1996 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

Mick Doohan (pictured at Jerez) became the 1996 500cc world champion

The 1996 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 48th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.

Season summary

Honda's Mick Doohan continued his domination of the 500 class with 8 victories.^[1] His Repsol Honda teammate, Àlex Crivillé beat him to the line twice in Austria and the Czech Republic.^[1] Luca Cadalora, now with the Kanemoto Honda team took two wins for the fourth consecutive year.^[1] Suzuki's hopes were dashed when Daryl Beattie suffered head injuries in a pre-season crash.^[1] He returned only to crash in Spain then two races later in France which effectively ended his career.^[1] Loris Capirossi won his first 500 Grand Prix when Crivillé collided with his teammate, Doohan on the last lap of the Australian round.^[1] A new European team made its debut with the Elf team using a Swissauto V4 sidecar engine in an ROC chassis.^[1] It proved to be fast but unreliable. Honda introduced the NSR500V, a V twin as a cost-effective alternative for privateer teams.^[1]

Max Biaggi claimed his third consecutive 250 championship for Aprilia.^[1] Haruchika Aoki repeated as the 125 champion for Honda.^[1] Newcomers winning their first Grands Prix were Norifumi Abe in the 500 class, Olivier Jacque in the 250 class and Valentino Rossi in the 125 class.^[1]

1996 Grand Prix season calendar

The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 1996:^[2][3]

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit
1	31 March	Marlboro Grand Prix of Malaysia	Shah Alam Circuit
2	7 April	Marlboro Indonesian Grand Prix	Sentul International Circuit
3	21 April	Marlboro Grand Prix of Japan	Suzuka Circuit
4	12 May	Gran Premio Lucky Strike de España	Circuito Permanente de Jerez
5	26 May	Gran Premio d'Italia Polini	Mugello Circuit
6	9 June	Grand Prix de France	Circuit Paul Ricard
7	29 June ††	Lucky Strike Dutch Grand Prix	TT Circuit Assen
8	7 July	Warsteiner Grand Prix Deutschland	Nürburgring
9	21 July	British Grand Prix	Donington Park
10	4 August	HB Motorrad Grand Prix Austria	Österreichring
11	18 August	Grand Prix České republiky	Brno Circuit
12	1 September	Gran Premio IP Città di Imola	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
13	15 September	Gran Premi Marlboro de Catalunya	Circuit de Catalunya
14	6 October	GP Rio	Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet
15	20 October	Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix	Eastern Creek

†† = Saturday race

Calendar changes

• The French Grand Prix moved from the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans to the Circuit Paul Ricard.
• The Austrian Grand Prix returned from the calendar after a one-year absence and moved from the Salzburgring to the Österreichring, one year before the track was renamed as the A1-Ring.
• The Indonesian Grand Prix was added to the calendar.
• The Argentine Grand Prix was initially scheduled, but was eventually taken off the calendar.
• The European Grand Prix was renamed the Catalan Grand Prix.

1996 Grand Prix season results

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit	125cc winner	250cc winner	500cc winner	Report
1	31 March	Malaysian Grand Prix	Shah Alam	Stefano Perugini	Max Biaggi	Luca Cadalora	Report
2	7 April	Indonesian Grand Prix	Sentul	Masaki Tokudome	Tetsuya Harada	Mick Doohan	Report
3	21 April	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka	Masaki Tokudome	Max Biaggi	Norifumi Abe	Report
4	12 May	Spanish Grand Prix	Jerez	Haruchika Aoki	Max Biaggi	Mick Doohan	Report
5	26 May	Italian Grand Prix	Mugello	Peter Öttl	Max Biaggi	Mick Doohan	Report
6	9 June	French Grand Prix	Paul Ricard	Stefano Perugini	Max Biaggi	Mick Doohan	Report
7	29 June ††	Dutch TT	Assen	Emilio Alzamora	Ralf Waldmann	Mick Doohan	Report
8	7 July	German Grand Prix	Nürburgring	Masaki Tokudome	Ralf Waldmann	Luca Cadalora	Report
9	21 July	British Grand Prix	Donington	Stefano Perugini	Max Biaggi	Mick Doohan	Report
10	4 August	Austrian Grand Prix	Zeltweg	Ivan Goi	Ralf Waldmann	Àlex Crivillé	Report
11	18 August	Czech Republic Grand Prix	Brno	Valentino Rossi	Max Biaggi	Àlex Crivillé	Report
12	1 September	City of Imola Grand Prix	Imola	Masaki Tokudome	Ralf Waldmann	Mick Doohan	Report
13	15 September	Catalan Grand Prix	Catalunya	Tomomi Manako	Max Biaggi	Carlos Checa	Report
14	6 October	Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix	Rio de Janeiro	Haruchika Aoki	Olivier Jacque	Mick Doohan	Report
15	20 October	Australian Grand Prix	Eastern Creek	Garry McCoy	Max Biaggi	Loris Capirossi	Report

†† = Saturday race

Participants

500cc participants

Team Constructor Motorcycle No Rider Rounds Team Repsol Honda Honda Honda NSR500 (NV0W) 1 Mick Doohan All 4 Àlex Crivillé All Honda NSR500V (NVAA) 6 Tadayuki Okada All 41 Shinichi Itoh All Lucky Strike Suzuki Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 (XR86) 2 Daryl Beattie 3–6, 13–14 11 Scott Russell 1–4, 6–15 21 Katsuaki Fujiwara 1 53 3 26 Terry Rymer 5, 7–12 42 Peter Goddard 15 Kanemoto Honda Honda Honda NSR500 3 Luca Cadalora All Honda Pileri Honda Honda NSR500 7 Alex Barros All ELF 500 ROC Elf Elf 500 8 Juan Borja All 14 Adrian Bosshard 1–5, 7–8 28 William Costes 6 44 Chris Walker 9–14 48 Marty Craggill 15 Marlboro Yamaha Roberts Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 (OWJ1) 9 Norick Abe All 10 Kenny Roberts, Jr. 3–15 12 Jean-Michel Bayle All QUB Team Optimum ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha 13 Jeremy McWilliams All ELC Lease ROC ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha 14 Adrian Bosshard 10–13 16 Laurent Naveau 1–3, 8, 14–15 25 Jean-Marc Deletang 5–6 IP Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia Aprilia RSW-2 500 15 Doriano Romboni 1–8, 12 29 Marcellino Lucchi 10–11 Fortuna Honda Pons Honda Honda NSR500 17 Alberto Puig 1–14 24 Carlos Checa All WCM ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha 18 James Haydon 1–12 30 Andrew Stroud 13–15 33 Chris Taylor 14 Harris Grand Prix Harris Yamaha Harris Yamaha 19 Sean Emmett 1–13 32 Stephane Mertens 14–15 Padgett's Racing Team Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 20 Toshiyuki Arakaki 1–8 Harris Yamaha Harris Yamaha 96 Paul Young 9–15 Team Paton Paton Paton V70 C10/2 20 Toshiyuki Arakaki 14–15 51 Jean-Pierre Jeandat 1–7, 9–13 66 Marco Papa 12 70 Florian Ferracci 8 Team Pedercini ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha 22 Lucio Pedercini All Millar Racing Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 23 Eugene McManus All Soverex FP Racing ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha 27 Frédéric Protat All 70 Florian Ferracci 6 Team HRC Honda Honda NSR500 52 Takuma Aoki 3 Suzuki Deutschland Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 54 Michael Rudroff 8 Team Schmassmann Harris Yamaha Harris Yamaha 55 Niggi Schmassmann 8 RTM Corse RTM RTM 500 64 Andrea Zambotti 12 Marlboro Yamaha Rainey Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 (OWJ1) 65 Loris Capirossi All Team Leone Racing ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha 66 Marco Papa 5 Team Truchsess ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha 69 Karl Truchsess 10

Key Regular rider Wildcard rider Replacement rider

500cc riders' standings

^[4][5]

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.

Pos Rider Bike MAL INA JPN ESP ITA FRA NED GER GBR AUT CZE IMO CAT RIO AUS Pts 1 Mick Doohan Honda NSR500 5 1 6 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 2 1 8 309 2 Àlex Crivillé Honda NSR500 Ret 4 2 Ret 2 2 2 3 2 1 1 2 3 2 6 245 3 Luca Cadalora Honda NSR500 1 6 Ret 2 3 6 Ret 1 9 4 Ret 6 4 6 7 168 4 Alex Barros Honda NSR500 2 2 Ret 8 6 7 3 8 7 5 9 8 8 5 4 158 5 Norifumi Abe Yamaha YZR500 8 9 1 Ret 11 4 6 6 3 3 11 5 10 3 Ret 148 6 Scott Russell Suzuki RGV500 4 7 3 DNS 5 4 4 5 6 3 7 11 9 Ret 133 7 Tadayuki Okada Honda NSR500V Ret Ret 4 3 7 Ret 13 7 4 11 7 3 5 8 2 132 8 Carlos Checa Honda NSR500 3 5 10 10 DNS Ret 11 Ret 12 7 8 11 1 4 3 124 9 Jean-Michel Bayle Yamaha YZR500 6 8 8 7 5 Ret 8 10 Ret 9 6 4 Ret 7 5 110 10 Loris Capirossi Yamaha YZR500 Ret 3 Ret 4 Ret Ret Ret 12 6 8 5 Ret 9 12 1 98 11 Alberto Puig Honda NSR500 7 10 9 5 12 3 12 11 11 13 12 12 7 10 93 12 Shinichi Ito Honda NSR500V Ret 13 11 9 8 Ret 10 9 10 Ret 10 9 6 11 9 77 13 Kenny Roberts Jr. Yamaha YZR500 12 6 10 Ret 5 5 Ret Ret 4 10 Ret 13 11 69 14 Juan Borja ELF 500 10 Ret 18 11 Ret Ret 9 Ret 8 10 DNS Ret Ret 14 Ret 34 15 Frédéric Protat ROC-Yamaha 9 14 Ret 13 15 8 15 14 14 Ret 19 Ret 13 16 13 32 16 Jeremy McWilliams ROC-Yamaha 14 12 13 14 16 11 14 Ret Ret 14 14 Ret 12 Ret Ret 26 17 Lucio Pedercini ROC-Yamaha 12 Ret Ret 20 13 10 Ret 13 15 16 16 13 Ret 15 12 25 18 Daryl Beattie Suzuki RGV500 5 Ret 4 DNS Ret DNS 24 19 Doriano Romboni Aprilia RSW-2 500 Ret 11 7 Ret 9 Ret Ret Ret 14 WD 23 20 Terry Rymer Suzuki RGV500 Ret 7 Ret Ret 12 13 Ret 16 21 James Haydon ROC-Yamaha 15 18 15 12 17 9 Ret DNS 13 17 Ret Ret 16 22 Sean Emmett Harris-Yamaha 11 15 17 15 14 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 17 16 Ret 9 23 Peter Goddard Suzuki RGV500 10 6 24 Eugene McManus Yamaha Ret Ret 16 16 18 12 Ret 15 17 19 18 15 Ret Ret Ret 6 25 Toshi Arakaki Harris-Yamaha 17 17 14 17 Ret 15 Ret 4 Paton V70 C10/2 Ret 15 26 Laurent Naveau ROC-Yamaha 13 16 Ret Ret 18 Ret 3 27 Florian Ferracci ROC-Yamaha 13 3 Paton V70 C10/2 16 28 Jean-Marc Delétang ROC-Yamaha Ret 14 2 29 Paul Young Harris-Yamaha Ret 20 23 Ret 14 Ret Ret 2 30 Andrew Stroud ROC-Yamaha Ret 14 2 31 Chris Walker ELF 500 16 15 20 Ret 15 17 2 32 Marcellino Lucchi Aprilia RSA500 18 15 1 Jean-Pierre Jeandat Paton V70 C10/2 16 Ret 18 Ret Ret Ret 21 22 17 0 Stephane Mertens Harris-Yamaha 19 16 0 Nicholas Schmassman Yamaha 17 0 Marco Papa ROC-Yamaha 19 18 0 Adrien Bosshard ELF 500 Ret Ret Ret 19 Ret Ret Ret Ret 21 Ret Ret 0 Katsuaki Fujiwara Suzuki RGV500 DNS Ret 0 Takuma Aoki Honda NSR500 Ret 0 Michael Rudroff Suzuki RGV500 Ret 0 Martin Craggill ELF 500 Ret 0 Pos Rider Bike MAL INA JPN ESP ITA FRA NED GER GBR AUT CZE IMO CAT RIO AUS Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

250cc riders' standings

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.

Pos Rider Bike MAL INA JPN ESP ITA FRA NED GER GBR AUT CZE IMO CAT RIO AUS Pts 1 Max Biaggi Aprilia 1 2 1 1 1 1 3 4 1 Ret 1 Ret 1 Ret 1 274 2 Ralf Waldmann Honda DNS 3 8 3 3 2 1 1 2 1 3 1 3 2 2 268 3 Olivier Jacque Honda 4 8 4 7 4 Ret Ret 2 3 Ret 2 2 2 1 3 193 4 Jürgen Fuchs Honda 7 6 12 4 5 Ret 2 3 4 3 5 4 5 3 5 174 5 Tohru Ukawa Honda Ret 7 5 5 DNS 4 Ret 10 5 4 4 3 4 4 4 142 6 Luis d'Antin Honda 3 4 9 6 9 10 6 5 Ret 2 8 6 13 7 8 138 7 Nobuatsu Aoki Honda 6 5 6 Ret 8 5 7 11 8 6 11 Ret 7 Ret 7 105 8 Tetsuya Harada Yamaha 2 1 Ret 2 6 3 10 Ret DNS Ret 9 Ret 104 9 Jean-Philippe Ruggia Honda 5 10 10 8 7 Ret Ret 7 Ret 5 6 Ret Ret 5 6 91 10 Luca Boscoscuro Aprilia 9 13 21 10 13 6 12 6 Ret 7 15 14 18 9 Ret 62 11 Jurgen van den Goorbergh Honda 8 12 Ret Ret 15 12 4 Ret Ret 8 17 8 14 13 11 56 12 Takeshi Tsujimura Honda 12 Ret 11 14 Ret 13 Ret Ret 6 10 Ret 7 11 10 10 56 13 Eskil Suter Aprilia Ret 11 19 Ret 12 7 5 13 10 Ret 7 Ret 9 15 Ret 55 14 Cristiano Migliorati Honda 13 Ret Ret 13 10 9 11 9 9 Ret 12 Ret 8 Ret Ret 50 15 Régis Laconi Honda Ret 16 14 Ret 14 11 Ret 8 7 9 16 Ret 10 Ret 12 43 16 Marcellino Lucchi Aprilia 2 Ret Ret 5 6 41 17 Roberto Locatelli Aprilia 10 Ret 18 Ret Ret 8 Ret Ret 10 12 6 9 41 18 Jamie Robinson Aprilia 11 Ret 22 9 17 Ret 9 Ret Ret 17 Ret 9 Ret Ret Ret 26 19 Sebastián Porto Aprilia Ret 9 16 12 16 16 Ret 20 13 Ret Ret 12 12 13 25 20 Osamu Miyazaki Aprilia 15 Ret 13 15 20 Ret 8 12 12 Ret Ret 16 15 Ret DNS 22 21 Noriyasu Numata Suzuki 2 20 22 Sete Gibernau Honda Ret 17 20 11 24 Ret Ret 19 11 18 14 18 20 Yamaha Ret 8 Ret 23 Daijiro Kato Honda 3 16 24 Davide Bulega Aprilia 14 14 Ret 16 21 17 13 18 15 Ret 19 10 17 Ret Ret 14 25 Oliver Petrucciani Aprilia Ret 19 24 Ret 18 15 Ret 14 Ret 11 13 17 Ret 14 Ret 13 26 Gianluigi Scalvini Honda Ret 18 Ret 19 Ret 19 Ret Ret Ret 16 Ret 11 16 11 Ret 10 27 Kensuke Haga Yamaha 7 9 28 Yasumasa Hatakeyama Honda Ret 15 15 18 22 14 14 15 Ret 15 18 15 DNS 16 Ret 9 29 Alessandro Antonello Aprilia 19 Ret 13 12 DNS 19 17 15 8 30 Massimo Ottobre Aprilia Ret Ret Ret 17 11 18 15 6 31 José Luis Cardoso Aprilia Ret Ret 23 DNS Ret Ret Ret Ret 13 Ret Ret Ret 3 32 Christophe Cogan Honda Ret 20 25 Ret 28 21 16 17 14 19 20 20 Ret 18 Ret 2 33 Christian Boudinot Aprilia Ret Ret Ret Ret 25 Ret Ret 16 18 14 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 2 34 Marcus Payten Honda 19 14 2 Pos Rider Bike MAL INA JPN ESP ITA FRA NED GER GBR AUT CZE IMO CAT RIO AUS Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

125cc riders' standings

^[6]

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.

Pos Rider Bike MAL INA JPN ESP ITA FRA NED GER GBR AUT CZE IMO CAT RIO AUS Pts 1 Haruchika Aoki Honda 2 2 2 1 2 7 3 3 8 NC 6 NC 5 1 2 220 2 Masaki Tokudome Aprilia 4 1 1 6 14 NC NC 1 2 4 13 1 Ret 3 3 193 3 Tomomi Manako Honda 7 7 4 8 9 2 5 8 3 8 3 6 1 NC 9 167 4 Emilio Alzamora Honda 5 NC NC 2 7 3 1 4 NC NC 5 2 4 2 NC 158 5 Jorge Martínez Aprilia NC 5 8 NC 13 NC 9 7 4 6 2 3 8 4 4 131 6 Stefano Perugini Aprilia 1 8 12 7 NC 1 13 2 1 NC 14 NC 9 NC 128 7 Noboru Ueda Honda 9 6 3 3 12 4 4 12 6 11 NC 11 11 6 8 126 8 Kazuto Sakata Aprilia 10 14 Ret 5 3 8 7 11 5 9 4 12 3 11 Ret 113 9 Valentino Rossi Aprilia 6 11 11 4 4 Ret Ret 5 Ret 3 1 5 Ret Ret 14 111 10 Ivan Goi Honda 16 13 19 10 8 12 2 10 12 1 9 7 9 15 5 110 11 Peter Öttl Aprilia 3 3 NC 11 1 NC 6 11 5 7 NC NC 97 12 Garry McCoy Aprilia 12 Ret Ret Ret 20 9 18 Ret 14 Ret 11 4 2 5 1 87 13 Dirk Raudies Honda NC 4 NC 13 NC 6 6 16 NC 2 10 14 10 10 11 81 14 Yoshiaki Katoh Yamaha NC NC NC 9 16 5 NC 18 7 16 12 8 7 12 7 61 15 Lucio Cecchinello Honda NC 12 7 NC 6 Ret NC 14 9 18 8 NC Ret 7 6 59 16 Manfred Geissler Aprilia NC NC 5 12 10 11 8 9 20 10 16 9 NC 16 NC 54 17 Akira Saito Honda 8 9 NC 24 5 10 16 19 NC 12 15 16 Ret 17 10 43 18 Youichi Ui Yamaha Ret Ret 17 18 15 14 Ret 10 7 Ret Ret 6 8 36 19 Frédéric Petit Honda 11 15 20 18 NC 13 11 15 NC 15 18 10 NC 14 12 28 20 Herri Torrontegui Honda 20 NC 14 10 21 15 13 19 15 12 NC 15 18 21 Andrea Ballerini Aprilia 13 10 17 19 11 NC NC NC 19 NC NC 20 14 22 Darren Barton Aprilia NC 16 9 14 22 NC NC NC 13 NC NC 18 NC 12 23 Jaroslav Hules Honda 14 17 14 22 15 NC NC 17 18 17 17 13 13 15 NC 12 24 Masao Azuma Honda 6 10 25 Josep Sarda Honda 19 19 16 16 17 NC NC 13 NC 14 NC NC 13 8 26 Shigeru Ibaraki Yamaha 10 6 27 Loek Bodelier Honda 18 NC 21 NC 17 12 NC NC 20 24 NC NC Ret NC 4 28 Paolo Tessari Honda 15 18 13 NC 16 17 20 17 NC 20 17 4 29 Luigi Ancona Aprilia 23 18 13 3 30 Mirko Giansanti Honda NC 14 NC 16 2 31 Gabriele Debbia Yamaha NC NC NC 23 21 18 15 NC 16 NC 23 21 15 19 17 2 32 Shinichi Sugaya Honda 15 1 33 Jose Ramon Ramirez Yamaha NC 15 NC 1 Pos Rider Bike MAL INA JPN ESP ITA FRA NED GER GBR AUT CZE IMO CAT RIO AUS Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

References

• Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A. ISBN 2-940125-32-5
• "The Official MotoGP website". Retrieved 2010-07-06.