The 1991 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 43rd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
Season summary
The beginning of the 1990s marked a golden age for Grand Prix motorcycle racing. The rivalry between Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz was in full flow while Mick Doohan started to come into his own. Eddie Lawson had switched to Cagiva and started to have some respectable results. In a one-year quirk, only 13 races counted, as competitors were allowed to drop their two worst scores. The Yugoslavia round was dropped because of the civil war and replaced with a Grand Prix of Europe at Jarama. The Brazilian round was also dropped at the last minute over track safety concerns and replaced with a race held at Le Mans. The inaugural Malaysian Grand Prix was held at Shah Alam.
For the 1991 season, Michelin decided to supply only the Rothmans Honda team with tires; everybody else used Dunlops.Scott, Michael: "Wayne Rainey", page 151. Haynes Publishing, 1997.
Luca Cadalora won the 250 title in a dominating fashion with eight wins. In the 125 class, Italian teenager Loris Capirossi swept to the title for the second consecutive year.
1991 Grand Prix season calendar The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 1991: RoundDateGrand PrixCircuit 1 24 March Kibun Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka Circuit 2 7 April Tooheys Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix Eastern Creek Raceway 3 21 April United States International Grand Prix Laguna Seca Raceway 4 12 May Gran Premio de España Circuito Permanente de Jerez 5 19 May Gran Premio d'Italia Misano World Circuit 6 26 May Großer Preis von Deutschland für Motorräder Hockenheimring 7 9 June Großer Preis von Österreich Salzburgring 8 16 June G.P de Europa Circuito Permanente Del Jarama 9 29 June Dutch TT TT Circuit Assen 10 21 July Grand Prix de France Circuit Paul Ricard 11 4 August Shell British Motorcycle Grand Prix Donington Park 12 18 August San Marino Grand Prix Mugello Circuit 13 25 August Czechoslovak motorcycle Grand Prix Brno Circuit 14 8 September Vitesse du Mans Grand Prix Bugatti Circuit 15 29 September Lucky Strike Malaysia Grand Prix Shah Alam Circuit
Calendar changes The Australian Grand Prix was moved forward, from 16 September to 7 April. The German Grand Prix moved from the Nürburgring to the Hockenheimring. The Yugoslavian Grand Prix was cancelled due to the ongoing Yugoslav Wars. The Brazilian Grand Prix was initially scheduled, but was cancelled on the last moment due to poor safety standards of the venue. The Belgian, Swedish and Hungarian Grand Prix were taken off the calendar due to organisational and other type of problems. The European Grand Prix was added to the calendar as a replacement for the Yugoslavian Grand Prix. The San Marino Grand Prix returned after a three-year absence on the Mugello circuit. The French Grand Prix moved from the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans to the Paul Ricard circuit. The Vitesse du Mans Grand Prix was added as a one-off Grand Prix to replace the Brazilian Grand Prix and was held on the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans. The Malaysian Grand Prix was added to the calendar.
1991 Grand Prix season results Grands Prix Round Date Race Location 125cc winner 250cc winner 500cc winner Report 1 24 March Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka Noboru Ueda Luca Cadalora Kevin Schwantz Report 2 7 April Australian Grand Prix Eastern Creek Loris Capirossi Luca Cadalora Wayne Rainey Report 3 21 April United States Grand Prix Laguna Seca Luca Cadalora Wayne Rainey Report 4 12 May Spanish Grand Prix Jerez Noboru Ueda Helmut Bradl Mick Doohan Report 5 19 May Italian Grand Prix Misano Fausto Gresini Luca Cadalora Mick Doohan Report 6 26 May German Grand Prix Hockenheim Ralf Waldmann Helmut Bradl Kevin Schwantz Report 7 9 June Austrian Grand Prix Salzburgring Fausto Gresini Helmut Bradl Mick Doohan Report 8 16 June European Grand Prix Jarama Loris Capirossi Luca Cadalora Wayne Rainey Report 9 29 June Dutch TT Assen Ralf Waldmann Pierfrancesco Chili Kevin Schwantz Report 10 21 July French Grand Prix Paul Ricard Loris Capirossi Loris Reggiani Wayne Rainey Report 11 4 August British Grand Prix Donington Loris Capirossi Luca Cadalora Kevin Schwantz Report 12 18 August San Marino Grand Prix Mugello Peter Öttl Luca Cadalora Wayne Rainey Report 13 25 August Czechoslovak Grand Prix Brno Alessandro Gramigni Helmut Bradl Wayne Rainey Report 14 8 September Vitesse du Mans Grand Prix Le Mans Helmut Bradl Kevin Schwantz Report 15 29 September Malaysian Grand Prix Shah Alam Loris Capirossi Luca Cadalora John Kocinski Report
Participants 500cc participants TeamConstructorMotorcycleNo.RiderRounds Marlboro Team Roberts Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 1 Wayne Rainey 1–14 19 John Kocinski All 46 Robbie Petersen 3 97 Rich Oliver 3 Team Roberts Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 9 Kevin Magee 15 Castrol Yamaha/Team Roberts Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 4 Niall Mackenzie 11 Team Roberts Yamaha/Castrol Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 21 Doug Chandler All Rothmans Honda Honda Honda NSR500 3 Mick Doohan All 5 Wayne Gardner 1–4, 6–15 Yamaha Sonauto Mobil 1 Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 4 Niall Mackenzie 12, 14–15 8 Jean-Philippe Ruggia 1–5, 8–12, 14–15 20 Adrien Morillas 1–12, 14–15 Ducados Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 6 Joan Garriga All Cagiva Cagiva Cagiva GP500 C591 7 Eddie Lawson 1–13 11 Marco Papa 7–8, 11–12, 14–15 12 Alex Barros 1–3, 5, 9 33 Raymond Roche 0 (10) Team Lucky Strike Suzuki Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 9 Kevin Magee 1–2 27 Didier de Radiguès All 34 Kevin Schwantz 1–14 Campsa Honda Honda Honda NSR500 10 Sito Pons 1–3, 8–15 Moto Club Milano/Team Papa Honda Honda RS500 1118 Marco Papa 4–5, 10 Technotron Honda Honda NSR500 13 Niggi Schmassman 2–5, 8–11, 13, 15 Norton/JPS Racing Norton Norton RCW588 15 Ron Haslam 11 HEK-Bauwmachines Honda Honda RS500 16 Cees Doorakkers All Millar Racing Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 17 Eddie Laycock 1–9, 11–15 Librenti Corse VRP-SuzukiHonda Suzuki RGV500Honda RS500 23 Andy Leuthe 8, 11–14 R.S. Rallye Sport Honda Honda NSR500 24 Helmut Schütz 9, 11–12 323539 Michael Rudroff 4–14 Itoen Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 25 Tatsuro Arata 1 Pentax Honda Honda NSR500 28 Shinichi Ito 1 Domina Domina ?? 29 Larry Moreno Vacondio 0 (5, 12) MT Racing Honda Honda NSR500 30 Martin Trösch 13 Team Paton Paton Paton V115 500 30373839 Michele Valdo 10–12 Roton Roton Norton RCW588 31 Steve Spray 2 ?? Honda Honda RS500 3136 Romolo Balbi 5, 12 Doppler Racing Honda Honda RS500 3335363738 Josef Doppler 8, 10–13, 15 Kirin Mets Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 35 Norihiko Fujiwara 1 Bimota Experience BimotaSuzuki Bimota Tesi 500Suzuki RGV500 3537 Vittorio Scatola ?? Romero Racing Team Yamaha Yamaha TZ500 35363840 Hans Becker 4–6, 8–15 Ajinomoto Honda Honda NSR500 36 Hikaru Miyagi 1 41 Keiichiro Iwahashi 1 Padgett's Racing Team Suzuki Suzuki RG 500 gamma 363739 Simon Buckmaster 5–6, 8–10, 12–13 Nescafé Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 37 Kunio Machii 1 S.R.T. Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 38 Osamu Hiwatashi 1 40 Satoshi Tsujimoto 1 Camel Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 39 Keiji Ohishi 1 Y.R.T.R. Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 44 Tadahiko Taira 1 BMO-2RS Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 45 Toshihiko Honma 1 Hayashi Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 46 Peter Goddard 1 Vogt ?? ?? 50 Vincenzo Cascino 0 (13) Source:Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider
250cc participants TeamConstructorMotorcycleNo.RiderRounds Repsol-Honda/Cardús Honda Honda NSR250 2 Carlos Cardús All Rothmans-Kanemoto Honda Honda Honda NSR250 3 Luca Cadalora All HB Honda Racing Team Germany Honda Honda NSR250 4 Helmut Bradl All Honda RS250R 33 Stefan Prein 1–3, 5–15 Sharp-Samson-Bieffe Team Honda Honda NSR250 5 Wilco Zeelenberg All Honda RS250R 21 Leon van der Heyden 1–5, 8–9 Team Lucky Strike Suzuki Suzuki Suzuki RGV250 6 Martin Wimmer All 72 Herri Torrontégui 9–14 HRC Honda/Ajinomoto Honda Honda NSR250 7 Masahiro Shimizu All HRC Honda Honda NSR250 29 Tadayuki Okada 1 Schuh-Zwafink Racing Honda Honda RS250R 8 Jochen Schmid All Iberna Aprilia/Valesi Racing Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 9 Pierfrancesco Chili All 27 Renzo Colleoni 4–15 Team Gallina/Compagnucci Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 10 Dominique Sarron 4, 6, 8 Team Gallina Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 23 Jim Filice 1–3 635241 Stefano Caracchi 11–14 Marlboro/JJ Cobas JJ Cobas JJ Cobas Honda 250 11 Àlex Crivillé All Aprilia Unlimited Jeans Team Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 13 Loris Reggiani All Flygvapnet Honda Honda RS250R 14 Peter Lindén 1–2, 6–7, 9–11, 13 Team Greco Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 15 Carlos Lavado 1–6, 9–12 Ducados Yamaha Puig Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 16 Alberto Puig 1–5, 9–15 Team Agostini/API Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 17 Paolo Casoli All ÖKM-Aprilia/SK Vöst Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 18 Andy Preining 1–14 OZ Racing System Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 19 Marcellino Lucchi 4–14 52454946 Renato Colleoni 5, 7, 9, 12 HB Honda Racing Team Italy Honda Honda RS250R 20 Doriano Romboni 1–8, 12–15 LMC Pennesse Racing Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 22 Stefano Pennesse 5, 7–9, 11–13 25 Wayne Doran ?? JF-Aprilia-Kuhnert Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 30 Harald Eckl 2–15 Marlboro Aprilia Mohag Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 32 Bernard Häenggeli All 49535547 Eskil Suter 7–8, 10–13 Docshop/Servopax Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 34 Patrick van den Goorbergh 4–14 Team St Yrian Motos Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 365437 Jean Foray 4–14 Silkolene Honda Britain Honda Honda RS250R 39 Alan Carter ?? 5557 Steve Hislop 10–11 FP Moto Team Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 41483669 Frédéric Protat 1–5, 7–14 Medd Holdings Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 42394637 Kevin Mitchell 1–4, 6, 10–11, 13 Team Rocker by Gallina Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 43494742 Fausto Ricci 4–8, 11–13 Tecno Racing/Barrca March Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 444342 Jaime Mariano 1–7 RS Rallye Sport GmbH Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 44415445 Bernd Kassner 5–7, 9–14 Rothmans Honda Italy Honda Honda RS250R 454148505759 Corrado Catalano All Swiss Yamaha Team Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 4746484440 Urs Jücker All Trans Freight Europa Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 4853405038 Ian Newton 2–10, 12–15 Rothmans Honda France Honda Honda RS250R 51 Jean-Pierre Jeandat All Nescafé Yamaha Racing Team Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 52 Tetsuya Harada 1 ?? Honda Honda NSR250 53 Masumitsu Taguchi 1 Racing Team Udagawa Honda Honda NSR250 54 Tsutomu Udagawa 1 Cup Noodle Racing Team Honda Honda NSR250 55 Nobuatsu Aoki 1 Jha Racing Honda Honda RS250R 574052 Katsuyoshi Kozono 1, 7–9, 15 Team Italia Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 605846 Max Biaggi 8, 10–12 ?? Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 61 Kyoji Nanba 1 AMS Mauri Racing Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 655038425437 Erkka Korpiaho 4–5, 7–11, 13–14 Tecno Racing Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 7256 Herri Torrontégui 9–14 Source:Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider
125cc participants