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

Season summary

Mick Doohan (3) leads Kevin Schwantz (34), Wayne Rainey (1) and John Kocinski (19) at the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix

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 Grand Prix season calendar

The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 1991:^[3][4]

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit
1	24 March	Kibun Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka Circuit
2	7 April	Tooheys Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix	Eastern Creek Raceway
3	21 April	United States International Grand Prix	Laguna Seca Raceway
4	12 May	Gran Premio de España	Circuito Permanente de Jerez
5	19 May	Gran Premio d'Italia	Misano World Circuit
6	26 May	Großer Preis von Deutschland für Motorräder	Hockenheimring
7	9 June	Großer Preis von Österreich	Salzburgring
8	16 June	G.P de Europa	Circuito Permanente Del Jarama
9	29 June	Dutch TT	TT Circuit Assen
10	21 July	Grand Prix de France	Circuit Paul Ricard
11	4 August	Shell British Motorcycle Grand Prix	Donington Park
12	18 August	San Marino Grand Prix	Mugello Circuit
13	25 August	Czechoslovakian motorcycle Grand Prix	Brno Circuit
14	8 September	Vitesse du Mans Grand Prix	Bugatti Circuit
15	29 September	Lucky Strike Malaysia Grand Prix	Shah Alam Circuit

Calendar changes

• The Australian Grand Prix was moved forward, from 16 September to 7 April.


• The German Grand Prix moved from the Nürburgring to the Hockenheimring.


• The Yugoslavian Grand Prix was cancelled due to the ongoing Yugoslav Wars.


• The Brazilian Grand Prix was initially scheduled, but was cancelled on the last moment due to poor safety standards of the venue.


• The Belgian, Swedish and Hungarian Grand Prix were taken off the calendar due to organisational and other type of problems.


• The European Grand Prix was added to the calendar as a replacement for the Yugoslavian Grand Prix.


• The San Marino Grand Prix returned after a three-year absence on the Mugello circuit.


• The French Grand Prix moved from the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans to the Paul Ricard circuit.


• The Vitesse du Mans Grand Prix was added as a one-off Grand Prix to replace the Brazilian Grand Prix and was held on the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans.


• The Malaysian Grand Prix was added to the calendar.

Results and standings

Grands Prix

Round	Date	Race	Location	125cc winner	250cc winner	500cc winner	Report
1	24 March	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka	Noboru Ueda	Luca Cadalora	Kevin Schwantz	Report
2	7 April	Australian Grand Prix	Eastern Creek	Loris Capirossi	Luca Cadalora	Wayne Rainey	Report
3	21 April	United States Grand Prix	Laguna Seca	no race	Luca Cadalora	Wayne Rainey	Report
4	12 May	Spanish Grand Prix	Jerez	Noboru Ueda	Helmut Bradl	Mick Doohan	Report
5	19 May	Italian Grand Prix	Misano	Fausto Gresini	Luca Cadalora	Mick Doohan	Report
6	26 May	German Grand Prix	Hockenheim	Ralf Waldmann	Helmut Bradl	Kevin Schwantz	Report
7	9 June	Austrian Grand Prix	Salzburgring	Fausto Gresini	Helmut Bradl	Mick Doohan	Report
8	16 June	European Grand Prix	Jarama	Loris Capirossi	Luca Cadalora	Wayne Rainey	Report
9	29 June	Dutch TT	Assen	Ralf Waldmann	Pierfrancesco Chili	Kevin Schwantz	Report
10	21 July	French Grand Prix	Paul Ricard	Loris Capirossi	Loris Reggiani	Wayne Rainey	Report
11	4 August	British Grand Prix	Donington	Loris Capirossi	Luca Cadalora	Kevin Schwantz	Report
12	18 August	San Marino Grand Prix	Mugello	Peter Öttl	Luca Cadalora	Wayne Rainey	Report
13	25 August	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Brno	Alessandro Gramigni	Helmut Bradl	Wayne Rainey	Report
14	8 September	Vitesse du Mans Grand Prix	Le Mans	no race	Helmut Bradl	Kevin Schwantz	Report
15	29 September	Malaysian Grand Prix	Shah Alam	Loris Capirossi	Luca Cadalora	John Kocinski	Report

Participants

500cc participants

Team Constructor Motorcycle No. Rider Rounds Marlboro Team Roberts Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 1 Wayne Rainey 1-14 19 John Kocinski All 46 Robbie Petersen 3 97 Rich Oliver 3 Team Roberts Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 9 Kevin Magee 15 Castrol Yamaha/Team Roberts Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 4 Niall Mackenzie 11 Team Roberts Yamaha/Castrol Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 21 Doug Chandler All Rothmans Honda Honda Honda NSR500 3 Mick Doohan All 5 Wayne Gardner 1-4, 6-15 Yamaha Sonauto Mobil 1 Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 4 Niall Mackenzie 12, 14-15 8 Jean-Philippe Ruggia 1-5, 8-12, 14-15 20 Adrien Morillas 1-12, 14-15 Ducados Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 6 Joan Garriga All Cagiva Cagiva Cagiva GP500 C591 7 Eddie Lawson 1-13 11 Marco Papa 7-8, 11-12, 14-15 12 Alex Barros 1-3, 5, 9 33 Raymond Roche 0 (10) Team Lucky Strike Suzuki Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 9 Kevin Magee 1-2 27 Didier de Radiguès All 34 Kevin Schwantz 1-14 Campsa Honda Honda Honda NSR500 10 Sito Pons 1-3, 8-15 Moto Club Milano/Team Papa Honda Honda NSR500 11 18 Marco Papa 4-5, 10 Technotron Honda Honda NSR500 13 Niggi Schmassman 2-5, 8-11, 13,15 Norton/JPS Racing Norton Norton RCW588 15 Ron Haslam 11 HEK-Bauwmachines Honda Honda NSR500 16 Cees Doorakkers All Millar Racing Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 17 Eddie Laycock 1-9, 11-15 Librenti Corse Suzuki Honda Suzuki RGV500 Honda NSR500 23 Andy Leuthe 8, 11-14 R.S. Rallye Sport Honda Honda NSR500 24 Helmut Schütz 9, 11-12 32 35 39 Michael Rudroff 4-14 Itohen Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 25 Tatsuro Arata 1 Pentax Honda Honda NSR500 28 Shinichi Ito 1 Domina Domina ?? 29 Larry Moreno Vacondio 0 (5, 12) MT Racing Honda Honda NSR500 30 Martin Trösch 13 Team Paton Paton Paton V115 500 30 37 38 39 Michele Valdo 10-12 Roton Roton Norton RCW588 31 Steve Spray 2 ?? Honda Honda NSR500 31 36 Romolo Balbi 5, 12 Doppler Racing Yamaha Honda Yamaha YZR500 Honda NSR500 33 35 36 37 38 Josef Doppler 8, 10-13, 15 Kirin Mets Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 35 Norihiko Fujiwara 1 Bimota Experience Bimota Suzuki ?? Suzuki RGV500 35 37 Vittorio Scatola ?? Romero Racing Team Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 35 36 38 40 Hans Becker 4-6, 8-15 Ajinomoto Honda Honda NSR500 36 Hikaru Miyagi 1 41 Keiichiro Iwahashi 1 Padgett’s Racing Team Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 36 37 39 Simon Buckmaster 5-6, 8-10, 12-13 Nescafé Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 37 Kunio Machii 1 S.R.T. Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 38 Osamu Hiwatashi 1 40 Satoshi Tsujimoto 1 Camel Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 39 Keiji Ohishi 1 Y.R.T.R. Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 44 Tadahiko Taira 1 YMO Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 45 Toshihiko Honma 1 Hayashi Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 46 Peter Goddard 1 Vogt ?? ?? 50 Vincenzo Cascino 0 (13) Source: [5]

Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider

250cc participants

Team Constructor Motorcycle No. Rider Rounds Repsol-Honda/Cardús Honda Honda NSR250 2 Carlos Cardús All Rothmans-Kanemoto Honda Honda Honda NSR250 3 Luca Cadalora All HB Honda Racing Team Germany Honda Honda NSR250 4 Helmut Bradl All Honda RS250R 33 Stefan Prein 1-3, 5-15 Sharp-Samson-Bieffe Team Honda Honda NSR250 5 Wilco Zeelenberg All Honda RS250R 21 Leon van der Heyden 1-5, 8-9 Team Lucky Strike Suzuki Suzuki Suzuki RGV250 6 Martin Wimmer All 72 Herri Torrontégui 9-14 HRC Honda/Ajinomoto Honda Honda NSR250 7 Masahiro Shimizu All HRC Honda Honda NSR250 29 Tadayuki Okada 1 Schuh-Zwafink Racing Honda Honda RS250R 8 Jochen Schmid All Iberna Aprilia/Valesi Racing Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 9 Pierfrancesco Chili All 27 Renzo Colleoni 4-15 Team Gallina/Compagnucci Yamaha Yamaha TZ250 10 Dominique Sarron 4, 6, 8 Team Gallina Yamaha Yamaha TZ250 23 Jim Filice 1-3 63 52 41 Stefano Caracchi 11-14 Marlboro/JJ Cobas JJ Cobas JJ Cobas Honda 250 11 Àlex Crivillé All Aprilia Unlimited Jeans Team Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 13 Loris Reggiani All ?? Honda Honda RS250R 14 Peter Lindén 1-2, 6-7, 9-11, 13 Team Greco Yamaha Yamaha TZ250 15 Carlos Lavado 1-6, 9-12 Ducados Yamaha Puig Yamaha Yamaha YZR250 16 Alberto Puig 1-5, 9-15 Team Agostini/API Yamaha Yamaha TZ250 17 Paolo Casoli All ÖKM-Aprilia/SK Vöst Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 18 Andy Preining 1-14 OZ Racing System Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 19 Marcellino Lucchi 4-14 52 45 49 46 Renato Colleoni 5, 7, 9, 12 HB Honda Racing Team Italy Honda Honda RS250R 20 Doriano Romboni 1-8, 12-15 LMC Pennesse Racing Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 22 Stefano Pennesse 5, 7-9, 11-13 25 Wayne Doran ?? JF-Aprilia-Kuhnert Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 30 Harald Eckl 2-15 Marlboro Aprilia Mohag Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 32 Bernard Häenggeli All 49 53 55 47 Eskil Suter 7-8, 10-13 Docshop/Servopax Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 34 Patrick van den Goorbergh 4-14 Team St Yrian Motos Yamaha Yamaha TZ250 36 54 37 Jean Foray 4-14 Silkolene Honda Britain Honda Honda RS250R 39 Alan Carter ?? 55 57 Steve Hislop 10-11 FP Moto Team Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 41 48 36 69 Frédéric Protat 1-5, 7-14 Medd Holdings Yamaha Yamaha TZ250 42 39 46 37 Kevin Mitchell 1-4, 6, 10-11, 13 Team Rocker by Gallina Yamaha Yamaha TZ250 43 49 47 42 Fausto Ricci 4-8, 11-13 Tecno Racing/Barrca March Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 44 43 42 Jaime Mariano 1-7 RS Rallye Sport GmbH Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 44 41 54 45 Bernd Kassner 5-7, 9-14 Rothmans Honda Italy Honda Honda RS250R 45 41 48 50 57 59 Corrado Catalano All Swiss Yamaha Team Yamaha Yamaha TZ250 47 46 48 44 40 Urs Jücker All Trans Freight Europa Yamaha Yamaha TZ250 48 53 40 50 38 Ian Newton 2-10, 12-15 Rothmans Honda France Honda Honda RS250R 51 Jean-Pierre Jeandat All Nescafé Yamaha Racing Team Yamaha Yamaha YZR250 52 Tetsuya Harada 1 ?? Honda Honda NSR250 53 Masumitsu Taguchi 1 ?? Honda Honda NSR250 54 Tsumoto Udagawa 1 Cup Noodle Racing Team Honda Honda NSR250 55 Nobuatsu Aoki 1 Jha Racing Honda Honda RS250R 57 40 52 Katsuyoshi Kozono 1, 7-9, 15 Team Italia Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 60 58 46 Max Biaggi 8, 10-12 ?? Yamaha Yamaha YZR250 61 Kyoji Nanba 1 AMS Mauri Racing Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 65 50 38 42 54 37 Erkka Korpiaho 4-5, 7-11, 13-14 Tecno Racing Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 72 56 Herri Torrontégui 9-14 Source: [6]

Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider

125cc participants

Team Constructor Motorcycle No. Rider Rounds AGV-Pileri Corse Honda Honda RS125R 1 Loris Capirossi 1-2, 4-13, 15 7 Fausto Gresini 1-2, 4-13, 15 Sharp Samson Racing Team Honda Honda RS125R 2 Hans Spaan 1-2, 4-13, 15 46 Arie Molenaar 1, 4-13, 15 Team Semprucci IDM Honda Honda RS125R 3 Bruno Casanova 1-2, 4-13, 15 Schuh HB Honda Racing Team Honda Honda RS125R 4 Dirk Raudies 1-2, 4-13, 15 Elf Coronas Racing Team JJ Cobas-Honda JJ Cobas Honda RS125R 5 Jorge Martínez 1-2, 4-13, 15 14 Julián Miralles 1, 4-13 ? Jaime Mariano 8-9 Metraux Honda Honda RS125R 5 Jorge Martínez 1-2, 4-13, 15 Derbi Racing Team Derbi Aprilia RS125R 6 Ezio Gianola 1-2, 4-12 66 62 Luis Alvaro 4-11, 13 Team Italia Aprilia Aprilia RS125R 9 Alessandro Gramigni 1-2, 4-13 12 Gabriele Debbia 1-2, 4-13, 15 RS Rallye Sport GmbH JJ Cobas ?? 11 Adi Stadler 1-2, 4-13, 15 Gazzaniga Corse Gazzaniga Gazzaniga 125 15 Maurizio Vitali 1-2, 4-13, 15 34 Emilio Cuppini 1-2, 4-7, 9, 11-13, 15 Team Takeshima Honda Honda RS125R 16 Koji Takada 1-2, 4-5, 9-13, 15 Derek Clarke Racing Team/Levior Honda Honda RS125R 17 Steve Patrickson 1-2, 4-5, 7-9, 11-13 Colin Appleyard Racing Honda Honda RS125R 18 Robin Appleyard 1-2, 4, 6, 8, 10-11, 15 ?? Honda Honda RS125R 19 Alfred Waibel 1-2, 4-7, 9-10, 13 Team Unemoto Honda Honda RS125R 20 Hisashi Unemoto 1-2, 4-8, 10-13, 15 AGV Racing Team Rotax Rotax 125 GP 22 Peter Öttl 4-13 AGV/MDS Racing Team Rotax Rotax 125 GP 63 57 Stefan Kurfiss 6, 8-13 JJ Cobas Ducados-Agrati Honda Honda RS125R 26 Francisco Debón 2, 4-6 HB Italy/Gilera Club Honda Honda RS125R 27 Gimmi Bosio 1-2, 4-8, 10, 13 Schuh/Zwafink Honda Racing Honda Honda RS125R 28 Ralf Waldmann 1-2, 4-13 Team Driza Bone Honda Honda RS125R 29 Peter Galvin 1-2, 4, 7-12, 15 Team Elf Kepla/Meiko Honda Honda RS125R 35 Kazuto Sakata 1-2, 4-13, 15 Clay Cross Motorcycles Honda Honda RS125R 36 45 62 Ian McConnachie 4-9, 11, 13 Silja Line Racing Team Honda Honda RS125R 39 51 40 Johnny Wickström 1-2, 5-13 Ville de Thiers Honda Honda RS125R 41 Alain Bronec 4-5, 7-13 Herri Racing Team JJ Cobas ?? 42 Herri Torrontegui 1-2, 4-8 44 40 Javier Torrontegui ?? Racing Team Honda Cartagena Honda Honda RS125R 43 Manuel Hernández 4-5, 8, 10-11 BP Racing Team Switzerland Honda Honda RS125R 45 Thierry Feuz 1-2, 4-8 Marlboro Aprilia Mohag Aprilia Aprilia RS125R 45 48 76 Oliver Petrucciani 1-2, 7-13, 15 Dianetik Racing Team Honda Honda RS125R 49 René Dünki 2, 6, 12-13 Moto Co Team Kepla Honda Honda RS125R 50 Hubert Abold 1-2 Team Ducados JJ Cobas ?? 50 61 75 Antonio Sánchez 10-12 53 60 76 Carlos Giró Jr. 10-11 Moto Bum Racing Team Honda Honda RS125R 51 52 61 36 39 Nobuyuki Wakai 1, 4-13, 15 ?? Honda Honda RS125R 53 Akira Saito 1 ?? Honda Honda RS125R 54 Soichiro Satoh 1 ?? Honda Honda RS125R 55 Masato Shima 1 Ringleberg Team Honda Honda RS125R 55 52 71 Jos Van Dongen 4, 6-7, 9-13 Hero Sports TS Honda Honda RS125R 56 60 36 30 37 Noboru Ueda 1-2, 4-5, 7-13, 15 ICM Racing Associates Honda Honda RS125R 58 73 60 33 43 Kinya Wada 1-2, 5-13, 15 Eugenio Lazzarini Racing Honda Honda RS125R 61 38 Serafino Foti 5, 7, 9, 11-13, 15 Team Brägger Honda Honda RS125R 62 Stefan Brägger 6, 8, 10, 13 Source: [7]

Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider

Results and standings

500cc riders' standings^[8][9]

Scoring system

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

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 Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Position

250cc riders' standings^[10][11]

Scoring system

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