# John Dodds (motorcyclist)

John Dodds (13 November 1943 – 31 January 2024) was an Australian Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He competed on the Grand Prix circuit from 1966 to 1978. His best finish was a third place behind Dieter Braun and Teuvo Länsivuori in the 1973 250cc world championship. Dodds died in Brisbane on 31 January 2024, at the age of 80.

## Motorcycle racing career

Dodds won his first world championship Grand Prix at the 1970 125cc West German Grand Prix held in rainy conditions at the challenging, 14.2 miles (22.9 km) long Nürburgring racetrack, riding a single-cylinder Aermacchi motorcycle.
During the 1971 season, Dodds helped fellow racer Kim Newcombe develop a motorcycle using a two-stroke outboard motor designed by Dieter König. Newcombe and the König were the first to challenge the dominance of the MV Agustas after the departure of Honda from Grand Prix competition at the end of the 1967 season.
Dodds competed in the inaugural Formula 750 European championship in 1973, finishing second at the challenging Clermont-Ferrand circuit, then won the final round at the Montjuïc circuit to finish the season ranked second in the championship behind Barry Sheene. In 1974, he won the preseason invitational 500cc Mettet Grand Prix and then, claimed the 1974 Formula 750 season world championship on a Yamaha TZ 350.

## Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Sources:
Points system from 1950 to 1968:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Points | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Points system from 1969 onwards:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Class | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Points | Rank | Wins |
| 1966 | 250cc | Cotton | ESP - | GER - | FRA - | NED - | BEL - | DDR - | CZE - | FIN - | ULS - | IOM RET | NAT - | JPN - | | 0 | - | 0 |
| 1966 | 500cc | Norton | | GER RET | | NED - | BEL 13 | DDR 6 | CZE 10 | FIN - | ULS RET | IOM RET | NAT RET | | | 1 | 20th | 0 |
| 1967 | 500cc | Norton | GER RET | IOM - | NED 10 | BEL 8 | DDR 4 | CZE 6 | FIN 9 | ULS - | NAT RET | CAN - | | | | 4 | 13th | 0 |
| 1968 | 500cc | Norton | GER RET | ESP 3 | IOM RET | NED RET | BEL 10 | DDR RET | CZE RET | FIN 5 | ULS - | NAT 8 | | | | 6 | 14th | 0 |
| 1969 | 125cc | Aermacchi | ESP - | GER - | FRA - | IOM - | NED 6 | BEL 11 | DDR - | CZE - | FIN - | | NAT 9 | YUG - | | 7 | 25th | 0 |
| 1969 | 500cc | Librenti | ESP - | GER 4 | FRA RET | IOM - | NED - | BEL RET | DDR - | CZE - | FIN RET | ULS - | NAT 3 | YUG RET | | 18 | 11th | 0 |
| 1970 | 125cc | Aermacchi | GER 1 | FRA RET | YUG - | IOM - | NED RET | BEL 7 | DDR - | CZE - | FIN RET | | NAT - | ESP 6 | | 24 | 8th | 1 |
| 1970 | 500cc | Librenti | GER RET | FRA - | YUG - | IOM - | NED RET | BEL RET | DDR 2 | | FIN RET | ULS DNQ | NAT - | ESP RET | | 12 | 15th | 0 |
| 1971 | 250cc | Yamaha | AUT RET | GER 3 | IOM - | NED 7 | BEL 2 | DDR - | CZE - | SWE 7 | FIN 2 | ULS - | NAT 2 | ESP 6 | | 59 | 4th | 0 |
| 1971 | 500cc | König | AUT RET | GER 10 | IOM - | NED RET | BEL RET | DDR RET | | SWE - | FIN - | ULS RET | NAT RET | ESP - | | 1 | 49th | 0 |
| 1972 | 250cc | Yamaha | GER 5 | FRA RET | AUT 3 | NAT 6 | IOM - | YUG 4 | NED - | BEL 5 | DDR - | CZE 7 | SWE 8 | FIN RET | ESP - | 42 | 6th | 0 |
| 1972 | 350cc | Yamaha | GER - | FRA RET | AUT - | NAT - | IOM - | YUG - | NED - | | DDR - | CZE 9 | SWE - | FIN 6 | ESP - | 8 | 22nd | 0 |
| 1973 | 250cc | Yamaha | FRA 10 | AUT 5 | GER RET | | IOM - | YUG 7 | NED 3 | BEL 2 | CZE 6 | SWE RET | FIN 3 | ESP 1 | | 58 | 3rd | 1 |
| 1973 | 350cc | Yamaha | FRA RET | AUT RET | GER RET | NAT 4 | IOM - | YUG 3 | NED 4 | BEL - | CZE 6 | SWE 4 | FIN 3 | ESP - | | 49 | 4th | 0 |
| 1974 | 250cc | Yamaha | | GER - | | NAT DNS | IOM RET | NED 5 | BEL 4 | SWE RET | FIN 6 | CZE 7 | YUG - | ESP 1 | | 38 | 7th | 1 |
| 1974 | 350cc | Yamaha | FRA 10 | GER - | AUT RET | NAT - | IOM - | NED RET | BEL - | SWE 8 | FIN 1 | | YUG 2 | ESP RET | | 31 | 4th | 1 |
| 1975 | 250cc | Yamaha | FRA - | ESP - | | GER - | NAT - | IOM - | NED - | BEL - | SWE - | FIN 6 | CZE 7 | YUG - | | 9 | 19th | 0 |
| 1975 | 350cc | Yamaha | FRA - | ESP - | AUT - | GER - | NAT - | IOM - | NED - | | | FIN 10 | CZE - | YUG - | | 1 | 47th | 0 |
| 1976 | 250cc | Yamaha | FRA 11 | | NAT RET | YUG - | IOM - | NED 3 | BEL 4 | SWE RET | FIN 7 | CZE 9 | GER 17 | ESP 14 | | 24 | 11th | 0 |
| 1976 | 350cc | Yamaha | FRA 10 | AUT 3 | NAT 3 | YUG RET | IOM - | NED 5 | | | FIN 9 | CZE 6 | GER RET | ESP RET | | 34 | 5th | 0 |
| 1977 | 250cc | Yamaha | VEN - | | GER 18 | NAT 18 | ESP DNQ | FRA 10 | YUG 4 | NED DNQ | BEL - | SWE - | FIN 18 | CZE 13 | GBR - | 9 | 22nd | 0 |
| 1977 | 350cc | Yamaha | VEN - | | GER RET | NAT - | ESP RET | FRA 6 | YUG 5 | NED - | | SWE - | FIN RET | CZE - | GBR 12 | 11 | 20th | 0 |
| 1978 | 250cc | Yamaha | VEN - | ESP - | | FRA RET | NAT - | NED RET | BEL RET | SWE RET | FIN 9 | GBR - | GER 20 | CZE - | YUG - | 2 | 24th | 0 |