1992 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

The 1992 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 44th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.

Season summary

1992 was a year marked by injuries to several riders, most notably Mick Doohan.^[1] The Rothmans Honda rider had won five of the first seven races and seemed ready to win his first championship when he suffered a severely broken leg during practice at Assen.^[1] Wayne Rainey began the season struggling with fitness because of the broken femur suffered at the end of the 1991 season. He missed the Assen round from a heavy crash suffered at the previous round in Germany. Suzuki's Kevin Schwantz suffered through another injury-riddled year but managed to win in Italy. Wayne Gardner missed the first 6 rounds from a broken leg at Suzuka and another crash in Italy.^[1] Eddie Lawson gave Cagiva their first Grand Prix victory with a win in Hungary.^[1] Rookie Àlex Crivillé won his first 500 cc race at Assen.^[1] In the end, Yamaha's Rainey persevered for his third consecutive World Championship.

During 1992 Rainey created the International Motorcycle Racers’ Association (IMRA) to pressure track organizers for safety improvements. Michelin came back from a semi-withdrawal and supplied tires to the Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha teams. The points system was revised to award points to the top 10 finishers only, instead of the top 15.

The factory Honda riders debuted the "big bang" engine, with the NSR500, where the firing order of the cylinders made the power come out in pulses. The benefit to this was in traction, allowing the tires to adhere between pulses, rather than spin because of the two-stroke 500’s peaky powerband. Yamaha came up with their own version for the 9th round and Suzuki had it available by mid-season, though Schwantz didn't use it initially. The "big bang" concept is still used in today's four-stroke MotoGP bikes.

In the 250 class, Honda's Luca Cadalora won his second consecutive title, fending off a challenge from Aprilia riders Loris Reggiani and Pier-Francesco Chili.^[1] Newcomer Max Biaggi would win his first Grand Prix in South Africa.^[1] Aprilia would win their first world championship in the 125 class with Alessandro Gramigni defeating Honda's Fausto Gresini.^[1]

The calendar was shortened to 13 rounds, with the United States, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Austria losing their races.^[1] The South African Grand Prix was added and the European Grand Prix continued for another year.^[1] Notable retirements in 1992 included former 250 champion, Carlos Lavado, former 500 champion Wayne Gardner and four-time champion Eddie Lawson.^[1]

1992 Season review

Round	Race	Location	125cc winner	250cc winner	500cc winner	Report
1	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka	Ralf Waldmann	Luca Cadalora	Mick Doohan	Report
2	Australian Grand Prix	Eastern Creek	Ralf Waldmann	Luca Cadalora	Mick Doohan	Report
3	Malaysian Grand Prix	Shah Alam	Alessandro Gramigni	Luca Cadalora	Mick Doohan	Report
4	Spanish Grand Prix	Jerez	Ralf Waldmann	Loris Reggiani	Mick Doohan	Report
5	Italian Grand Prix	Mugello	Ezio Gianola	Luca Cadalora	Kevin Schwantz	Report
6	European Grand Prix	Catalunya	Ezio Gianola	Luca Cadalora	Wayne Rainey	Report
7	German Grand Prix	Hockenheim	Bruno Casanova	Pierfrancesco Chili	Mick Doohan	Report
8	Dutch TT	Assen	Ezio Gianola	Pierfrancesco Chili	Àlex Crivillé	Report
9	Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring	Alessandro Gramigni	Luca Cadalora	Eddie Lawson	Report
10	French Grand Prix	Magny-Cours	Ezio Gianola	Loris Reggiani	Wayne Rainey	Report
11	British Grand Prix	Donington	Fausto Gresini	Pierfrancesco Chili	Wayne Gardner	Report
12	Brazilian Grand Prix	Interlagos	Dirk Raudies	Luca Cadalora	Wayne Rainey	Report
13	South African Grand Prix	Kyalami	Jorge Martínez	Max Biaggi	John Kocinski	Report

Final standings

500cc standings^[2][3]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Team	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Wayne Rainey	1	United States	Marlboro-Yamaha	YZR500	140	3
2	Michael Doohan	2	Australia	Rothmans-Honda	NSR500	136	5
3	John Kocinski	4	United States	Marlboro-Yamaha	YZR500	102	1
4	Kevin Schwantz	34	United States	Lucky Strike-Suzuki	RGV500	99	1
5	Doug Chandler	10	United States	Lucky Strike-Suzuki	RGV500	94	0
6	Wayne Gardner	5	Australia	Rothmans-Honda	NSR500	78	1
7	Juan Garriga	6	Spain	Ducados-Yamaha	YZR500	61	0
8	Àlex Crivillé	28	Spain	Campsa-Honda	NSR500	59	1
9	Eddie Lawson	7	United States	Cagiva	GP500	56	1
10	Randy Mamola	8	United States	Budweiser-Yamaha	YZR500	45	0

250cc standings^[4][5]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Team	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Luca Cadalora	1	Italy	Rothmans-Honda	NSR250	203	7
2	Loris Reggiani	13	Italy	Unlimited Jeans-Aprilia	RSV250	159	2
3	Pierfrancesco Chili	7	Italy	Telkor Valesi-Aprilia	RSV250	119	3
4	Helmut Bradl	2	Germany	HB-Honda Germany	NSR250	89	0
5	Max Biaggi	29	Italy	Telkor Valesi-Aprilia	RSV250	78	1
6	Alberto Puig	16	Spain	Ducados-Aprilia	RSV250	71	0
7	Jochen Schmid	8	Germany	Mitsui-Yamaha	YZR250	58	0
8	Carlos Cardús	3	Spain	Repsol-Honda	NSR250	48	0
9	Masahiro Shimizu	5	Japan	Hero Sports-Honda	NSR250	46	0
10	Doriano Romboni	15	Italy	HB-Honda Italy	NSR250	43	0

125cc standings^[6][7]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Alessandro Gramigni	7	Italy	Aprilia	134	2
2	Fausto Gresini	2	Italy	Honda	118	1
3	Ralf Waldmann	3	Germany	Honda	112	3
4	Ezio Gianola		Italy	Honda	105	4
5	Bruno Casanova		Italy	Aprilia	96	1
6	Dirk Raudies	8	Germany	Honda	91	1
7	Jorge Martínez		Spain	Honda	83	1
8	Gabriele Debbia	4	Italy	Honda	58	0
9	Noboru Ueda	5	Japan	Honda	57	0
10	Noboyuki Wakai	10	Japan	Honda	52	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/1992/NAT/500cc/World+Standing. Retrieved 2010-07-06. 

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