1976 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

Barry Sheene (pictured top in Assen) and Walter Villa (pictured at the Nürburgring) became the 1976 500cc and 250cc world champion.

The 1976 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 28th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.

1976 marked the beginning of the era of Suzuki domination with the Japanese firm taking 11 of the first 12 places in the premier class.^[1] Angel Nieto would take his fifth world title in the 50cc division, this time aboard a Bultaco.^[1] In the 125cc class, it was more of the same with Morbidelli taking another crown with Pier Paolo Bianchi claiming the championship. Walter Villa would claim double world championships in the 250cc and 350cc classes for Harley-Davidson fighting off a strong challenge from defending champion, Johnny Cecotto in the larger class.^[1]

Barry Sheene came to the fore with a dominating championship season in the 500cc division, finishing ahead of his Suzuki teammate Teuvo Länsivuori. Newcomer Marco Lucchinelli impressed as well on a Suzuki but injuries curtailed his performance.^[1] Pat Hennen became the first American rider to win a 500cc Grand Prix, when he triumphed at the Finnish Grand Prix.^[1]

1976 marked the end of an era as it would be the last time the Isle of Man TT would appear on the Grand Prix calendar.^[1] Once the most prestigious race of the year, the event had been increasingly boycotted by the top riders.^[1] The TT finally succumbed to pressure for increased safety in racing events.^[1] The season also marked the end of another era with 15 time world champion Giacomo Agostini winning his last Grand Prix at the season-ending round at the Nürburgring.^[1] As Agostini had chosen the MV Agusta for this challenging track, this win was also the last for a 500cc four-stroke engine.^[1]

1976 Grand Prix season calendar

Round	Date	Race	Location	50cc winner	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Report
1	April 25	French Grand Prix	Bugatti Circuit	Herbert Rittberger		Walter Villa	Walter Villa	Barry Sheene	Report
2	May 2	Austrian Grand Prix	Salzburgring		Pier Paolo Bianchi		Johnny Cecotto	Barry Sheene	Report
3	May 16	Nations Grand Prix	Mugello	Angel Nieto	Pier Paolo Bianchi	Walter Villa	Johnny Cecotto	Barry Sheene	Report
4	May 23	Yugoslavian Grand Prix	Opatija	Ulrich Graf	Pier Paolo Bianchi	Dieter Braun	Olivier Chevallier		Report
5	June 12	Isle of Man TT	Isle of Man			Tom Herron	Chas Mortimer	Tom Herron	Report
6	June 26	Dutch TT	Assen	Angel Nieto	Pier Paolo Bianchi	Walter Villa	Giacomo Agostini	Barry Sheene	Report
7	July 4	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa-Francorchamps	Herbert Rittberger	Angel Nieto	Walter Villa		John Williams	Report
8	July 25	Swedish Grand Prix	Anderstorp	Angel Nieto	Pier Paolo Bianchi	Takazumi Katayama		Barry Sheene	Report
9	August 1	Finnish Grand Prix	Imatra	Julien van Zeebroeck	Pier Paolo Bianchi	Walter Villa	Walter Villa	Pat Hennen	Report
10	August 22	Czechoslovak Grand Prix	Brno			Walter Villa	Walter Villa	John Newbold	Report
11	August 29	German Grand Prix	Nürburgring Nordschleife	Angel Nieto	Anton Mang	Walter Villa	Walter Villa	Giacomo Agostini	Report
12	September 19	Spanish Grand Prix	Montjuich	Angel Nieto	Pier Paolo Bianchi	Franco Bonera	Kork Ballington		Report
Sources:^[1]^[2]^[3]

Participants

500cc participants

Team	Constructor	Motorcycle	No.	Rider	Rounds
Team Agostini-Marlboro	MV Agusta/Suzuki	???/???	1	Giacomo Agostini	1–3, 5–6, 8–10
Team Life International	Suzuki	Suzuki RG 500	2 9	Phil Read	1–3
Life Racing Team	Suzuki	Suzuki RG 500	4 2 3	Teuvo Länsivuori	1–3, 6–9*
Danfay	Yamaha	???	4	Billie Guthrie	4
Texaco Heron Team Suzuki	Suzuki	???	5 2 30	John Williams	1–2, 4–6
		Suzuki RG 500	7	Barry Sheene	1–3, 5–7
		Suzuki RG 500	8 3 6 7	John Newbold	6–10
		???	14	Tom Herron	2, 4
Hermetite	Various		6 8 3	Alex George	2, 5
Meuaui Racing Team	Suzuki		10 6 5	Jack Findlay	2–8
Team Sarome	Yamaha/Suzuki	???/???	11 8 10	Chas Mortimer	1, 4, 6–7, 9–10
Team Sarome	Yamaha	???	41 17	Takazumi Katayama	4, 6, 8
???	Yamaha		12 8 9 11	Karl Auer	1–2, 7–9
Boeri Dainese Racing Team	Suzuki		13 14 30 10 12	Dieter Braun	1–3, 6, 8
Esso	Yamaha		19 18 25 29	Olivier Chevallier	9
Ecurie Elf	Suzuki		21 20	Michel Rougerie	1–2, 6
???	Yamaha		22 13 16	Bernard Fau	5
Castrol/Jim Findlay		Yamaha TZ???	23 15 19 21	Tom Herron	6–7
Beale		???	23	Roger Nichols	4
???	Suzuki		24 52 21 48	Christian Estrosi	8
	Yamaha		25	Ian Richards	4
	Yamaha		26 41 31 24	Børge Nielsen	3
	Suzuki		27 33 28 43 12	Marcel Ankoné	3, 6, 10
Gallina Corse		Suzuki RG 500	28 40 26 31	Virginio Ferrari	3, 10
		Suzuki RG 500	33 40 34 32 30 17	Marco Lucchinelli	1–2, 7–10
		???	34	Roberto Gallina	???
Riemersma		Suzuki RG 500	34 31 48	Wil Hartog	2, 5, 7
Padgett	Yamaha	???	38 26	Jon Ekerold	4
Frankonia Suzuki	Suzuki		40 38 18 43 51 22 23 71	Philippe Coulon	3, 7–9
???	Suzuki		41 39 19 44 63	Helmut Kassner	5–6
Swaep Motor-Racing	Yamaha		43 33 24 20	Víctor Palomo	1–2, 7
Laponder	Yamaha/Suzuki	???/???	51 43 32 27 39 14 29	Boet van Dulmen	8–10
Colemans	Suzuki	???	54 45 25 40 28 22 66	Pat Hennen	1–3, 5–10
Colemans	Suzuki	???	56 47 32 35 42 25	Stuart Avant	1–3, 7
Team Venemotos	Yamaha	Yamaha YZR500 (OW29)	55 3 21 16	Johnny Cecotto	1–3
???	Yamaha	???	57 28 44 27	Max Wiener	9
Source:^[4]

Key
Regular Rider
Wildcard Rider
Replacement Rider

Place	Rider	Team	Machine	FRA	AUT	NAT	GBR	NED	BEL	SWE	FIN	CZE	GER	Points
1	Barry Sheene	Heron-Suzuki	RG500	1	1	1		1	2	1				72
2	Teuvo Länsivuori	Life Racing Team	RG500	4	DSQ	4			5	4	2	2		48
3	Pat Hennen	Coleman-Suzuki	RG500	Ret	Ret	5		2	8	Ret	1	Ret	3	46
4	Marco Lucchinelli	Gallina Corse	RG500	3	2	DNS				15	5	Ret	2	40
5	John Newbold	Heron-Suzuki	RG500			Ret		Ret	9	10	4	1	4	31
6	Philippe Coulon	Frankonia Suzuki	RG500	Ret	Ret	8		Ret	Ret	6	3	3	Ret	28
7	Giacomo Agostini	Team API Marlboro	MV500	5	6								1	26
RG500			Ret		Ret	Ret		Ret	Ret					26
8	Jack Findlay	Jack Findlay Racing	RG500		8	Ret	Ret	5	Ret	2	7			25
9	John Williams	Heron-Suzuki	RG500	Ret	Ret		7	6	1					24
10	Phil Read	Team Life International	RG500	Ret	3	2								22
11	Marcel Ankoné	Nimag-Suzuki	RG500	Ret		6		Ret	3	12	Ret	Ret	5	21
12	Stuart Avant	Coleman-Suzuki	RG500	7	5	7		Ret	DNS	5	Ret			20
13	Tom Herron	Castrol-Jim Findlay	YZR500		12		1			9		Ret		17
14	Chas Mortimer	Katayama Sarome Team	YZR500	13	Ret		Ret							16
	RG500						7	3	Ret	9	9
Michel Rougerie	Ecurie Elf	RG500	DNS	4	Ret		Ret	4					16
Karl Auer	Racing Team NO	YZR500	9	9	Ret		Ret	Ret	8	10	4	Ret	16
17	Dieter Braun	Boeri Dainese Racing Team	RG500	8	15	9			6	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	15
18	Víctor Palomo	Swaep Motor Racing	YZR500	6	7	Ret			Ret	7		Ret		13
19	Johnny Cecotto	Venemotos Yamaha	YZR500	2	Ret	Ret							DNS	12
Ian Richards		YZR500				2							12
21	Virginio Ferrari	Gallina Corse	RG500			3					Ret	Ret	Ret	10
Billie Guthrie	Danfay	YZR500				3							10
Wil Hartog	Riemersma Racing	RG500		Ret			3		Ret				10
24	Alex George	Hermetite Racing International	YZR500	15	10		Ret	4	11	11	Ret	Ret	Ret	9
Boet Van Dulmen	Laponder Racing	YZR500	10	13	Ret		Ret						9
RG500						13		Ret	8	6
26	Takazumi Katayama	Katayama Sarome Team	YZR500		DNS		4		Ret		Ret			8
27	Max Weiner	Racing Team NO	YZR500	Ret	16	11						5	12	6
Roger Nichols	Beale	YZR500				5							6
29	Olivier Chevallier	Esso	YZR500	11	18				Ret			6		5
Jon Ekerold	Padgett's Motorcycles	YZR500				6							5
31	Bernard Fau		YZR500					7	Ret		11			4
Bernd Tungethal		YZR500									7	Ret	4
Alan North		RG500										7	4
34	Gordon Pantall		YZR500				8							3
Rob Bron		YZR500					8			12			3
Christian Estrosi		RG500	Ret				Ret		Ret	8	Ret		3
Christian Bourgeois		YZR500										8	3
Helmut Kassner		RG500	19	11			9	10			Ret	Ret	3
39	John Weeden		YZR500				9							2
Pekka Nurmi		YZR500								9			2
41	Børge Nielsen		YZR500		17	10					13	Ret	Ret	1
Bill Smith		YZR500				10							1
Dave Potter		RG500					10						1
Edmar Ferreira		YZR500	16		Ret					Ret	10		1
Egid Schwemmer		RG500										10	1
Sources:^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] Notes: Länsivuori was disqualified from the Austrian Grand Prix for not stopping his engine during a refueling stop.

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Pier Paolo Bianchi	2	Italy	Morbidelli	90	7
2	Ángel Nieto		Spain	Bultaco	67	1
3	Paolo Pileri	1	Italy	Morbidelli	64	0
4	Henk van Kessel	7	Netherlands	Condor	46	0
5	Anton Mang		West Germany	Morbidelli	32	1
6	Jean-Louis Guignabodet	2	France	Morbidelli	27	0
7	Eugenio Lazzarini	5	Italy	Morbidelli	26	0
8	Gert Bender		West Germany	Bender	25	0
9	Stefan Dörflinger		Switzerland	Morbidelli	23	0
10	Julien van Zeebroeck		Belgium	Morbidelli	18	0
11	Xaver Tschannen				14
12	Walter Koschine				12
13	Cees van Dongen				11
14	Otello Buscherini				10
15	Leif Gustafsson				10
16	Harald Bartol				9
17	Hans Müller				9
18	Horst Seel				8
19	Enrico Cereda				7
20	Pierluigi Conforti				7
21	Lennart Lundgren				6
22	Per Edward Carlsson				6
23	Johann Zemsauer				5
24	Matti Kinnunen				5
25	Rolf Blatter				4
26	Luigi Richetti				4
27	Hans Hummel				4
28	Peter Frohnmeyer				3
29	Ermanno Giuliano				2
30	Auno Hakala				2
31	Hans Hallberg				1
32	Lennart Lindell				1
33	Heinz Schmid				1
34	P.Cecchini				1

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Ángel Nieto	1	Spain	Bultaco	85	5
2	Herbert Rittberger	5	West Germany	Kreidler	76	2
3	Ulrich Graf		Switzerland	Kreidler	69	1
4	Eugenio Lazzarini	2	Italy	Morbidelli	53	0
5	Rudolf Kunz	4	West Germany	Kreidler	34	0
6	Julien van Zeebroeck	9	Belgium	Kreidler	26	1
7	Stefan Dörflinger	6	Switzerland	Kreidler	25	0
8	Rolf Blatter		Switzerland	Kreidler	25	0
9	Hans Hummel	9	Austria	Kreidler	20	0
10	Pierre Audry		France	ABF	15	0
11	Aldo Pero				13
12	Theo Timmer				12
13	Engelbert Kip				12
14	Gerrit Strikker				9
15	Cees van Dongen				9
16	Benjamin Laurent				8
17	Günter Schirnhofer				7
18	Theo Van Geffen				6
19	Ricardo Tormo				5
20	Robert Laver				5
21	Claudio Lusuardi				4
22	Yves Le Tourmelin				4
23	E. Mischiatti				4
24	billy				4
25	Wolfgang Müller				3
26	Ramon Gali				3
27	Ermanno Giuliano				1

1976 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

1976 Grand Prix season calendar

Participants

500cc participants

Final standings

Scoring system

500cc final standings

350cc standings

250cc standings

125cc standings

50cc standings

See also

References

Related Articles

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Walter Villa	42	Italy	Aermacchi Harley-Davidson	76	4
2	Johnny Cecotto	1	Venezuela	Yamaha	65	2
3	Chas Mortimer	6	United Kingdom	Yamaha	54	1
4	Tom Herron	9	United Kingdom	Yamaha	47	0
5	John Dodds	56	Australia	Yamaha	34	0
6	Víctor Palomo		Spain	Yamaha	29	0
7	Takazumi Katayama		Japan	Yamaha	28	0
8	Bruno Kneubühler		Switzerland	Yamaha	28	0
9	Olivier Chevallier		France	Yamaha	27	1
10	Franco Uncini		Italy	Yamaha	27	0
11	Dieter Braun				23
12	Kork Ballington				20
13	Pentti Korhonen				19
14	Patrick Pons				18
15	Gianfranco Bonera				15
16	Giacomo Agostini				15
17	Tony Rutter				12
18	Billie Guthrie				10
19	Gerard Choukroun				10
20	Alan North				10
21	Jean-François Baldé				10
22	Martin Sharpe				8
23	Leif Gustafsson				8
24	Boet Van Dulmen				6
25	John Weeden				5
26	Patrick Fernandez				5
27	Paolo Tordi				5
28	Derek Chatterton				5
29	Jon Ekerold				4
30	Neil Tuxworth				4
31	Philip Bouzanne				3
32	Karl Auer				3
33	Jack Findlay				3
34	Kjell Solberg				3
35	Bo Granath				2
36	Rudolf Kunz				2
37	Claudio Loigo				1
38	S.McClements				1