The 1962 Motocross World Championship was the 6th edition of the Motocross World Championship organized by the FIM and reserved for 500cc and 250cc motorcycles.
The FIM upgraded the 250cc European Motocross Championship to World Championship status for the 1962 season.
Summary The Husqvarna team's Rolf Tibblin won five Grand Prix races en route to claiming the first 500cc motocross world championship of his career. Swedish competitors dominated the championship, with Swedes taking the top five places in the championship.
Husqvarna also triumphed in the new 250cc motocross world championship, with Torsten Hallman winning his first world title ahead of BSA teammates Jeff Smith and Arthur Lampkin. The Greeves factory chose not to compete in the new championship, keeping two-time European motocross champion Dave Bickers at home to compete in the British championship. However, Bickers did compete in the British round of the 250cc motocross World Championship, claiming the victory at the British Grand Prix. Future six-time World Champion Joël Robert made his first World Championship appearance with a fourth-place at the 250cc Swiss Grand Prix. The ČZ factory took its first victory when factory-sponsored Vlastimil Válek won the Czechoslovak Grand Prix, heralding a decade of dominance by the Czechoslovak manufacturer.
Grands Prix 500cc RoundDateGrand PrixLocationRace 1 WinnerRace 2 WinnerOverall WinnerReport 1 April 15 Austrian Grand Prix Sittendorf Rolf Tibblin Ove Lundell Rolf Tibblin Report 2 May 20 French Grand Prix Pernes-les-Fontaines Rolf Tibblin Rolf Tibblin Rolf Tibblin Report 3 June 3 Swiss Grand Prix Bremgarten Gunnar Johansson Rolf Tibblin Gunnar Johansson Report 4 June 10 Italian Grand Prix Imola Gunnar Johansson Bill Nilsson Rolf Tibblin Report 5 June 24 Czechoslovak Grand Prix Přerov Gunnar Johansson Ove Lundell Gunnar Johansson Report 6 July 1 British Grand Prix Hawkstone Park Rolf Tibblin Rolf Tibblin Rolf Tibblin Report 7 July 29 Dutch Grand Prix Lichtenvoorde Gunnar Johansson Rolf Tibblin Rolf Tibblin Report 8 August 5 Belgian Grand Prix Namur Gunnar Johansson John Burton John Burton Report 9 August 12 Luxembourg Grand Prix Ettelbruck Bill Nilsson Gunnar Johansson Bill Nilsson Report 10 August 19 Swedish Grand Prix Knutstorp Jeff Smith Bill Nilsson Jeff Smith ReportSources:
250cc RoundDateGrand PrixLocationRace 1 WinnerRace 2 WinnerOverall WinnerReport 1 February 26 Spanish Grand Prix Ruta Don Rickman Jeff Smith Arthur Lampkin Report 2 April 8 Swiss Grand Prix Lausanne Arthur Lampkin Jeff Smith Jeff Smith Report 3 April 29 Belgian Grand Prix Loppem Torsten Hallman Arthur Lampkin Arthur Lampkin Report 4 May 6 French Grand Prix Saint Quentin Torsten Hallman Jeff Smith Torsten Hallman Report 5 May 20 Czechoslovak Grand Prix Divoká Šárka Vlastimil Válek Vlastimil Válek Vlastimil Válek Report 6 May 27 Polish Grand Prix Katowice-Zabrze Jeff Smith Jeff Smith Jeff Smith Report 7 June 3 Dutch Grand Prix Bergharen Jeff Smith Jeff Smith Jeff Smith Report 8 June 10 Luxembourg Grand Prix Schifflange Torsten Hallman Torsten Hallman Torsten Hallman Report 9 June 17 Finnish Grand Prix Ruskeasanta Aarno Erola Jeff Smith Aarno Erola Report 10 June 24 Russian Grand Prix Leningrad Torsten Hallman Torsten Hallman Torsten Hallman Report 11 July 1 West German Grand Prix Bielstein Torsten Hallman Torsten Hallman Torsten Hallman Report 12 July 8 Italian Grand Prix Gallarate Torsten Hallman Torsten Hallman Torsten Hallman Report 13 July 15 British Grand Prix Glastonbury Dave Bickers Dave Bickers Dave Bickers Report 14 September 2 Swedish Grand Prix Enköping Torsten Hallman Torsten Hallman Torsten Hallman Report 15 September 9 East German Grand Prix Apolda Torsten Hallman Torsten Hallman Torsten Hallman ReportSources:
Final standings
Points are awarded to the top 6 classified finishers. For the final championship standings, half of the competitors' results + 1 are retained. Thus with 10 500cc Grand Prix, the 6 best results are retained, and with 15 250cc Grand Prix, the 7 best results are retained.
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Points 8 6 4 3 2 1
500cc (Results in italics indicate overall winner) Pos Rider Machine AUT FRA CH ITA TCH UK NED BEL LUX SWE Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1 Rolf Tibblin Husqvarna 1 2 1 1 3 1 2 2 - - 1 1 2 1* 2 2 6 - 3 - 45 2 Gunnar Johansson Lito 6 6 6 9 1 2 1 3 1 2 3 2 1 2* 1 6 3 1 - 8 41 3 Sten Lundin Lito 3 4 2 2 2 3 4 7 2 4 - - 7 6 6 4 2 3 6 1 27 4 Ove Lundell Monark 4 1 22 27 4 4 27 6 3 1 - - 5 3 - - 5 4 4 5 25 5 Bill Nilsson Lito 2 3 3 3 - - 7 1 - - 4 - 4 9 5 9 1 2 8 2 23 6 John Burton BSA 7 7 4 4 - - - - - - 7 - 11 - 3 1 4 5 - - 14 7 Jeff Smith BSA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4 - 7 7 1 3 9 8 Broer Dirk BSA 5 5 26 - - - 5 4 - - - - 3 5 - - - - - - 8 9 Per Olaf Persson Monark - - 5 7 - - - - - - 6 6 - - - - 10 8 - - 5 Lars Gustavsson Lito - - - 5 - - - - - - - - 6 4 - - - - 5 4 5 11 Don Rickman Triumph-Métisse - - - - - - - - - - 2 3 - - - - - - - - 4 12 Miloslav Soucek ESO - - - - - - - - 4 3 - - - - - - - - - - 3 Arthur Lampkin BSA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7 3 17 - - - 3 14 Walter Baeten ESO - - - - 6 5 - 8 - - - - - - 14 - - - - - 2 Hubert Scaillet Triumph-Métisse - - - - - - 6 5 - - - - 8 7 8 15 14 6 7 7 2 Ervín Krajčovič ESO - - - - - - - - 6 5 - - - - - - - - - - 2 Dave Bickers Greeves - - - - - - - - - - 9 5 - - - - - - - - 2 18 Mogens Rasmussen BSA - - - - - - - - 7 6 - - - - - - - - 2 9 2 19 Albert Courajod Norton - - - - 5 7 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 Gordon Blakeway Triumph - - - - - - - - - - 11 7 - - - - - - - - 1 - André Chuchart Triumph 6 0 Pierre André Rapin BSA 6 0 Les Archer Jr. Norton 3 0 Josef Hrebecek ESO 5 0 Derek Rickman Triumph-Métisse 5 0 Roger Vanderbeken Triumph 4 0 Herman De Soete Matchless 5 0 Karl Ingemar Larsson Lito 9 6 0*An FIM Jury at the Dutch Grand Prix ruled that Tibblin and Johansson should be awarded 7 points each by combining first and second place points then dividing by two. 8+6= 14; 14/2 = 7 points. Sources:
250cc (Results in italics indicate overall winner) Pos Rider Machine ESP CH BEL FRA TCH POL NED LUX FIN USSR GER ITA UK SWE GDR Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1 Torsten Hallman Husqvarna - - 3 5 1 3 1 2 2 - - - - - 1 1 7 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 56 2 Jeff Smith BSA 10 1 2 1 18 2 2 1 3 2 1 1 1 1 3 - 5 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 8 3 11 3 3 4 48 3 Arthur Lampkin BSA 3 2 1 2 2 1 7 4 - - 2 2 15 4 4 6 8 5 3 3 - - 6 3 17 - 2 11 2 3 42 4 Vlastimil Válek ČZ - - 4 28 - - 3 3 1 1 5 - - - 2 2 3 - 5 5 3 4 4 - 4 5 3 4 - 2 31 5 Karel Pilar ČZ - - - - - - - - 6 4 - 3 - - 5 3 2 3 4 4 6 5 5 5 - 9 - - - - 20 6 Aarno Erola Husqvarna 4 - 27 19 5 5 4 - - - - - 10 12 - - 1 2 - - - - 7 - - 6 - - - - 11 7 Fritz Betzelbacher Maico - - 5 21 4 4 5 - - - - - 3 2 6 - - - - - - 6 - - - - - - - - 11 8 Olle Pettersson Husqvarna - - 9 3 7 6 8 6 - - - - 12 8 13 - - - - - - - - - 12 10 4 2 - - 10 9 Lanfranco Angelini Aermacchi 6 4 16 9 8 12 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3 6 - - - - - - 9 10 Dave Bickers Greeves - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 1 - - - - 8 11 Jaromír Čížek Jawa - - - - - - - - 4 3 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7 7 7 12 Fritz Selling Greeves 2 - 19 7 - - 16 7 - - - - 2 3 10 - - - - - - - 9 4 15 - - - - - 5 13 Christoph Specht Maico 8 - - - 15 11 24 - - - - - - - 8 5 - - - - 4 3 - - - - - - - - 5 14 Andrei Dezhinov ESO - - - - - - - - - - 4 4 13 9 - - 17 - - - - - - - - - - - 15 - 4 Igor Grigoriev Kovrovec - - 11 23 - - - - - 8 6 - 5 5 - - 9 7 - 6 - - - - - - - - - - 4 Joël Robert Greeves - - 6 4 6 10 23 - 11 5 - - 8 - 9 - - - - - - - - - 13 14 12 7 - - 4 17 Ernst Wolff MZ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 5 6 3 Sivert Eriksson Husqvarna - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 5 5 - - 3 Alan Clough Dot - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 5 4 - - - - 3 Stig Rickardsson Husqvarna - - - - - - - - 5 - - - - - - - 6 4 - - 5 - 12 7 - - - - - - 3 Rainis Resetniks ESO - - - - - - - - - - - 6 14 15 - - 18 12 - - - - - - - - - - - - 3 Oriol Puig Bulto Bultaco 11 3 15 12 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 26 20 - - - - 3 Nic Jansen Greeves - - 26 8 - 7 9 5 - - - - 6 7 - - - - - - - - 10 - - - 13 9 - - 3 24 Vladimír Dubšík ČZ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8 5 2 Don Rickman Bultaco-Métisse 1 7 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3 7 - - - - 2 André Piron Greeves - - - - 11 - - - - - - - - - 7 4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 Simon Schram Maico - - - - - - - - - - - - 4 6 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 Frantisek Ron Jawa - - - - - - - - 8 6 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9 8 2 Tore Lundby Husqvarna - - - - 3 8 - - - - - - - - - - - 6 - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 Franck Lucas Greeves 8 5 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 31 Jan Johansson Husqvarna - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8 6 - - 1 Sergei Kaduskin ESO - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6 8 - - - - - - - - - - 1 Jan Blomqvist Husqvarna 5 - - - - - - - - - - 5 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9 14 - - 1 Gerhard Stauch Maico - - 8 6 - - - - 14 10 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - Paul Friedrichs MZ - - - - - - - - 9 11 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 21 - 4 - 0Sources:
Notes
References