1976 French motorcycle Grand Prix

Motorcycle race

1976 French Grand PrixRace details

Race 1 of 12 races in the
1976 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date| 25 April 1976
Official name| Grand Prix de France Moto[1][2][3]
Location| Bugatti Circuit
Course|

* Permanent racing facility
* 4.240 km (2.635 mi)

500cc
| Pole position

Rider|  Barry Sheene|  Suzuki
Time|  1:43.160|
Fastest lap
Rider|  Marco Lucchinelli|  Suzuki
Time|  1:41.400|
Podium
First|  Barry Sheene|  Suzuki
Second|  Johnny Cecotto|  Yamaha
Third|  Marco Lucchinelli|  Suzuki
350cc
| Pole position

Rider|  Giacomo Agostini|  MV Agusta
Time|  1:45.600|
Fastest lap
Rider|  Walter Villa|  Harley-Davidson
Time|  1:44.600|
Podium
First|  Walter Villa|  Harley-Davidson
Second|  Johnny Cecotto|  Yamaha
Third|  Jean-François Baldé|  Yamaha
250cc
| Pole position

Rider|  Walter Villa|  Harley-Davidson
Time|  1:48.920|
Fastest lap
Rider|  Walter Villa|  Harley-Davidson
Time|  1:47.800|
Podium
First|  Walter Villa|  Harley-Davidson
Second|  Gianfranco Bonera|  Harley-Davidson
Third|  Pentti Korhonen|  Yamaha
50cc
| Pole position

Rider|  Ángel Nieto|  Bultaco
Time|  2:13.390|
Fastest lap
Rider|  Rudolf Kunz|  Kreidler
Time|  2:11.200|
Podium
First|  Herbert Rittberger|  Kreidler
Second|  Rudolf Kunz|  Kreidler
Third|  Stefan Dörflinger|  Kreidler
Sidecar (B2A)
| Pole position

Rider|  Werner Schwärzel|  König
Time|  1:53.970|
Fastest lap
Rider|  Rolf Biland|  Yamaha
Time|  1:52.800|
Podium
First|  Rolf Biland|  Yamaha
Second|  Alain Michel|  Yamaha
Third|  Helmut Schilling|  Aro

The 1976 French motorcycle Grand Prix was the first round of the 1976 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on 25 April 1976 at the Circuit Bugatti Le Mans.

## 500cc classification

[edit]

Pos.  | No.  | Rider  | Team  | Manufacturer  | Time/Retired  | Points

|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | 7  |  Barry Sheene | Texaco Heron Team Suzuki | Suzuki | 51'45.330  | 15
2  | 55  |  Johnny Cecotto | Team Venemotos | Yamaha | +3.840  | 12
3  | 33  |  Marco Lucchinelli | Gallina Corse | Suzuki | +19.290  | 10
4  | 4  |  Tepi Länsivuori | Life Racing Team | Suzuki | +49.850  | 8
5  | 1  |  Giacomo Agostini | Team API Marlboro | MV Agusta | +55.650  | 6
6  | 43  |  Victor Palomo | Swaep Motor Racing | Yamaha | +1'27.660  | 5
7  | 56  |  Stuart Avant | Colemans | Suzuki | +1'28.240  | 4
8  | 13  |  Dieter Braun |  | Suzuki | +1'47.880  | 3
9  | 12  |  Karl Auer | Racing Team NO | Yamaha | +1 lap  | 2
10  | 51  |  Boet van Dulmen | Laponder Racing | Yamaha | +1 lap  | 1
11  | 19  |  Olivier Chevallier |  | Yamaha  | +1 lap  |
12  | 45  |  Steve Parrish | Dave More  | Yamaha  | +1 lap  |
13  | 11  |  Chas Mortimer | Takazumi Katayama Sarome Team  | Yamaha  | +1 lap  |
14  | 25  |  Gilles Husson |  | Yamaha  | +1 lap  |
15  | 6  |  Alex George | Hermetite Racing International  | Yamaha  | +1 lap  |
16  | 44  |  Edmar Ferreira | Goias Swaep Motor  | Yamaha  | +1 lap  |
17  | 48  |  René Guili |  | Suzuki  | +2 laps  |
18  | 30  |  Johnny Bengtsson | Stigefetts Motor  | Suzuki  | +2 laps  |
19  | 41  |  Helmut Kassner |  | Suzuki  | +2 laps  |
20  | 36  |  Jules Nies |  | Suzuki  | +3 laps  |
Ret  | ??  |  Jack Findlay | Jack Findlay Racing  | Suzuki  | Retired  |
Ret  | ??  |  Phil Read | Team Life International  | Suzuki  | Retired  |
Ret  | ??  |  Thierry Tchernine |  | Suzuki  | Retired  |
Ret  | ??  |  Christian Estrosi |  | Suzuki  | Retired  |
Ret  | ??  |  Jean-Paul Boinet | Ecurie Jean Murit  | Suzuki  | Retired  |
Ret  | ??  |  Marcel Ankoné | Nimag Suzuki  | Suzuki  | Retired  |
Ret  | ??  |  Pentti Korhonen |  | Yamaha  | Retired  |
Ret  | ??  |  Risto Makinen |  | Yamaha  | Retired  |
Ret  | ??  |  Roberto Gallina | Gallina Corse  | Suzuki  | Retired  |
Ret  | ??  |  Adu Celso-Santos |  | Yamaha  | Retired  |
Ret  | ??  |  Philippe Coulon |  | Suzuki  | Retired  |
Ret  | ??  |  Nico Cereghini | Life Racing Team  | Suzuki  | Retired  |
Ret  | ??  |  John Williams | Texaco Heron Team Suzuki  | Suzuki  | Accident  |
Ret  | ??  |  Eddie Roberts |  | Suzuki  | Retired  |
Ret  | ??  |  Pat Hennen | Colemans  | Suzuki  | Retired  |
Ret  | ??  |  Max Wiener | Racing Team NO  | Yamaha  | Retired  |
DNS  |  |  Michel Rougerie |  | Suzuki  | Did not start  |
Sources: [4][5][6]

## 350 cc classification

[edit]

Pos  | No.  | Rider  | Manufacturer  | Laps  | Time  | Grid  | Points

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | 73  |  Walter Villa | Harley-Davidson | 30  | 52:45.01  | 4  | 15
2  | 1  |  Johnny Cecotto | Yamaha | 30  | +17.91  | 3  | 12
3  | 24  |  Jean-François Baldé | Yamaha | 30  | +30.07  | 7  | 10
4  | 70  |  Takazumi Katayama | Yamaha | 30  | +37.05  | 2  | 8
5  | 44  |  Olivier Chevallier | Yamaha | 30  | +42.33  | 8  | 6
6  | 49  |  Paolo Tordi | Yamaha | 30  | +44.73  | 6  | 5
7  | 42  |  Patrick Fernandez | Yamaha | 30  | +57.12  | 5  | 4
8  | 3  |  Pentti Korhonen | Yamaha | 30  | +1:04.88  |  | 3
9  | 9  |  Tom Herron | Yamaha | 30  | +1:09.72  |  | 2
10  | 65  |  John Dodds | Yamaha | 30  | +1:16.94  |  | 1
11  | 52  |  Pekka Nurmi | Yamaha | 30  | +1:40.94  |  |
12  | 28  |  Alain Vial | Yamaha | 30  | +1:42.52  |  |
13  | 81  |  Claude Benelhadj | Yamaha | 30  | +1:56.00  |  |
14  | 46  |  Jean-Louis Olivier | Yamaha | 29  | +1 lap  |  |
15  | 32  |  Christian Bourgeois | Yamaha | 29  | +1 lap  |  |
16  | 47  |  Hervé Moineau | Yamaha | 29  | +1 lap  |  |
17  | 62  |  John Weeden | Yamaha | 29  | +1 lap  |  |
18  | 60  |  Alan North | Yamaha | 25  | +5 laps [N 1] |  |
19  | 61  |  Steve Parrish | Yamaha | 25  | +5 laps [N 1] |  |
20  | 22  |  Franz Kunz | Yamaha | 24  | +6 laps [N 1] |  |
21  | 13  |  Philippe Coulon | Yamaha | 23  | +7 laps [N 1] |  |
Ret  |  |  Giacomo Agostini | MV Agusta |  |  | 1  |
Ret  |  |  Patrick Pons | Yamaha |  |  | 9  |
Ret  |  |  Christian Huguet | Yamaha |  |  | 10  |
36 starters in total
[6]

Footnotes

1. ^ a b c d North, Parrish, Kunz and Coulon retired but were classified as finishers.

## 250 cc classification

[edit]

Pos  | No.  | Rider  | Manufacturer  | Laps  | Time  | Grid  | Points

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | 1  |  Walter Villa | Harley Davidson | 30  | 54:41.62  | 1  | 15
2  | 90  |  Gianfranco Bonera | Harley Davidson | 30  | +42.14  | 6  | 12
3  | 19  |  Pentti Korhonen | Yamaha | 30  | +48.71  | 5  | 10
4  | 49  |  Olivier Chevallier | Yamaha | 30  | +49.92  | 8  | 8
5  | 18  |  Gérard Choukron | Yamaha | 30  | +1:03.05  |  | 6
6  | 59  |  Pekka Nurmi | Yamaha | 30  | +1:08.01  |  | 5
7  | 5  |  Patrick Pons | Yamaha | 30  | +1:08.18  |  | 4
8  | 36  |  Philippe Bouzanne | Yamaha | 30  | +1:09.42  |  | 3
9  | 21  |  Jean-Claude Hogrel | Yamaha | 30  | +1:09.57  |  | 2
10  | 46  |  Patrick Fernandez | Yamaha | 30  | +1:11.52  | 9  | 1
11  | 65  |  John Dodds | Yamaha | 30  | +1:24.28  |  |
12  | 6  |  Chas Mortimer | Yamaha | 30  | +1:29.55  |  |
13  | 32  |  Denis Boulom | Yamaha | 30  | +1:29.80  |  |
14  | 74  |  Paolo Tordi | Yamaha | 30  | +1:35.87  |  |
15  | 63  |  Jaime Samaranch | Yamaha | 30  | +1:36.17  |  |
16  | 34  |  Gilbert Lavelle | Yamaha | 30  | +1:36.84  |  |
17  | 53  |  Christian Huguet | Yamaha | 30  | +1:45.48  |  |
18  | 48  |  Christian Sarron | Yamaha | 29  | +1 lap  | 10  |
19  | 54  |  Thiérry Noblesse | Yamaha | 29  | +1 lap  |  |
20  | 8  |  Leif Gustafsson | Yamaha | 28  | +2 laps [N 1] |  |
21  | 13  |  Tom Herron | Yamaha | 25  | +5 laps [N 1] |  |
22  | 23  |  Hervé Moineau | Yamaha | 23  | +7 laps [N 1] |  |
Ret  |  |  Pat Evans | Yamaha |  |  | 2  |
Ret  |  |  Raymond Roche | Yamaha |  |  | 3  |
Ret  |  |  Tapio Virtanen | MZ |  |  | 4  |
Ret  |  |  Franz Kunz | Yamaha |  |  | 7  |
36 starters in total
[6]

Footnotes

1. ^ a b c Gustafsson, Herron and Moineau retired but were classified as finishers.

## 50 cc classification

[edit]

Pos  | No.  | Rider  | Manufacturer  | Laps  | Time  | Grid  | Points

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | 5  |  Herbert Rittberger | Kreidler | 15  | 34:04.21  | 6  | 15
2  | 4  |  Rudolf Kunz | Kreidler | 15  | +0.19  | 4  | 12
3  | 6  |  Stefan Dörflinger | Kreidler | 15  | +3.57  | 7  | 10
4  | 25  |  Pierre Audry | ABF | 15  | +4.88  | 2  | 8
5  | 12  |  Aldo Pero | Kreidler | 15  | +1:07.39  |  | 6
6  | 11  |  Theo Timmer | Yamathi | 15  | +1:17.45  |  | 5
7  | 28  |  Yves le Tourmelin | Scrab-Ty | 15  | +1:21.14  |  | 4
8  | 2  |  Eugenio Lazzarini | Morbidelli | 15  | +1:22.42  | 5  | 3
9  | 23  |  Benjamin Laurent | Kreidler | 15  | +1:52.42  |  | 2
10  | 14  |  Ulrich Graf | Kreidler | 15  | +1:54.27  |  | 1
11  | 38  |  Jacques Hutteau | Scrab  | 15  | +2:07.53  |  |
12  | 24  |  Raymond Duriez | Kreidler | 15  | +2:13.68  |  |
13  | 42  |  J. Zweisldo  | Kreidler | 14  | +1 lap  |  |
14  | 33  |  Joaquin Gali | Derbi | 14  | +1 lap  |  |
15  | 36  |  Günter Schirnhöfer | Kreidler | 14  | +1 lap  |  |
16  | 44  |  Giuido Delys | Kreidler | 13  | +2 laps  |  |
17  | 26  |  Pierre Harlay | Kreidler | 13  | +2 laps  |  |
18  | 16  |  Cees van Dongen | Morbidelli | 12  | +3 laps [N 1] | 8  |
19  | 29  |  Patrick de Wulf | Kreidler | 12  | +3 laps  |  |
Ret  |  |  Ángel Nieto | Bultaco |  |  | 1  |
Ret  |  |  Jean-Paul Fargues | ABF  |  |  | 3  |
Ret  |  |  Nico Polane | Morbidelli |  |  | 9  |
Ret  |  |  Julien van Zeebroeck | Kreidler |  |  | 10  |
32 starters in total
[6]

Footnotes

1. ^ van Dongen retired but was classified as a finisher.

## Sidecar classification

[edit]

Pos  | No.  | Rider  | Passenger  | Manufacturer  | Laps  | Time  | Grid  | Points

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | 3  |  Rolf Biland |  Ken Williams | Yamaha | 25  | 47:53.53  | 4  | 15
2  | 32  |  Alain Michel |  Bernard Garcia | Yamaha | 25  | +4.13  | 2  | 12
3  | 11  |  Helmut Schilling |  Rainer Gundel | Aro-Fath | 24  | +1 lap  | 5  | 10
4  | 21  |  Bruno Holzer |  Charly Meierhans | LCR-Yamaha | 24  | +1 lap  | 6  | 8
5  | 9  |  Amedeo Zini |  Andrea Fornaro | König | 24  | +1 lap  |  | 6
6  | 34  |  Hanspeter Hubacher |  Kurt Huber | Yamaha | 24  | +1 lap  |  | 5
7  | 27  |  Ted Janssen |  Eric Schmitz | Yamaha | 24  | +1 lap  |  | 4
8  | 22  |  Siegfried Schauzu |  Clifton Lorentz | Aro-Fath | 23  | +2 laps  |  | 3
9  | 15  |  Dick Greasley |  Cliff Holland | Chell Yamaha | 23  | +2 laps  |  | 2
10  | 14  |  Heinz Luthringhauser |  Lorenzo Puzo | BMW | 23  | +2 laps  |  | 1
11  | 2  |  Werner Schwärzel |  Andreas Huber | König | 22  | +3 laps [N 1] | 1  |
12  | 25  |  Yves Trolliet |  P. Muller  | König | 22  | +3 laps  |  |
Ret  |  |  Klaus Enders |  Wolfgang Kalauch | Heukerot  |  |  | 3  |
Ret  |  |  Hans Prugl |  Horst Kussberger | König |  |  | 7  |
Ret  |  |  Hermann Schmid |  Jean Petit | Yamaha |  |  | 7  |
24 starters in total
[6]

Footnotes

1. ^ Schwärzel and Huber retired but were classified as finishers.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Grand Prix uitslagen en bijzonderheden 1976 - heden". Archived from the original on 2015-07-25. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
2. ^ "1976 500cc Class (FIM Grand Prix World Championship) Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
3. ^ "Le Mans | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
4. ^ "1976 French MotoGP | Motor Sport Magazine Database". Motor Sport Magazine. April 3, 2018.
5. ^ "motogp.com · FRENCH GRAND PRIX · 500cc Race Classification 1976". www.motogp.com.
6. ^ a b c d e Carter, Chris (ed.). Motocourse 1976-1977. Hazleton Securities Ltd. p. 53\. ISBN 0-905138-02-3.

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1975 Yugoslavian Grand Prix | FIM Grand Prix World Championship
1976 season | Next race:
1976 Austrian Grand Prix

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Previous race:
1975 French Grand Prix | French Grand Prix | Next race:
1977 French Grand Prix