The 1983 Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 4–6 August at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp, Sweden.
Race summary One of the most dramatic races in one of the most dramatic Grand Prix seasons ended in controversy as the championship's two main combatants collided on the last lap while battling for the lead.
Coming into the Swedish Grand Prix, Honda's Freddie Spencer led Yamaha's Kenny Roberts 117 to 115 with each man having won five of the season's ten previous races. Roberts had the momentum, having won four of the previous five rounds.
Roberts led Spencer going into the last lap of the race. Heading down the back straight, Spencer placed his Honda right behind Roberts' Yamaha as they reached the second to the last corner, a ninety degree right-hander. As both riders applied their brakes, Spencer came out of Roberts' slipstream and managed to get inside of the Yamaha. As they exited the corner, both riders ran wide off the track and into the dirt. Spencer was able to get back on the track and back on the power first, crossing the finish line just ahead of Roberts for a crucial victory. Roberts considered Spencer's pass to be foolish and dangerous and, exchanged angry words with him on the podium.
It was a controversial pass by the young Honda rider and one that the two participants still dispute to this day. Roberts contends that it was a dangerous move while Spencer maintains it was a calculated risk he had to take to secure the championship.
Classification 500 cc Pos. Rider Team Machine Time/Retired Points 1 Freddie Spencer HRC-Honda NS500 49'17.530 15 2 Kenny Roberts Marlboro Agostini-Yamaha YZR500 +0.160 12 3 Takazumi Katayama HRC-Honda NS500 +34.700 10 4 Marc Fontan Sonauto Gauloises-Yamaha YZR500 +38.220 8 5 Eddie Lawson Marlboro Agostini Yamaha YZR500 +58.500 6 6 Marco Lucchinelli HRC-Honda NS500 +58.830 5 7 Randy Mamola HB Sinclair-Suzuki RG500 +1'11.460 4 8 Raymond Roche Moto Club Paul Ricard NS500 +1'11.710 3 9 Ron Haslam HRC-Honda NS500 +1'15.300 2 10 Anton Mang HB Gallina-Suzuki RG500 +1'15.460 1 11 Keith Huewen Heron-Suzuki RG500 +1 lap 12 Boet van Dulmen Shell Nederland-Suzuki RG500 +1 lap 13 Steve Henshaw Harold Coppock RG500 +1 lap 14 Chris Guy RG500 +1 lap 15 Loris Reggiani HB Gallina-Suzuki RG500 +1 lap 16 Peter Sjöström Jeb's Helmet Sweden RG500 +1 lap 17 Wolfgang von Muralt RG500 +1 lap 18 Leandro Becheroni RG500 +1 lap 19 Philippe Coulon Marlboro-Suzuki RG500 +1 lap 20 Didier de Radiguès Team Johnson Elf RS500 +1 lap 21 Peter Sköld RG500 +1 lap 22 Lars Johansson RG500 +1 lap 23 Åke Grahn YZR500 +1 lap 24 Steve Williams DTR Fowler Yamaha YZR500 +1 lap 25 Esko Kuparinen RG500 +1 lap 26 Timo Pohjola YZR500 +1 lap 27 Kjeld Sörensen RG500 +2 laps 28 Alf Henrik Graarud YZR500 +2 laps 29 Chris Fisher YZR500 +2 laps 30 Børge Nielsen RG500 +2 laps 31 Jan-Olof Odeholm RG500 +2 laps Ret Barry Sheene Heron-Suzuki RG500 Retired Ret Peter Linden RG500 Retired Ret Risto Korhonen RG500 Retired Ret Alf Karlsson YZR500 Retired DNS Jack Middelburg Stichting Ned-Honda RS500 Did not start DNQ Beni Slydal RG500 Did not start Sources:
1983 250cc Swedish Grand Prix final standings Place Rider Number Country Machine Points1 Christian Sarron10 France Yamaha152 Hervé Guilleux44 France Kawasaki123 Carlos Lavado5 Venezuela Yamaha104 Tony Head20 Britain Rotax-Armstrong85 Alan Carter28 Britain Yamaha66 Jean Michel Mattioli22 France Yamaha57 Jean-Louis Guignabodet8 France Yamaha48 Didier de Radiguès6 Belgium Chevallier-Yamaha39 Jacques Bolle19 France Pernod-Yamaha210 Martin Wimmer4 West Germany Yamaha1
1983 125cc Swedish Grand Prix final standings Place Rider Number Country Machine Points1 Bruno Kneubühler15 Switzerland MBA152 Fausto Gresini Italy Garelli123 August Auinger6 Austria MBA104 Johnny Wickström10 Finland MBA85 Ricardo Tormo5 Spain MBA66 Hans Müller8 Switzerland MBA57 Pier Paolo Bianchi4 Italy Sanvenero48 Pierluigi Aldrovandi Italy MBA39 Willy Perez Argentina MBA210 Maurizio Vitali13 Italy MBA1
Sidecar Classification Pos Rider Passenger Manufacturer Time/Retired Points 1 Rolf Biland Kurt Waltisperg LCR-Yamaha 15 2 Egbert Streuer Bernard Schnieders LCR-Yamaha 12 3 Werner Schwärzel Andreas Huber Seymaz-Yamaha 10 4 Derek Jones Brian Ayres LCR-Yamaha 8 5 Alain Michel Claude Monchaud LCR-Yamaha 6 6 Frank Wrathall Phil Spendlove Seymaz-Yamaha 5 7 Masato Kumano Kunio Takeshima LCR-Yamaha 4 8 Hein van Drie Willem van Dis LCR-Yamaha 3 9 Alfred Zurbrügg Martin Zurbrügg Seymaz-Yamaha 2 10 Hans Hügli Karl Paul Seymaz-Yamaha 1
References