Bruno Kneubühler (born 3 December 1946) is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

former professional

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

road racer. He competed in the

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

world championships from 1972 to 1989. During his career, he competed in every Grand Prix class from

50 cc The 50 cc class was the ultra-lightweight class in Grand Prix motorcycle racing, and formed part of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) World Championships from 1962 until 1983; when the class was replaced by 80 cc. History a ...

to 500cc.

Motorcycle racing career

In his first Grand Prix season in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, Kneubühler finished the 500cc season in third place behind the dominant

MV Agusta MV Agusta (, full name: MV AGUSTA Motor S.p.A., original name: Meccanica Verghera Agusta or MV) is an Italian high end motorcycle manufacturer. It was founded by Domenico Agusta, Count Domenico Agusta on 19 January 1945 as one of the branches of ...

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

racing team of

Giacomo Agostini Giacomo Agostini (; born 16 June 1942) is an Italian former professional motorcycle road racer and racing team manager. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1963 to 1977, most prominently as a member of ...

and Alberto Pagani. He also won the season-ending 350cc

Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix (, ) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating its centenary in 2013. The race had modest beginnings ...

held on the Montjuich

street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport race track, racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor racing, motor races. Airport Runway, runways and Taxiway, taxiways are also sometimes part of ...

, finishing ahead of

Renzo Pasolini Renzo Pasolini (18 July 1938 – 20 May 1973), nicknamed "Paso", was an Italian professional motorcycle road racer. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1964 to 1972. Although he never won a world champ ...

and

János Drapál János Drapál (3 February 1948 – 11 August 1985) was a Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle road racing, road racer from Budapest. He had little chance to race in the Grand Prix world championships during the Cold War, but sti ...

. A year later, he showed his versatility at the

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

Spanish Grand Prix by scoring second-place finishes in the 50cc, 250cc and 500cc classes. At the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

250cc

Dutch TT The Dutch Tourist Trophy, also known as the ''TT Assen'', and also sometimes known as the Dutch Motorcycle Grand Prix, is an annual Dutch motorsport event established in 1925 for road racing motorcycles held on the TT Circuit Assen, also known ...

, he scored a second-place finish ahead of third-place finisher and future three-time world champion

Kenny Roberts Kenneth Leroy Roberts (born December 31, 1951) is an American former professional motorcycle racer and racing team owner. In 1978, he became the first American to win a Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship. He was also a two-time w ...

in the American rider's first Grand Prix race. He had his best year in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

when he won two Grand Prix races and finished second to Angel Nieto in the 125cc class. While he never won a championship, he finished in second place three times, winning 5 Grand Prix races and scoring 33 podium results. He retired in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

at the age of 43. His lengthy Grand Prix career saw him compete against many champions from Giacomo Agostini to

Mick Doohan Michael Sydney Doohan ( ; born 4 June 1965) is an Australian former Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle road racing List of Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champions, World Champion, who won five consecutive List of 500cc/Mo ...

. Kneubühler is now back in Classic racing with a Yamaha TZ 350 participating in the International Classic Grand Prix series in races such as

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Points system from 1969 to 1987: Points system from 1988 to 1991: ( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kneubuhler, Bruno 1946 births Living people Swiss motorcycle racers 50cc World Championship riders 125cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders 350cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Place of birth missing (living people)