The British machines had ultimately succeeded due to their reliability but the speed of the Gileras was clear to see and Norton had to react to counteract the challenge. The Italians were more successful in the smaller classes, which was an early demonstration of their future strength. The 1950s saw the British manufacturers dominate to begin with before the German and Italians took over but the 1949 500cc and 350cc titles went the way of British riders, Les Graham and Freddie Frith, and manufacturers, AJS and Velocette. That first year of 1949 may have been a shadow of the World Championships of more recent times but it was a start with six races for the 500cc class, five for the 350s, four the 250s and just three for the 125s and sidecars. It was the start of the Grand Prix World Championship we know today and it was a new era for international motorcycle road racing.
However, in 1949, the FIM decided to reintroduce the idea of a series of series and added increased prestige to their decision by christening them the World Championship. So, when racing resumed in 1946, the seeds had been sewn for a championship series although it remains a mystery why the idea was abandoned in 19 with the races continuing to take place but this time as stand alone events. The European Championship was set to take place over nine rounds but it was ultimately curtailed to seven due to the outbreak of the war and motorcycle racing went into hibernation for six years. The following year saw Italy, through Gilera, follow Germany’s example in gaining sporting achievement whilst Norton withdrew from racing in order to concentrate on preparing machinery for military use. Kluge earned himself the title of Champion of Europe by scoring more points than any other rider in all three classes. It wasn’t totally representative but the titles were won by Germany ’s Georg Meier (500cc) and Ewald Kluge (250cc) and Britain’s Ted Mellors (350cc). Talk of a championship series had taken place in 1938, prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, and a European series took place that year comprising eight races and including the Isle of Man TT, Dutch TT and Grands Prix in Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland. The first ever motorcycling World Championship took place in 1949 and was organised by the sport’s governing bidy, the Federation Internationale de Motorcyclisme (FIM).
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From the very beginning of Sunday's action, it was clear a tight pack would lead the assault, but one could hardly have expected that compact tension to be maintained for the entirety.