Encyclopedia

Patrick Pons

French motorcycle racer

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Source updated August 1, 2026

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Patrick Noël Raymond Pons (24 December 1952 in Paris - 12 August 1980 in Northampton) was a French professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. His best year was in 1974 when he finished in third place in the 250cc and the 350cc world championships. Pons became the first Frenchman to win an F.I.M. world championship when he won the 1979 Formula 750 title.

In 1980, Pons won the prestigious Daytona 200. He died two days after suffering a racing accident at the 1980 British Grand Prix, having crashed and then hit by fellow Frenchman Michel Rougerie.

01Grand Prix motorcycle racing results

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 bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Points	Rank
1973	250cc	Yamaha	FRA 9	AUT -	GER -		IOM -	YUG -	NED -	BEL 6	CZE 5	SWE 7	FIN 7	ESP -	21	11th
1973	350cc	Yamaha	FRA -	AUT -	GER -	NAT -	IOM -	YUG -	NED -		CZE 8	SWE 8	FIN -	ESP 3	16	13th
1974	250cc	Yamaha		GER -		NAT 3	IOM -	NED 4	BEL 7	SWE 3	FIN -	CZE 5	YUG 2	ESP -	50	3rd
	350cc	Yamaha	FRA 4	GER -	AUT 4	NAT -	IOM -	NED 3		SWE 2	FIN 10		YUG 4	ESP -	47	3rd
	500cc	Yamaha	FRA -	GER -	AUT -	NAT -	IOM -	NED -	BEL 4	SWE -	FIN -	CZE -			8	21st
1975	250cc	Yamaha	FRA 4	ESP 2		GER 5	NAT 5	IOM -	NED 7	BEL 10	SWE 7	FIN 5	CZE 5	YUG 3	48	5th
	350cc	Yamaha	FRA -	ESP -	AUT 5	GER -	NAT 3	IOM -	NED -	BEL -	SWE -	FIN 3	CZE 5	YUG -	32	5th
	500cc	Yamaha	FRA 5	ESP -	AUT -	GER -	NAT -	IOM -	NED -	BEL -	SWE -	FIN -	CZE -	YUG -	6	20th
1976	250cc	Yamaha	FRA 7		NAT -	YUG 10	IOM -	NED -	BEL -	SWE 10	FIN -	CZE -	GER -	ESP -	6	22nd
1976	350cc	Yamaha	FRA Ret	AUT 9	NAT -	YUG 7	IOM -	NED 2			FIN -	CZE -	GER -	ESP -	18	14th
1977	250cc	Yamaha	VEN -	GER -	NAT -	ESP -	FRA -	YUG 10	NED 12	BEL -	SWE 13	FIN -	CZE -	GBR 10	2	33rd
1977	350cc	Yamaha	VEN -	GER -	NAT -	ESP 5	FRA -	YUG -	NED 10		SWE 9	FIN 5	CZE -	GBR -	15	17th
1978	350cc	Yamaha	VEN 5	AUT -	FRA -	NAT -	NED -		SWE -	FIN -	GBR 10	GER 9	CZE -	YUG -	9	17th
1979	350cc	Yamaha	VEN 10	AUT 8	GER -	NAT -	ESP 5	YUG 9	NED -	FIN -	GBR -	FRA -	CZE -		12	15th
1980	500cc	Yamaha	NAT -	ESP -	FRA 10	NED 10	BEL 8	FIN 6	GBR -	GER -					10	16th

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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Patrick Pons”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Patrick Pons (1978).png by Panini, Public domain

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