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 set in for the most victories in one season with 12 wins. It was also dominating year for Honda with eight of the top ten riders aboard Hondas. The Yamaha and Suzuki teams were in disarray. Kenny Roberts left Yamaha to start his own venture with a lightweight, three-cylinder Modenas. Wayne Rainey's team was left with the inconsistent Norifumi Abe and Sete Gibernau, a rookie. 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. 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.
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. A new star emerged from the 125 class with Valentino Rossi winning 11 races for a commanding win on an Aprilia.
As of 2025 it was the last season that only one manufacturer won every race in one season in the premier class to date.
1997 Grand Prix season calendar The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 1997: Round Date Grand Prix Circuit 1 13 April Marlboro Malaysian Grand Prix Shah Alam Circuit 2 20 April Marlboro Grand Prix of Japan Suzuka Circuit 3 4 May Gran Premio Lucky Strike de España Circuito Permanente de Jerez 4 18 May Gran Premio d'Italia Polini Mugello Circuit 5 1 June Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich A1-Ring 6 8 June Grand Prix de France Circuit Paul Ricard 7 28 June †† Lucky Strike Dutch Grand Prix TT Circuit Assen 8 6 July Gran Premio Cirio Città di Imola Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari 9 20 July ADAC Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland Nürburgring 10 3 August Lucky Strike Rio Grand Prix Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet 11 17 August Sun British Grand Prix Donington Park 12 31 August Grand Prix České republiky Brno Circuit 13 14 September Gran Premi Marlboro de Catalunya Circuit de Catalunya 14 28 September Marlboro Indonesian Grand Prix Sentul International Circuit 15 5 October Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix Phillip Island
†† = Saturday race
Calendar changes The Malaysian Grand Prix replaced the Japanese Grand Prix with hosting the opening round Grand Prix. The Indonesian Grand Prix was moved back from 7 April to 28 September. The Austrian Grand Prix was moved forward from 4 August to 1 June. The Australian Grand Prix moved from the Eastern Creek Raceway to the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.
1997 Grand Prix season results Round Date Grand Prix Circuit 125cc winner 250cc winner 500cc winner Report 1 13 April Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix Shah Alam Valentino Rossi Max Biaggi Mick Doohan Report 2 20 April Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix Suzuka Noboru Ueda Daijiro Kato Mick Doohan Report 3 4 May Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix Jerez Valentino Rossi Ralf Waldmann Àlex Crivillé Report 4 18 May Italian motorcycle Grand Prix Mugello Valentino Rossi Max Biaggi Mick Doohan Report 5 1 June Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix A1-Ring Noboru Ueda Olivier Jacque Mick Doohan Report 6 8 June French motorcycle 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 motorcycle Grand Prix Imola Valentino Rossi Max Biaggi Mick Doohan Report 9 20 July German motorcycle Grand Prix Nürburgring Valentino Rossi Tetsuya Harada Mick Doohan Report 10 3 August Rio de Janeiro motorcycle Grand Prix Rio de Janeiro Valentino Rossi Olivier Jacque Mick Doohan Report 11 17 August British motorcycle Grand Prix Donington Valentino Rossi Ralf Waldmann Mick Doohan Report 12 31 August Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix Brno Noboru Ueda Max Biaggi Mick Doohan Report 13 14 September Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix Catalunya Valentino Rossi Ralf Waldmann Mick Doohan Report 14 28 September Indonesian motorcycle Grand Prix Sentul Valentino Rossi Max Biaggi Tadayuki Okada Report 15 5 October Australian motorcycle Grand Prix Phillip Island Noboru Ueda Ralf Waldmann Àlex Crivillé Report
†† = Saturday race
Participants 500 cc participants TeamConstructorMotorcycleNoRiderRounds Repsol YPF Honda Team 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 GP1 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 KR 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 GP1 15 Frédéric Protat 1–3 Honda Honda NSR500V 4–15 Team Pedercini ROC Yamaha ROC Yamaha GP1 17 Lucio Pedercini All Rheos ELF F.C.C. T.S.R Honda Honda NSR500 18 Nobuatsu Aoki All IP Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia Aprilia RSW-2 500 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 GP1 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 11Key Regular rider Wildcard rider Replacement rider
Standings Riders' standings 500cc
Scoring system Points were awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider had 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 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 20Yamaha 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 0 Honda 17 18 17 18 Ret 17 17 Ret Ret Ret 18 Francesco Monaco Paton Ret 19 0 Alessandro Gramigni Aprilia Ret DNS 0 Pos Rider Bike MAL JPN ESP ITA AUT FRA NED IMO GER RIO GBR CZE CAT INA AUS PtsBold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap
250cc
Scoring system Points were awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider had 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 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 McGuinnes 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 PtsBold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap
125cc
Scoring system Points were awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider had 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