1976 Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix

The 1976 Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix was the ninth round of the 1976 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on 1 August 1976 at the Imatra circuit. Pat Hennen won the race to become the first American to win a motorcycle Grand Prix.^[2]

  1976 Finnish Grand Prix

Race details
Race 9 of 12 races in the 1976 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	1 August 1976
Official name	Imatranajo[1]
Location	Imatra Circuit
Course	Permanent racing facility 6.030 km (3.747 mi)
500cc
Pole position Rider Giacomo Agostini Suzuki Time 2:19.500 Fastest lap Rider John Newbold Suzuki Time 2:15.200 Podium First Pat Hennen Suzuki Second Teuvo Länsivuori Suzuki Third Philippe Coulon Suzuki
350cc
Pole position Rider Walter Villa Harley-Davidson Time 2:21.600 Fastest lap Rider John Dodds Yamaha Time 2:19.700 Podium First Walter Villa Harley-Davidson Second Dieter Braun Yamaha Third Tom Herron Yamaha
250cc
Pole position Rider Walter Villa Harley-Davidson Time 2:24.700 Fastest lap Rider Gianfranco Bonera Harley-Davidson Time 2:24.300 Podium First Walter Villa Harley-Davidson Second Takazumi Katayama Yamaha Third Gianfranco Bonera Harley-Davidson
125cc
Pole position Rider Pierpaolo Bianchi Morbidelli Time 2:32.800 Fastest lap Rider Pierpaolo Bianchi Morbidelli Time 2:32.200 Podium First Pierpaolo Bianchi Morbidelli Second Gert Bender Bender Third Henk van Kessel AGV Condor
50cc
Pole position Rider Ángel Nieto Bultaco Time 2:52.700 Fastest lap Rider Julien van Zeebroeck Kreidler Time 2:59.900 Podium First Julien van Zeebroeck Kreidler Second Ulrich Graf Kreidler Third Eugenio Lazzarini Morbidelli

500cc classification

Pos.	No.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Time/Retired	Points
1	28	Pat Hennen	Colemans	Suzuki	48'27.000	15
2	2	Teuvo Länsivuori	Life Racing Team	Suzuki	+23.000	12
3	22	Philippe Coulon		Suzuki	+33.400	10
4	6	John Newbold	Texaco Heron Team Suzuki	Suzuki	+33.800	8
5	30	Marco Lucchinelli	Gallina Corse	Suzuki	+34.500	6
6	10	Dieter Braun		Suzuki	+50.800	5
7	5	Jack Findlay	Jack Findlay Racing	Suzuki	+1'13.500	4
8	21	Christian Estrosi		Suzuki	+1'58.600	3
9	18	Pekka Nurmi		Yamaha	+1 lap	2
10	9	Karl Auer	Racing Team NO	Yamaha	+1 lap	1
11	16	Bernard Fau		Yamaha	+1 lap
12	41	Rob Bron		Yamaha	+1 lap
13	31	Børge Nielsen		Yamaha	+1 lap
14	36	Kimmo Kopra		Yamaha	+2 laps
15	44	Bo Granath		Yamaha	+11 laps
Ret	11	Giacomo Agostini	Team API Marlboro	Suzuki	Brakes
Ret	11	Wilf Herron		Suzuki	Retired
Ret	??	Johnny Bengtsson	Stigefetts Motor	Suzuki	Retired
Ret	??	Etienne Geeraerd		Yamaha	Retired
Ret	??	Risto Makinen		Yamaha	Retired
Ret	??	Johnny Bengtsson	Stigefetts Motor	Suzuki	Retired
Ret	28	Virginio Ferrari	Gallina Corse	Suzuki	Retired
Ret	32	Stuart Avant	Colemans	Suzuki	Accident
Ret	8	Alex George	Hermetite Racing International	Yamaha	Accident
Ret	43	Boet van Dulmen	Laponder Racing	Yamaha	Retired
Ret	27	Marcel Ankoné	Nimag Suzuki	Suzuki	Brakes
Ret	11	Chas Mortimer		Suzuki	Retired
Ret	??	Ari Heikkila		Yamaha	Retired
Ret	44	Edmar Ferreira	Goias Swaep Motor	Yamaha	Retired
Ret	11	Charlie Dobson		Yamaha	Retired
Ret	17	Takazumi Katayama	Takazumi Katayama Sarome Team	Yamaha	Retired
Sources: [3][4][5]

350 cc classification

Pos	No.	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Grid	Points
1	19	Walter Villa	Harley-Davidson	20	47:49.1	1	15
2	4	Dieter Braun	Morbidelli	20	+26.2	2	12
3	8	Tom Herron	Yamaha	20	+27.0	6	10
4	6	Chas Mortimer	Yamaha	20	+29.6	3	8
5	16	Bruno Kneubühler	Yamaha	20	+39.0		6
6	7	Gérard Choukroun	Yamaha	20	+39.8		5
7	31	Jon Ekerold	Yamaha	20	+42.0		4
8	9	Víctor Palomo	Yamaha	20	+43.4		3
9	21	John Dodds	Yamaha	20	+43.8		2
10	27	Patrick Fernandez	Yamaha	20	+57.7		1
11	17	Jean-François Baldé	Yamaha	20	+1:01.5
12	14	Olivier Chevallier	Yamaha	20	+1:13.6
13	29	Marcel Ankoné	Yamaha	20	+1:16.9
14	15	Karl Auer	Yamaha	20	+1:34.4
15	33	Pekka Nurmi	Yamaha	20	+1:43.3
16	37	Timo Marala	Yamaha	19	+1 lap
Ret		Gianfranco Bonera	Harley-Davidson			4
Ret		Pentti Korhonen	Yamaha			5
21 starters in total
[5]

250 cc classification

Pos	No.	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Grid	Points
1	1	Walter Villa	Harley-Davidson	19	46:45.4	1	15
2	25	Takazumi Katayama	Yamaha	19	+33.9	4	12
3	21	Gianfranco Bonera	Harley-Davidson	19	+43.8	2	10
4	14	Pentti Korhonen	Yamaha	19	+44.2	3	8
5	10	Tom Herron	Yamaha	19	+49.1		6
6	2	Dieter Braun	Yamaha	19	+51.5	5	5
7	12	John Dodds	Yamaha	19	+1:21.8		4
8	27	Patrick Fernandez	Yamaha	19	+1:35.5		3
9	32	Jean-François Baldé	Yamaha	19	+1:43.3		2
10	19	Henk van Kessel	Yamaha	19	+1:55.5		1
11	17	Olivier Chevallier	Yamaha	19	+1:55.8
12	41	Etienne Geeraerd	Yamaha	19	+2:19.6
13	28	Ken Nemoto	Yamaha	18	+1 lap
14	40	Jon Ekerold	Yamaha	18	+1 lap
15	29	Peter Balaz	Yamaha	18	+1 lap
Ret		Leif Gustafsson	Yamaha			6
21 starters in total
[5]

125 cc classification

Pos	No.	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Grid	Points
1	2	Pierpaolo Bianchi	Morbidelli	18	46:27.8	1	15
2	14	Gert Bender	Bender	18	+53.5	4	12
3	4	Henk van Kessel	AGV Condor	18	+54.5		10
4	29	Jean-Louis Guignabodet	Morbidelli	18	+1:11.3	5	8
5	1	Paolo Pileri	Morbidelli	18	+1:17.7	3	6
6	22	Stefan Dörflinger	Morbidelli	18	+1:44.8	6	5
7	26	Anton Mang	Morbidelli	18	+1:47.7		4
8	18	Per-Edward Carlson	Morbidelli	18	+2:14.2		3
9	11	Matti Kinnunen	Morbidelli	18	+2:15.7		2
10	3	Eugenio Lazzarini	Morbidelli	18	+2:36.9		1
11	21	Julien van Zeebroeck	Morbidelli	18	+2:37.3
12	12	Hans Hallberg	Yamaha	17	+1 lap
13	16	Xaver Tschannen	Maico	17	+1 lap
14	7	Hans Müller	Yamaha	17	+1 lap
15	19	Hans Hummel	Yamaha	17	+1 lap
16	31	Per Zachrisson	Yamaha	17	+1 lap
17	35	Matti Mäkilä	Yamaha	17	+1 lap
18	37	Jaakko Koskinen	Yamaha	17	+1 lap
19	9	Peter Frohnmeyer	DRS	16	+2 laps
Ret		Ángel Nieto	Bultaco			2
20 starters in total
[5]

50 cc classification

Pos	No.	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Grid	Points
1	3	Julien van Zeebroeck	Kreidler	11	33:44.2	3	15
2	12	Ulrich Graf	Kreidler	11	+6.7	4	12
3	2	Eugenio Lazzarini	Morbidelli	11	+32.8	2	10
4	5	Herbert Rittberger	Kreidler	11	+1:00.7	6	8
5	8	Hans Hummel	Kreidler	11	+1:30.2		6
6	10	Theo Timmer	Kreidler	11	+1:33.3		5
7	17	Rolf Blatter	Kreidler	11	+1:34.9		4
8	15	Cees van Dongen	Kreidler	11	+2:09.6		3
9	14	Gerrit Strikker	Kreidler	11	+2:14.9		2
10	20	Günter Schirnhofer	Kreidler	11	+2:17.8		1
11	16	Juup Bosman	Kreidler	11	+2:30.4		1
12	11	Aldo Pero	Kreidler	11	+2:36.5
13	12	Jean-Louis Guignabodet	ABF	11	+2:39.5
14	19	Ingo Emmerich	Kreidler	11	+3:03.0
15	18	Robert Laver	Kreidler	10	+1 lap
16	29	Pierre Audry	ABF	10	+1 lap
17	27	Oscar Ekstrand	Delta	10	+1 lap
Ret		Ángel Nieto	Bultaco			1
Ret		Stefan Dörflinger	Kreidler			5
21 starters in total
[5]