1997 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season


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 for 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.

1997 Grand Prix season calendar

The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 1997:
RoundDateGrand PrixCircuit
113 April Marlboro Malaysian Grand PrixShah Alam Circuit
220 April Marlboro Grand Prix of JapanSuzuka Circuit
34 May Gran Premio Lucky Strike de EspañaCircuito Permanente de Jerez
418 May Gran Premio d'Italia PoliniMugello Circuit
51 June Motorrad Grand Prix von ÖsterreichA1-Ring
68 June Grand Prix de FranceCircuit Paul Ricard
728 June †† Lucky Strike Dutch Grand PrixTT Circuit Assen
86 July Gran Premio Cirio Città di ImolaAutodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
920 July ADAC Motorrad Grand Prix DeutschlandNürburgring
103 August Lucky Strike Rio Grand PrixAutódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet
1117 August Sun British Grand PrixDonington Park
1231 August Grand Prix České republikyBrno Circuit
1314 September Gran Premi Marlboro de CatalunyaCircuit de Catalunya
1428 September Marlboro Indonesian Grand PrixSentul International Circuit
155 October Australian Motorcycle Grand PrixPhillip Island

†† = Saturday race

Calendar changes

†† = Saturday race

Participants

500 cc participants

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
Points252016131110987654321

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
Points252016131110987654321

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
Points252016131110987654321

Manufacturers' standings

500cc

250cc

125cc


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