Dave Simmonds (25 October 1939 – 23 October 1972) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

125 cc

FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...

road racing

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Motorcycle racing career

Born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Simmonds began his

motorcycle racing The motorcycle sport of racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and ...

career riding a 50cc Itom motorcycle in 1960. 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. 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. Simmonds convinced Kawasaki management to loan him a motorcycle to compete in the 125cc Grand Prix world championships in 1967. In an era of unrestricted rules, the Kawasaki KA-1 125cc twin cylinder was outclassed by the expensive, RA31

V4 engine A V4 engine is a four-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V engine, V configuration. The V4 engine is less common compared to straight-four engines. However, V4 engines have been used in au ...

s used by the Yamaha racing team and even the RT67 twins used by

Suzuki is a Japanese multinational mobility manufacturer headquartered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka. It manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a va ...

and he finished 7th of the world championship. Without any financial or mechanical support from the Kawasaki factory, and just spare parts sent from time to time, Simmonds spent the

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

and

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

Grand Prix seasons sorting out the motorcycle's reliability issues. 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. 125cc machines would be limited to two cylinders and 6-speed transmissions. This regulation change caused the dominant Yamaha and Suzuki factories to withdraw their teams from Grand Prix racing. 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. The victory marked the first world championship for Kawasaki. Simmonds dropped to fourth place in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

with improved competition from Dieter Braun (Suzuki RT66),

Ángel Nieto Ángel Nieto Roldán (25 January 1947 – 3 August 2017) was a Spanish professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He was one of the most accomplished motorcycle racers in the history of the sport, winning 13 World Championships and 90 Grand Prix ...

(

Derbi Derbi is a manufacturer of motorcycles, scooters, mopeds and recreational all-terrain vehicles produced by Nacional Motor S.A.U., currently integrated into the Italian (2009) Piaggio Group. History Derbi's origins began with a little bicycle wo ...

) and

Börje Jansson Börje Jansson (born 10 November 1942) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from Sweden. His best years were in 1971 and 1972, when he finished third in the 125cc world championship riding for the Maico factory racing team. He won the ...

(

Maico Maicowerk A.G., known by its trading name Maico () is the name of a family company in the Swabian town of Pfäffingen near Tübingen. Founded in 1926 by Ulrich Maisch as Maisch & Co, the company originally manufactured 98 and 123 cc Ilo tw ...

) but, still managed to win the Finnish Grand Prix and scored two second place finishes in the Dutch and Belgian Grands Prix. Simmonds finished sixth in the

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

125cc world championship with one win at the

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix () was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history: the Nürburgring in Rhineland-Palatinate, Hockenheimring in B ...

at the

Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring, officially Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other mot ...

. In 1971, he competed in the premier 500cc class with a Kawasaki H1R. The H1R had poor road handling characteristics so, Simmonds had his H1R rebuilt around a Ken Sprayson-designed

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

that greatly improved the machine's handling. He proved to be competitive by winning the preseason invitational 500cc Mettet Grand Prix then, finished second to

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 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 ...

at the Finnish Grand Prix followed by third places in Holland and Italy.Simmonds won his first 500cc class victory at the season ending

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 ...

at Jarama when Agostini sat out the race after already winning the championship. His victory in Spain also marked Kawasaki's first premier-class Grand Prix victory. Simmonds ended the season ranked 4th in the 500cc World Championship despite missing four rounds. 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, ...

, 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.

Death

In 1972, while attending a non-championship motorcycle race at

Rungis Rungis () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France, in the department of Val-de-Marne, Île-de-France. It is best known as the location of the large wholesale food market serving the Paris metropolitan area and beyond, the '' Mar ...

near Paris, Simmonds was killed in a fire caused by an exploding gas cylinder in a caravan owned by fellow racer

Jack Findlay Cyril John Findlay (5 February 1935 – 19 May 2007) was an Australian professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He is noted for having one of the longest racing careers in Grand Prix history spanning 20 years, as well as one of five ri ...

. Mistakenly thinking that Findlay's mother was inside the caravan, Simmonds rushed to help just as the gas cylinder exploded, engulfing him in flames.

Grand Prix motorcycle racing results

Points system from 1950 to 1968: Points system from 1969 onwards: ( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simmonds, Dave 1939 births 1972 deaths Motorcycle racers from London English motorcycle racers 50cc World Championship riders 125cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders 350cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Isle of Man TT riders Accidental deaths in France 125cc World Riders' Champions 20th-century English sportsmen