The 1996 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 48th
F.I.M.Road Racing World Championship season.
Season summary
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]