1961 Motocross World Championship
Organizer	FIM
Duration	8 April/3 September
Number of races	11
Number of manufacturers	15
Champions
500cc	Sten Lundin
250cc[a]	Dave Bickers
Motocross World Championship seasons
← 1960 1962 →

The 1961 Motocross World Championship was the 5th edition of the Motocross World Championship organized by the FIM and reserved for 500cc and 250cc motorcycles.

Sten Lundin, riding a Monark motorcycle rebadged as a Lito, took an early championship lead by winning the first three Grand Prix races of the year then, held off a challenge from Husqvarna's Bill Nilsson to claim his second 500cc Motocross World Championship.^[1][2][3] Dave Bickers riding for the Greeves factory racing team claimed his second consecutive 250cc European Motocross Championship over his countrymen, BSA teammates Arthur Lampkin and Jeff Smith.^[4][5] Future four-time 250cc world champion, Torsten Hallman, wins the first world championship race of his career at the 1961 250cc Finnish Grand Prix.

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Location	Winner	Team	Report
1	April 9	Swiss Grand Prix	Payerne	Sten Lundin	Lito	Report
2	April 30	Austrian Grand Prix	Sittendorf	Sten Lundin	Lito	Report
3	May 28	French Grand Prix	Jonzac	Sten Lundin	Lito	Report
4	June 4	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Přerov	Bill Nilsson	Husqvarna	Report
5	June 11	Italian Grand Prix	Imola	Bill Nilsson	Husqvarna	Report
6	July 2	British Grand Prix	Hawkstone Park	Dave Curtis	Matchless	Report
7	July 24	Dutch Grand Prix	Dreumel	Broer Dirkx	BSA	Report
8	August 5	Belgian Grand Prix	Namur	Sten Lundin	Lito	Report
9	August 13	Luxembourg Grand Prix	Ettelbruck	Sten Lundin	Lito	Report
10	August 20	Swedish Grand Prix	Uddevalla	Bill Nilsson	Husqvarna	Report
11	September 3	West German Grand Prix	Immenstadt	Sten Lundin	Lito	Report
Sources:[2][6]

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Location	Winner	Team	Report
1	April 23	Belgian Grand Prix	Aywaille	Dave Bickers	Greeves	Report
2	May 7	French Grand Prix	Thomer-la-Sôgne	Dave Bickers	Greeves	Report
3	May 11	Dutch Grand Prix	Markelo	Jeff Smith	BSA	Report
4	May 21	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Divoká Šárka	Jeff Smith	BSA	Report
5	May 28	Polish Grand Prix	Katowice-Zabrze	Dave Bickers	Greeves	Report
6	June 4	Luxembourg Grand Prix	Schifflange	Dave Bickers	Greeves	Report
7	June 18	Finnish Grand Prix	Tikkurila	Torsten Hallman	Husqvarna	Report
8	June 25	Italian Grand Prix	Settimo	Arthur Lampkin	BSA	Report
9	July 2	West German Grand Prix	Ühlingen	Arthur Lampkin	BSA	Report
10	July 15	British Grand Prix	Shrubland Park	Dave Bickers	Greeves	Report
11	August 13	Swiss Grand Prix	Wohlen	Arthur Lampkin	BSA	Report
12	September 3	Swedish Grand Prix	Knutstorp	Dave Bickers	Greeves	Report
13	September 10	East German Grand Prix	Apolda	Jaromír Čížek	Jawa	Report
Sources:[4][7]

{

Points are awarded to the top 6 classified finishers.

Pos	Rider	Machine	CH	AUT	FRA	CZE	ITA	UK	NED	BEL	LUX	SWE	GER	Points
1	Sten Lundin	Lito	1	1	1	3	2		2	1	1	2	1	48
2	Bill Nilsson	Husqvarna	2			1	1		3			1	5	36
3	Gunnar Johansson	Lito	3	4			3	3	6	2		3	6	25
4	Miloslav Soucek	ESO	4	3		2					2			19
5	Rolf Tibblin	Husqvarna				5	4				4	6	2	15
6	John Burton	BSA		2				4			3			13
7	Broer Dirk	BSA							1				3	12
8	David Curtis	Matchless						1						8
9	Ove Lundell	Monark			2	6								7
10	Ervín Krajčovič	ESO		5		4				5				7
11	Lars Gustavsson	Lito						2						6
12	Jeff Smith	BSA					5			3				6
13	Herman De Soete	Matchless			5		6			4				6
14	Derek Rickman	Triumph-Métisse			3									4
15	Guy Bertrand	BSA			4									3
16	Jan Clijnk	BSA							4					3
17	Per Olaf Persson	Monark										4		3
18	Gordon Blakeway	Triumph											4	3
19	Tim Gibbes	AJS	5											2
20	John Harris	BSA						5						2
21	Frans Slechten	BSA							5					2
22	Hubert Scaillet	Triumph									5			2
23	Roine Lööf	BSA										5		2
24	Georges Delpeyrat	Triumph			6									1
25	Josef Hrebecek	ESO		6										1
26	Florian Thevenaz	Triumph	6											1
27	Roger Vanderbecken	BSA						6						1
28	Jef Theuwissen	BSA								6				1
28	Jacques Langel	BSA									6			1
Source:[6]

Pos	Rider	Machine	BEL	FRA	NED	CZE	POL	LUX	FIN	ITA	GER	UK	CH	SWE	GDR	Pts
1	Dave Bickers	Greeves	1	1	4		1	1				1		1		51
2	Arthur Lampkin	BSA			2	2	2	4	3	1	1	2	1	2		48
3	Jeff Smith	BSA		2	1	1	4	2	4	2	3		2			40
4	Torsten Hallman	Husqvarna	4	3	3	5		3	1		2	3	4			33
5	Jaromír Čížek	Jawa	3			3		6				5			1	19
6	Aarno Erola	Husqvarna			5		5		2			4		3		17
7	Vlastimil Valek	ČZ/Greeves					3		5					5	2	14
8	Lennart Dahlén	Jawa	2											4		9
9	Fritz Selling	Greeves			6					3					3	9
10	Fritz Betzelbacher	Maico	6					5					3			7
11	Sivert Eriksson	Husqvarna							6		4		6		5	7
12	John Draper	BSA	5	4								6				6
13	Nic Jansen	Greeves		5						4						5
14	Miloslav Soucek	ESO				4										3
	Fred Willamowski	MZ													4	3
16	Josef Chara	Jawa				6	6				6					3
17	Luciano Conti	Aermacchi								5						2
	Gerhard Stauch	Maico									5					2
	Otto Walz	Maico											5			2
20	Vincenzo Soletti	Parilla								6						1
	Bryan Sharp	Greeves		6												1
	Jan Johansson	Husqvarna												6		1
	Paul Friedrichs	ESO													6	1
Source:[7]