1998 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix

The 1998 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix was the first round of the 1998 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on 5 April 1998 at the Suzuka Circuit. The rookie Max Biaggi surprised everyone by winning his first ever GP500 race.

Japan  1998 Japanese Grand Prix
Race details
Race 1 of 14 races in the
1998 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date5 April 1998
Official nameMarlboro Grand Prix of Japan[1][2][3]
LocationSuzuka Circuit
Course
  • Permanent racing facility
  • 5.864 km (3.644 mi)
500 cc
Pole position
RiderItaly Max BiaggiHonda
Time2:05.772
Fastest lap
RiderItaly Max BiaggiHonda
Time2:06.746 on lap 4
Podium
FirstItaly Max BiaggiHonda
SecondJapan Tadayuki OkadaHonda
ThirdJapan Noriyuki HagaYamaha
250 cc
Pole position
RiderJapan Daijiro KatoHonda
Time2:08.430
Fastest lap
RiderJapan Naoki MatsudoYamaha
Time2:09.284 on lap 8
Podium
FirstJapan Daijiro KatoHonda
SecondJapan Shinya NakanoYamaha
ThirdJapan Naoki MatsudoYamaha
125 cc
Pole position
RiderJapan Noboru UedaHonda
Time2:15.162
Fastest lap
RiderJapan Masao AzumaHonda
Time2:16.128 on lap 6
Podium
FirstJapan Kazuto SakataAprilia
SecondJapan Tomomi ManakoHonda
ThirdJapan Masao AzumaHonda

500 cc classification

Source:[4]

Pos.No.RiderTeamManufacturerLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
16 Max BiaggiMarlboro Team KanemotoHonda2144:59.478125
22 Tadayuki OkadaRepsol HondaHonda21+5.416320
350 Noriyuki HagaYamaha Racing TeamYamaha21+5.502616
44 Àlex CrivilléRepsol HondaHonda21+10.5321013
521 Kyoji NanbaYamaha Team RaineyYamaha21+10.879211
63 Nobuatsu AokiSuzuki Grand Prix TeamSuzuki21+13.479810
79 Alex BarrosHonda GresiniHonda21+20.266139
88 Carlos ChecaMovistar Honda PonsHonda21+20.43958
911 Simon CrafarRed Bull Yamaha WCMYamaha21+20.773117
1015 Sete GibernauRepsol HondaHonda21+47.101126
1110 Kenny Roberts Jr.Team RobertsModenas KR321+1:13.558155
127 Doriano RomboniMuZ Roc Rennen SportMuZ21+1:22.856224
1319 John KocinskiMovistar Honda PonsHonda21+1:24.96493
145 Norick AbeYamaha Team RaineyYamaha21+1:25.29372
1514 Juan BorjaShell Advance RacingHonda21+1:59.992161
1657 Fabio CarpaniTeam Polini InoxmacelHonda20+1 lap24
Ret1 Mick DoohanRepsol HondaHonda15Retirement4
Ret22 Sébastien GimbertTecmas Honda ElfHonda11Retirement20
Ret88 Scott SmartTeam Millar Honda BritainHonda4Accident23
Ret17 Jurgen van den GoorberghDee Cee Jeans Racing TeamHonda1Retirement19
Ret23 Matt WaitFCC TSRHonda1Accident21
Ret29 Keiichi KitagawaSuzuki Grand Prix TeamSuzuki1Retirement14
Ret18 Garry McCoyShell Advance RacingHonda0Retirement18
Ret28 Ralf WaldmannTeam RobertsModenas KR30Retirement17
DNS55 Régis LaconiRed Bull Yamaha WCMYamahaDid not start
Sources: [1][5][6]

250 cc classification

Source:[7]

Pos.No.RiderManufacturerLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
154 Daijiro KatoHonda1941:17.096125
250 Shinya NakanoYamaha19+0.896320
351 Naoki MatsudoYamaha19+0.962516
431 Tetsuya HaradaAprilia19+1.094913
519 Olivier JacqueHonda19+34.301411
655 Yukio KagayamaSuzuki19+37.0351410
765 Loris CapirossiAprilia19+37.10469
817 José Luis CardosoYamaha19+43.094128
912 Noriyasu NumataSuzuki19+43.105157
109 Jeremy McWilliamsTSR-Honda19+43.909166
116 Haruchika AokiHonda19+44.000215
124 Stefano PeruginiHonda19+44.067134
1352 Choujun KameyaSuzuki19+44.168103
1418 Osamu MiyazakiYamaha19+44.63782
157 Takeshi TsujimuraYamaha19+44.727171
1653 Makoto TamadaHonda19+53.85518
1711 Jürgen FuchsAprilia19+1:01.99911
1837 Luca BoscoscuroTSR-Honda19+1:04.35920
1924 Jason VincentTSR-Honda19+1:08.85322
2014 Davide BulegaHonda18+1 lap26
Ret25 Yasumasa HatakeyamaHonda18Accident27
Ret21 Franco BattainiYamaha17Accident19
Ret5 Tohru UkawaHonda14Retirement2
Ret46 Valentino RossiAprilia10Retirement7
Ret44 Roberto RolfoTSR-Honda7Retirement25
Ret16 Johan StigefeltSuzuki2Accident24
Ret27 Sebastián PortoAprilia1Accident23
Ret41 Federico GartnerAprilia0Accident28
DNS8 Luis d'AntinYamahaDid not start
DNS20 William CostesHondaDid not start
OFFICIAL 250cc REPORT

125 cc classification

Source:[8]

Pos.No.RiderManufacturerLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
14 Kazuto SakataAprilia1841:23.963225
23 Tomomi ManakoHonda18+0.1561820
320 Masao AzumaHonda18+0.201616
410 Lucio CecchinelloHonda18+2.783713
553 Noboyuki OsakiYamaha18+26.381911
68 Gianluigi ScalviniHonda18+26.4681010
752 Hiroyuki KikuchiHonda18+33.198129
85 Masaki TokudomeAprilia18+33.422118
951 Takashi AkitaYamaha18+33.552237
1013 Marco MelandriHonda18+33.834146
119 Frédéric PetitHonda18+34.215195
1262 Yoshiaki KatohYamaha18+46.152264
1329 Ángel Nieto, Jr.Aprilia18+46.574163
1454 Kazuhiro TakaoHonda18+48.281172
1526 Ivan GoiAprilia18+59.684201
1617 Enrique MaturanaYamaha18+1:03.59822
1711 José RamírezAprilia18+1:12.20225
1819 Andrea BalleriniHonda18+1:12.28727
1918 Paolo TessariAprilia18+1:21.90228
2021 Arnaud VincentAprilia18+1:28.39329
217 Emilio AlzamoraAprilia18+1:33.21424
Ret41 Youichi UiYamaha14Retirement3
Ret22 Steve JenknerAprilia13Retirement15
Ret2 Noboru UedaHonda12Retirement1
Ret15 Roberto LocatelliHonda10Accident4
Ret23 Gino BorsoiAprilia7Retirement13
Ret16 Christian MannaYamaha6Retirement30
Ret32 Mirko GiansantiHonda4Accident8
Ret50 Yuzo FujiokaHonda2Accident5
Ret39 Jaroslav HulešHonda1Retirement21
OFFICIAL 125cc REPORT

Championship standings after the race (500cc)

Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round one has concluded.[9]

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos.ConstructorPoints
1 Honda25
2 Yamaha16
3 Suzuki10
4 Modenas KR35
5 MuZ4

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References


Previous race:
1997 Australian Grand Prix
FIM Grand Prix World Championship
1998 season
Next race:
1998 Malaysian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1997 Japanese Grand Prix
Japanese Grand PrixNext race:
1999 Japanese Grand Prix