Dave Simmonds (25 October 1939 – 23 October 1972) was a British professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He competed in the Grand Prix world championships from 1963 to 1972. Simmonds is notable for winning the 1969 125 cc FIM road racing world championship.[1][2]
Born in London, Simmonds began his motorcycle racing career riding a 50cc Itom motorcycle in 1960.[2] By 1963 he had won the 125cc British road racing national championship on a Tohatsu which he kept racing with his brother Mike in the following seasons.[2] His impressive results earned him an invitation from the Kawasaki factory to race one of their new 125cc motorcycles in the 1966 Japanese Grand Prix.[2] Simmonds convinced Kawasaki management to loan him a motorcycle to compete in the 125cc Grand Prix world championships in 1967.[2] In an era of unrestricted rules, the Kawasaki KA-1 125cc twin cylinder was outclassed by the expensive, RA31 V4 engines used by the Yamaha racing team and even the RT67 twins used by Suzuki and he finished 7th of the world championship.[2] Without any financial or mechanical support from the Kawasaki factory, and just spare parts sent from time to time, Simmonds spent the 1967 and 1968 Grand Prix seasons sorting out the motorcycle's reliability issues.[2]
End of 1967, the FIM announced a change in its regulations, applicable as from 1969 onwards, in an effort to reduce spiraling costs in motorcycle racing.[3] 125cc machines would be limited to two cylinders and 6-speed transmissions.[3] This regulation change caused the dominant Yamaha and Suzuki factories to withdraw their teams from Grand Prix racing.[2] Simmonds and his aging Kawasaki won the 1969 125cc road racing world championship in an impressive fashion with only one race in which he failed to finish in either first or second place.[1] The victory marked the first world championship for Kawasaki.[2]
Simmonds dropped to fourth place in 1970 with improved competition from Dieter Braun (Suzuki RT66), Ángel Nieto (Derbi) and Börje Jansson (Maico) but, still managed to win the Finnish Grand Prix and scored two second place finishes in the Dutch and Belgian Grands Prix.[1][2] Simmonds finished sixth in the 1971 125cc world championship with one win at the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring.[1]
In 1971, he competed in the premier 500cc class with a Kawasaki H1R.[2] The H1R had poor road handling characteristics so, Simmonds had his H1R rebuilt around a Ken Sprayson-designed frame that greatly improved the machine's handling.[4] He proved to be competitive by winning the preseason invitational 500cc Mettet Grand Prix then, finished second to Giacomo Agostini and the dominant MV Agusta at the Finnish Grand Prix followed by third places in Holland and Italy.[1][5]
Simmonds won his first 500cc class victory at the season ending Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama when Agostini sat out the race after already winning the championship.[1][2] His victory in Spain also marked Kawasaki's first premier-class Grand Prix victory.[4] Simmonds ended the season ranked 4th in the 500cc World Championship despite missing four rounds.[1][4] In 1972, seven years after first his first appearance on the 125cc Kawasaki, Simmonds would race the bike to a remarkable third place at the Dutch TT.[2]
In 1972, while attending a non-championship motorcycle race at Rungis near Paris, Simmonds was killed in a fire caused by an exploding gas cylinder in a caravan owned by fellow racer Jack Findlay.[2][6] Mistakenly thinking that Findlay's mother was inside the caravan, Simmonds rushed to help just as the gas cylinder exploded, engulfing him in flames.[2]
Points system from 1950 to 1968:
Points system from 1969 onwards:
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
[1][7]
1949 N. Pagani 1950 B. Ruffo 1951 C. Ubbiali 1952 C. Sandford 1953 W. Haas 1954 R. Hollaus 1955 C. Ubbiali 1956 C. Ubbiali 1957 T. Provini 1958 C. Ubbiali 1959 C. Ubbiali
1960 C. Ubbiali 1961 T. Phillis 1962 L. Taveri 1963 H. Anderson 1964 L. Taveri 1965 H. Anderson 1966 L. Taveri 1967 B. Ivy 1968 P. Read 1969 D. Simmonds
1970 D. Braun 1971 Á. Nieto 1972 Á. Nieto 1973 K. Andersson 1974 K. Andersson 1975 P. Pileri 1976 P. Bianchi 1977 P. Bianchi 1978 E. Lazzarini 1979 Á. Nieto
1980 P. Bianchi 1981 Á. Nieto 1982 Á. Nieto 1983 Á. Nieto 1984 Á. Nieto 1985 F. Gresini 1986 L. Cadalora 1987 F. Gresini 1988 J. Martínez 1989 À. Crivillé
1990 L. Capirossi 1991 L. Capirossi 1992 A. Gramigni 1993 D. Raudies 1994 K. Sakata 1995 H. Aoki 1996 H. Aoki 1997 V. Rossi 1998 K. Sakata 1999 E. Alzamora
2000 R. Locatelli 2001 M. Poggiali 2002 A. Vincent 2003 D. Pedrosa 2004 A. Dovizioso 2005 T. Lüthi 2006 Á. Bautista 2007 G. Talmácsi 2008 M. Di Meglio 2009 J. Simón
2010 M. Márquez 2011 N. Terol 2012 S. Cortese 2013 M. Viñales 2014 Á. Márquez 2015 D. Kent 2016 B. Binder 2017 J. Mir 2018 J. Martín 2019 L. Dalla Porta
2020 A. Arenas 2021 P. Acosta 2022 I. Guevara 2023 J. Masià 2024 D. Alonso
