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This article recaps the 1997 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season.

Contents

Season summary

1997 500 cc Season review

1997 500 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

1997 250 cc Season Review

1997 250 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

1997 125 cc Season Review

1997 125 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Season summary

A fourth world championship in a row for Honda's Mick Doohan with another dominating performance. He broke Giacomo Agostini's record with 12 wins in one season. It was also dominating year for Honda with eight of the top ten riders aboard Hondas. The Yamaha and Suzuki teams were in disarray. Kenny Roberts left Yamaha to start his own venture with a lightweight, three-cylinder Modenas. Wayne Rainey's team was left with the inconsistent Norifumi Abe and Sete Gibernau, a rookie. Daryl Beattie wasn't able to come back from head injuries and retired at the end of the year while Anthony Gobert failed a drug test and was dismissed by the Suzuki team. The Elf team soldiered on with their Swiss-Auto V4 but Aprilia decided to pull their V twin from the 500 class at the end of the year.
Max Biaggi had a harder time defending his title from Tetsuya Harada and Ralf Waldmann, not clinching the title until the last race of the year. A new star emerged from the 125 class with Valentino Rossi winning 11 races for a commanding win on an Aprilia.

1997 500 cc Season review

Round	Race	Location	Winning rider	Winning team	Report
1	Malaysian Grand Prix	Shah Alam	Mick Doohan	Honda	Report
2	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka	Mick Doohan	Honda	Report
3	Spanish Grand Prix	Jerez	Àlex Crivillé	Honda	Report
4	Italian Grand Prix	Mugello	Mick Doohan	Honda	Report
5	Austrian Grand Prix	Zeltweg	Mick Doohan	Honda	Report
6	French Grand Prix	Paul Ricard	Mick Doohan	Honda	Report
7	Dutch TT	Assen	Mick Doohan	Honda	Report
8	Emilia-Romagna City of Imola Grand Prix	Imola	Mick Doohan	Honda	Report
9	German Grand Prix	Nürburgring	Mick Doohan	Honda	Report
10	Brazilian Grand Prix	Rio de Janeiro	Mick Doohan	Honda	Report
11	British Grand Prix	Donington	Mick Doohan	Honda	Report
12	Czech Republic Grand Prix	Brno	Mick Doohan	Honda	Report
13	Catalan Grand Prix	Catalunya	Mick Doohan	Honda	Report
14	Indonesian Grand Prix	Sentul	Tadayuki Okada	Honda	Report
15	Australian Grand Prix	Eastern Creek	Àlex Crivillé	Honda	Report

1997 500 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Michael Doohan	1	Australia	Repsol-Honda	340	12
2	Tadayuki Okada	7	Japan	Repsol-Honda	197	1
3	Nobuatsu Aoki	18	Japan	Elf-Honda	179	0
4	Àlex Crivillé	2	Spain	Repsol-Honda	172	2
5	Takuma Aoki	24	Japan	Repsol-Honda	134	0
6	Luca Cadalora	3	Italy	Promotor-Yamaha	129	0
7	Norifumi Abe	5	Japan	Rainey-Yamaha	126	0
8	Carlos Checa	8	Spain	MoviStar-Honda	119	0
9	Alex Barros	4	Brazil	Gresini-Honda	101	0
10	Doriano Romboni	65	Italy	Aprilia	88	0

1997 250 cc Season Review

Round	Race	Location	Winning rider	Winning team	Report
1	Malaysian Grand Prix	Shah Alam	Max Biaggi	Honda	Report
2	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka	Daijiro Kato	Honda	Report
3	Spanish Grand Prix	Jerez	Ralf Waldmann	Honda	Report
4	Italian Grand Prix	Mugello	Max Biaggi	Honda	Report
5	Austrian Grand Prix	Zeltweg	Olivier Jacque	Honda	Report
6	French Grand Prix	Paul Ricard	Tetsuya Harada	Aprilia	Report
7	Dutch TT	Assen	Tetsuya Harada	Aprilia	Report
8	Emilia-Romagna City of Imola Grand Prix	Imola	Max Biaggi	Honda	Report
9	German Grand Prix	Nürburgring	Tetsuya Harada	Aprilia	Report
10	Brazilian Grand Prix	Rio de Janeiro	Olivier Jacque	Honda	Report
11	British Grand Prix	Donington	Ralf Waldmann	Honda	Report
12	Czech Republic Grand Prix	Brno	Max Biaggi	Honda	Report
13	Catalan Grand Prix	Catalunya	Ralf Waldmann	Honda	Report
14	Indonesian Grand Prix	Sentul	Max Biaggi	Honda	Report
15	Australian Grand Prix	Eastern Creek	Ralf Waldmann	Honda	Report

1997 250 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Max Biaggi	1	Italy	Honda	250	5
2	Ralf Waldmann	2	Germany	Honda	248	4
3	Tetsuya Harada	8	Japan	Aprilia	235	3
4	Olivier Jacque	3	France	Honda	201	2
5	Tohru Ukawa	5	Japan	Honda	173	0
6	Loris Capirossi	7	Italy	Aprilia	116	0
7	Takeshi Tsujimura		Japan	Honda	109	0
8	Haruchika Aoki		Japan	Honda	102	1
9	Stefano Perugini		Italy	Aprilia	85	0
10	Jeremy McWilliams		United Kingdom	Honda	73	0

1997 125 cc Season Review

Round	Race	Location	Winning rider	Winning team	Report
1	Malaysian Grand Prix	Shah Alam	Valentino Rossi	Aprilia	Report
2	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka	Noboru Ueda	Honda	Report
3	Spanish Grand Prix	Jerez	Valentino Rossi	Aprilia	Report
4	Italian Grand Prix	Mugello	Valentino Rossi	Aprilia	Report
5	Austrian Grand Prix	Zeltweg	Noboru Ueda	Honda	Report
6	French Grand Prix	Paul Ricard	Valentino Rossi	Aprilia	Report
7	Dutch TT	Assen	Valentino Rossi	Aprilia	Report
8	Emilia-Romagna City of Imola Grand Prix	Imola	Valentino Rossi	Aprilia	Report
9	German Grand Prix	Nürburgring	Valentino Rossi	Aprilia	Report
10	Brazilian Grand Prix	Rio de Janeiro	Valentino Rossi	Aprilia	Report
11	British Grand Prix	Donington	Valentino Rossi	Aprilia	Report
12	Czech Republic Grand Prix	Brno	Noboru Ueda	Honda	Report
13	Catalan Grand Prix	Catalunya	Valentino Rossi	Aprilia	Report
14	Indonesian Grand Prix	Sentul	Valentino Rossi	Aprilia	Report
15	Australian Grand Prix	Eastern Creek	Noboru Ueda	Honda	Report

1997 125 cc Roadracing World Championship final standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Valentino Rossi	46	Italy	Aprilia	321	11
2	Noboru Ueda	7	Japan	Honda	238	4
3	Tomomi Manako	3	Japan	Honda	190	0
4	Kazuto Sakata	8	Japan	Aprilia	179	0
5	Masaki Tokudome	2	Japan	Aprilia	120	0
6	Jorge Martinez	5	Spain	Aprilia	119	0
7	Garry McCoy	12	Australia	Aprilia	109	0
8	Roberto Locatelli		Italy	Honda	97	0
9	Mirko Giansanti		Italy	Aprilia	83	0
10	Frédéric Petit		France	Honda	83	0