1976 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

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

Season summary

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 team-mate 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 ever for a 500cc four-stroke engine.^[1]

Grands Prix

Round	Race	Location	50cc winner	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Report
1	French Grand Prix	Le Mans	Herbert Rittberger		Walter Villa	Walter Villa	Barry Sheene	Report
2	Austrian Grand Prix	Salzburgring		Pier Paolo Bianchi		Johnny Cecotto	Barry Sheene	Report
3	Nations Grand Prix	Mugello	Angel Nieto	Pier Paolo Bianchi	Walter Villa	Johnny Cecotto	Barry Sheene	Report
4	Yugoslavian Grand Prix	Opatija	Ulrich Graf	Pier Paolo Bianchi	Dieter Braun	Olivier Chevallier		Report
5	Isle of Man TT	Snaefell Mountain			Tom Herron	Chas Mortimer	Tom Herron	Report
6	Dutch TT	Assen	Angel Nieto	Pier Paolo Bianchi	Walter Villa	Giacomo Agostini	Barry Sheene	Report
7	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa	Herbert Rittberger	Angel Nieto	Walter Villa		John Williams	Report
8	Swedish Grand Prix	Anderstorp	Angel Nieto	Pier Paolo Bianchi	Takazumi Katayama		Barry Sheene	Report
9	Finnish Grand Prix	Imatra	Julien van Zeebroeck	Pier Paolo Bianchi	Walter Villa	Walter Villa	Pat Hennen	Report
10	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Brno			Walter Villa	Walter Villa	John Newbold	Report
11	German Grand Prix	Nürburgring	Angel Nieto	Anton Mang	Walter Villa	Walter Villa	Giacomo Agostini	Report
12	Spanish Grand Prix	Montjuich	Angel Nieto	Pier Paolo Bianchi	Franco Bonera	Kork Ballington		Report

Final standings

500cc standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Barry Sheene	7	United Kingdom	Suzuki	72	5
2	Teuvo Lansivuori	4	Finland	Suzuki	48	0
3	Pat Hennen	40	United States	Suzuki	46	1
4	Marco Lucchinelli		Italy	Suzuki	40	0
5	John Newbold	8	United Kingdom	Suzuki	31	1
6	Philippe Coulon		Switzerland	Suzuki	28	0
7	Giacomo Agostini	1	Italy	Suzuki / MV Agusta	26	1
8	Jack Findlay	10	Australia	Suzuki	25	0
9	John Williams	5	United Kingdom	Suzuki	24	1
10	Phil Read	2	United Kingdom	Suzuki	22	0

350cc standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Walter Villa	42	Italy	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

250cc standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Walter Villa	1	Italy	Harley-Davidson	90	7
2	Takazumi Katayama		Japan	Yamaha	73	1
3	Franco Bonera		Italy	Harley-Davidson	61	1
4	Tom Herron		United Kingdom	Yamaha	47	1
5	Pentti Korhonen		Finland	Yamaha	47	0
6	Dieter Braun		West Germany	Yamaha	42	1
7	Chas Mortimer	6	United Kingdom	Yamaha	31	0
8	Bruno Kneubühler	9	Switzerland	Yamaha	29	0
9	Olivier Chevallier		France	Yamaha	25	0
10	Víctor Palomo		Spain	Yamaha	25	0

125cc standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Pier Paolo Bianchi	2	Italy	Morbidelli	90	7
2	Angel 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

50cc standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Angel 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

References

• Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A. ISBN 2-940125-32-5
• "The Official MotoGP website". http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics/1976/NAT/500cc/World+Standing. Retrieved 2010-07-06. 

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