The 1992 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 44th F.I.M.

Road Racing Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on p ...

World Championship season. Honda secured the constructor's title in all three categories.

Season summaries

500cc summary

Wayne Rainey won the 1992

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

for the third consecutive year on a Kenny Roberts

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Ma ...

Yamaha, however he was largely outshone by a dominant Michael Doohan on his Rothmans

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

, and was only prevented from winning what would have been his first world title by injury. Doohan won the first four opening rounds, the first he nearly didn't qualify for, due to tricky conditions in Suzuka, but ended up winning as Rainey crashed out in the rain. Rainey followed Doohan home in second in the following three races, still not fully fit due to a broken femur he had suffered at the end of the 1991 season. Daryl Beattie was third at his home race in Australia, riding as a replacement for

Wayne Gardner Wayne Michael Gardner (born 11 October 1959) is an Australian former professional Grand Prix motorcycle and touring car racer. His most notable achievement was winning the 1987 500 cc Motorcycle World Championship, becoming the first Au ...

, who injured himself in a crash in the opening round. There were also podiums for Crivillé on his

in the

third round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...

and

Niall Mackenzie Niall Macfarlane Mackenzie (born 19 July 1961) is a Scottish former professional motorcycle road racer. Career Mackenzie, who hails from Fankerton, near Denny, Stirlingshire; won the British Superbike Championship three times from 1996 to 1 ...

on his Team France Yamaha in the

fourth round Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

after Crivillé had crashed out of third from his home race at

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the c ...

. The fifth round at Mugello saw one of the only races of the season where the three best riders of the era - Rainey, Doohan and

Kevin Schwantz Kevin Schwantz (born June 19, 1964) is an American former professional motorcycle road racer. He was the world champion of the 1993 FIM Road Racing World Championship. Early life Schwantz, whose parents owned a motorcycle shop, learned to ride a ...

were fully fit and able to battle it out. Schwantz had missed the

due to injury but was able to take the victory at Mugello on his

Lucky Strike Lucky Strike is an American brand of cigarettes owned by the British American Tobacco group. Individual cigarettes of the brand are often referred to colloquially as "Luckies." Throughout their 150 year history, Lucky Strike has had fluctuatin ...

Suzuki is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...

as Rainey crashed out whilst battling for the lead. Rainey did however win his first race of the season at

Catalunya Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the northe ...

in round six, passing Doohan for victory with two laps remaining. The seventh round of the season saw Doohan get back to winning ways, but Rainey had to retire due to being unable to continue after riding in pain following a heavy practice fall. The eighth round at Assen proved to be crucial to the title race. Rainey left the circuit during practice, still being unable to ride comfortably, all but conceding the title to Doohan. However Doohan was to have his own crash in practice, suffering a double-fracture of his right leg and ruling him out for five races. Gardner also injured himself in practice leaving the Rothmans

squad without a rider for the race. Schwantz was therefore favorite for the race, but was being heavily challenged by Cagiva's four time world champion and veteran Eddie Lawson.

Lawson Lawson may refer to: Places Australia * Lawson, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Lawson, New South Wales, a town in the Blue Mountains Canada * Lawson, Saskatchewan * Lawson Island, Nunavut United States * Lawson, Arkansas ...

took both riders out of the race with a collision, which resulted in Schwantz suffering a broken arm. The series of events left a group of riders chasing a rare victory and it was Crivillé who took the win, the first of his career. Rainey was back for the following round at the

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone ...

, but changeable weather conditions allowed

to take Cagiva's first ever 500cc victory, and Lawson's last in a glittering career. Rainey got back to winning ways in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

for the tenth round, however

Gardner Gardner may refer to: Name *Gardner (given name) *Gardner (surname) Places United States *Gardner, Colorado * Gardner, Illinois *Gardner, Kansas *Gardner, Massachusetts *Gardner, North Dakota *Gardner, Tennessee * Gardner, Wisconsin * Glen Gardn ...

took a popular win at the British round, with Rainey in second. A patch of oil into the first turn catching out several riders including high flying Schwantz, and teammate

Doug Chandler John Douglas Chandler (born September 27, 1965) is an American former professional motorcycle racer. He earned a reputation as one of the most versatile racers of the 1980s and 1990s. Chandler is one of only four riders in AMA racing history to ...

. The penultimate round of the season saw the return of Doohan, however he was still not fully fit. Rainey won the race, and whilst Doohan was running in the top ten for periods, he wasn't able to maintain the pace and finished twelfth. In the

final round A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

Rainey needed to a two-point swing to win the world championship, and although Doohan managed a sterling effort to finish sixth, Rainey's third place was enough to secure him his third and final world title.

John Kocinski John Kocinski (born March 20, 1968 in Little Rock, Arkansas) is a retired American Grand Prix motorcycle road racer whose successes include winning the 1990 250cc World Championship, and the 1997 Superbike World Championship title.Rainey's teammate took his only win of the season, in his last race for

Roberts Roberts may refer to: People * Roberts (given name), a Latvian masculine given name * Roberts (surname), a popular surname, especially among the Welsh Places * Roberts (crater), a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon ;United Stat ...

Yamaha, and promoted him to third in the world championship table, ahead of Schwantz. Chandler impressed in his first season in the series finishing fifth, whilst Gardner's strong performances when fit saw him good enough for sixth. Juan Garriga was a strong seventh on a Yamaha, with Crivillé impressing in his debut season in eighth, ahead of

took ninth, ahead of Randy Mamola. At the end of 1992 several of the big names of the 80's retired - Lawson, Gardner, and Mamola all left the sport, for different reasons. 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 A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...

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 A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either direct ...

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start of ...

bikes.

250cc summary

Luca Cadalora claimed his second 250cc crown by a much larger margin than his previous title. He won five out of the first six races on his Rothmans

accumulating such a huge points lead that he could afford to be more conservative in the second half of the season. Fellow Italians

Loris Reggiani Loris Reggiani (born 7 October 1959 in Forlì) is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who competed for the Aprilia factory racing team. His best years were in 1981, when he won two races in the 125 class, finishing the season in sec ...

and

Pierfrancesco Chili Pierfrancesco 'Frankie' Chili, (born 20 June 1964 in Bologna, Italy) is a former motorcycle racer who competed in the Superbike World Championship and the 250 cc and 500 cc classes in Grand Prix. In September 2020 he confirmed he was s ...

provided Cadalora's strongest competition. Reggiani won two races on his factory

Aprilia Aprilia is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded immediately after World War II in Noale, Italy, by Alberto Beggio. The company started as a manufacturer of bicycles and moved on to manufacture scooters and small-capacity motorcycles. ...

, whilst

Chili Chili or chilli may refer to: Food * Chili pepper, the spicy fruit of plants in the genus ''Capsicum''; sometimes spelled "chilli" in the UK and "chile" in the southwestern US * Chili powder, the dried, pulverized fruit of one or more varieties ...

put in a number of strong performances winning three races, but failing to finish on a number of occasions, and suffered the embarrassment of thinking he had claimed a podium in the fourth round at

, only to realise he had slowed down prematurely and had in fact been warming down on the final lap. Helmut Bradl had a more disappointing 1992 season, having run Cadalora close for the title in the previous year, the German on the HB

failed to win a race, and was often off the pace, back in fifth in the championship standings. 1992 saw the emergence of several future 250cc stars, with Max Biaggi,

Chili's Chili's Grill & Bar is an American casual dining restaurant chain. The company was founded by Larry Lavine in Texas in 1975 and is currently owned and operated by Brinker International. History Chili's first location, a converted postal stati ...

teammate, winning several pole positions and winning the final round in his debut season and impressing more and more as the season progressed.

Loris Capirossi Loris Capirossi (born 4 April 1973) is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, currently serving as Safety Advisor to Dorna Sports, the commercial rights holder of Grand Prix motorcycle racing. He is a 9-time Premier Class race wi ...

made the step up from 125s to 250s for the 1992 season. He was largely off the pace at the start of the season as he wasn't given a full works

initially, but once provided with a

much closer to the performance of Cadalora's as he proved he had the speed to be a contender. Similarly, Doriano Romboni's performances improved in the final few races when his HB

was upgraded. Former 250 world champion Carlos Lavado retired at the end of the season having had a very low-key 1992, rarely appearing in the points.

125cc summary

Alessandro Gramigni won the first ever 125cc championship for

, in a tight championship. This was despite Gramigni suffering a broken leg in a road bike accident midway through the season and missing a couple of rounds. Former double 125 champion Fausto Gresini had been consistent throughout the season on his

, but only won one race, finishing second in the championship. Gresini was looking in serious contention for the championship, but had a critical crash when running in second place in the French round. Honda's Ralf Waldmann finished third in the championship, but had led the series for most of the year having won three of the first four races. His dip in form after that saw him rarely finish on the podium in the second half of the season.

Ezio Gianola Ezio Moreno Gianola (born on June 13, 1960 in Lecco) is a former Italian Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. His best year was in 1988 when he won two races in the 125 class, finishing the season in second place behind Jorge Martínez. Gianola won ...

won the most races in the class - four, yet a number of crashes and low finishes meant he finished fourth in the championship on his

, this was a marked up-turn in fortune for

Gianola Gianola is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Daniel Gianola Daniel Gianola (born 1947) is a geneticist based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (US), reputed for his contributions in quantitative genetics to the fields of ...

who had considered retiring after a disappointing 1991 season. Aprilia's

Bruno Casanova Bruno Casanova (born 1 June 1964 in Cervia) is a former Italian Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. His best year was in 1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port ...

also had a much better 1992 than the previous season, finishing fifth in the championship. His only win coming in the closest race of the season at Hockenheim, where the super fast slipstreaming circuit provided a classic 125 race with the lead changing hands almost every lap. Up and coming Dirk Raudies ended the season well with a victory in the penultimate round in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and 125 veteran Jorge Martinez became the seventh different winner of the season when he won the final round of the season in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

Rule changes and off track events

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

and Yamaha teams. The points system was revised to award points to the top 10 finishers only, instead of the top 15. This system would last for only the 1992 season, a slightly modified version being brought in for

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, that is still used today. The calendar was shortened to 13 rounds, with the United States, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Austria losing their races. The South African Grand Prix was added and the European Grand Prix continued for another year.

1992 Grand Prix season calendar

The official 1992 calendar was approved on 28 February 1992. The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 1992:

Calendar changes

* The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, Austrian,

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

and Czechoslovakian motorcycle Grand Prix races were taken off the calendar due to a demand from

Bernie Ecclestone Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is an English business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One motor racing and controls the commercial rights to the sport, and part-owns D ...

which started to meddle more with motorcycle racing affairs, along with the IRTA. * The

Hungarian Grand Prix The Hungarian Grand Prix ( hu, Magyar Nagydíj) is a motor racing event held annually in Mogyoród. Since 1986, the race has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship. History Origins The first Hungarian Grand Prix was held on 21 ...

was added to the calendar after a one-year absence on demand of Bernie Ecclestone, who wanted to get more F1 tracks on the calendar. * The Brazilian Grand Prix was added on the calendar after a two-year absence. On demand of Bernie Ecclestone, the chosen track became the Interlagos circuit, instead of the previously used

Goiânia Goiânia (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region and the 10th-largest in the country. Its metropolitan area has a population ...

circuit. * The

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Champions ...

moved from the

Paul Ricard Paul Louis Marius Ricard (; July 9, 1909 – November 7, 1997) was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand which merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard. Ricard was also an environmentalist and ...

circuit to the Magny-Cours circuit on demand of Bernie Ecclestone. * The South African Grand Prix returned on the calendar after a six-year absence due to

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

policies in the country. The venue used was the new, redesigned Kyalami circuit. * The Vitesse du Mans Grand Prix was taken off the calendar. * The

European Grand Prix The European Grand Prix (also known as the Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One event that was introduced during the mid-1980s and was held every year from to , except in . During these years, the European Grand Prix was held in a count ...

moved from the

Jarama Jarama () is a river in central Spain. It flows north to south, and passes east of Madrid where the El Atazar Dam is built on a tributary, the Lozoya River. It flows into the river Tagus in Aranjuez. The Manzanares is a tributary of the Jara ...

circuit to the newly built

circuit. * The Malaysian Grand Prix was moved forward, from 29 September to 19 April.

1992 Grand Prix season results

Grands Prix

Participants

500cc participants

250cc participants

125cc participants

Results and standings

500cc riders' standings

;Scoring system Points are awarded to the top ten finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.

250cc standings

125cc standings

References

* Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). ''Continental Circus 1949-2000''. Chronosports S.A. * {{DEFAULTSORT:1992 Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing Season Grand Prix motorcycle racing seasons