1976 French motorcycle Grand Prix

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.

  1976 French Grand Prix

Race 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

500cc classification

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

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. North, Parrish, Kunz and Coulon retired but were classified as finishers.

250 cc classification

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. Gustafsson, Herron and Moineau retired but were classified as finishers.

50 cc classification

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

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.