1997 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

The 1997 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 49th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.

Season summary

A fourth world championship in a row for Honda's Mick Doohan with another dominating performance. He broke Giacomo Agostini's record for victories in one season with 12 wins.^[1] It was also dominating year for Honda with eight of the top ten riders aboard Hondas.^[1] The Yamaha and Suzuki teams were in disarray.^[1] Kenny Roberts left Yamaha to start his own venture with a lightweight, three-cylinder Modenas.^[1] Wayne Rainey's team was left with the inconsistent Norifumi Abe and Sete Gibernau, a rookie.^[1] Daryl Beattie wasn't able to come back from head injuries and retired at the end of the year while Anthony Gobert failed a drug test and was dismissed by the Suzuki team.^[1] The Elf team soldiered on with their Swiss-Auto V4 but Aprilia decided to pull their V twin from the 500 class at the end of the year.^[1]

Max Biaggi had a harder time defending his title from Tetsuya Harada and Ralf Waldmann, not clinching the title until the last race of the year.^[1] A new star emerged from the 125 class with Valentino Rossi winning 11 races for a commanding win on an Aprilia.^[1]

1997 Grand Prix season calendar

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit	125cc winner	250cc winner	500cc winner	Report
1	13 April	Malaysian Grand Prix	Shah Alam	Valentino Rossi	Max Biaggi	Mick Doohan	Report
2	20 April	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka	Noboru Ueda	Daijiro Kato	Mick Doohan	Report
3	4 May	Spanish Grand Prix	Jerez	Valentino Rossi	Ralf Waldmann	Àlex Crivillé	Report
4	18 May	Italian Grand Prix	Mugello	Valentino Rossi	Max Biaggi	Mick Doohan	Report
5	1 June	Austrian Grand Prix	Zeltweg	Noboru Ueda	Olivier Jacque	Mick Doohan	Report
6	8 June	French Grand Prix	Paul Ricard	Valentino Rossi	Tetsuya Harada	Mick Doohan	Report
7	28 June	Dutch TT	Assen	Valentino Rossi	Tetsuya Harada	Mick Doohan	Report
8	6 July	City of Imola Grand Prix	Imola	Valentino Rossi	Max Biaggi	Mick Doohan	Report
9	20 July	German Grand Prix	Nürburgring	Valentino Rossi	Tetsuya Harada	Mick Doohan	Report
10	3 August	Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix	Rio de Janeiro	Valentino Rossi	Olivier Jacque	Mick Doohan	Report
11	17 August	British Grand Prix	Donington	Valentino Rossi	Ralf Waldmann	Mick Doohan	Report
12	31 August	Czech Republic Grand Prix	Brno	Noboru Ueda	Max Biaggi	Mick Doohan	Report
13	14 September	Catalan Grand Prix	Catalunya	Valentino Rossi	Ralf Waldmann	Mick Doohan	Report
14	28 September	Indonesian Grand Prix	Sentul	Valentino Rossi	Max Biaggi	Tadayuki Okada	Report
15	5 October	Australian Grand Prix	Phillip Island	Noboru Ueda	Ralf Waldmann	Àlex Crivillé	Report

Standings

Riders' standings

500cc

Sources^[2][3]

Pos Rider Bike MAL JPN ESP ITA AUT FRA NED IMO GER RIO GBR CZE CAT INA AUS Pts 1 Mick Doohan Honda 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 Ret 340 2 Tadayuki Okada Honda 10 3 3 Ret 2 3 12 5 2 2 2 Ret 6 1 4 197 3 Nobuatsu Aoki Honda 3 5 5 3 4 Ret 4 2 4 4 4 3 5 4 Ret 179 4 Àlex Crivillé Honda 2 2 1 4 5 4 DNS 4 3 3 1 172 5 Takuma Aoki Honda 5 4 4 Ret Ret 5 Ret 3 3 DNS 10 6 7 7 2 134 6 Luca Cadalora Yamaha 4 11 11 2 3 Ret Ret 6 Ret 3 5 2 4 Ret Ret 129 7 Norifumi Abe Yamaha 8 7 7 7 9 7 10 7 Ret 5 9 5 12 5 3 126 8 Carlos Checa Honda 6 6 Ret Ret 6 2 2 4 Ret Ret Ret Ret 2 6 10 119 9 Alex Barros Honda 11 10 8 6 13 6 6 9 6 Ret 3 8 Ret Ret 8 101 10 Doriano Romboni Aprilia 6 11 10 11 3 Ret 5 7 7 Ret 10 10 11 88 11 Daryl Beattie Suzuki Ret Ret 12 5 11 12 7 13 12 13 6 10 17 12 DNS 63 12 Alberto Puig Honda 7 8 Ret Ret 8 8 5 12 10 14 Ret 13 15 14 15 63 13 Sete Gibernau Yamaha 9 Ret 9 9 Ret 13 19 11 7 Ret Ret Ret Ret 8 6 56 14 Régis Laconi Honda 12 12 10 10 Ret 9 Ret 7 11 16 5 52 15 Anthony Gobert Suzuki DNS 13 7 10 13 10 9 10 Ret 12 44 16 Kenny Roberts, Jr. Modenas KR3 Ret Ret 18 Ret Ret Ret 8 17 Ret Ret 11 9 8 9 14 37 17 Juan Borja ELF 500 14 Ret DNS Ret 12 9 15 Ret 8 Ret 8 Ret 9 Ret Ret 37 18 Jean-Michel Bayle Modenas KR3 Ret 14 13 8 14 Ret Ret 8 Ret 8 DNS Ret Ret Ret 16 31 19 Jurgen van den Goorbergh Honda 15 15 14 Ret Ret 15 Ret Ret 11 11 13 11 14 Ret 12 29 20 Jürgen Fuchs ELF 500 Ret Ret 16 Ret Ret 16 9 14 13 6 15 Ret 16 11 Ret 28 21 Kirk McCarthy ROC Yamaha Ret 16 15 14 17 Ret DNS 15 15 12 20 Yamaha 12 Ret 13 15 13 22 Peter Goddard Suzuki 13 Ret 13 9 13 23 Troy Corser Yamaha 13 Ret Ret 12 Ret 14 14 11 24 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki 7 9 25 Norihiko Fujiwara Yamaha 9 7 26 Bernard Garcia Honda 17 11 Ret 14 7 27 Laurent Naveau ROC Yamaha 17 Ret 19 16 15 Ret 16 Ret 16 16 18 14 19 18 19 3 28 Jason Vincent Honda 14 2 29 Lucio Pedercini ROC Yamaha 16 Ret 17 15 16 19 18 16 Ret 15 16 Ret 18 17 17 2 Frédéric Protat ROC-Yamaha Ret 17 Ret 17 18 17 18 Ret 17 17 Ret Ret Ret 18 0 Francesco Monaco Paton Ret 19 0 Alessandro Gramigni Aprilia Ret 0 Pos Rider Bike MAL JPN ESP ITA AUT FRA NED IMO GER RIO GBR CZE CAT INA 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) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

250cc

Source^[4]

Pos Rider Bike MAL JPN ESP ITA AUT FRA NED IMO GER RIO GBR CZE CAT INA AUS Pts 1 Max Biaggi Honda 1 7 3 1 3 2 DSQ 1 4 5 Ret 1 2 1 2 250 2 Ralf Waldmann Honda 4 5 1 4 2 3 2 4 3 12 1 4 1 7 1 248 3 Tetsuya Harada Aprilia 2 3 2 Ret 18 1 1 5 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 235 4 Olivier Jacque Honda 3 DNS 7 5 1 Ret Ret 2 2 1 4 2 6 3 3 201 5 Tohru Ukawa Honda 6 2 Ret Ret 5 5 4 3 6 3 5 5 3 2 8 173 6 Loris Capirossi Aprilia Ret 11 Ret 3 4 4 3 Ret 5 4 3 Ret 5 14 DNS 116 7 Takeshi Tsujimura T.S. Honda Ret 4 4 Ret 7 Ret 6 Ret 13 8 6 6 7 5 4 109 8 Haruchika Aoki Honda 5 8 5 14 8 6 Ret 8 9 7 8 Ret 8 6 14 102 9 Stefano Perugini Aprilia Ret Ret 6 7 6 Ret 5 Ret Ret 6 7 7 Ret 8 7 85 10 Jeremy McWilliams Honda 9 16 9 9 Ret 11 9 7 8 10 Ret 11 10 10 73 11 Sebastián Porto Aprilia Ret 12 Ret 10 9 7 Ret Ret 16 9 9 10 18 9 9 60 12 Noriyasu Numata Suzuki 14 9 8 6 10 Ret Ret Ret 7 Ret 10 Ret 9 Ret 55 13 Osamu Miyazaki Yamaha 11 Ret 12 15 Ret 10 8 9 18 Ret Ret 14 10 13 11 47 14 Franco Battaini Yamaha 13 21 14 13 14 12 11 11 11 11 15 15 12 12 44 15 Cristiano Migliorati Honda 8 22 Ret Ret 16 DNS 13 13 15 11 Ret 9 16 11 13 35 16 Luis d'Antin Yamaha Ret 17 11 11 11 8 10 Ret 17 Ret Ret 13 Ret 16 32 17 Emilio Alzamora Honda 7 DNS Ret DNS Ret 10 10 14 Ret 12 12 Ret Ret 31 18 Marcellino Lucchi Aprilia 2 Ret 6 30 19 Daijiro Kato Honda 1 25 20 William Costes Honda Ret Ret 19 17 13 9 7 12 20 Ret Ret Ret Ret 17 Ret 23 21 José Luis Cardoso Honda Ret 20 10 Ret Ret Ret Ret 14 Ret 15 13 11 14 Ret Ret 19 22 Jamie Robinson Suzuki Ret 14 16 8 12 Ret 15 Ret Ret 13 Ret Ret Ret 18 23 Oliver Petrucciani Aprilia 10 18 13 16 15 12 16 19 17 Ret Ret Ret 16 17 14 24 Luca Boscoscuro Honda 15 19 15 12 Ret Ret Ret 14 13 Ret Ret 17 15 15 13 25 Giuseppe Fiorillo Aprilia Ret Ret Ret 12 16 Ret 8 Ret Ret Ret 12 26 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki 6 10 27 Troy Bayliss Suzuki 6 10 28 Naoki Matsudo Yamaha 10 6 29 Eustaquio Gavira Aprilia 12 Ret 17 Ret 19 DNS 15 Ret 21 19 Ret 16 Ret Ret Ret 5 30 Scott Smart Honda 12 4 31 Naoto Ogura Yamaha 13 3 32 Sébastien Gimbert Honda 13 3 33 Idalio Gavira Aprilia Ret DNS Ret 18 Ret 14 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 2 34 Maurice Bolwerk Honda 14 Ret 2 35 John McGuinness Aprilia 14 2 36 Choujun Kameya Suzuki 15 1 37 Claudio Vanzetta Aprilia 15 17 1 38 Callum Ramsay Honda 15 1 Pos Rider Bike MAL JPN ESP ITA AUT FRA NED IMO GER RIO GBR CZE CAT INA 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) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

125cc

Source^[5]

Pos Rider Bike MAL JPN ESP ITA AUT FRA NED IMO GER RIO GBR CZE CAT INA AUS Pts 1 Valentino Rossi Aprilia 1 Ret 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 6 321 2 Noboru Ueda Honda 3 1 2 4 1 Ret 4 5 Ret 2 3 1 3 4 1 238 3 Tomomi Manako Honda 7 12 5 5 3 2 2 2 Ret 4 8 2 5 5 3 190 4 Kazuto Sakata Aprilia 2 2 7 6 6 Ret 3 3 Ret 5 Ret 9 2 2 2 179 5 Masaki Tokudome Aprilia 5 13 4 7 5 DNS 7 Ret 9 10 2 8 11 6 8 120 6 Jorge Martínez Aprilia 6 5 3 2 Ret DNS 6 6 6 7 Ret Ret 12 3 13 119 7 Garry McCoy Aprilia Ret 7 Ret 3 4 3 Ret 4 Ret 13 4 11 9 9 9 109 8 Roberto Locatelli Honda 17 11 8 14 8 Ret 8 7 Ret 11 5 4 7 10 4 97 9 Mirko Giansanti Aprilia 4 18 12 16 Ret 7 Ret 10 7 6 7 12 4 Ret 10 83 10 Frédéric Petit Honda 9 10 13 9 10 5 9 Ret 4 9 9 15 10 14 Ret 83 11 Gianluigi Scalvini Honda 16 9 21 12 9 8 13 11 12 Ret 11 6 8 7 5 81 12 Youichi Ui Yamaha Ret Ret 22 10 7 4 5 8 Ret 3 Ret 10 18 8 Ret 77 13 Yoshiaki Katoh Yamaha 8 6 10 15 Ret 6 Ret 12 2 16 6 Ret 13 21 14 74 14 Lucio Cecchinello Honda 10 Ret 15 8 Ret Ret Ret Ret 5 8 10 5 6 13 7 73 15 Masao Azuma Honda 12 4 9 11 11 9 10 9 Ret 17 13 Ret Ret 11 12 66 16 Manfred Geissler Honda 18 23 17 17 12 16 31 Aprilia 13 Ret 3 Ret 12 13 DNS Ret 15 17 Juan Enrique Maturana Yamaha Ret 24 19 18 14 11 14 Ret 10 15 15 16 Ret 17 11 22 18 Ivan Goi Aprilia 13 14 11 13 12 16 15 Ret 13 18 17 Ret 21 19 Steve Jenkner Aprilia 21 21 18 22 15 13 17 18 Ret 12 16 7 14 15 16 20 20 Gino Borsoi Yamaha 22 15 23 Ret Ret 12 Ret Ret 8 14 Ret Ret 16 12 Ret 19 21 Jaroslav Huleš Honda 11 Ret 14 Ret Ret 11 13 Ret DNS Ret 14 Ret 20 Ret 17 22 Hideyuki Nakajoh Honda 3 16 23 Peter Öttl Aprilia Ret Ret 6 Ret Ret 15 11 24 Kazuhiro Takao Honda 8 8 25 Dirk Raudies Honda 14 Ret 20 20 Ret 10 Ret 17 Ret 20 Ret 19 17 Ret Ret 8 26 Ángel Nieto Jr. Aprilia 19 22 24 23 16 15 16 14 11 Ret 19 Ret Ret 16 17 8 27 Josep Sardá Honda 15 19 26 19 Ret 14 Ret Ret Ret 19 Ret 18 DNS 19 18 3 28 Alex Hofmann Yamaha 14 2 29 Darren Barton Honda 14 2 30 Benny Jerzenbeck Honda Ret 18 15 Ret 1 31 Álvaro Molina Honda Ret 15 1 Pos Rider Bike MAL JPN ESP ITA AUT FRA NED IMO GER RIO GBR CZE CAT INA 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) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

Manufacturers' standings

500cc

Source^[2]

Pos	Manufacturer	MAL	JPN	ESP	ITA	AUT	FRA	NED	IMO	GER	RIO	GBR	CZE	CAT	INA	AUS	Pts
1	Honda	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	375
2	Yamaha	4	7	7	2	3	7	10	6	7	3	5	2	4	5	3	188
3	Suzuki	Ret	13	12	5	7	10	7	10	9	10	6	10	17	12	7	90
4	Aprilia	Ret	DNS	6	11	10	11	3	Ret	5	7	7	Ret	10	10	11	88
5	Modenas KR3	Ret	14	13	8	14	Ret	8	8	Ret	8	11	9	8	9	14	68
6	ELF 500	14	Ret	16	Ret	12	9	9	14	8	6	8	Ret	9	11	Ret	60
7	ROC Yamaha	16	16	15	14	15	19	16	15	15	12	16	14	18	17	17	12
Pos	Manufacturer	MAL	JPN	ESP	ITA	AUT	FRA	NED	IMO	GER	RIO	GBR	CZE	CAT	INA	AUS	Pts

250cc

Source^[4]

Pos	Manufacturer	MAL	JPN	ESP	ITA	AUT	FRA	NED	IMO	GER	RIO	GBR	CZE	CAT	INA	AUS	Pts
1	Honda	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	360
2	Aprilia	2	3	2	2	4	1	1	5	1	2	2	3	4	4	5	268
3	T.S. Honda	Ret	4	4	Ret	7	Ret	6	Ret	13	8	6	6	7	5	4	109
4	Yamaha	11	10	10	11	11	8	8	9	11	15	11	11	10	12	11	81
5	Suzuki	14	6	8	6	10	Ret	Ret	15	7	Ret	10	13	9	Ret	6	72
Pos	Manufacturer	MAL	JPN	ESP	ITA	AUT	FRA	NED	IMO	GER	RIO	GBR	CZE	CAT	INA	AUS	Pts

125cc

Source^[5]

Pos	Manufacturer	MAL	JPN	ESP	ITA	AUT	FRA	NED	IMO	GER	RIO	GBR	CZE	CAT	INA	AUS	Pts
1	Aprilia	1	2	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	1	1	2	351
2	Honda	3	1	2	4	1	2	2	2	4	2	3	1	3	4	1	287
3	Yamaha	8	6	10	10	7	4	5	8	2	3	6	10	13	8	11	139
Pos	Manufacturer	MAL	JPN	ESP	ITA	AUT	FRA	NED	IMO	GER	RIO	GBR	CZE	CAT	INA	AUS	Pts

500 cc participants

Team Constructor Motorcycle No Rider Rounds Repsol Honda Honda Honda NSR500 (NV0X) 1 Mick Doohan All 2 Àlex Crivillé 1–7, 12–15 7 Tadayuki Okada All Honda NSR500V (NVAB) 24 Takuma Aoki All Yamaha Promotor Racing Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 (OWH0) 3 Luca Cadalora 1–3 11 Troy Corser 1–3 Red Bull Yamaha WCM Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 (OWH0) 3 Luca Cadalora 4–15 11 Troy Corser 4–7 22 Kirk McCarthy 11–15 ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha 9–10 Honda Gresini Honda Honda NSR500V 4 Alex Barros All Yamaha Team Rainey Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 (OWH0) 5 Norick Abe All 20 Sete Gibernau All Lucky Strike Suzuki Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 (XR87) 6 Daryl Beattie All 23 Anthony Gobert 1, 4–12 26 Yukio Kagayama 15 27 Peter Goddard 2–3 14–15 MoviStar Honda Pons Honda Honda NSR500 8 Carlos Checa All 9 Alberto Puig All Marlboro Team Roberts Modenas Modenas KR3 10 Kenny Roberts, Jr. All 12 Jean-Michel Bayle All Tecmas Honda Elf Honda Honda NSR500V 13 Bernard Garcia 6–9 55 Regis Laconi 1–5, 10–15 ELF 500 ROC Elf Elf 500 14 Juan Borja All 16 Jürgen Fuchs All Soverex FP Racing ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha 15 Frédéric Protat 1–3 Honda Honda NSR500V 4–15 Team Pedercini ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha 17 Lucio Pedercini All Rheos ELF F.C.C. T.S. Honda Honda NSR500 18 Nobuatsu Aoki All IP Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia Aprilia RSW-2 19 Doriano Romboni 3–15 39 Alessandro Gramigni 1–2 Team Millar MQP Honda Honda NSR500V 21 Jurgen van den Goorbergh All World Champ Motorsports ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha 22 Kirk McCarthy 1–8 Millet Racing ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha 25 Laurent Naveau All Marlboro Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 51 Norihiko Fujiwara 2 Team Paton Paton Paton V70 C10/3 53 Francesco Monaco 4, 8 Padgett's Honda Honda NSR500V 98 Jason Vincent 11

Key Regular rider Wildcard rider Replacement rider

References

• Schertenleib, Jean-Claude; Büla, Maurice (2000). Continental Circus 50. Chronosports. ISBN 978-2-940125-32-6. 
• "The Official MotoGP website". Retrieved 2010-07-06. 

Grand Prix motorcycle racing seasons
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