The 1999 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 51st F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
Season summary The dominant reign of Honda's Mick Doohan came to an end with serious injuries suffered in practice for the Spanish Grand Prix. In his absence, his Honda teammate Àlex Crivillé stepped forward and claimed Spain's first-ever 500cc world championship. Kenny Roberts Jr. gave a strong performance to finish in second with four victories including an outright victory over Doohan in Japan.
A young Valentino Rossi continued to impress for Aprilia, winning nine races and claiming his second world championship, this time in the 250 class. Honda's Emilio Alzamora became only the second rider to win a world championship without winning a race when he captured the 125 crown from Marco Melandri and Masao Azuma who split five victories between them.
1999 Grand Prix season calendar The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 1999: RoundDateGrand PrixCircuit 1 18 April Marlboro Malaysian Grand Prix Sepang International Circuit 2 25 April Marlboro Japanese Grand Prix Twin Ring Motegi 3 9 May Gran Premio Marlboro de España Circuito de Jerez 4 23 May Grand Prix de France Circuit Paul Ricard 5 6 June Gran Premio d'Italia IP Mugello Circuit 6 20 June Gran Premi Marlboro de Catalunya Circuit de Catalunya 7 26 June †† Rizla Dutch TT TT Circuit Assen 8 4 July British Grand Prix Donington Park 9 18 July Polini Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland Sachsenring 10 22 August Grand Prix České Republiky Brno Circuit 11 5 September Gran Premio Breil Città di Imola Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari 12 19 September Gran Premio Movistar de la Comunitat Valenciana Circuit Ricardo Tormo 13 3 October Qantas Australian Grand Prix Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit 14 10 October South African Grand Prix Phakisa Freeway 15 24 October Telefônica Celular Rio Grand Prix Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet 16 31 October Gran Premio Marlboro de Argentina Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez
†† = Saturday race
Calendar changes The Japanese Grand Prix and Malaysian Grand Prix swapped places, with Malaysia hosting the opening round Grand Prix, instead of Japan. The Malaysian Grand Prix was moved from Johor to the newly built Sepang International Circuit. The Madrid Grand Prix was taken off the calendar, in favour of the newly built Circuit Ricardo Tormo, which would host the first Valencian Grand Prix this year. Both the South African Grand Prix and Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix were added to the calendar. The Rio Grand Prix was removed last year due to organisational problems, whilst South Africa had not been in the calendar since 1992. The race back then, was held at Kyalami. The Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix moved from Suzuka Circuit to the new Twin Ring Motegi circuit.
1999 Grand Prix season results Round Date Race Location 125cc winner 250cc winner 500cc winner Report 1 18 April Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix Sepang Masao Azuma Loris Capirossi Kenny Roberts Jr. Report 2 25 April Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix Motegi Masao Azuma Shinya Nakano Kenny Roberts Jr. Report 3 9 May Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix Jerez Masao Azuma Valentino Rossi Àlex Crivillé Report 4 23 May French motorcycle Grand Prix Paul Ricard Roberto Locatelli Tohru Ukawa Àlex Crivillé Report 5 6 June Italian motorcycle Grand Prix Mugello Roberto Locatelli Valentino Rossi Àlex Crivillé Report 6 20 June Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix Catalunya Arnaud Vincent Valentino Rossi Àlex Crivillé Report 7 26 June †† Dutch TT Assen Masao Azuma Loris Capirossi Tadayuki Okada Report 8 4 July British motorcycle Grand Prix Donington Masao Azuma Valentino Rossi Àlex Crivillé Report 9 18 July German motorcycle Grand Prix Sachsenring Marco Melandri Valentino Rossi Kenny Roberts Jr. Report 10 22 August Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix Brno Marco Melandri Valentino Rossi Tadayuki Okada Report 11 5 September City of Imola motorcycle Grand Prix Imola Marco Melandri Loris Capirossi Àlex Crivillé Report 12 19 September Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix Valencia Gianluigi Scalvini Tohru Ukawa Régis Laconi Report 13 3 October Australian motorcycle Grand Prix Phillip Island Marco Melandri Valentino Rossi Tadayuki Okada Report 14 10 October South African motorcycle Grand Prix Welkom Gianluigi Scalvini Valentino Rossi Max Biaggi Report 15 24 October Rio de Janeiro motorcycle Grand Prix Rio de Janeiro Noboru Ueda Valentino Rossi Norifumi Abe Report 16 31 October Argentine motorcycle Grand Prix Buenos Aires Marco Melandri Olivier Jacque Kenny Roberts Jr. Report
†† = Saturday race
Participants 500cc participants TeamConstructorMotorcycleNoRiderRounds MoviStar Honda PonsHondaHonda NSR500 5 Alex BarrosAll 14 Juan BorjaAll Kanemoto Honda 19 John KocinskiAll Lucky Strike Honda Racing 36 Shinichi Ito2 Repsol Honda Team 1 Mick Doohan 1–3 3 Àlex Crivillé All 8 Tadayuki Okada All 15 Sete Gibernau 6–16 Honda NSR500V 1–5 Dee Cee Jeans Racing Team 18 Markus Ober1–9 32 Marc Garcia12 37 Steve Martin13–16 52 José David de Gea10–11 Millar Honda 21 Michael RutterAll Tecmas Honda Elf 22 Sébastien GimbertAll Raceline Malaysia 45 John Allen1 Team Vimto Honda 46 John McGuinness8 Marlboro Yamaha Team Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 (OWK1) 2 Max Biaggi All 4 Carlos Checa All Antena 3 Yamaha d'Antin 6 Norick Abe All Red Bull Yamaha WCM11 Simon Crafar1–6 24 Garry McCoy7–1655 Régis LaconiAll / Team Biland GP1 MuZ Weber MuZ Weber 500 7 Luca Cadalora 1, 3–7, 9–10 11 Simon Crafar 8 17 Jurgen van den Goorbergh All 27 Bernard Garcia 11–12 35 Anthony Gobert 13–16 71 Noriyasu Numata 2 Suzuki Grand Prix Team Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 (XR89) 9 Nobuatsu Aoki 1–3, 6–16 10 Kenny Roberts Jr. All 16 Yukio Kagayama 1–2 4 Buckley Systems BSL RacingBSLBSL 500 V3 68 Mark Willis1, 3–5Modenas KR3Modenas KR310–16 / Proton KR Modenas 12 Jean-Michel Bayle 1–2, 4–6 20 Mike Hale 1–4, 10–16 52 José David de Gea 12–16 68 Mark Willis 7, 9 69 Jamie Whitham 3, 5–10 Technical Maxon TSR TSR-Honda TSR-Honda AC50M 25 José Luis Cardoso 1–8, 10–16 52 José David de Gea 9 F.C.C. TSR 26 Haruchika Aoki All Aprilia Grand Prix Racing Aprilia Aprilia RSW-2 500 31 Tetsuya Harada All Team Paton Paton Paton V70 C10/5 43 Paolo Tessari 5–6Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider
250cc participants TeamConstructorMotorcycleNoRiderRounds Elf Axo Honda Gresini Honda Honda NSR250 1 Loris Capirossi 1–5, 7–16 Shell Advance Honda Team Honda Honda NSR250 4 Tohru Ukawa All 40 Jay Taylor 13 TSR-Honda 14 Anthony West All Aprilia Germany Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 6 Ralf Waldmann 1, 3–16 Fila Watches Honda Honda Honda NSR250 7 Stefano Perugini All QUB Team Optimum Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 9 Jeremy McWilliams 1–13, 15–16 80 Adrian Coates 14 Antena 3 Yamaha–D'Antin Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 10 Fonsi Nieto All 15 David García All Yamaha Kurz Aral Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 11 Tomomi Manako All 22 Lucas Oliver 1–4, 6–13 32 Markus Barth 14–16 55 Filippo Cotti 5 Semprucci Biesse–Group Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 12 Sebastián Porto All Edo Racing Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 16 Johan Stigefelt All 47 Ivan Mengozzi 5 Team Rizla Honda Honda Honda NSR250 27 Rob Filart 4–5 TSR-Honda 17 Maurice Bolwerk 1, 7–16 28 Naohiro Negishi 3 41 Jarno Janssen All 71 Takehiko Kurokawa 2 Chesterfield Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 19 Olivier Jacque 1–3, 9–16 31 Toshihiko Honma 4–5 49 Naoki Matsudo 6–7 56 Shinya Nakano All 77 Jamie Robinson 8 FGF Battaini Racing Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 21 Franco Battaini All Tecmas Honda Elf TSR-Honda Honda NSR250 23 Julien Allemand All Padgetts HRC Shop Honda Honda NSR250 24 Jason Vincent All Docshop Racing Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 18 Scott Smart 10–16 34 Marcellino Lucchi 1–9 85 Matthias Neukirchen 9 Future Strategies Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 35 Mario De Matteo 11 Dee Cee Jeans Racing Team TSR-Honda Honda NSR250 36 Masaki Tokudome All Polini TSR-Honda Honda NSR250 37 Luca Boscoscuro All RGV Spares Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 38 Shaun Geronimi 13 Casino Canberra Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 39 Roger Harrison 13 Hjc/Aral Lubricants Honda Honda NSR250 42 Aaron Clark 13 Aluma-Lite Racing Honda Honda NSR250 43 Kevin Curtain 13 Vasco Rossi Racing Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 44 Roberto Rolfo 1–7, 9–13, 15–16 Aprilia Grand Prix Racing Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 34 Marcellino Lucchi 11 46 Valentino Rossi All Team Campetella Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 48 Ivan Clementi 5, 11 BP Yamaha Racing Team Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 49 Naoki Matsudo 1–2 Hitman RC Koshien Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 50 Taro Sekiguchi 2 Castrol Honda Honda Honda NSR250 51 Daijiro Kato 2 Castrol Team Harc Pro Honda Honda NSR250 52 Tatsuya Yamaguchi 2 SP Tadao Racing Team Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 53 Ken Eguchi 2 F.C.C. TSR TSR-Honda Honda NSR250 54 Tekkyu Kayo 2 Chupa Chups Team Honda Honda NSR250 57 Ismael Bonilla 12 60 Alex Debón 3, 6, 12 PR2 Mitsubishi Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 58 Matías Ríos All KR Sport Team Honda Honda NSR250 59 Jesús Pérez 3, 6 Petronas Sprinta Team Honda Honda NSR250 61 Kuang Meng Heng 1 63 Shahrol Yuzy 1, 3 Fast Racing Echo Team C.C. Neptuno Echo Team Neuauto – BMW Honda Honda NSR250 62 Álvaro Molina 3, 6, 12 M3 Competicion Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 64 Manuel Luque 3 Equipe de France Honda Honda NSR250 65 Julien Da Costa 4 68 Vincent Philippe 4 Racing Factory TSR-Honda Honda NSR250 66 Alex Hofmann All Styl Moto Racing Team Honda Honda NSR250 67 Thomas Metro 4 Promoto Sport Honda Honda NSR250 69 Daniel Ribalta 6, 12 Motorola Honda Honda NSR250 70 Iván Silva 6 Johan Jong Brandbom Racing Team Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 72 Rudie Markink 7 AV Racing Team Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 73 Arno Visscher 7, 10 Frederikshof VHM Racing Honda Honda NSR250 74 Andre Romein 7 Schoenkaper oz Racing Honda Honda NSR250 75 Henk van de Lagemaat 7 Team Bouwman Consultancy Honda Honda NSR250 76 Rein Ten Napel 7 Team Vimto Honda Honda Honda NSR250 78 Paul Jones 8 Help Hire Bike Assist/Phakisa Honda Honda NSR250 79 Shane Norval 8, 14 Toby Hurst Racing Honda Honda NSR250 80 Adrian Coates 8 Team Kungels Baumaschinen TSR-Honda Honda NSR250 81 Mike Baldinger 9 Speed Unit Honda Honda NSR250 82 Dirk Brockman 9 Kiefer GmBH Racing Honda Honda NSR250 83 Christian Gemmel 9 Freudenberg Racing Team Honda Honda NSR250 84 Dirk Heidolf 9 Slovnaft-Sport Moto Team Honda Honda NSR250 86 Vladimír Částka 10 Klub Racing Team Znojmo Honda Honda NSR250 87 Radomil Rous 10 Moto Racing Klub Ostrava Honda Honda NSR250 88 Lukáš Vavrečka 10 Muller Maler Racing Team Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 89 Lars Langer 10 RCGM Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 90 Stefano Pennese 11 Costa de Azahar TSR-Honda Honda NSR250 91 David Ortega 12 Ferro Moto Sport Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 93 Hervé Mora 4 RC Competicion Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 94 Gabriel Borgmann 16 Lozano Racing Honda Honda NSR250 95 Leandro Mulet 16 Honda Gregorio Racing Honda Honda NSR250 96 Diego Pierluigi 16 Roger Buffa Team Racing Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 97 Roger Buffa 16 Daniel Rios Racing Yamaha Yamaha YZR 250 98 Leandro Giuggia 16Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider
125cc participants