The 1996 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 48th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
Season summary Honda's Mick Doohan continued his domination of the 500 class with eight victories. His Repsol Honda teammate, Àlex Crivillé beat him to the line twice in Austria and the Czech Republic. Luca Cadalora, now with the Kanemoto Honda team took two wins for the fourth consecutive year. Suzuki's hopes were dashed when Daryl Beattie suffered head injuries in a pre-season crash. He returned only to crash in Spain then two races later in France which effectively ended his career. Loris Capirossi won his first 500 Grand Prix when Crivillé collided with his teammate, Doohan on the last lap of the Australian round. A new European team made its debut with the Elf team using a Swissauto V4 sidecar engine in an ROC chassis. It proved to be fast but unreliable. Honda introduced the NSR500V, a V twin as a cost-effective alternative for privateer teams.
Max Biaggi claimed his third consecutive 250 championship for Aprilia. Haruchika Aoki repeated as the 125 champion for Honda. Newcomers winning their first Grands Prix were Norifumi Abe in the 500 class, Olivier Jacque in the 250 class and Valentino Rossi in the 125 class.
1996 Grand Prix season calendar The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 1996: RoundDateGrand PrixCircuit 1 31 March Marlboro Grand Prix of Malaysia Shah Alam Circuit 2 7 April Marlboro Indonesian Grand Prix Sentul International Circuit 3 21 April Marlboro Grand Prix of Japan Suzuka Circuit 4 12 May Gran Premio Lucky Strike de España Circuito Permanente de Jerez 5 26 May Gran Premio d'Italia Polini Mugello Circuit 6 9 June Grand Prix de France Circuit Paul Ricard 7 29 June †† Lucky Strike Dutch Grand Prix TT Circuit Assen 8 7 July Warsteiner Grand Prix Deutschland Nürburgring 9 21 July British Grand Prix Donington Park 10 4 August HB Motorrad Grand Prix Austria A1-Ring 11 18 August Grand Prix České republiky Brno Circuit 12 1 September Gran Premio IP Città di Imola Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari 13 15 September Gran Premi Marlboro de Catalunya Circuit de Catalunya 14 6 October GP Rio Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet 15 20 October Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix Eastern Creek
†† = Saturday race
Calendar changes The French Grand Prix moved from the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans to the Circuit Paul Ricard due to overbid in Le Mans, the Bugatti Circuit returned in 2000. The Austrian Grand Prix returned from the calendar after a one-year absence and moved from the Salzburgring to the Österreichring, one year before the track was renamed as the A1-Ring. The Indonesian Grand Prix was added to the calendar. The Argentine Grand Prix was initially scheduled, but was eventually taken off the calendar. The European Grand Prix was renamed the Catalan Grand Prix.
Participants
500cc participants TeamConstructorMotorcycleNoRiderRounds Team Repsol Honda Honda Honda NSR500 (NV0W) 1 Mick Doohan All 4 Àlex Crivillé All Honda NSR500V (NVAA) 6 Tadayuki Okada All 41 Shinichi Itoh All Lucky Strike Suzuki Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 (XR86) 2 Daryl Beattie 3–6, 13–14 11 Scott Russell 1–4, 6–15 21 Katsuaki Fujiwara 1 53 3 26 Terry Rymer 5, 7–12 42 Peter Goddard 15 Kanemoto Honda Honda Honda NSR500 3 Luca Cadalora All Honda Pileri Honda Honda NSR500 7 Alex Barros All ELF 500 ROC Elf Elf 500 8 Juan Borja All 14 Adrian Bosshard 1–5, 7–8 28 William Costes 6 44 Chris Walker 9–14 48 Marty Craggill 15 Marlboro Yamaha Roberts Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 (OWJ1) 9 Norick Abe All 10 Kenny Roberts Jr. 3–15 12 Jean-Michel Bayle All QUB Team Optimum ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha GP1 13 Jeremy McWilliams All ELC Lease ROC ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha GP1 14 Adrian Bosshard 10–13 16 Laurent Naveau 1–3, 8, 14–15 25 Jean-Marc Deletang 5–6 IP Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia Aprilia RSW-2 500 15 Doriano Romboni 1–8, 12 29 Marcellino Lucchi 10–11 Fortuna Honda Pons Honda Honda NSR500 17 Alberto Puig 1–14 24 Carlos Checa All WCM ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha GP1 18 James Haydon 1–12 30 Andrew Stroud 13–15 33 Chris Taylor 14 Harris Grand Prix Harris Yamaha Harris Yamaha SLS500 19 Sean Emmett 1–13 32 Stéphane Mertens 14–15 Padgett's Racing Team Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 20 Toshiyuki Arakaki 1–8 Harris Yamaha Harris Yamaha SLS500 96 Paul Young 9–15 Team Paton Paton Paton V70 C10/2 20 Toshiyuki Arakaki 14–15 51 Jean-Pierre Jeandat 1–7, 9–13 66 Marco Papa 12 70 Florian Ferracci 8 Team Pedercini ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha GP1 22 Lucio Pedercini All Millar Racing Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 23 Eugene McManus All Soverex FP Racing ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha GP1 27 Frédéric Protat All 70 Florian Ferracci 6 Team HRC Honda Honda NSR500 52 Takuma Aoki 3 Suzuki Deutschland Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 54 Michael Rudroff 8 Team Schmassmann Harris Yamaha Harris Yamaha SLS500 55 Niggi Schmassmann 8 RTM Corse RTM Suzuki RTM 500 64 Andrea Zambotti 12 Marlboro Yamaha Rainey Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 (OWJ1) 65 Loris Capirossi All Team Leone Racing ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha GP1 66 Marco Papa 5 Team Truchsess ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha GP1 69 Karl Truchsess 10Key Regular rider Wildcard rider Replacement rider
Results and standings Grands Prix Round Date Grand Prix Circuit 125cc winner 250cc winner 500cc winner Report 1 31 March Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix Shah Alam Stefano Perugini Max Biaggi Luca Cadalora Report 2 7 April Indonesian motorcycle Grand Prix Sentul Masaki Tokudome Tetsuya Harada Mick Doohan Report 3 21 April Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix Suzuka Masaki Tokudome Max Biaggi Norifumi Abe Report 4 12 May Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix Jerez Haruchika Aoki Max Biaggi Mick Doohan Report 5 26 May Italian motorcycle Grand Prix Mugello Peter Öttl Max Biaggi Mick Doohan Report 6 9 June French motorcycle Grand Prix Paul Ricard Stefano Perugini Max Biaggi Mick Doohan Report 7 29 June †† Dutch TT Assen Emilio Alzamora Ralf Waldmann Mick Doohan Report 8 7 July German motorcycle Grand Prix Nürburgring Masaki Tokudome Ralf Waldmann Luca Cadalora Report 9 21 July British motorcycle Grand Prix Donington Stefano Perugini Max Biaggi Mick Doohan Report 10 4 August Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix A1-Ring Ivan Goi Ralf Waldmann Àlex Crivillé Report 11 18 August Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix Brno Valentino Rossi Max Biaggi Àlex Crivillé Report 12 1 September City of Imola motorcycle Grand Prix Imola Masaki Tokudome Ralf Waldmann Mick Doohan Report 13 15 September Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix Catalunya Tomomi Manako Max Biaggi Carlos Checa Report 14 6 October Rio de Janeiro motorcycle Grand Prix Rio de Janeiro Haruchika Aoki Olivier Jacque Mick Doohan Report 15 20 October Australian motorcycle Grand Prix Eastern Creek Garry McCoy Max Biaggi Loris Capirossi Report
†† = Saturday race
500cc riders' standings
Scoring system Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th Points 25 20 16 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pos Rider Bike MAL INA JPN ESP ITA FRA NED GER GBR AUT CZE IMO CAT RIO AUS Pts 1 Mick Doohan Honda NSR500 5 1 6 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 2 1 8 309 2 Àlex Crivillé Honda NSR500 Ret 4 2 Ret 2 2 2 3 2 1 1 2 3 2 6 245 3 Luca Cadalora Honda NSR500 1 6 Ret 2 3 6 Ret 1 9 4 Ret 6 4 6 7 168 4 Alex Barros Honda NSR500 2 2 Ret 8 6 7 3 8 7 5 9 8 8 5 4 158 5 Norifumi Abe Yamaha YZR500 8 9 1 Ret 11 4 6 6 3 3 11 5 10 3 Ret 148 6 Scott Russell Suzuki RGV500 4 7 3 DNS 5 4 4 5 6 3 7 11 9 Ret 133 7 Tadayuki Okada Honda NSR500V Ret Ret 4 3 7 Ret 13 7 4 11 7 3 5 8 2 132 8 Carlos Checa Honda NSR500 3 5 10 10 DNS Ret 11 Ret 12 7 8 11 1 4 3 124 9 Jean-Michel Bayle Yamaha YZR500 6 8 8 7 5 Ret 8 10 Ret 9 6 4 Ret 7 5 110 10 Loris Capirossi Yamaha YZR500 Ret 3 Ret 4 Ret Ret Ret 12 6 8 5 Ret 9 12 1 98 11 Alberto Puig Honda NSR500 7 10 9 5 12 3 12 11 11 13 12 12 7 10 93 12 Shinichi Ito Honda NSR500V Ret 13 11 9 8 Ret 10 9 10 Ret 10 9 6 11 9 77 13 Kenny Roberts Jr. Yamaha YZR500 12 6 10 Ret 5 5 Ret Ret 4 10 Ret 13 11 69 14 Juan Borja ELF 500 10 Ret 18 11 Ret Ret 9 Ret 8 10 DNS Ret Ret 14 Ret 34 15 Frédéric Protat ROC-Yamaha 9 14 Ret 13 15 8 15 14 14 Ret 19 Ret 13 16 13 32 16 Jeremy McWilliams ROC-Yamaha 14 12 13 14 16 11 14 Ret Ret 14 14 Ret 12 Ret Ret 26 17 Lucio Pedercini ROC-Yamaha 12 Ret Ret 20 13 10 Ret 13 15 16 16 13 Ret 15 12 25 18 Daryl Beattie Suzuki RGV500 5 Ret 4 DNS Ret DNS 24 19 Doriano Romboni Aprilia RSW-2 500 Ret 11 7 Ret 9 Ret Ret Ret 14 WD 23 20 Terry Rymer Suzuki RGV500 Ret 7 Ret Ret 12 13 Ret 16 21 James Haydon ROC-Yamaha 15 18 15 12 17 9 Ret DNS 13 17 Ret Ret 16 22 Sean Emmett Harris-Yamaha 11 15 17 15 14 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 17 16 Ret 9 23 Peter Goddard Suzuki RGV500 10 6 24 Eugene McManus Yamaha Ret Ret 16 16 18 12 Ret 15 17 19 18 15 Ret Ret Ret 6 25 Toshiyuki Arakaki Harris-Yamaha 17 17 14 17 Ret 15 Ret 4 Paton V70 C10/2 Ret 15 26 Laurent Naveau ROC-Yamaha 13 16 Ret Ret 18 Ret 3 27 Florian Ferracci ROC-Yamaha 13 3 Paton V70 C10/2 16 28 Jean-Marc Delétang ROC-Yamaha Ret 14 2 29 Paul Young Harris-Yamaha Ret 20 23 Ret 14 Ret Ret 2 30 Andrew Stroud ROC-Yamaha Ret 14 2 31 Chris Walker ELF 500 16 15 20 Ret 15 17 2 32 Marcellino Lucchi Aprilia RSA500 18 15 1 Jean-Pierre Jeandat Paton V70 C10 16 Ret 18 Ret Ret Ret 21 22 17 0 Stéphane Mertens Harris-Yamaha 19 16 0 Nicholas Schmassma Yamaha 17 0 Marco Papa ROC-Yamaha 19 18 0 Adrian Bosshard ELF 500 Ret Ret Ret 19 Ret Ret Ret Ret 21 Ret Ret 0 Katsuaki Fujiwara Suzuki RGV500 DNS Ret 0 Takuma Aoki Honda NSR500 Ret 0 Michael Rudroff Suzuki RGV500 Ret 0 Martin Craggill ELF 500 Ret 0 Pos RiderBike ! MAL INA JPN ESP ITA FRA NED GER GBR AUT CZE IMO CAT RIO AUS PtsBold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap
250cc riders' standings Scoring system Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th Points 25 20 16 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1