Honda'sMick Doohan continued his domination of the 500 class with 8 victories.[1] His Repsol Honda teammate, Àlex Crivillé beat him to the line twice in Austria and the Czech Republic.[1]Luca Cadalora, now with the Kanemoto Honda team took two wins for the fourth consecutive year.[1]Suzuki's hopes were dashed when Daryl Beattie suffered head injuries in a pre-season crash.[1] He returned only to crash in Spain then two races later in France which effectively ended his career.[1]Loris Capirossi won his first 500 Grand Prix when Crivillé collided with his teammate, Doohan on the last lap of the Australian round.[1] A new European team made its debut with the Elf team using a Swissauto V4 sidecar engine in an ROC chassis.[1] It proved to be fast but unreliable. Honda introduced the NSR500V, a V twin as a cost-effective alternative for privateer teams.[1]
Max Biaggi claimed his third consecutive 250 championship for Aprilia.[1]Haruchika Aoki repeated as the 125 champion for Honda.[1] Newcomers winning their first Grands Prix were Norifumi Abe in the 500 class, Olivier Jacque in the 250 class and Valentino Rossi in the 125 class.[1]
1996 Grand Prix season calendar[]
The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 1996:[2][3]
The French Grand Prix moved from the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans to the Circuit Paul Ricard.
The Austrian Grand Prix returned from the calendar after a one-year absence and moved from the Salzburgring to the Österreichring, one year before the track was renamed as the A1-Ring.