The 1976 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 28th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
Season summaryâ»
1976 marked the beginning of the era of Suzuki domination with the "Japanese firm taking 11 of the first 12 places in the premier class." Angel Nieto would take his fifth world title in the 50cc division, this time aboard a Bultaco. In the 125cc class, it was more of the same with Morbidelli taking another crown with Pier Paolo Bianchi claiming the championship. Walter Villa would claim double world championships in the 250cc and 350cc classes for Harley-Davidson fighting off a strong challenge from defending champion, Johnny Cecotto in the larger class.
Barry Sheene cameââto the fore with a dominating championship season in the 500cc division, finishing ahead of his Suzuki teammate Teuvo LĂ€nsivuori. Newcomer Marco Lucchinelli impressed as well on a Suzuki. But injuries curtailed his performance. Pat Hennen became the first American riderââto win a 500cc Grand Prix, "when he triumphed at the Finnish Grand Prix."
1976 marked the end of an era as it would be, the last time the Isle of Man TT would appear on the Grand Prix calendar. Once the most prestigious race of the year, "the event had been increasingly boycotted by," the top riders. The TT finally succumbed to pressure for increased safety in racing events. The season also marked the end of another era with 15 time world champion Giacomo Agostini winning his last Grand Prix at the season-ending round at the NĂŒrburgring. As Agostini had chosen the MV Agusta for this challenging track, this win was also the last for a 500cc four-stroke engine.
1976 Grand Prix season calendarâ»
Participantsâ»
500cc participantsâ»
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- Notes
- * LĂ€nsivuori was disqualified for the second round of the season, the Austrian GP, for not stopping his engine during refuelling stop.
Final standingsâ»
500cc standingsâ»
350cc standingsâ»
250cc standingsâ»
Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Walter Villa | 1 | Italy | Aermacchi Harley-Davidson | 90 | 7 |
2 | Takazumi Katayama | Japan | Yamaha | 73 | 1 | |
3 | Franco Bonera | Italy | Aermacchi Harley-Davidson | 61 | 1 | |
4 | Tom Herron | United Kingdom | Yamaha | 47 | 1 | |
5 | Pentti Korhonen | Finland | Yamaha | 47 | 0 | |
6 | Dieter Braun | West Germany | Yamaha | 42 | 1 | |
7 | Chas Mortimer | 6 | United Kingdom | Yamaha | 31 | 0 |
8 | Bruno KneubĂŒhler | 9 | Switzerland | Yamaha | 29 | 0 |
9 | Olivier Chevallier | France | Yamaha | 25 | 0 | |
10 | VĂctor Palomo | Spain | Yamaha | 25 | 0 | |
11 | John Dodds | 24 | ||||
12 | Patrick Fernandez | 21 | ||||
13 | Kork Ballington | 15 | ||||
14 | Paolo Pileri | 12 | ||||
15 | Jon Ekerold | 10 | ||||
16 | Alan North | 10 | ||||
17 | Tony Rutter | 8 | ||||
18 | Jean-François Baldé | 8 | ||||
19 | Eddie Roberts | 6 | ||||
20 | Gerard Choukroun | 6 | ||||
21 | Franco Uncini | 6 | ||||
22 | Patrick Pons | 6 | ||||
23 | Philip Bouzanne | 6 | ||||
24 | Pekka Nurmi | 5 | ||||
25 | Alex George | 5 | ||||
26 | Boet van Dulmen | 4 | ||||
27 | John Weeden | 4 | ||||
28 | Ian Richards | 3 | ||||
29 | Leif Gustafsson | 3 | ||||
30 | Dennis Casement | 2 | ||||
31 | Jean Claude Hogrel | 2 | ||||
32 | Tapio Virtanen | 2 | ||||
33 | JĂĄnos DrapĂĄl | 2 | ||||
32 | Harald Bartol | 1 | ||||
33 | Eero HyvÀrinen | 1 | ||||
34 | Niel Tuxworth | 1 |
125cc standingsâ»
Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pier Paolo Bianchi | 2 | Italy | Morbidelli | 90 | 7 |
2 | Ăngel Nieto | Spain | Bultaco | 67 | 1 | |
3 | Paolo Pileri | 1 | Italy | Morbidelli | 64 | 0 |
4 | Henk van Kessel | 7 | Netherlands | Condor | 46 | 0 |
5 | Anton Mang | West Germany | Morbidelli | 32 | 1 | |
6 | Jean-Louis Guignabodet | 2 | France | Morbidelli | 27 | 0 |
7 | Eugenio Lazzarini | 5 | Italy | Morbidelli | 26 | 0 |
8 | Gert Bender | West Germany | Bender | 25 | 0 | |
9 | Stefan Dörflinger | Switzerland | Morbidelli | 23 | 0 | |
10 | Julien van Zeebroeck | Belgium | Morbidelli | 18 | 0 | |
11 | Xaver Tschannen | 14 | ||||
12 | Walter Koschine | 12 | ||||
13 | Cees van Dongen | 11 | ||||
14 | Otello Buscherini | 10 | ||||
15 | Leif Gustafsson | 10 | ||||
16 | Harald Bartol | 9 | ||||
17 | Hans MĂŒller | 9 | ||||
18 | Horst Seel | 8 | ||||
19 | Enrico Cereda | 7 | ||||
20 | Pierluigi Conforti | 7 | ||||
21 | Lennart Lundgren | 6 | ||||
22 | Per Edward Carlsson | 6 | ||||
23 | Johann Zemsauer | 5 | ||||
24 | Matti Kinnunen | 5 | ||||
25 | Rolf Blatter | 4 | ||||
26 | Luigi Richetti | 4 | ||||
27 | Hans Hummel | 4 | ||||
28 | Peter Frohnmeyer | 3 | ||||
29 | Ermanno Giuliano | 2 | ||||
30 | Auno Hakala | 2 | ||||
31 | Hans Hallberg | 1 | ||||
32 | Lennart Lindell | 1 | ||||
33 | Heinz Schmid | 1 | ||||
34 | P.Cecchini | 1 |
50cc standingsâ»
Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ăngel Nieto | 1 | Spain | Bultaco | 85 | 5 |
2 | Herbert Rittberger | 5 | West Germany | Kreidler | 76 | 2 |
3 | Ulrich Graf | Switzerland | Kreidler | 69 | 1 | |
4 | Eugenio Lazzarini | 2 | Italy | Morbidelli | 53 | 0 |
5 | Rudolf Kunz | 4 | West Germany | Kreidler | 34 | 0 |
6 | Julien van Zeebroeck | 9 | Belgium | Kreidler | 26 | 1 |
7 | Stefan Dörflinger | 6 | Switzerland | Kreidler | 25 | 0 |
8 | Rolf Blatter | Switzerland | Kreidler | 25 | 0 | |
9 | Hans Hummel | 9 | Austria | Kreidler | 20 | 0 |
10 | Pierre Audry | France | ABF | 15 | 0 | |
11 | Aldo Pero | 13 | ||||
12 | Theo Timmer | 12 | ||||
13 | Engelbert Kip | 12 | ||||
14 | Gerrit Strikker | 9 | ||||
15 | Cees van Dongen | 9 | ||||
16 | Benjamin Laurent | 8 | ||||
17 | GĂŒnter Schirnhofer | 7 | ||||
18 | Theo Van Geffen | 6 | ||||
19 | Ricardo Tormo | 5 | ||||
20 | Robert Laver | 5 | ||||
21 | Claudio Lusuardi | 4 | ||||
22 | Yves Le Tourmelin | 4 | ||||
23 | E.Mischiatti | 4 | ||||
24 | B.Stopp | 4 | ||||
25 | Wolfgang MĂŒller | 3 | ||||
26 | Ramon Gali | 3 | ||||
27 | Ermanno Giuliano | 1 |
See alsoâ»
Referencesâ»
- ^ Noyes, Dennis; Scott, Michael (1999), Motocourse: 50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix, Hazleton Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1-874557-83-7
- ^ "Motorcycle Racing Online - 500cc Grand Prix entry lists for 1976 to 1978". f1network.net. 2006-10-13.
- BĂŒla, 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.