1991 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

1991 F.I.M. Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Previous:	1990	Next:	1992

The 1991 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 43rd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.

Season summary

The beginning of the 1990s marked a golden age for Grand Prix motorcycle racing.^[1] The rivalry between Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz was in full flow while Mick Doohan started to come into his own.^[1] Eddie Lawson had switched to Cagiva and started to have some respectable results.^[1] In a one-year quirk, only 13 races counted as, competitors were allowed to drop their two worst scores.^[1] The Yugoslavia round was dropped because of the civil war and replaced with a Grand Prix of Europe at Jarama.^[1] The Brazilian round was also dropped at the last minute over track safety concerns and replaced with a race held at Le Mans.^[1] The inaugural Malaysian Grand Prix was held at Shah Alam.^[1]

For the 1991 season, Michelin decided to supply only the Rothmans Honda team with tires; everybody else used Dunlops.^[1]^[2]

Luca Cadalora won the 250 title in a dominating fashion with eight wins.^[1] In the 125 class, Italian teenager Loris Capirossi swept to the title for the second consecutive year.^[1]

1991 500 cc Season review

Round	Race	Location	125cc winner	250cc winner	500cc winner	Report
1	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka	Noboru Ueda	Luca Cadalora	Kevin Schwantz	Report
2	Australian Grand Prix	Eastern Creek	Loris Capirossi	Luca Cadalora	Wayne Rainey	Report
3	United States Grand Prix	Laguna Seca	no race	Luca Cadalora	Wayne Rainey	Report
4	Spanish Grand Prix	Jerez	Noboru Ueda	Helmut Bradl	Mick Doohan	Report
5	Italian Grand Prix	Misano	Fausto Gresini	Luca Cadalora	Mick Doohan	Report
6	German Grand Prix	Hockenheim	Ralf Waldmann	Helmut Bradl	Kevin Schwantz	Report
7	Austrian Grand Prix	Salzburgring	Fausto Gresini	Helmut Bradl	Mick Doohan	Report
8	European Grand Prix	Jarama	Loris Capirossi	Luca Cadalora	Wayne Rainey	Report
9	Dutch TT	Assen	Ralf Waldmann	Pierfrancesco Chili	Kevin Schwantz	Report
10	French Grand Prix	Paul Ricard	Loris Capirossi	Loris Reggiani	Wayne Rainey	Report
11	British Grand Prix	Donington	Loris Capirossi	Luca Cadalora	Kevin Schwantz	Report
12	San Marino Grand Prix	Mugello	Peter Öttl	Luca Cadalora	Wayne Rainey	Report
13	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Brno	Alessandro Gramigni	Helmut Bradl	Wayne Rainey	Report
14	Vitesse du Mans Grand Prix	Le Mans	no race	Helmut Bradl	Kevin Schwantz	Report
15	Malaysian Grand Prix	Shah Alam	Loris Capirossi	Luca Cadalora	John Kocinski	Report

Final standings

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. Rider has to finish the race to earn points.

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th
Points	20	17	15	13	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

500cc standings^[3]^[4]

Pos	Rider	Bike	JPN	AUS	USA	ESP	ITA	GER	AUT	EUR	NED	FRA	GBR	RSM	CZE	VDM	MAL	Pts
1	Wayne Rainey	Yamaha	3	1	1	3	9	2	2	1	2	1	2	1	1	3		233
2	Mick Doohan	Honda	2	2	2	1	1	3	1	2	Ret	2	3	3	2	2	3	224
3	Kevin Schwantz	Suzuki	1	5	3	Ret	7	1	3	4	1	4	1	2	5	1		204
4	John Kocinski	Yamaha	4	3	Ret	2	2	Ret	9	5	6	DNS	4	6	3	4	1	161
5	Wayne Gardner	Honda	5	4	7	7		5	4	3	3	10	5	4	4	5	2	161
6	Eddie Lawson	Cagiva	6	6	5	6	3	4	5	Ret	4	3	6	Ret	8			126
7	Juan Garriga	Yamaha	7	Ret	8	4	8	7	6	6	12	11	9	7	6	6	4	121
8	Didier de Radiguès	Suzuki	14	10	10	8	Ret	6	8	10	5	7	8	8	7	8	8	105
9	Doug Chandler	Yamaha	11	12	Ret	10	6	9	7	9	11	6	Ret	9	10	7	Ret	85
10	Jean-Philippe Ruggia	Yamaha	Ret	7	4	5	5			7	8	5	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	Ret	78
11	Adrien Morillas	Yamaha	12	9	9	9	Ret	8	Ret	8	9	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	7	71
12	Eddie Laycock	Yamaha	Ret	13	13	11	10	10	10	12	Ret		11	11	11	11	12	57
13	Alex Barros	Cagiva	10	8	6		4				7							46
14	Sito Pons	Honda	8	Ret	Ret					11	10	9	Ret	Ret	9	9	Ret	40
15	Cees Doorakkers	Honda	22	14	14	13	12	11		13	13	12	14	13	13	Ret	10	40
16	Marco Papa	Honda				12	11		12	Ret		13	10	12		13	9	36
17	Niall Mackenzie	Yamaha											7	5		12	6	34
18	Michael Rudroff	Honda				15	15	12	11	14	14	14	13	14	12	Ret		26
19	Kevin Magee	Suzuki	13	11													5	19
20	Harald Becker	Yamaha				14	Ret	13		16	Ret	Ret	Ret	15	14	Ret	11	13
21	Keiichiro Iwahashi	Honda	9															7
22	Simon Buckmaster	Suzuki					14	14		Ret	Ret				15	15		6
23	Rich Oliver	Yamaha			11													5
24	Niggi Schmassman	Honda		16	15	Ret	Ret			15	15	Ret	Ret		17		14	5
25	Ron Haslam	Norton											12					4
26	Robbie Petersen	Yamaha			12													4
27	Josef Doppler	Yamaha								17		15	17	16	16		13	4
28	Romolo Balbi	Honda					13							17				3
29	Andy Leuthe	Suzuki								Ret			15	18	Ret	14		3
30	Steve Spray	Norton		15														1
31	Peter Goddard	Yamaha	15															1
Pos	Rider	Bike	JPN	AUS	USA	ESP	ITA	GER	AUT	EUR	NED	FRA	GBR	RSM	CZE	VDM	MAL	Pts

Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	Points finish
Blue	Non-points finish
Blue	Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple	Retired (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Red	Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
	Withdrew (WD)
	Race cancelled (C)
Blank	Did not participate (DNP)
Blank	Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole Position

250cc standings^[5]^[6]

Place	Rider	Bike	JPN	AUS	USA	ESP	ITA	GER	Points	Wins
1	Luca Cadalora	Honda	1	1	1	2	1	4	237	8
2	Helmut Bradl	Honda	7	2	8	1	2	1	220	5
3	Carlos Cardús	Honda	2	3	4	6	6	2	205	0
4	Wilco Zeelenberg	Honda	3	4	2	Ret	5	3	158	0
5	Masahiro Shimizu	Honda	8	Ret	5	4	7	5	142	0
6	Loris Reggiani	Aprilia	9	5	3	3	4	Ret	128	1
7	Pierfrancesco Chili	Aprilia	17	6	Ret	5	3	Ret	107	1
8	Jochen Schmid	Honda	13	8	10	7	8	8	96	0
9	Martin Wimmer	Suzuki	14	Ret	7	8	19	9	89	0
10	Paolo Casoli	Yamaha	26	9	Ret	Ret	10	11	65	0
11	Andy Preining	Aprilia	19	7	6	Ret	9	6	60
12	Jean Pierre Jeandat	Honda	18	11	11	12	11	14	59
13	Àlex Crivillé	Honda	Ret	Ret	9	Ret	Ret	7	51
14	Carlos Lavado	Yamaha	25	10	12	11	14	15	34
15	Doriano Romboni	Honda	Ret	Ret	13	9	Ret	13	32
16	Alberto Puig	Yamaha	21	Ret	Ret	10	Ret	DNS	28
17	Stefan Prein	Honda	20	Ret	15	DNS	15	10	28
18	Harald Eckl	Aprilia		Ret	14	Ret	16	12	22
19	Katsuyoshi Kozono	Honda	11						20
20	Renzo Colleoni	Aprilia				Ret	13	Ret	19
21	Bernard Haenggeli	Aprilia	32	12	17	17	Ret	Ret	15
22	Masumitsu Taguchi	Honda	4						13
23	Nobuatsu Aoki	Honda	5						13
24	Tetsuya Harada	Yamaha	6						10
25	Herri Torrontegui								8
26	Erkka Korpiaho	Aprilia				Ret	12	DNS	8
27	Max Biaggi								7
28	Tsumoto Udagawa	Honda	10						6
29	Marcellino Lucchi	Aprilia				Ret	Ret	22	5
30	Jose Barresi								4
30	Kyoji Nanba	Yamaha	12						4
30	Dominique Sarron	Yamaha				Ret		16	4
33	Frederic Protat	Aprilia	30	13	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNS	4
34	Urs Jücker	Yamaha	27	14	18	15	18	Ret	4
35	Leon Van Der Heyden	Honda	23	Ret	19	13	Ret	DNS	3
35	Patrick van den Goorbergh	Yamaha				14	21	19	3
37	Jurgen van den Goorbergh								2
38	Corrado Catalano	Honda	Ret	Ret	24	Ret	Ret	Ret	1
38	Bernd Kassner	Honda					22	17	1
38	Toshi Arakaki	Honda	15						1
38	Kevin Mitchell	Yamaha	29	15	Ret	Ret		20	1
	Jaime Mariano	Aprilia	Ret	17	20	16	17	Ret	0
	Jim Filice	Yamaha	31	Ret	16				0
	Osamu Miyazaki	Yamaha	16						0
	Stephen Whitehouse	Yamaha		16					0
	Fausto Ricci	Yamaha				19	Ret	18	0
	Ian Newton	Yamaha		Ret	27	18	Ret	24	0
	David Horton	Yamaha		18					0
	Gavin Johnston	Yamaha		19					0
	Jean Foray	Yamaha				20	24	21	0
	Warren Palesy	Yamaha		20					0
	Renato Colleoni	Aprilia					20		0
	Michael Haisman	Yamaha		21					0
	Nick Ienatsch	Yamaha			21				0
	Takehiko Kurokawa	Honda	22						0
	Scott Buckley	Yamaha		22					0
	Chris D'Aluisio	Yamaha			22				0
	Wayne Doran	Aprilia					23	23	0
	Rick Kirk	Yamaha			23				0
	Yoshomasa Kato	Yamaha	24						0
	Peter Linden	Honda	28	Ret				25	0
	Jon Cornwell	Yamaha			25				0
	Mike Sullivan	Yamaha			26				0
	Stefano Pennese	Aprilia					Ret	DNS	0
	Hiroyuki Yamagishi	Honda	Ret						0
	Darren Milner	Yamaha		Ret					0
	Trevor Manley	Yamaha		Ret					0
	Ricky Rice	Yamaha		Ret					0
	Alan Scott	Yamaha			Ret				0
	Rick Tripodi	Yamaha			Ret				0

125cc standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Loris Capirossi	1	Italy	Honda	200	5
2	Fausto Gresini	8	Italy	Honda	181	2
3	Ralf Waldmann	23	Germany	Honda	141	2
4	Gabriele Debbia	12	Italy	Aprilia	111	0
5	Noboru Ueda		Japan	Honda	105	2
6	Jorge Martínez	6	Spain	Cobas	99	0
7	Alessandro Gramigni	9	Italy	Aprilia	90	1
8	Dirk Raudies	5	Germany	Honda	81	0
9	Peter Öttl		Germany	Rotax	67	1
10	Noboyuki Wakai		Japan	Honda	60	0
11	Heinz Lüthi		Switzerland	Honda	56	0
12	Adi Stadler		Germany	Cobas	56	0
13	Kazuto Sakata		Japan	Honda	55	0
14	Hans Spaan		Netherlands	Honda	54	0
15	Bruno Casanova		Italy	Honda	45	0
16	Ezio Gianola		Italy	Derbi	32	0
17	Koji Takada		Japan	Honda	28	0
18	Maurizio Vitali		Italy	Gazzaniga	27	0
19	Hisashi Unemoto		Japan	Honda	15	0
20	Kinya Wada		Japan	Honda	14	0
21	Masato Shima		Japan	Honda	13	0
22	Luis Alvaro		Spain	Derbi	13	0
23	Oliver Petrucciani		Switzerland	Aprilia	13	0
24	Herri Torrontegui		Spain	Cobas	12	0
25	Andres Sanchez		Spain	Cobas	12	0
26	Gimmi Bosio		Italy	Honda	12	0
27	Julian Miralles		Spain	Cobas	10	0
28	Alfred Waibel		Germany	Honda	9	0
29	Akira Saito		Japan	Honda	8	0
30	Sinya Sato		Japan	Honda	7	0
31	Carlos Giro Jr.		Spain	Cobas	7	0
32	Arie Molenaar		Netherlands	Honda	7	0
33	Manuel Herreros		Spain	Cobas	6	0
34	Ian McConnacchie		United Kingdom	Honda	5	0
35	Steve Patrickson		United Kingdom	Honda	5	0
36	Johnny Wickstroem		Finland	Cobas	5	0
37	Yosuke Yamakawa		Japan	Honda	3	0
38	Peter Galvin		Australia	Honda	2	0
39	Alain Bronec		France	Honda	2	0

References

Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A. ISBN 2-940125-32-5
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↑ Scott, Michael: "Wayne Rainey", page 151. Haynes Publishing, 1997.
↑ 1991 500cc Final Standings at MotoGP.com
↑ 1991 500cc Entries List at www.f1network.net
↑ 1991 250cc Final Standings at MotoGP.com
↑ 1991 250cc Entries List at www.f1network.net

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[2] Scott, Michael: "Wayne Rainey", page 151. Haynes Publishing, 1997.

[3] 1991 500cc Final Standings at MotoGP.com

[4] 1991 500cc Entries List at www.f1network.net

[5] 1991 250cc Final Standings at MotoGP.com

[6] 1991 250cc Entries List at www.f1network.net

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[3]

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[5]

[6]

1991 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

Contents

Season summary

1991 500 cc Season review