1977 Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix

  1977 Yugoslavian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 7 of 13 races in the 1977 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	19 June 1977
Official name	Grand Prix de Yougoslavie
Location	Circuit d'Opatija
Course	Permanent racing facility 6.000 km (3.728 mi)
350 cc
Pole position
Rider	John Dodds	Yamaha
Time	2:16.5
Fastest lap
Rider	Takazumi Katayama	Yamaha
Time	2:13.7
Podium
First	Takazumi Katayama	Yamaha
Second	Jon Ekerold	Yamaha
Third	Michel Rougerie	Yamaha
250 cc
Pole position
Rider	Michel Rougerie	Yamaha
Time	2:20.7
Fastest lap
Rider	Mario Lega	Morbidelli
Time	2:19.2
Podium
First	Mario Lega	Morbidelli
Second	Takazumi Katayama	Yamaha
Third	Tom Herron	Yamaha
125 cc
Pole position
Rider	Pierpaolo Bianchi	Morbidelli
Time	2:24.0
Fastest lap
Rider	Pierpaolo Bianchi	Morbidelli
Time	2:25.4
Podium
First	Pierpaolo Bianchi	Morbidelli
Second	Ángel Nieto	Bultaco
Third	Maurizio Massimiani	Morbidelli
50 cc
Pole position
Rider	Ángel Nieto	Bultaco
Time	2:40.1
Fastest lap
Rider	Ángel Nieto	Bultaco
Time	2:41.1
Podium
First	Ángel Nieto	Bultaco
Second	Ricardo Tormo	Bultaco
Third	Patrick Plisson	ABF

The 1977 Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix was the seventh round of the 1977 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on 19 June 1977 at the Circuit d'Opatija. The event was marred by 2 fatalities, and this turned out to be the last Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix at Opatija. The event moved to the further inland Rijeka circuit.

This event took place under heavy rumors of it being cancelled because the safety conditions of the seaside Opatija circuit. The FIM, the governing body of motorcycle racing had issued an ultimatum to the organizers that if they did not improve safety at the circuit, the event would be cancelled. The circuit was very narrow, very fast and had numerous roadside obstacles including light posts, houses, solid rock walls and trees. The Grand Prix had already been boycotted by 500cc riders in 1973 and a rider had been killed in 1974. The event went ahead anyway.

The Grand Prix weekend turned out to be a disaster. In one of the worst days in motorcycle racing history, during practice for the 250 cc race, Giovanni Ziggiotto crashed when his motorcycle's engine seized. He was hit by another rider and died four days later in hospital.^[1] During the 50 cc race, Ulrich Graf crashed when his bike developed a rear tyre puncture. He suffered serious head injuries and died later in hospital.^[1]

350 cc classification

Pos	No.	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Grid	Points
1	8	Takazumi Katayama	Yamaha	25	56:53.0	11	15
2	50	Jon Ekerold	Yamaha	25	+35.2	10	12
3	26	Michel Rougerie	Yamaha	25	+1:09.7	3	10
4	4	Tom Herron	Yamaha	25	+1:16.9	4	8
5	5	John Dodds	Yamaha	25	+1:19.8	1	6
6	9	Olivier Chevallier	Yamaha	25	+1:43.3	8	5
7	19	Patrick Fernandez	Yamaha	25	+1:50.6	6	4
8	36	Pekka Nurmi	Yamaha	25	+1:57.8	13	3
9	56	Jean-Claude Hogrel	Yamaha	24	+1 lap		2
10	33	Helmut Kassner	Yamaha	24	+1 lap	20	1
		Mario Lega	Morbidelli			2
		Giacomo Agostini	Yamaha			5
		János Drapál	Yamaha			7
		Patrick Pons	Yamaha			9
		Leif Gustafsson	Yamaha			12
		Pentti Korhonen	Yamaha			14
		Kork Ballington	Yamaha			15
		Christian Sarron	Yamaha			16
		Giovanni Pelletier	Yamaha			17
		Karl Auer	Yamaha			18
		Eero Hyvärinen	Yamaha			19
28 starters in total
[2]

250 cc classification

Pos	No.	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Grid	Points
1	21	Mario Lega	Morbidelli	21	49:19.4	5	15
2	2	Takazumi Katayama	Yamaha	21	+6.2	2	12
3	5	Tom Herron	Yamaha	21	+41.2	6	10
4	29	John Dodds	Yamaha	21	+48.3	10	8
5	51	Pierluigi Conforti	Yamaha	21	+51.4	4	6
6	36	Patrick Fernandez	Yamaha	21	+1:02.2	13	5
7	4	Pentti Korhonen	Yamaha	21	+1:06.0		4
8	54	Jon Ekerold	Yamaha	21	+1:10.2		3
9	16	Pekka Nurmi	Yamaha	21	+1:27.0	14	2
10	15	Patrick Pons	Yamaha	21	+1:44.7	12	1
11	37	Christian Sarron	Yamaha	21	+1:45.7	7
12	57	Gianni Pelletier	Yamaha	21	+1:46.1
13	19	Hans Müller	Yamaha	21	+2:05.8	18
14	42	Anton Mang	Yamaha	21	+2:09.2
15	12	Leif Gustafsson	Yamaha	20	+1 lap	8
16	49	Jose Cecotto	Yamaha	20	+1 lap
17	47	Sauro Pazzaglia	Yamaha	20	+1 lap
18	62	Giuseppe Consalvi	Yamaha	20	+1 lap
		Michel Rougerie	Yamaha			1
		Paolo Pileri	Morbidelli			3
		Walter Villa	Harley-Davidson			9
		Guy Bertin	Yamaha			11
		Barry Ditchburn	Kawasaki			15
		Masahiro Wada	Kawasaki			16
		Olivier Chevallier	Yamaha			17
		Eero Hyvärinen	Yamaha			19
		Kork Ballington	Yamaha			20
30 starters in total
[2]

125 cc classification

Pos	No.	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Grid	Points
1	1	Pierpaolo Bianchi	Morbidelli	19	46:25.4	1	15
2	2	Ángel Nieto	Bultaco	19	+1:13.9	3	12
3	50	Maurizio Massimiani	Morbidelli	19	+1:37.4	12	10
4	6	Jean-Louis Guignabodet	Morbidelli	19	+1:52.8	9	8
5	51	Ermanno Giuliano	Morbidelli	19	+2:08.9	7	6
6	15	Matti Kinnunen	Morbidelli	19	+2:16.1	8	5
7	5	Anton Mang	Morbidelli	19	+2:28.2	19	4
8	46	Cees van Dongen	Morbidelli	18	+1 lap		3
9	42	Claudio Lusuardi	Lusuardi	17	+2 laps	13	2
10	10	Julien van Zeebroeck	Morbidelli	16	+3 laps		1
		Eugenio Lazzarini	Morbidelli			2
		Harald Bartol	Morbidelli			4
		Pierluigi Conforti	Morbidelli			5
		János Drapál	Morbidelli			6
		Stefan Dörflinger	Morbidelli			10
		Sauro Pazzaglia	Morbidelli			11
		Guillermo Pérez	Yamaha			14
		Hans Müller	Morbidelli			15
		Germano Zanetti	Morbidelli			16
		Thierry Noblesse	Morbidelli			17
		Xaver Tschannen	Bender			18
		Luigi Rinaudo	Morbidelli			20
28 starters in total
[2]

50 cc classification

Pos	No.	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Grid	Points
1	1	Ángel Nieto	Bultaco	15	40:47.6	1	15
2	20	Ricardo Tormo	Bultaco	15	+4.6	4	12
3	50	Patrick Plisson	ABF	15	+2:08.9	9	10
4	43	Cees van Dongen	Kreidler	15	+1 lap	13	8
5	24	Jean-Louis Guignabodet	Morbidelli	14	+1 lap	20	6
6	42	Günter Schirnhofer	Kreidler	14	+1 lap		5
7	25	Ramón Gali	Derbi	14	+1 lap	10	4
8	30	Adrijan Bernetic	Tomos	14	+1 lap		3
9	12	Theo Timmer	Kreidler	14	+1 lap	17	2
10	9	Hans Hummel	Kreidler	14	+1 lap	18	1
11	47	Ingo Emmerich	Kreidler	14	+1 lap
12	39	Claudio Lusuardi	Bultaco	14	+1 lap	3
13	39	Otto Machinek	Kreidler	12	+3 laps	19
14	14	Aldo Pero	Kreidler	12	+3 laps	7
15	35	Vilko Sever	Kreidler	11	+4 laps
		Eugenio Lazzarini	Morbidelli			2
		Herbert Rittberger	Kreidler			5
Ret		Ulrich Graf	Kreidler		Fatal accident	6
		Stefan Dörflinger	Kreidler			8
		Boris Bajc	Kreidler			11
		Rudolf Kunz	Kreidler			12
		Nevio Paliska	Tomos			14
		Engelbert Kip	Kreidler			15
		Wolfgang Müller	Kreidler			16
30 starters in total
[2]

References

1. Carter, Chris (ed.). Motocourse 1977-1978. Hazleton Securities Ltd. p. 86. ISBN 0-905138-04-X.
2. Carter, Chris (ed.). Motocourse 1977-1978. Hazleton Securities Ltd. p. 89. ISBN 0-905138-04-X.