500cc summary Wayne Rainey won the 1992
World Championship for the third consecutive year on a
Kenny Roberts Marlboro Yamaha, however he was largely outshone by a dominant
Michael Doohan on his
Rothmans Honda, and was only prevented from winning what would have been his first world title by injury.
Doohan won the first four opening rounds, the first he nearly didn't qualify for, due to tricky conditions in
Suzuka, but ended up winning as
Rainey crashed out in the rain.
Rainey followed
Doohan home in second in the following three races, still not fully fit due to a broken femur he had suffered at the end of the
1991 season.
Daryl Beattie was third at his home race in
Australia, riding as a replacement for
Wayne Gardner, who injured himself in a crash in the
opening round. There were also podiums for
Crivillé on his
Honda in the
third round and
Niall Mackenzie on his Team France
Yamaha in the
fourth round after
Crivillé had crashed out of third from his home race at
Jerez. The fifth round at
Mugello saw one of the only races of the season where the three best riders of the era - Rainey,
Doohan and
Kevin Schwantz were fully fit and able to battle it out.
Schwantz had missed the
third round due to injury but was able to take the victory at
Mugello on his
Lucky Strike Suzuki as
Rainey crashed out whilst battling for the lead.
Rainey did however win his first race of the season at
Catalunya in round six, passing
Doohan for victory with two laps remaining. The
seventh round of the season saw
Doohan get back to winning ways, but
Rainey had to retire due to being unable to continue after riding in pain following a heavy practice fall. The eighth round at
Assen proved to be crucial to the title race.
Rainey left the circuit during practice, still being unable to ride comfortably, all but conceding the title to Doohan. However
Doohan was to have his own crash in practice, suffering a double-fracture of his right leg and ruling him out for five races. Gardner also injured himself in practice leaving the
Rothmans Honda squad without a rider for the race.
Schwantz was therefore favorite for the race, but was being heavily challenged by
Cagiva's four time world champion and veteran
Eddie Lawson.
Lawson took both riders out of the race with a collision, which resulted in
Schwantz suffering a broken arm. The series of events left a group of riders chasing a rare victory and it was
Crivillé who took the win, the first of his career.
Rainey was back for the following round at the
Hungaroring, but changeable weather conditions allowed
Lawson to take
Cagiva's first ever 500cc victory, and
Lawson's last in a glittering career.
Rainey got back to winning ways in
France for the
tenth round, however
Gardner took a popular win at the
British round, with
Rainey in second. A patch of oil into the first turn catching out several riders including high flying
Schwantz, and teammate
Doug Chandler. The
penultimate round of the season saw the return of
Doohan, however he was still not fully fit.
Rainey won the race, and whilst
Doohan was running in the top ten for periods, he wasn't able to maintain the pace and finished twelfth. In the
final round Rainey needed to a two-point swing to win the world championship, and although
Doohan managed a sterling effort to finish sixth,
Rainey's third place was enough to secure him his third and final
world title.
John Kocinski,
Rainey's teammate took his only win of the season, in his last race for
Marlboro Roberts Yamaha, and promoted him to third in the world championship table, ahead of
Schwantz. Chandler impressed in his first season in the series finishing fifth, whilst
Gardner's strong performances when fit saw him good enough for sixth.
Juan Garriga was a strong seventh on a
Yamaha, with
Crivillé impressing in his debut season in eighth, ahead of
Lawson took ninth, ahead of
Randy Mamola. At the end of 1992 several of the big names of the 80's retired - Lawson, Gardner, and Mamola all left the sport, for different reasons. The factory Honda riders debuted the
"big bang" engine, with the
NSR500, where the firing order of the cylinders made the power come out in pulses. The benefit to this was in traction, allowing the tires to adhere between pulses, rather than spin because of the
two-stroke 500’s peaky powerband. Yamaha came up with their own version for the
9th round and Suzuki had it available by mid-season, though Schwantz didn't use it initially. The "big bang" concept is still used in today's
four-stroke MotoGP bikes.
250cc summary Luca Cadalora claimed his second 250cc crown by a much larger margin than his
previous title. He won five out of the first six races on his
Rothmans Honda accumulating such a huge points lead that he could afford to be more conservative in the second half of the season. Fellow Italians
Loris Reggiani and
Pierfrancesco Chili provided
Cadalora's strongest competition.
Reggiani won two races on his factory
Aprilia, whilst
Chili put in a number of strong performances winning three races, but failing to finish on a number of occasions, and suffered the embarrassment of thinking he had claimed a podium in the fourth round at
Jerez, only to realise he had slowed down prematurely and had in fact been warming down on the final lap.
Helmut Bradl had a more disappointing 1992 season, having run
Cadalora close for the title in the previous year, the German on the HB
Honda failed to win a race, and was often off the pace, back in fifth in the championship standings. 1992 saw the emergence of several future 250cc stars, with
Max Biaggi,
Chili's teammate, winning several pole positions and winning the final round in his debut season and impressing more and more as the season progressed.
Loris Capirossi made the step up from 125s to 250s for the 1992 season. He was largely off the pace at the start of the season as he wasn't given a full works
Honda initially, but once provided with a
Honda much closer to the performance of
Cadalora's as he proved he had the speed to be a contender. Similarly,
Doriano Romboni's performances improved in the final few races when his HB
Honda was upgraded. Former 250 world champion
Carlos Lavado retired at the end of the season having had a very low-key 1992, rarely appearing in the points.
125cc summary Alessandro Gramigni won the first ever 125cc championship for
Aprilia, in a tight championship. This was despite
Gramigni suffering a broken leg in a road bike accident midway through the season and missing a couple of rounds. Former double 125 champion
Fausto Gresini had been consistent throughout the season on his
Marlboro Honda, but only won one race, finishing second in the championship.
Gresini was looking in serious contention for the championship, but had a critical crash when running in second place in the
French round.
Honda's Ralf Waldmann finished third in the championship, but had led the series for most of the year having won three of the first four races. His dip in form after that saw him rarely finish on the podium in the second half of the season.
Ezio Gianola won the most races in the class - four, yet a number of crashes and low finishes meant he finished fourth in the championship on his
Honda, this was a marked up-turn in fortune for
Gianola who had considered retiring after a disappointing
1991 season.
Aprilia's Bruno Casanova also had a much better 1992 than the previous season, finishing fifth in the championship. His only win coming in the closest race of the season at
Hockenheim, where the super fast slipstreaming circuit provided a classic 125 race with the lead changing hands almost every lap. Up and coming
Dirk Raudies ended the season well with a victory in the penultimate round in
Brazil, and 125 veteran
Jorge Martinez became the seventh different winner of the season when he won the final round of the season in
South Africa. ==Rule changes and off track events==