# 1972 FIM Motocross World Championship

The 1972 Motocross World Championship was the 16th edition of the Motocross World Championship organized by the FIM and reserved for 500cc and 250cc motorcycles.

## Summary

With no weight limit rules imposed by the FIM, Suzuki were able to develop extremely lightweight motorcycles for the 1972 season. Suzuki factory rider Roger De Coster led the 500cc World Championship from start to finish, winning six of twelve Grand Prix races to clinch the title with two races remaining on the schedule. The victory was the second consecutive 500cc World Championship for De Coster and Suzuki.
Second place in the championship would not be decided until the final race of the season in Ettelbruck, Luxembourg where Åke Jonsson (Maico) appeared poised to repeat his second-place result from the previous year. Jonsson won the first moto and, was leading the second moto on the last lap when his motorcycle ran out of fuel, dropping him to fourth in the final championship points standings. In his final season of competition, former three-time World Champion, Paul Friedrichs (ČZ), won the French and East German Grand Prix races and finished the season in second place to mark the end of his impressive career. Heikki Mikkola (Husqvarna) moved up from the 250cc class and made a positive impression with Grand Prix victories in Switzerland and Czechoslovakia to claim third in the 500 class. Friedrichs, Mikkola and Jonsson finished the season separated by just three points in the final standings.
The Yamaha factory team added former Husqvarna riders Christer Hammargren and Jaak van Velthoven in the 500cc class and Håkan Andersson in the 250cc class. Van Velthoven won the 500cc Luxembourg Grand Prix to give the Yamaha factory its first World Championship victory. Van Velthoven actually scored enough points to finish the season ranked second overall but fell victim to FIM scoring rules which only recognize the top seven of twelve results. The rules would be changed in 1977.
Suzuki factory rider Joël Robert once again dominated the 250cc World Championship, winning six of the twelve Grand Prix events to clinch the title with four races to go. The victory would be Robert's fifth consecutive 250cc World Championship, and sixth overall. Yamaha factory rider Håkan Andersson would take second place in the championship ahead of Suzuki's Sylvain Geboers. Pavel Rulev gave the KTM factory its first race victory by winning the first moto of the 250cc Russian Grand Prix. Olle Pettersson scored the Kawasaki factory's first motocross world championship points with a 6th place at the 1972 250cc French Grand Prix.

## Grands Prix
### 500cc

| Round | Date | Grand Prix | Location | Race 1 Winner | Race 2 Winner | Overall Winner | Report |
| 1 | April 23 | Austrian Grand Prix | Sittendorf | Roger De Coster | Roger De Coster | Roger De Coster | Report |
| 2 | April 30 | Swiss Grand Prix | Payerne | Heikki Mikkola | Heikki Mikkola | Heikki Mikkola | Report |
| 3 | May 7 | Italian Grand Prix | Pinerolo | Cancelled | - | - | Report |
| 4 | May 14 | Swedish Grand Prix | Västerås | Roger De Coster | Adolf Weil | Roger De Coster | Report |
| 5 | May 24 | French Grand Prix | Corseul | Paul Friedrichs | Paul Friedrichs | Paul Friedrichs | Report |
| 6 | June 4 | Russian Grand Prix | Poltava | Roger De Coster | Paul Friedrichs | Roger De Coster | Report |
| 7 | June 11 | Czechoslovakian Grand Prix | Přerov | Roger De Coster | Bengt Åberg | Heikki Mikkola | Report |
| 8 | July 9 | British Grand Prix | Farleigh Castle | Roger De Coster | Åke Jonsson | Roger De Coster | Report |
| 9 | July 16 | West German Grand Prix | Beuren | Roger De Coster | Roger De Coster | Roger De Coster | Report |
| 10 | July 23 | East German Grand Prix | Apolda | Roger De Coster | Paul Friedrichs | Paul Friedrichs | Report |
| 11 | August 6 | Belgian Grand Prix | Namur | Roger De Coster | Roger De Coster | Roger De Coster | Report |
| 12 | August 13 | Luxembourg Grand Prix | Ettelbruck | Åke Jonsson | Adolf Weil | Jaak van Velthoven | Report |
| Sources: ||||||||

### 250cc

| Round | Date | Grand Prix | Location | Race 1 Winner | Race 2 Winner | Overall Winner | Report |
| 1 | April 9 | Spanish Grand Prix | Sabadell | Joël Robert | Sylvain Geboers | Sylvain Geboers | Report |
| 2 | April 16 | French Grand Prix | Pernes-les-Fontaines | Joël Robert | Joël Robert | Joël Robert | Report |
| 3 | May 7 | Dutch Grand Prix | Markelo | Joël Robert | Gennady Moiseyev | Joël Robert | Report |
| 4 | May 14 | Czechoslovakian Grand Prix | Holice | Joël Robert | Vladimir Kavinov | Vladimir Kavinov | Report |
| 5 | May 28 | Yugoslavian Grand Prix | Tržič | Joël Robert | Joël Robert | Joël Robert | Report |
| 6 | June 4 | West German Grand Prix | Bielstein | Joël Robert | Joël Robert | Joël Robert | Report |
| 7 | June 11 | Polish Grand Prix | Szczecin | Joël Robert | Joël Robert | Joël Robert | Report |
| 8 | June 18 | Russian Grand Prix | Chișinău | Pavel Rulev | Joël Robert | Joël Robert | Report |
| 9 | August 6 | Finnish Grand Prix | Hyvinkää | Sylvain Geboers | Sylvain Geboers | Sylvain Geboers | Report |
| 10 | August 13 | Swedish Grand Prix | Huskvarna | Arne Kring | Håkan Andersson | Håkan Andersson | Report |
| 11 | August 20 | British Grand Prix | Dodington Park | Jaroslav Falta | Håkan Andersson | Jaroslav Falta | Report |
| 12 | August 27 | Swiss Grand Prix | Wohlen | Joël Robert | Gennady Moiseyev | Håkan Andersson | Report |
| Sources: ||||||||

## Final standings

Points are awarded to the top 10 classified finishers. For the 500cc final championship standings, since the Italian Grand Prix was canceled the net result is achieved by taking half of the 11 results + 1 or the 6 best results. For the 250cc final championship standings, the 7 best of 12 results are retained.
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

### 500cc

(Results in italics indicate overall winner)
| Pos | Rider | Machine | AUT | AUT | CH | CH | ITA | ITA | SWE | SWE | FRA | FRA | USSR | USSR | CZE | CZE | UK | UK | GER | GER | GDR | GDR | BEL | BEL | LUX | LUX | Points |
| Pos | Rider | Machine | 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 | Roger De Coster | Suzuki | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | 1 | 3 | 5 | - | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 90 |
| 2 | Paul Friedrichs | ČZ | - | - | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | - | - | 7 | - | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | - | 6 | 3 | 62 |
| 3 | Heikki Mikkola | Husqvarna | 10 | 6 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 6 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | 5 | 5 | 13 | 5 | - | - | 61 |
| 4 | Åke Jonsson | Maico | 6 | 2 | 6 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | 60 |
| 5 | Jaak van Velthoven | Yamaha | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 4 | - | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 57 |
| 6 | Jiri Stodulka | ČZ | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | - | 14 | 5 | - | - | 5 | 7 | 3 | 5 | - | 9 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 45 |
| 7 | Bengt Åberg | Husqvarna | 7 | 8 | 3 | 3 | - | - | 2 | - | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | - | 1 | 6 | - | - | - | 4 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | 44 |
| 8 | Adolf Weil | Maico | - | - | 4 | - | - | - | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | 4 | - | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | 3 | 4 | - | 1 | 42 |
| 9 | Willy Bauer | Maico | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | 4 | 2 | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | 9 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | 33 |
| 10 | Gerrit Wolsink | Husqvarna | 5 | 10 | 7 | 4 | - | - | 8 | - | 4 | 8 | - | - | - | - | 8 | 5 | 3 | - | 12 | - | 7 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 32 |
| 11 | Andy Roberton | Husqvarna | 8 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | - | 10 | - | - | 8 | 8 | 12 | 7 | - | - | 11 | 8 | 11 | 8 | - | - | 19 |
| 12 | Christer Hammargren | Yamaha | 9 | - | 9 | - | - | - | 6 | 4 | 7 | - | 7 | 10 | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 15 | - | 18 |
| 13 | John Banks | ČZ | - | - | 8 | 6 | - | - | 7 | 9 | 8 | - | - | - | 9 | 6 | 17 | - | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | - | 16 |
| 14 | Vlastimil Valek | Jawa | 3 | 7 | 14 | 10 | - | - | - | - | 11 | 7 | - | - | 7 | - | 14 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 8 | - | 12 | 13 | - | - | 16 |
| 15 | Nikolai Efimov | ČZ | - | 9 | 10 | 9 | - | - | 9 | - | 9 | 9 | 10 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7 | 10 | - | - | - | - | 14 |
| 16 | Jyrki Storm | Husqvarna | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 15 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 11 |
| 17 | Bryan Wade | Husqvarna | - | - | - | - | - | - | 11 | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 11 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 |
| 18 | Pierre Karsmakers | Husqvarna | - | - | - | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | - | - | - | 10 | - | - | - | 9 | 7 | - | - | 7 |
| 19 | Zdenek Strnad | ČZ | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9 | - | - | 12 | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7 |
| 20 | Friedrich Schiechtl | Husqvarna | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 19 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| 21 | Viatcheslav Krasnotchekov | ČZ | - | - | 11 | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 |
| 21 | Vladimir Ovchinnikov | ČZ | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 |
| 21 | Bert-Ove Wallner | Husqvarna | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | - | 4 |
| 21 | Afro Rustignoli | ČZ | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 13 | 6 | 4 |
| 25 | Serge Bacou | Bultaco | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 18 | 13 | - | 11 | - | - | - | - | 9 | 10 | 3 |
| 26 | Jan Johansson | Husqvarna | - | - | - | - | - | - | 13 | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| 26 | Anton Stifter | Husqvarna | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 11 | 9 | 2 |
| 26 | Vic Eastwood | AJS | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | 15 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| 29 | Anders Hermansson | Husqvarna | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| 29 | Heinz Hoppe | ČZ | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 28 | 13 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| 29 | Bryan Kenney | Yamaha | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 16 | 11 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| 29 | Bill Clements | Husqvarna | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 19 | 20 | 16 | 11 | 1 |
| 29 | Anatoly Botchkov | ČZ | - | - | 12 | 13 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Sources: ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

### 250cc

(Results in italics indicate overall winner)
| Pos | Rider | Machine | ESP | ESP | FRA | FRA | NED | NED | CZE | CZE | YUG | YUG | GER | GER | POL | POL | USSR | USSR | FIN | FIN | SWE | SWE | UK | UK | CH | CH | Pts |
| Pos | Rider | Machine | 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 | Joël Robert | Suzuki | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 30 | 102 |
| 2 | Håkan Andersson | Yamaha | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | 8 | 7 | - | 4 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 82 |
| 3 | Sylvain Geboers | Suzuki | 2 | 1 | - | - | 2 | 3 | - | - | 2 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 2 | - | 3 | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | 62 |
| 4 | Kalevi Vehkonen | Montesa | 6 | - | 8 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 10 | - | - | - | 4 | - | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 57 |
| 5 | Uno Palm | Husqvarna | 12 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 8 | - | - | 4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 53 |
| 6 | Miroslav Halm | ČZ | - | - | 9 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 6 | - | - | 14 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 8 | - | 5 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 4 | - | - | 45 |
| 7 | Alexei Kibirine | ČZ | 5 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 10 | - | - | 9 | - | 7 | 2 | 10 | 6 | - | 13 | - | - | 11 | 10 | 44 |
| 8 | Arne Kring | Husqvarna | - | - | - | - | 4 | - | 7 | 2 | - | 4 | 7 | - | - | - | 10 | - | 2 | 9 | 1 | 2 | - | - | 4 | 3 | 42 |
| 9 | Jaroslav Falta | ČZ | - | - | 2 | 26 | - | 9 | - | - | - | 9 | 3 | - | 6 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 2 | - | - | 39 |
| 10 | Pavel Rulev | ČZ | - | - | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 38 |
| 10 | KTM | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 13 | 5 | - | - | 1 | - | 7 | 4 | 4 | 3 | - | - | 2 | - | | 38 |
| 11 | Gennady Moiseyev | ČZ | 3 | - | 5 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 9 | - | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | - | - | - | - | 19 | 9 | | | 38 |
| 11 | KTM | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | | - | - | - | - | | | 6 | 1 | | 38 |
| 12 | Vladimir Kavinov | ČZ | 7 | - | - | 2 | 3 | - | 2 | 1 | - | - | 2 | 4 | 8 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 33 |
| 13 | Gaston Rahier | Husqvarna | 4 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 8 | - | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | - | 10 | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 23 |
| 14 | Olle Pettersson | Kawasaki | 9 | - | 6 | 6 | - | 7 | - | - | - | - | 11 | - | 7 | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | 7 | - | 5 | 7 | 7 | 18 |
| 15 | Herbert Schmitz | Maico | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | - | - | - | 5 | 7 | - | - | - | - | 8 | 8 | - | 6 | - | - | 9 | 6 | 13 |
| 16 | Marcel Wiertz | Bultaco | - | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9 | 8 | 12 | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | 14 | - | 16 | 8 | 13 |
| 17 | Jiry Churavy | ČZ | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 12 |
| 18 | Torleif Hansen | Husqvarna | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7 | 4 | 8 | 13 | - | - | 9 |
| 19 | Jo Lammers | Maico | - | - | 15 | 14 | 7 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 16 | 16 | - | - | 6 |
| 20 | Erling Klinke | ČZ | - | 7 | 22 | 23 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 20 | 15 | - | - | 5 |
| 20 | Jim Aird | AJS | 10 | - | 14 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | - | 9 | 7 | - | - | 5 |
| 22 | Ole Ottoson | Husqvarna | - | 8 | 23 | 24 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 18 | - | - | - | 4 |
| 22 | Anatoly Mandritchenko | ČZ | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 |
| 22 | Vic Allan | Bultaco | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 11 | 8 | - | - | 4 |
| 25 | Rob Taylor | Maico | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | 10 | - | - | 3 |
| 25 | Helmut Schadenberg | ČZ | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 11 | - | 9 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| 25 | Kjell Thorne | Husqvarna | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 12 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| 28 | Harry Everts | Puch | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 11 | 9 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| 28 | Velicko Manilov | ČZ | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| 28 | Bjorn Casseborg | Husqvarna | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 11 | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| 31 | Jean-Claude Nowak | Montesa | - | - | 13 | 11 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 17 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| 31 | Walter Leitgeb | KTM | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 15 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| 31 | Werner Schutz | Maico | - | - | 16 | 12 | - | - | - | - | 10 | - | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| 31 | Roger Smestad | Husqvarna | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9 | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| 31 | Orjan Eklund | Husqvarna | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| 31 | Domingo Gris | Bultaco | - | - | 12 | 15 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 12 | - | 1 |
| Sources: ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||