP5 AUTNC YUG1 NED3 BELNC GBR2 SWE1 RSMNC 76 2nd 2 1984 125cc MBA NAT6 ESP9 GER9 FRA5 NED7 GBR4 SWENC RSMNC 27 10th 0 1985 125cc LCR ESP6 GER7 NAT4 AUT5 NED6 BEL2 FRA3 GBRNC SWENC RSM4 58 5th 0 1986 125cc MBA ESP- NAT- GER4 AUT3 NED5 BEL- FRA4 GBR- SWE4 RSM4 BWU5 54 5th 0 1987 500cc Honda JPN- ESP18 GER11 NAT14 AUTNC YUG15 NED21 FRANC GBR17 SWE14 TCHNC RSM15 POR11 BRA- ARG- 0 - 0 1988 500cc Honda JPN- USA- ESP15 EXP14 NAT19 GER25 AUT12 NED17 BEL25 YUG15 FRANC GBRNC SWE20 TCH15 BRANC 9 22nd 0 1989 500cc Honda JPN- AUS- USA14 ESP16 NATDNS GER15 AUT15 YUG16 NED16 BEL17 FRA17 GBR18 SWE14 TCH18 BRA- 6 34th 0
References