1957 Motocross World Championship

The 1957 Motocross World Championship was the 1st edition of the Motocross World Championship organized by the FIM and reserved for 500cc motorcycles.^[1]

1957 Motocross World Championship
Les Archer Jr. during the 500cc Netherlands GP, held in Lichtenvoorde on 28 July 1957.
Organizer	FIM
Duration	From 5 May to 25 August
Number of races	9
Number of manufacturers	7
Champions
500cc	Bill Nilsson
250cc^[a]	Fritz Betzelbacher
Motocross World Championship seasons
← 1956 1958 →

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 May 5 to August 25 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	May 5	Swiss Grand Prix	Geneva	Nic Jansen	Matchless	Report
2	May 19	French Grand Prix	Montreuil	Les Archer Jr.	Norton	Report
3	June 2	Swedish Grand Prix	Saxtorp	Bill Nilsson	Crescent-AJS	Report
4	June 9	Italian Grand Prix	Imola	Bill Nilsson	Crescent-AJS	Report
5	July 7	British Grand Prix	Hawkstone Park	Jeff Smith	BSA	Report
6	July 28	Dutch Grand Prix	Lichtenvoorde	Bill Nilsson	Crescent-AJS	Report
7	August 4	Belgian Grand Prix	Namur	Sten Lundin	Monark	Report
8	August 11	Luxembourg Grand Prix	Ettelbruck	Sten Lundin	Monark	Report
9	August 25	Danish Grand Prix	Næstved	René Baeten	FN	Report
Sources:^[3]^[4]

250cc

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Location	Winner	Team	Report
1	May 5	Swiss Grand Prix	Geneva	Jaromír Čížek	Jawa	Report
2	May 19	French Grand Prix	Montreuil	Alex Colin	NSU	Report
3	May 30	German Grand Prix	Brühl	Marcel Verhaegen	BSA	Report
4	June 15	German Grand Prix	Reutlingen	Fritz Betzelbacher	Maico	Report
5	August 4	Belgian Grand Prix	Namur	Willi Oesterle	Maico	Report
6	August 11	Luxembourg Grand Prix	Ettelbruck	Fritz Betzelbacher	Maico	Report
7	August 18	Belgian Grand Prix	Genk	Willi Oesterle	Maico	Report
8	September 22	Austrian Grand Prix	Sittendorf	Fritz Betzelbacher	Maico	Report
Sources:^[5]^[6]

Final standings

Points are awarded to the top 6 classified finishers.^[1]

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

500cc

Pos	Rider	Machine	CH	FRA	SWE	ITA	GBR	NED	BEL	LUX	DEN	Pts
1	Bill Nilsson	Crescent-AJS		2	1	1	5	1	3		3	34
2	René Baeten	FN	3		2	4		2	2		1	30
3	Sten Lundin	Monark	4				4	6	1	1	2	28
4	Jeff Smith	BSA			3	2	1	5	4			23
5	Les Archer Jr.	Norton	5	1			2	3				20
6	Auguste Mingels	Saroléa	2	3		5			6	3		17
7	Nic Jansen	Matchless	1	4			6		5	5		16
8	John Draper	BSA		6	5	3					4	10
9	Hubert Scaillet	FN				6				2		7
10	Broer Dirkx	BSA					3					4
11	Gunnar Johansson	BSA						4			6	4
12	Rolf Tibblin	BSA			4							3
13	Lars Gustavsson	BSA								4		3
14	René Klym	BSA		5								2
15	Mogens Rasmussen	Matchless									5	2
16	Geoff Ward	Norton	6									1
17	Sten Hammerstedt	Matchless			6							1
18	Herman De Soete	Matchless								6		1
Source:^[4]

250cc

Pos	Rider	Machine	CH	FRA	GER	GER	BEL	LUX	BEL	AUT	Pts
1	Fritz Betzelbacher	Maico			5	1	2	1	2	1	36
2	Willi Oesterle	Maico			3	2	1	5	1	4	29
3	Jaromír Čížek^[b]	Jawa	1		2	5	4	3	3		25
4	Alex Colin	NSU	3	1	6		3		6		18
5	Marcel Verhaegen	BSA			1			4	4	5	16
6	Rolf Müller	Maico			4			2		2	15
7	Brian Stonebridge	Greeves	2								6
8	Albert Voreux	NSU		2							6
9	Maurice Bloquet	NSU		3							4
10	Otto Walz	Maico				3					4
11	Herbert Hubert	Maico								3	4
12	Klaus Kamper	Maico				4					3
	Marcel Scharbano	Monet Goyon		4							3
14	Jaroslav Kmoch	Jawa	4								3
15	Mobi Vierdag	Maico							5		2
	Maurice Houssonloge	Maico					5				2
17	Michel Heuqueville	Gnome Rhone		5							2
18	John Avery	Greeves	5								2
	Alfred Jegge	Motosacoche	6				6				2
20	Georges Romailler	Zündapp						6			1
	Oldrich Hamrsmid	ČZ				6					1
	Norbert René	Monet Goyon		6							1
	Daniel Brixner	Maico								6	1
Source:^[6]

Notes

1. In this season still called the European Cup.
2. Other sources write the surname as Cisek.

References

1. (PDF). mxgp.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
2. "Championnat du monde 500cc - 1957" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
3. "1957 500cc Motocross World Championship race results". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
4. "1957 500cc motocross world championship results" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
5. "1957 250cc European Motocross Championship race results". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
6. "1957 250cc European Cup motocross championship results" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 14 January 2023.