1976 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1976 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 28th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
Season summary
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.[1] Angel Nieto would take his fifth world title in the 50cc division, this time aboard a Bultaco.[1] 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.[1]
Barry Sheene came to the fore with a dominating championship season in the 500cc division, finishing ahead of his Suzuki team-mate Teuvo Länsivuori. Newcomer Marco Lucchinelli impressed as well on a Suzuki but injuries curtailed his performance.[1] Pat Hennen became the first American rider to win a 500cc Grand Prix, when he triumphed at the Finnish Grand Prix.[1]
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.[1] Once the most prestigious race of the year, the event had been increasingly boycotted by the top riders.[1] The TT finally succumbed to pressure for increased safety in racing events.[1] 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 Nürburgring.[1] As Agostini had chosen the MV Agusta for this challenging track, this win was also the last ever for a 500cc four-stroke engine.[1]
Grands Prix
Final standings
500cc standings
350cc standings
250cc standings
Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Walter Villa | 1 | Italy | Harley-Davidson | 90 | 7 |
2 | Takazumi Katayama | Japan | Yamaha | 73 | 1 | |
3 | Franco Bonera | Italy | 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 Kneubühler | 9 | Switzerland | Yamaha | 29 | 0 |
9 | Olivier Chevallier | France | Yamaha | 25 | 0 | |
10 | Víctor Palomo | Spain | Yamaha | 25 | 0 | |
11 | John Dodds | 24 | ||||
12 | Patrick Fernandez | 21 | ||||
13 | Kork Ballington | 15 | ||||
14 | Paolo Pileri | 12 | ||||
15 | Jonnie 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 | Janos Drapal | 2 | ||||
32 | Harald Bartol | 1 | ||||
33 | Eero Hyvarinen | 1 | ||||
34 | Niel Tuxworth | 1 |
125cc standings
Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pier Paolo Bianchi | 2 | Italy | Morbidelli | 90 | 7 |
2 | Angel 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 Müller | 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 standings
Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Angel 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 | Günter 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 Müller | 3 | ||||
26 | Ramon Gali | 3 | ||||
27 | Ermanno Giuliano | 1 |
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.