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The 1956 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the eighth F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of six Grand Prix races in five classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on 8 June, with Isle of Man TT and ended with Nations Grand Prix in Italy on 9 September.

1956 Grand Prix season calendar

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Sidecars 500cc winner	Report
1	8 June	Isle of Man TT	Snaefell Mountain	Carlo Ubbiali	Carlo Ubbiali	Ken Kavanagh	John Surtees	Hillebrand / Grunwald	Report
2	30 June	Dutch TT	TT Circuit Assen	Carlo Ubbiali	Carlo Ubbiali	Bill Lomas	John Surtees	Hillebrand / Grunwald	Report
3	8 July	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa-Francorchamps	Carlo Ubbiali	Carlo Ubbiali	John Surtees	John Surtees	Noll / Cron	Report
4	22 July	German Grand Prix	Solitude	Romolo Ferri	Carlo Ubbiali	Bill Lomas	Reg Armstrong	Noll / Cron	Report
5	11 August	Ulster Grand Prix	Dundrod Circuit	Carlo Ubbiali	Luigi Taveri	Bill Lomas	John Hartle	Noll / Cron	Report
6	9 September	Nations Grand Prix	Monza	Carlo Ubbiali	Carlo Ubbiali	Libero Liberati	Geoff Duke	Milani / Milani	Report

Standings

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race. Only the four best races were counted in all five classes: the Sidecars, 125cc, 250cc, 350cc and 500cc championships.

500cc final standings

Pos Rider Bike MAN HOL BEL GER ULS NAC Pts 1 John Surtees MV Agusta 1 1 1 24 2 Walter Zeller BMW 4 2 2 Ret Ret 6 16 3 John Hartle Norton 2 1 14 4 Pierre Monneret Gilera 3 3 3 12 5 Reg Armstrong Gilera Ret 1 Ret 4 11 6 Umberto Masetti MV Agusta DNS Ret 4 2 Ret 9 7 Geoff Duke Gilera Ret Ret Ret 1 8 8 Bob Brown Matchless Ret 2 6 9 Libero Liberati Gilera 2 6 10 Eddie Grant Norton 37 3 11 5 6 11 Jack Brett Norton 3 6 5 12 Peter Murphy Matchless Ret 3 4 13 Keith Bryen Norton Ret 4 10 6 4 14 Gerold Klinger BMW 4 9 3 15 Geoffrey Tanner Norton Ret 4 3 16 Alfredo Milani Gilera 5 8 2 17 Bill Lomas Moto Guzzi 5 Ret Ret Ret Ret 2 18 Paul Fahey Matchless Ret 5 Ret Ret 2 19 Carlo Bandirola MV Agusta 5 2 = Wilf Herron Norton 5 2 21 Ernst Hiller BMW 6 8 10 1 22 Derek Ennett Matchless 6 1 = Auguste Goffin Norton 6 1 24 Alan Trow Norton 7 9 0 25 Gerald Robarts Norton 15 7 0 26 Barry Hodgkinson Norton 22 Ret 7 Ret 0 27 Alois Huber BMW RS 7 Ret 0 28 Austin Carson Norton 7 0 = Roberto Colombo MV Agusta 7 0 30 John Storr Norton 8 Ret 12 0 31 Dave Chadwick Norton 23 8 0 32 Piet Bakker Norton 8 0 = Gavin Dunlop Matchless 8 0 34 Jackie Wood Velocette / Norton 24 Ret 9 Ret 0 35 Bob Matthews Norton 9 Ret 0 36 Priem Rozenberg BMW 9 0 = George Salt Norton 9 0 38 Dennis Chapman Norton 10 11 0 39 Frederick Cook Matchless 18 10 13 17 0 40 Angus Martin Matchless Ret 10 0 41 Jacques Collot Norton Manx 10 Ret 0 42 Ernst Riedelbauch BMW Ret 11 11 0 43 Ralph Rensen Norton 11 13 0 44 Casper Swart Norton 11 0 45 John Grace Norton Ret Ret 12 0 = Hans-Günther Jäger Norton Ret Ret 12 0 47 Stephen Murray Norton 12 0 = Mike O'Rourke Norton 12 0 49 Giuseppe Cantoni MV Agusta 13 0 = George Costain Norton 13 0 = Peter Knees BMW 13 0 52 Frank Perris Matchless 14 Ret 0 53 Michael Roche Norton DNS 14 0 = Hans-Joachim Scheel Norton 14 0 = Harry Turner Norton 14 0 56 Ulf Gate Norton 15 0 = Pierre Nicholas Norton 15 0 = Des Sloan Norton 15 0 59 Frank Fox Norton 16 0 = Bill Roberton Matchless 16 0 = Berthold Sieler Norton 16 0 62 Martin Brosnan BSA 17 0 = Harry Plews Norton 17 0 64 Harry Lowe BSA 41 18 0 = Karl-Heinz Scheifel Norton 18 0 66 Phil Carter Norton 19 0 = Stanley Williamson Norton 19 0 68 Denis Christian Matchless 20 0 69 Ken Tostevin Matchless 21 Ret 0 70 Ken Tully Norton 25 0 71 Bob Ferguson Matchless 26 0 72 Louis Carr Matchless 27 0 73 Brian Duffy Norton 28 Ret 0 74 Albert Moule Norton 29 0 75 Dick Thomson Matchless 30 Ret 0 76 Llewelyn Ranson Norton 31 0 77 Vic Preston Norton 32 0 78 Bill Beevers Norton 33 0 79 Ken Willis Norton 34 0 80 James Edwards Norton 35 0 81 George Begg AJS 36 Ret 0 82 Joe Glazebrook Norton 38 0 83 E. Barona Norton 39 0 84 Walter Hancock BSA 40 0 85 Stan Cameron AJS 42 0 86 Ralph Wijesinghe BSA 43 0 87 Roly Capner BSA 44 0 88 John Denton Norton 45 0 - Keith Campbell Norton / Moto Guzzi Ret Ret Ret 0 - Günther Borgesdiek Norton Ret Ret 0 - Robert Coleman Norton Ret Ret 0 - Francisco González Norton Ret Ret 0 - Ken Kavanagh Moto Guzzi DNS Ret Ret DNS 0 - Olle Nygren Matchless Ret Ret 0 - Leen Reehorst Jawa Ret Ret 0 - Martinus van Son Matchless Ret Ret 0 - Sven Andersson Norton Ret 0 - Jean-Pierre Bayle Norton Ret 0 - Raymond Bogaerdt Norton Ret 0 - Buno Böhrer Horex Ret 0 - Paolo Campanelli Gilera Ret 0 - George Catlin Norton Ret 0 - Artemio Cirelli Gilera Ret 0 - John Clark Matchless Ret 0 - Robert Cook BSA Ret 0 - Ronald Cousins Norton Ret 0 - Dickie Dale Moto Guzzi Ret 0 - Firmin Dawue Norton Ret 0 - Gerardo Düring Matchless Ret 0 - Anton Elbersen Matchless Ret 0 - Karl-Heinz Ewig Norton Ret 0 - Ray Fay BSA Ret 0 - Robin Fitton Norton Ret 0 - Brian Freestone Norton Ret 0 - Enrico Galante Norton Ret 0 - Martino Giani Gilera Ret 0 - Francesco Guglielminetti Norton Ret 0 - William Hall Norton Ret 0 - Gustav Havel Jawa Ret 0 - Frantisek Helikar Jawa Ret 0 - Eric Hinton Norton DNS Ret 0 - Jaap Iesberts Matchless Ret 0 - Roy Ingram BSA Ret 0 - Arnold Jones Matchless Ret 0 - Kees Koster Norton Ret 0 - George Leigh Norton Ret 0 = Ivor Lloyd Norton Ret 0 = Giuseppe Mantelli Gilera Ret 0 - Robert McCracken Norton Ret 0 - Bob McIntyre Norton Ret 0 - Jules Nies Norton Ret 0 - Frank Norris Norton Ret 0 - Ernie Oliver Norton Ret 0 - Sergio Pinza Moto Guzzi Ret 0 - Maurice Pizzey Norton Ret 0 - Derek Powell Matchless Ret 0 - Charlie Salt BSA Ret 0 - Brian Setchell AJS Ret 0 - Terry Shepherd Norton Ret 0 - Lodewijk Simons Norton Ret 0 - František Šťastný Jawa Ret 0 - Ken Swallow Matchless Ret 0 - Gerrit Ten Kate Norton Ret 0 - Gerry Turner Pike-BSA Ret 0 - Drikus Veer Jawa Ret 0 - John Waring Norton Ret 0 - Arthur Wheeler Moto Guzzi Ret 0 - Jack Wilks BSA Ret 0 - Trevor Williams Norton Ret 0 - Len Aislabie Norton DNS 0 - Rod Coleman Norton DNS 0 - Robert King Norton DNS 0 - Derek Minter BSA DNS 0 - E. Muñoz Norton DNS 0 - M. Muñoz Norton DNS 0 - George Northwood BSA DNS 0 - Tony Ovens Norton DNS 0 - H. Wieland Norton DNS 0 - J. Woods Norton DNS 0 Pos Rider Bike MAN HOL BEL GER ULS NAC Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd 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 participate (DNP) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

350cc Standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Bill Lomas		United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	24	3
2	Dickie Dale		United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	17	0
=	August Hobl		Germany	DKW	17	0
4	John Surtees		United Kingdom	MV Agusta	14	1
5	Cecil Sandford		United Kingdom	DKW	13	0
6	Ken Kavanagh		Australia	Moto Guzzi	10	1
7	Libero Liberati		Italy	Gilera	8	1
8	John Hartle		United Kingdom	Norton	8	0
9	Derek Ennett		United Kingdom	AJS	6	0
10	Karl Hofmann		Germany	DKW	6	0
11	Roberto Colombo		Italy	MV Agusta	4	0
12	Jack Brett		United Kingdom	Norton	3	0
13	Hans Bartl		Netherlands	DKW	3	0
14	Umberto Masetti		Italy	MV Agusta	2	0
=	Peter Murphy		New Zealand	AJS	2	0
=	Eddie Grant		South Africa	Norton	2	0
17	Bob Brown		Australia	AJS	1	0
=	Bob Matthews		United Kingdom	Norton	1	0
=	Alan Trow		United Kingdom	Norton	1	0

250cc Standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Carlo Ubbiali		Italy	MV Agusta	32	5
2	Luigi Taveri		Switzerland	MV Agusta	26	1
3	Enrico Lorenzetti		Italy	Moto Guzzi	10	0
4	Roberto Colombo		Italy	MV Agusta	9	0
=	Horst Kassner		Germany	NSU	9	0
6	Remo Venturi		Italy	MV Agusta	8	0
7	Sammy Miller		United Kingdom	NSU	7	0
8	Hans Baltisberger		Germany	NSU	7	0
9	Arthur Wheeler		United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	5	0
10	Bob Coleman		New Zealand	NSU	3	0
=	Kees Koster		Netherlands	NSU	3	0
12	František Bartoš		Czechoslovakia	ČZ	2	0
=	Bill Maddrick		United Kingdom	Moto Guzzi	2	0
=	Lo Simons		Netherlands	NSU	2	0
=	Alano Montanari		Italy	Moto Guzzi	2	0
=	Bob Brown		Australia	NSU	2	0
17	Jean-Pierre Bayle		France	NSU	1	0
=	Maurice Büla		Switzerland	NSU	1	0
=	Roland Heck		Germany	NSU	1	0
=	Jiří Koštíř		Czechoslovakia	ČZ	1	0

125cc Standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Carlo Ubbiali		Italy	MV Agusta	32	5
2	Romolo Ferri		Italy	Gilera	14	1
3	Luigi Taveri		Switzerland	MV Agusta	12	0
4	Tarquinio Provini		Italy	Mondial	10	0
5	Fortunato Libanori		Italy	MV Agusta	9	0
6	Marcelo Cama		Spain	Montesa	6	0
7	August Hobl		Germany	DKW	6	0
8	Karl Hofman		Germany	DKW	5	0
9	Pierre Monneret		France	Gilera	4	0
=	Francisco Gonzalez		Spain	Montesa	4	0
=	Renato Sartori		Italy	Mondial	4	0
=	Bill Webster		United Kingdom	MV Agusta	4	0
13	Cecil Sandford		United Kingdom	Mondial	4	0
14	Enrico Sirera		Spain	Montesa	3	0
=	Bill Maddrick		United Kingdom	MV Agusta	3	0
16	Sandro Artusi		Italy	Ducati	2	0
=	Dave Chadwick		United Kingdom	LEF	2	0
=	Frank Cope		United Kingdom	MV Agusta	2	0
=	František Bartoš		Czechoslovakia	ČZ	1	0
=	Johnny Grace		Gibraltar	Montesa	1	0
=	Vaclav Parus		Czechoslovakia	ČZ	1	0