 In 1972, while attending a non-championship motorcycle race at Rungis near Paris, Simmonds was killed in a fire caused by an exploding gas cylinder in a caravan owned by fellow racer Jack Findlay.Mistakenly thinking that Findlay was inside the caravan, Simmonds rushed to help just as the gas cylinder exploded, engulfing him in flames.Points system from 1950 to 1968