The 1986 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 38th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
This would be the last season where the premier class was held only in Europe until 2020.
Season summary A second world championship for Eddie Lawson. After 1985 season, the future looked bright for Honda's Freddie Spencer. However, once the season started, he began to suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome. The talented American would never win another Grand Prix after his spectacular 1985 season. Australian Wayne Gardner stepped up to become Honda's lead rider. Randy Mamola, riding for the newly formed Kenny Roberts-Yamaha team continued to post good results and finished third in the points chase.
Venezuelan Carlos Lavado earned his second world championship for Yamaha with a strong performance. Garelli teammates Fausto Gresini and Luca Cadalora battled it out for the 125 title, each taking four wins with Cadalora coming out on top. Spain's Jorge Martinez ended Stefan Dörflinger's streak of title wins at four. Angel Nieto announced he was retiring after twenty-three years in Grand Prix racing. He continued to be competitive up to the end with a second-place finish in the Italian 125 race and a second in Spain in the 80cc class. His 90 Grand Prix victories at the time ranked him second only to Giacomo Agostini.
For 125cc and 80cc, an additional post-season event on the Hockenheimring (located in the German state of Baden-Württemberg) was designated as the Baden-Württemberg Grand Prix and counted towards the championships in these classes.
1986 Grand Prix season calendar The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 1986: RoundDateGrand PrixCircuit 1 4 May Gran Premio de España Circuito Permanente Del Jarama 2 18 May Gran Premio delle Nazioni Autodromo Nazionale Monza 3 25 May Großer Preis von Deutschland Nürburgring 4 8 June Großer Preis von Österreich Salzburgring 5 15 June Yu Grand Prix Automotodrom Rijeka 6 28 June Dutch TT TT Circuit Assen 7 6 July GP of Belgium Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 8 20 July Grand Prix de France Circuit Paul Ricard 9 3 August Shell Oils British Motorcycle Grand Prix Silverstone Circuit 10 9 August Swedish TT Scandinavian Raceway 11 24 August Grand Prix San Marino Circuito Internazionale Santa Monica 12 28 September Baden-Württemberg Grand Prix Hockenheimring
Calendar changes The South African Grand Prix was boycotted due to the Apartheid policies in the country. The German Grand Prix moved from the Hockenheimring to the Nürburgring. The French Grand Prix moved from the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans to the Paul Ricard circuit. The Baden-Württemberg motorcycle Grand Prix was added as a one-off race to replace the South African Grand Prix. Only the 80cc and 125cc participated in this race.
Results and standings Grands Prix Round Date Race Location 80cc winner 125cc winner 250cc winner 500cc winner Report 1 4 May Spanish Grand Prix Jarama Jorge Martínez Fausto Gresini Carlos Lavado Wayne Gardner Report 2 18 May Italian Grand Prix Monza Stefan Dörflinger Fausto Gresini Anton Mang Eddie Lawson Report 3 25 May German Grand Prix Nürburgring Manuel Herreros Luca Cadalora Carlos Lavado Eddie Lawson Report 4 8 June Austrian Grand Prix Salzburgring Jorge Martínez Luca Cadalora Carlos Lavado Eddie Lawson Report 5 15 June Yugoslavian Grand Prix Automotodrom Rijeka Jorge Martínez Sito Pons Eddie Lawson Report 6 28 June Dutch TT Assen Jorge Martínez Luca Cadalora Carlos Lavado Wayne Gardner Report 7 6 July Belgian Grand Prix Spa Domenico Brigaglia Sito Pons Randy Mamola Report 8 20 July French Grand Prix Paul Ricard Luca Cadalora Carlos Lavado Eddie Lawson Report 9 3 August British Grand Prix Silverstone Ian McConnachie August Auinger Dominique Sarron Wayne Gardner Report 10 9 August Swedish Grand Prix Anderstorp Fausto Gresini Carlos Lavado Eddie Lawson Report 11 24 August San Marino Grand Prix Misano Pier Paolo Bianchi August Auinger Tadahiko Taira Eddie Lawson Report 12 28 September Baden-Württemberg Grand Prix Hockenheim Gerhard Waibel Fausto Gresini Report
Participants
500cc participants TeamConstructorMotorcycleNo.RiderRounds Rothmans Honda/HRC Honda Honda NSR500 1 Freddie Spencer 1, 4 4 Wayne Gardner All Yamaha Marlboro Team Agostini SRL Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 2 Eddie Lawson All 9 Rob McElnea All Team Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 3 Christian Sarron 1–9, 11 Team Elf-ROC Elf-Honda Elf 3 5 Ron Haslam All 52 Christian le Liard 8–11 Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 6 Randy Mamola All 11 Mike Baldwin All Racing Team Katayama Honda Honda RS500Honda NSR500 7 Raymond Roche All Rollstar Honda Racing Team Chevallier-Honda Honda RS500 8 Didier de Radiguès 2–3, 6–11 PDM Chrome Tapes Honda Honda RS500 10 Boet van Dulmen All 39 Henk van der Mark 1–5, 9–10 ?? Honda Honda RS500 18 Marco Papa 2, 5–6 Ecurie Fior Fior-Honda Fior RS500 20 Marco Gentile 1–6, 8–11 Team Italia Honda Honda RS500 23 Fabio Biliotti 1–6, 9–11 HB Suzuki Suzuki Suzuki RG500 XR70 26 Dave Petersen 1–6, 8, 11 2830314656 Pierfrancesco Chili 1–5, 7-8 Skoal Bandit Heron Suzuki Suzuki Suzuki RG500 TSR6 (XR70) 33 Paul Lewis 1–8, 11 473359 Niall Mackenzie 9–11 57 Paul Iddon ?? Rizla Heron Suzuki Heron-Suzuki Suzuki RG500 TSR6 (XR70) 34 Kevin Schwantz 6–8, 11 Rothmans Honda Britain Honda Honda RS500Honda NS500 3130 Roger Burnett 2, 6–7, 9 Honda NS500 43 Roger Marshall 9 Duckhams Oil Honda Honda RS500 31 Simon Buckmaster 1–4, 6–11 Hein Gericke Racing HG-Honda Honda RS500 35317136 Manfred Fischer 1–7, 9–11 Stichting Netherlands Racing Team Honda Honda RS500 35 Mile Pajic 3–11 ?? Honda Honda RS500 37 Andy Leuthe 1–3, 5–7, 11 Loctite Suzuki Suzuki Suzuki RGB500 41 Kenny Irons 6, 8–9 Cagiva Cagiva Cagiva C10 4416 Joan Garriga 1–9, 11 58 Marco Lucchinelli 2 HRC Grieskirched Honda Honda RS500 44 Sepp Doppler ?? ?? Honda Honda RS500 45 Dietmar Mayer 8 HDJ Sportswear Suzuki Suzuki RG500 XR45 48 Maarten Duyzers 3, 5–10 Frankonia-Suzuki Schweiz Suzuki Suzuki RG500 Bakker (XR45) 5129 Wolfgang von Muralt All HRC-Moriwaki Honda Honda NSR500 54 Shunji Yatsushiro 4–6, 8–11 Ciesse Piumini Suzuki Suzuki RGB500 55 Leandro Becheroni 1–2, 4–8, 11 Walter Wolf Suzuki Suzuki RG500 XR70 5663 Masaru Mizutani 6–7 RS Rallye Sport Motorsport Handels Honda Honda RS500 56 Helmut Schütz 3–5, 9–10 Honda Deutschland Honda Honda RS500 Bakker 14 Gustav Reiner 1, 3–4, 6, 8 ?? Honda Honda RS500 Bakker ?? Peter Sköld ?? Source:Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider
250cc participants TeamConstructorMotorcycleNo.RiderRounds Rothmans Honda Honda Honda NSR250 2 Anton Mang 1–3, 5–7, 9–11 42554640383156 Dominique Sarron All HB-Venemotos Racing Team Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 3 Carlos Lavado All Yamaha TZ 250 2628 Luis Lavado All Yamaha Marlboro Team Agostini SRL Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 4 Martin Wimmer All 573744363331 Tadahiko Taira 2–11 MC Bielle Roventi Honda Italy Honda Honda NSR250 5 Fausto Ricci 1–5, 7–11 Team Aprilia Aprilia-Rotax ?? 6 Loris Reggiani 1–2, 6, 8–10 364345 Stefano Caracchi 1–3, 8–11 Braun Cobas JJ Cobas-Rotax ?? 7 Alan Carter All HB-Aprilia Team 250 Aprilia-Rotax ?? 8 Manfred Herweh 1–8 HB-Römer Racing Team Honda Honda RS250R 9 Reinhold Roth All 25 Harald Eckl 1–6, 8–11 Team Parisienne-Elf Honda Honda RS250R 10 Jacques Cornu All Parisienne ?? 11 Pierre Bolle 1–9, 11 ParisienneHonda ??Honda RS250R 5467 Sergio Pellandini 4 Parisienne ?? 59 Guy Bertin 6–7, 10 Campsa-Honda Honda Honda RS250R 12 Carlos Cardús All Honda NSR250 19 Sito Pons All Team Mattioli Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 14 Jean-Michel Mattioli 1–3, 5–11 Silverstone-Armstrong Armstrong-Rotax Armstrong CF250 15 Donnie Mcleod All 353841 Niall Mackenzie 6–11 52 Ian Newton 1–3 Racing Team Katayama Honda Honda NSR250 17 Jean-François Baldé All 7044345152 Virginio Ferrari 3-11 Nuovo Moto Club Honda Honda RS250R 20 Massimo Matteoni 2, 4–5, 8, 10–11 Team Italia Garelli Garelli Garelli 250 GP 21 Andrea Brasini ?? 423945344332 Maurizio Vitali 1, 3–11 Motor Team Development Honda Honda RS250R 22 Bruno Bonhuil 2–3, 5, 7–8 Honda Racing Team Honda Honda RS250R 23 Siegfried Minich 2–7, 9–10 Johnson Team Total Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 35503233 Stéphane Mertens 2–11 Dieter Braun PVM Levior Team Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 3933 Hans Becker 4–7, 9–10 Hostettler-Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 414347 Roland Freymond 1, 3, 5, 7–11 ?? Chevallier-Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 423162 Jean Foray All Werberger Konservenfabrik Koch KG Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 45 Herbert Besendörfer 4–5, 9–10 Ehrlich Automotive EMC-Rotax ?? 463651 Gary Noel 6–7, 11 RK Morena-Rotax ?? 4941 Rene Deláby 1–5, 9 Wintershall Racing Team Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 5357 Urs Lüzi 1, 6, 11 Atomic Road Racing Team Bakker-Rotax ?? 543041 Hans Lindner 2–8 MIG MIG-Rotax ?? 5532 Jean-Louis Guignabodet 1–2, 4, 6–11 ?? Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 631852 Jean-Louis Tournadre 1–5, 9–11 Source:Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider
500cc riders' standings
Scoring system Points are awarded to the top ten finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1