The 1993 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 45th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
Season summary Kevin Schwantz won the 500cc 1993 world championship in a season marred by the tragic end to his rival Wayne Rainey's career. Schwantz started the season strongly with four wins by the midpoint of the season. With three races remaining, Rainey had battled back to take the championship points lead while Schwantz nursed a wrist injury. At the Italian Grand Prix, Rainey had just taken the lead and was pulling away when he fell. He suffered serious spinal injuries and would never walk again. Rainey's accident marked the end of an era of American domination in Grand Prix racing.
Newcomers Daryl Beattie and Alex Barros took their first wins (Barros after twice crashing out of the lead) while Mick Doohan struggled to recover from his serious leg injuries. Freddie Spencer made one more comeback attempt but crashed in two of the first three rounds. Honda entered factory test rider Shinichi Itoh on a third bike with development parts, rumored to include electronic fuel injection, as he was noticeably faster in a straight line that the other Honda riders. When Itoh broke the 200 mph barrier at Hockenheim, it gave credence to these rumors. Officially, all three bikes gained the injection system at the same time
A new star emerged on the 250 scene with Tetsuya Harada taking the crown in a tight battle with Loris Capirossi. German privateer, Dirk Raudies won the 125 crown with 9 victories on a Honda.
The 1993 season also marks the last time a rider is allowed to compete in two different classes at the same race.
1993 Grand Prix season calendar The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 1993: RoundDateGrand PrixCircuit 1 28 March Foster's Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix Eastern Creek Raceway 2 4 April Malaysia Grand Prix Shah Alam Circuit 3 18 April Marlboro GP Suzuka Circuit 4 2 May Gran Premio de España Ducados Circuito Permanente de Jerez 5 16 May Austrian Grand Prix Salzburgring 6 13 June Grand Prix von Deutschland Hockenheimring 7 26 June Lucky Strike Dutch Grand Prix TT Circuit Assen 8 4 July Gran Premi Pepsi d'Europa Circuit de Catalunya 9 18 July Gran Premio di San Marino Mugello Circuit 10 1 August British Grand Prix Donington Park 11 22 August Grand Prix České republiky Brno Circuit 12 5 September Gran Premio d'Italia Circuito Internazionale Santa Monica 13 12 September United States Motorcycle Grand Prix Laguna Seca Raceway 14 26 September Gran Premio FIM de la Comunidad de Madrid Circuito Permanente Del Jarama
Calendar changes The Australian Grand Prix replaced the Japanese Grand Prix with hosting the opening round. The Hungarian, French (which was held at the Magny-Cours circuit) and Brazilian Grand Prix (which was held at the Interlagos circuit) were taken off the calendar after Bernie Ecclestone focused his interest completely on Formula 1 again. The French returned on 1994 in Circuit Bugatti, Le Mans. The Austrian, San Marino, Czech Republic (before called the Czechoslovak Grand Prix) and United States Grand Prix returned on the calendar after the shift of interest to Formula 1 by Bernie Ecclestone. The Canadian Grand Prix was initially scheduled to be held on 19 September, but was replaced with the United States Grand Prix. The FIM Grand Prix was added to the calendar as a one-off Grand Prix to replace the South African Grand Prix (which would have been hosted on 3 October).
Participants 500cc participants TeamConstructorMotorcycleNo.RiderRounds Marlboro Team Roberts Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 1 Wayne Rainey 1–12 7 Luca Cadalora All Rothmans Honda Team Honda Honda NSR500 2 Mick Doohan 1–13 4 Daryl Beattie All HRC Rothmans Honda Honda Honda NSR500 6 Shinichi Ito All Cagiva Team Agostini Cagiva Cagiva C593 3 John Kocinski 11–14 5 Doug Chandler All 12 Mat Mladin 1–7, 9–14 63 Juan Garriga 8 68 Carl Fogarty 10 Marlboro Honda Pons Honda Honda NSR500 8 Àlex Crivillé All Team Lucky Strike Suzuki Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 9 Alex Barros All 34 Kevin Schwantz All 46 Peter Goddard 1 Team Valvoline/WCM ROC-Yamaha ROC-Yamaha GP1 11 Niall Mackenzie All Team ROC ROC-Yamaha ROC-Yamaha GP1 13 Toshiyuki Arakaki 1–3 23 Serge David All YamahaYamaha YZR500 32 José Kuhn 11–14 ROC-Yamaha ROC-Yamaha GP1 38 Corrado Catalano 4–6 45 Ron Haslam 10 Librenti Corse Librenti Librenti 500 14 Marco Papa 1–8, 13ROC-YamahaROC-Yamaha GP1 9, 11–12 Team Udagawa ROC-Yamaha ROC-Yamaha GP1 15 Tsutomu Udagawa 1–9, 11–14 Rallye Sport Harris-Yamaha Harris-Yamaha SLS500 16 Michael Rudroff All Yamaha Motor France Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 18 Bernard Garcia All 19 Freddie Spencer 1, 11–12 32 José Kuhn 5–10 39 Toshihiko Honma 3 40 Jehan d’Orgeix 4 51 Jean-Marc Delétang 14 Team Millar Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 20 Jeremy McWilliams All Euro Team ROC-Yamaha ROC-Yamaha GP1 21 Laurent Naveau 1–13 69 James Haydon 14 M.B.M. Racing Team Harris-Yamaha Harris-Yamaha SLS500 22 Kevin Mitchell All Team Doorakkers Racing Harris-Yamaha Harris-Yamaha SLS500 24 Cees Doorakkers All Team Ville de Paris ROC-Yamaha ROC-Yamaha GP1 25 Thierry Criné All Team Elit ROC-Yamaha ROC-Yamaha GP1 27 Renzo Colleoni All Padgett's Motorcycles Harris-Yamaha Harris-Yamaha SLS500 28 John Reynolds 1–7, 9–14 Shell Team HarrisTeam Harris Harris-Yamaha Harris-Yamaha SLS500 29 Sean Emmett All 41 Darren Dixon 6 42 Andrew Stroud 7–14 44 Alan Scott 1–5 López Mella Racing Team ROC-Yamaha ROC-Yamaha GP1 30 Juan López Mella All M.T.D. Objectif 500 ROC-Yamaha ROC-Yamaha GP1 31 Bruno Bonhuil All Euromoto ROC-Yamaha ROC-Yamaha GP1 32 José Kuhn 1–4 ARC-Austrian Racing Company ROC-Yamaha ROC-Yamaha GP1 33 Andreas Meklau All Argus Racing Team ROC-Yamaha ROC-Yamaha GP1 35 Jean-Luc Romanens 1–7 59 Niggi Schmassmann 6 Team Pedercini ROC-Yamaha ROC-Yamaha GP1 36 Lucio Pedercini 1–6, 8–14 Peter Graves Racing Team Harris-Yamaha Harris-Yamaha SLS500 37 Simon Crafar 4–8 43 David Jefferies 9–14 Kirin Mets RT Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 50 Norihiko Fujiwara 3 Team Great Britain ROC-Yamaha ROC-Yamaha GP1 69 James Haydon 10 Se.Te.Ces.Co ROC-Yamaha ROC-Yamaha GP1 72 Aldeo Presciutti 12 Gibi Team ROC-Yamaha ROC-Yamaha GP1 73 Romolo Balbi 12 Southwest Motorsports Harris-Yamaha Harris-Yamaha SLS500 74 Danny Walker 13 Team G.O.J. Motor Harris-Yamaha Harris-Yamaha SLS500 76 Dario Marchetti 14 Nihontelecom RT Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 88 Kevin Magee 3 Source: Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider
250cc participants TeamConstructorMotorcycleNo.RiderRounds Telkor Yamaha Valesi Racing Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 M 3 Pierfrancesco Chili All 31 Tetsuya Harada All HB Honda Germany Honda Honda NSR250 4 Helmut Bradl All 32 Volker Bähr All Rothmans Kanemoto Honda Honda Honda NSR250 5 Max Biaggi All Ducados Honda Pons Honda Honda NSR250 6 Alberto Puig All JTR Mitsui Yamaha Racing Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 M 7 Jochen Schmid All Team Carlos Cardús Honda Honda Honda NSR250 8 Carlos Cardús 1–3, 6–8 36 Pere Riba Cabana 8 HB Racing Team Italy Honda Honda NSR250 10 Doriano Romboni 1–7, 11–14 Exact Software DC Sports Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 11 Wilco Zeelenberg All 24 Patrick van den Goorbergh All Daytona Pit Lane Racing Honda Honda RS250R 12 Gabriele Debbia 1–6 35 Loek Bodelier 7–8 38 Carlos Checa 8–14 Aprilia Racing TeamAprilia Unlimited JeansChesterfield Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 13 Loris Reggiani All 17 Jean-Philippe Ruggia All 67 Marcellino Lucchi 11 Kanemoto RacingCup Noodle Kanemoto Honda Honda NSR250 14 Nobuatsu Aoki All Racing SupplyLucky Strike Keiyu Suzuki Suzuki Suzuki RGV250 15 Nobuyuki Wakai 1–3 Team Preining Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 16 Andy Preining All HRC Rothmans Honda Honda Honda NSR250 18 Tadayuki Okada All Team Lucky Strike Suzuki 250 Suzuki Suzuki RGV250 19 John Kocinski 1–7 37 Simon Crafar 8–14 67 Jim Filice 13 Mohag Aprilia Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 20 Eskil Suter All Gilera Racing Team Gilera Gilera GFR 250 21 Paolo Casoli 1–7, 10, 12 39 Alessandro Gramigni 1–10, 12 PR2-Ducados Aprilia Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 22 Luis Maurel All Marlboro Aprilia Suisse Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 23 Bernard Häenggeli All Van den Goorbergh Racing Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 25 Jurgen van den Goorbergh 1–12, 14 Rallye Sport Racing Team Munich Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 26 Bernd Kassner All FP Racing Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 27 Frédéric Protat All 51 Jean-Pierre Jeandat 1–2, 4–10, 12–14 Honda Suisse Mühlebach Honda Honda RS250R 28 Adrian Bosshard All Team Aspar Honda Honda RS250R 30 Juan Borja 1–6, 10–14 36 Pere Riba Cabana 10–14 45 Jorge Martínez 9 S.S.P. Competicion Honda Honda RS250R 34 Luis d'Antin 1–9 Honda NSR250 10–13 P.M. Racing Honda Honda RS250R 43 Massimo Pennacchioli All Chesterfield Team de Radiguès Aprilia Aprilia RSV 250 44 Jean-Michel Bayle All Petronas Sprinta YamahaYamahaYamaha TZ 250 48 Shahrun Nizam 2 49 Tong Veng Kit 2 Cup Noodle Honda Honda Honda NSR250 50 Takuma Aoki 3 Marlboro Team Pileri Honda Honda NSR250 65 Loris Capirossi All Team Roberts Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 75 Kenny Roberts Jr. 13 Marlboro Team Roberts Yamaha Yamaha TZ 250 77 Sete Gibernau 14 Source: Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider
125cc participants TeamConstructorMotorcycleNo.RiderRounds Marlboro Team Pileri Honda Honda RS125R 2 Fausto Gresini 1–10, 12–14 7 Noboru Ueda All Marlboro Aprilia Aprilia Aprilia RS125R 3 Ralf Waldmann All 15 Oliver Petrucciani All Scot Racing Team Aprilia Aprilia RS125R 4 Bruno Casanova 3–6, 9–14 66 Ivan Cremonini 9 Team Europa Raudies Honda Honda RS125R 5 Dirk Raudies All Team Aspar Honda Honda RS125R 6 Jorge Martínez All F.C.C. Technical Sports Honda Honda RS125R 8 Kazuto Sakata All 36 Takeshi Tsujimura All Ducados Aprilia Aprilia Aprilia RS125R 9 Carlos Giro Jr. All Exact Software DC Sports Moto Rumi Rumi 125 GP 10 Hans Spaan 1–6 Honda Honda RS125R 7–14 Team Aprilia Deutschland Aprilia Aprilia RS125R 11 Peter Öttl 3–14 21 Stefan Kurfiss 1–9, 12–14 37 Manfred Geissler 1–2, 10–14 Team Semprucci Aprilia Aprilia RS125R 12 Herri Torrontegui All 30 Giovanni Palmieri All GP Team Ditter Plastic Honda Honda RS125R 14 Oliver Koch All Daytona Pit Lane Racing Honda Honda RS125R 16 Ezio Gianola All 35 Loek Bodelier 1–4 65 Gabriele Debbia 5–14 Elf Team Kepla Honda Honda RS125R 17 Akira Saito 1–13 44 Nicolas Dussauge 14 Jha Racing Honda Honda RS125R 19 Kinya Wada All 52 Hideyuki Nakajyo 3 Team Baumann Honda Honda RS125R 20 Manfred Baumann All Gazzaniga Corse Gazzaniga Gazzaniga 125 22 Lucio Cecchinello 2–13 Team+Co Promotion Honda Honda RS125R 23 Maik Stief 1–8 33 Stefan Prein 9–14 37 Manfred Geissler 1–2, 10–14 Moto Bum HondaCup Noodle Moto Bum Honda Honda Honda RS125R 24 Haruchika Aoki All Burnett Racing Honda Honda RS125R 25 Neil Hodgson All Team IPA Corse Effeuno Honda Honda RS125R 26 Maurizio Vitali 5–6 28 Luigi Ancona All 38 Emilio Cuppini 7–9 39 Daniela Tognoli 9 67 11–14 Arie Molenaar Racing Honda Honda RS125R 27 Julián Miralles All Miralles Racing Team Honda Honda RS125R 29 Julián Miralles All AGV-Team Germany Aprilia Aprilia RS125R 31 Garry McCoy 1–3, 6–14 38 Emilio Cuppini 4 40 Simone Giannecchini 5 Team Unemoto & Harc-Pro. Honda Honda RS125R 32 Masafumi Ono 1–4 39 Aki Ajo 5 42 Sinya Sato 6–14 Zwafink Racing Honda Honda RS125R 33 Stefan Prein 1–5 41 Luis Alvaro 6–14 Team Rumi 125 GP Moto Rumi Rumi 125 GP 34 Stefano Caracchi 1–4, 6 Team Hernández Aprilia/Sandroni Aprilia RS125R/Sandroni 125 GP 43 Manuel Hernández All M.C. Manresa Petrocat Honda Honda RS125R 63 Carlos Checa 8 Source: Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider
Results and standings Grands Prix