1976 FIM Road Racing World Championships

Round 1 Apr 25 Grand Prix de France Circuit Bugatti, Le Mans, France
4.240 km autodrome 		>
Results
P Rider # Bike Entrant Tires Race Result Grid
1 Walter Villa 1 250 AMF Harley AMF Harley-Davidson Michelin 30 54:41.62 1 1:48.92
2 Gianfranco Bonera 90 250 AMF Harley AMF Harley-Davidson Michelin 30 +42.14 6 1:51.15
3 Pentti Korhonen 19 250 Yamaha TZ Team Arwidson Yamaha Michelin 30 +48.71 5 1:51.11
4 Olivier Chevallier 49 250 Yamaha TZ Ecurie Chevallier Michelin 30 +49.92 8 1:51.34
5 Gérard Choukroun 18 250 Yamaha TZ Team Sonauto Yamaha Michelin 30 +1:03.05 23 1:52.19
6 Pekka Nurmi 59 250 Yamaha TZ Silja Line Racing Team 30 +1:08.01 15 1:51.65
7 Patrick Pons 5 250 Yamaha TZ Team Sonauto Yamaha 30 +1:08.18 25 1:52.38
8 Philippe Bouzanne 36 250 Yamaha TZ 30 +1:09.42 30 1:52.77
9 Jean-Claude Hogrel 21 250 Yamaha TZ MCE 2000 30 +1:09.57 17 1:51.84
10 Patrick Fernandez 46 250 Yamaha TZ Ecurie Airélec Motul 30 +1:11.52 9 1:51.39
11 John Dodds 16 250 Yamaha TZ Mitsui Racing Team 30 +1:24.28 36 1:53.05
12 Chas Mortimer 6 250 Maxton-Yamaha TZ Danfay Racing Team Michelin 30 +1:29.55 16 1:51.73
13 Denis Boulom 32 250 Yamaha TZ Ecurie Godier-Genoud 30 +1:29.80 20 1:52.06
14 Paolo Tordi 74 250 Yamaha TZ 30 21 1:52.06
15 Jaime Samaranch 63 250 Yamaha TZ 30 +1:36.17 33 1:52.87
16 Gilbert Lavelle 34 250 Yamaha TZ 30 +1:36.84 32 1:52.85
17 Christian Huguet 53 250 Yamaha TZ Ecurie Airélec Motul Dunlop 30 +1:45.48 12 1:51.51
18 Christian Sarron 48 250 Yamaha TZ Team Sonauto Yamaha 29 10 1:51.44
19 Thierry Noblesse 54 250 Yamaha TZ Ecurie Aspen BP 29 11 1:51.46
20 Leif Gustafsson 8 250 Yamaha TZ Leif Gustafsson 28 18 1:51.95
21 Tom Herron 13 250 Yamaha TZ Tom Herron Dunlop 25 31 1:52.83
22 Hervé Moineau 23 250 Yamaha TZ 23 29 1:52.72
R Otello Buscherini 7 250 Yamaha TZ Diemme Lugosport Dunlop 21 Seized engine 22 1:52.10
R Raymond Roche 24 250 Yamaha TZ Yamaha Toulon 14 Fell 3 1:50.72
R Tapio Virtanen 10 250 MZ-RE VEB MZ 14 Seized engine 4 1:51.10
R Paolo Pileri 17 250 Morbidelli RS Morbidelli Benelli Armi Michelin 8 Seized engine 13 1:51.59
R Kork Ballington 88 250 Yamaha TZ Sid Griffiths Racing 5 Mechanical 19 1:51.98
R Pierpaolo Bianchi 83 250 Morbidelli RS Morbidelli Benelli Armi Michelin 5 Handling 28 1:52.59
R Pat Evans 47 250 Yamaha TZ 4 Engine 2 1:50.05
R Jean-Paul Boinet 38 250 Yamaha TZC Ecurie Jean Murit 4 Injured 27 1:52.48
R Thierry Tchernine 39 250 Yamaha TZ 1 Gear selector 34 1:52.95
R Alan North 65 250 Yamaha TZC Wilddam Racing 1 Seized engine 35 1:53.02
R Franz Kunz 79 250 Yamaha TZ Motor Racing Team Sursee 0 Engine 7 1:51.20
R Jean-François Baldé 28 250 Yamaha TZ Ecurie Marnat AGV France Dunlop 0 Engine 14 1:51.62
R Michel Rougerie 2 250 Yamaha TZC Ecurie ELF France Dunlop 0 Engine 24 1:52.99
R Alain Vial 44 250 Yamaha TZ Ecurie Godier-Genoud Fell 26 1:52.42
Q Eric Offenstadt 41 250 SMAC-Yamaha TZ SMAC Did not qualify 37 1:53.25
Q Bernard Fau 27 250 Yamaha TZ Ecurie Solamor GPA Did not qualify 38 1:53.29
Q Jon Ekerold 64 250 Padgett-Yamaha TZ Padgetts Racing Did not qualify 39 1:53.33
Q Auno Hakala 77 250 Yamaha TZ Auno Hakala Did not qualify 40 1:53.50
Q Philippe Chaltin 84 250 Yamaha TZ Ecurie Serge Zago Did not qualify 41 1:53.55
Q Henk van Kessel 76 250 Yamaha TZ MSC Aldendriel Did not qualify 42 1:53.69
Q Eero Hyvärinen 66 250 Yamaha TZ Did not qualify 43 1:53.89
Q Bernard Sailler 37 250 Yamaha TZ Did not qualify 44 1:53.99
Q Pierre Soulas 52 250 Yamaha TZ Patrick Pons Fan Club Did not qualify 45 1:54.02
Q Johnny Bengtsson 56 250 Yamaha TZ Stigefelts Motor Did not qualify 46 1:54.41
Q Armand Gras 40 250 Yamaha TZ Did not qualify 47 1:54.42
Q Hans Stadelmann 75 250 Yamaha TZ Did not qualify 48 1:54.49
Q Takazumi Katayama 78 250 Yamaha TZ Danfay Racing Team Michelin Did not qualify 49 1:54.50
Q Hans Hallberg 55 250 Yamaha TZ Did not qualify 50 1:54.51
Q Bruno Kneubühler 9 250 Yamaha TZ ELF Hostettler Yamaha Did not qualify 51 1:54.61
Q John Weeden 82 250 Yamaha TZ Wide Range Motors Did not qualify 52 1:54.74
Q Harald Bartol 12 250 Yamaha TZ Memphis Team International Did not qualify 53 1:54.75
Q Alain Pujo 43 250 Yamaha TZ Team Sotraf Did not qualify 54 1:55.44
Q Vic Soussan 45 250 Yamaha TZ Ecurie Airélec Motul Did not qualify 55 1:55.46
Q Alain Terras 26 250 Yamaha TZ Ecurie Morenas Did not qualify 56 1:55.52
Q Chujiro Tateno 81 250 Yamaha TZ Did not qualify 57 1:55.74
Q Bo Granath 58 250 Yamaha TZ Did not qualify 58 1:55.78
Q Hervé Guilleux 50 250 Yamaha TZ Did not qualify 59 1:55.89
Q Jean-Claude Meilland 42 250 Yamaha TZ Ecurie Solamor GPA Did not qualify 60 1:56.11
Q Jacques Agopian 30 250 Yamaha TZ Team Provence Did not qualify 61 1:56.30
Q Per-Yngve Zachrisson 57 250 Yamaha TZ Did not qualify 62 1:56.41
Q Jean-Louis Guignabodet 25 250 Yamaha TZ Team Guignabodet Did not qualify 63 1:56.51
Q Matti Salonen 73 250 Yamaha TZ Team Arwidson Yamaha Did not qualify 64 1:57.04
Q Derek Huxley 86 250 Yamaha TZ Derek Huxley Did not qualify 65 1:57.29
Q Markku Matikainen 87 250 Yamaha TZ Markku Matikainen Did not qualify 66 1:57.49
Q Yannick Girault 35 250 Yamaha TZ Did not qualify 67 1:57.56
Q Laurent Gomis 29 250 Yamaha TZ Did not qualify 68 1:57.58
Q Hans Müller 60 250 Yamaha TZ Hans Müller Did not qualify 69 1:58.66
Q Matti Makila 69 250 Yamaha TZ Silja Line Racing Team Did not qualify 70 1:58.73
Q Seppo Ojala 71 250 Yamaha TZ Silja Line Racing Team Did not qualify 71 1:58.89
Q Vincent Gouy 33 250 AMF Harley Did not qualify 72 1:59.20
Q Felice Agostini 20 250 Yamaha TZ Team Agostini Did not qualify 73 2:00.18
Q Ari Heikkila 89 250 ??? Did not qualify 74 2:00.98
Q Jussi Rantanen 70 250 Yamaha TZ Silja Line Racing Team Did not qualify 75 2:06.98
Q Leo Bovee 76 250 Yamaha TZ Engberts Motors Did not qualify
Q Eric Saul 51 250 Yamaha TZ Did not qualify
Q Jean Regimont 85 250 Yamaha TZ Did not qualify
Q Giovanni Proni 80 250 Yamaha TZ Diemme Lugosport Did not qualify
Distance 30 laps = 127.2 km Speed 139.5 km/h
PP Walter Villa 1:48.92 - 140.1 km/h FL Walter Villa 1:47.80 - 141.6 km/h
Started 36 Classified 22 DNF 14
Sources Vincent Glon, Werner Haefliger, Motociclismo #62/6, Moto-Revue #2266, Moto-Journal #265, Année Moto #8, Official race programme