# 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. Angel Nieto would take his fifth world title in the 50cc division, this time aboard a Bultaco. 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.
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. Pat Hennen became the first American rider to win a 500cc Grand Prix, when he triumphed at the Finnish Grand Prix.
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. Once the most prestigious race of the year, the event had been increasingly boycotted by the top riders. The TT finally succumbed to pressure for increased safety in racing events. 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. As Agostini had chosen the MV Agusta for this challenging track, this win was also the last for a 500cc four-stroke engine.

## 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 | Le Mans Bugatti | 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 | Snaefell Mountain | | | 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 | Czechoslovakian 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 |

## 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 |
| Texaco Heron Team Suzuki | Suzuki | Suzuki RG 500 | 7 | Barry Sheene | 1–3, 5–7 |
| Texaco Heron Team Suzuki | Suzuki | Suzuki RG 500 | 8 3 6 7 | John Newbold | 6–10 |
| Texaco Heron Team Suzuki | Suzuki | ??? | 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 | Yamaha TZ??? | 23 15 19 21 | Tom Herron | 6–7 |
| Beale | Yamaha | ??? | 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 | Suzuki RG 500 | 28 40 26 31 | Virginio Ferrari | 3, 10 |
| Gallina Corse | Suzuki | Suzuki RG 500 | 33 40 34 32 30 17 | Marco Lucchinelli | 1–2, 7–10 |
| Gallina Corse | Suzuki | ??? | 34 | Roberto Gallina | ??? |
| Riemersma | Suzuki | 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: ||||||
Key :
* Regular Rider
* Wildcard Rider
* Replacement Rider

#### Notes

* * Länsivuori was disqualified for the second round of the season, the Austrian GP, for not stopping his engine during a refuelling stop.

## 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 |
| 11 | Marcel Ankone | | | | 21 | |
| 12 | Stuart Avant | | | | 20 | |
| 13 | Tom Herron | | | | 17 | 1 |
| 14 | Chas Mortimer | | | | 16 | |
| 15 | Michel Rougerie | | | | 16 | |
| 16 | Karl Auer | | | | 16 | |
| 17 | Dieter Braun | | | | 15 | |
| 18 | Víctor Palomo | | | | 13 | |
| 19 | Ian Richards | | | | 12 | |
| 20 | Johnny Cecotto | 3 | | | 12 | |
| 21 | Wil Hartog | | | | 10 | |
| 22 | Virginio Ferrari | | | | 10 | |
| 23 | Billie Guthrie | | | | 10 | |
| 24 | Alex George | | | | 10 | |
| 25 | Boet Van Dulmen | | | | 9 | |
| 26 | Takazumi Katayama | | | | 8 | |
| 27 | Max Wiener | | | | 6 | |
| 28 | Roger Nichols | | | | 6 | |
| 29 | Olivier Chevallier | | | | 5 | |
| 30 | Jon Ekerold | | | | 5 | |
| 31 | Bernard Fau | | | | 4 | |
| 32 | Bernd Tungethal | | | | 4 | |
| 33 | Alan North | | | | 4 | |
| 34 | Gordon Pantall | | | | 3 | |
| 35 | Christian Estrosi | | | | 3 | |
| 36 | Rob Bron | | | | 3 | |
| 37 | Christian Bourgeois | | | | 3 | |
| 38 | Helmut Kassner | | | | 3 | |
| 39 | Pekka Nurmi | | | | 2 | |
| 40 | John Weeden | | | | 2 | |
| 41 | Dave Potter | | | | 1 | |
| 42 | G.Schwemmer | | | | 1 | |
| 43 | W.A. Smith | | | | 1 | |
| 44 | Edmar Ferreira | | | | 1 | |
| 45 | Borge W.Nielsen | | | | 1 | |

### 350cc standings

| 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 | |

### 250cc standings

| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
| 1 | Walter Villa | 1 | Italy | Aermacchi Harley-Davidson | 90 | 7 |
| 2 | Takazumi Katayama | | Japan | Yamaha | 73 | 1 |
| 3 | Franco Bonera | | Italy | Aermacchi 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 |
| 11 | John Dodds | | | | 24 | |
| 12 | Patrick Fernandez | | | | 21 | |
| 13 | Kork Ballington | | | | 15 | |
| 14 | Paolo Pileri | | | | 12 | |
| 15 | Jon Ekerold | | | | 10 | |
| 16 | Alan North | | | | 10 | |
| 17 | Tony Rutter | | | | 8 | |
| 18 | Jean-François Baldé | | | | 8 | |
| 19 | Eddie Roberts | | | | 6 | |
| 20 | Gerard Choukroun | | | | 6 | |
| 21 | Franco Uncini | | | | 6 | |
| 22 | Patrick Pons | | | | 6 | |
| 23 | Philip Bouzanne | | | | 6 | |
| 24 | Pekka Nurmi | | | | 5 | |
| 25 | Alex George | | | | 5 | |
| 26 | Boet van Dulmen | | | | 4 | |
| 27 | John Weeden | | | | 4 | |
| 28 | Ian Richards | | | | 3 | |
| 29 | Leif Gustafsson | | | | 3 | |
| 30 | Dennis Casement | | | | 2 | |
| 31 | Jean Claude Hogrel | | | | 2 | |
| 32 | Tapio Virtanen | | | | 2 | |
| 33 | János Drapál | | | | 2 | |
| 32 | Harald Bartol | | | | 1 | |
| 33 | Eero Hyvärinen | | | | 1 | |
| 34 | Niel Tuxworth | | | | 1 | |

### 125cc standings

| 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 | |

### 50cc standings

| 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 | B.Stopp | | | | 4 | |
| 25 | Wolfgang Müller | | | | 3 | |
| 26 | Ramon Gali | | | | 3 | |
| 27 | Ermanno Giuliano | | | | 1 | |