The 1983 French motorcycle Grand Prix was the second round of the 1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 2–3 April 1983 at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans.
| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Race 2 of 12 races in the 1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 3 April 1983 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Official name | Grand Prix de France[1][2][3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Bugatti Circuit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Course |
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| 500 cc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 250 cc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 125 cc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 50 cc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sidecar (B2A) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This race was remembered for two fatal accidents that occurred over the weekend in the 500cc class. The first occurred during Friday practice when Italian rider Loris Reggiani collided with Japanese rider Iwao Ishikawa. Ishikawa died shortly after from severe injuries.[4] In the race itself, defending winner Michel Frutschi crashed heavily and was taken to hospital, but later died.[4][5][6]
Classification edit
500 cc edit
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Manufacturer | Time/Retired | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Freddie Spencer
|
HRC-Honda | NS500 | 47'47.900 | 15 | ||
| 2 |  Marco Lucchinelli
|
HRC-Honda | NS500 | +14.990 | 12 | ||
| 3 |  Ron Haslam
|
HRC-Honda | NS500 | +36.280 | 10 | ||
| 4 | Kenny Roberts
|
Marlboro Agostini-Yamaha | YZR500 | +44.110 | 8 | ||
| 5 | Keith Huewen
|
Heron-Suzuki | RG500 | +44.850 | 6 | ||
| 6 |  Marc Fontan
|
Sonauto Gauloises-Yamaha | YZR500 | +45.720 | 5 | ||
| 7 | Barry Sheene
|
Heron Suzuki | RG500 | +46.090 | 4 | ||
| 8 | Guido Paci
|
RS500 | +1'30.190 | 3 | |||
| 9 |  Sergio Pellandini
|
Carimati-Pezzani Racing | RG500 | +1'33.850 | 2 | ||
| 10 |  Jack Middelburg
|
Stichting Ned-Honda | RS500 | +1'35.820 | 1 | ||
| 11 | Wolfgang von Muralt
|
RG500 | +1'39.650 | ||||
| 12 | Philippe Coulon
|
Marlboro-Suzuki | RG500 | +1'43.140 | |||
| 13 |  Peter Sjöström
|
Jeb's Helmet Sweden | RG500 | +1 lap | |||
| 14 | Maurizio Massimiani
|
Honda Italia | RS500 | +1 lap | |||
| 15 | Louis-Luc Maisto
|
RG500 | +1 lap | ||||
| 16 | Walter Magliorati
|
Moto Club Carate | RG500 | +1 lap | |||
| 17 |  Stuart Avant
|
RG500 | +1 lap | ||||
| 18 |  Ernst Gschwender
|
MO Motul Racing Team | RG500 | +1 lap | |||
| 19 |  Jon Ekerold
|
Cagiva | GP500 | +3 laps | |||
| Ret | Paolo Ferretti
|
YZR500 | Accident | ||||
| Ret | Alain Röthlisberger
|
YZR500 | Retirement | ||||
| Ret |  Marco Greco
|
RG500 | Accident | ||||
| Ret | Steve Parrish
|
Mitsui-Yamaha | YZR500 | Accident | |||
| Ret | Chris Guy
|
RG500 | Accident | ||||
| Ret |  Eero Hyvärinen
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RG500 | Retirement | ||||
| Ret | Virginio Ferrari
|
Cagiva | GP500 | Retirement | |||
| Ret | Leandro Becheroni
|
RG500 | Accident | ||||
| Ret | Michel Frutschi
|
Honda Switzerland | RS500 | Fatal accident | |||
| Ret |  Didier de Radiguès
|
Team Johnson Elf | RS500 | Accident | |||
| Ret | Franco Uncini
|
HB Gallina-Suzuki | RG500 | Accident | |||
| Ret | Raymond Roche
|
Moto Club Paul Ricard | RS500 | Retired | |||
| Ret | Gustav Reiner
|
RG500 | Accident | ||||
| Ret | Eddie Lawson
|
Marlboro Agostini Yamaha | YZR500 | Collision | |||
| Ret | Randy Mamola
|
HB Sinclair-Suzuki | RG500 | Collision | |||
| Ret | Jean Lafond
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Claude Fior | Fior | Accident | |||
| Ret | Andreas Hofmann
|
RG500 | Accident | ||||
| DNS | Boet van Dulmen
|
Shell Nederland-Suzuki | RG500 | Injury | |||
| DNS |  Iwao Ishikawa
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RS500 | Fatal accident | ||||
| DNS | Takazumi Katayama
|
HRC-Honda | NS500 | Injury | |||
| Sources:[7][8] | |||||||
References edit
- ^ "Grand Prix uitslagen en bijzonderheden 1983". 25 July 2015. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015.
- ^ Mitchell, Malcolm. "1983 500cc Class (FIM Grand Prix World Championship) Programmes - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
- ^ Mitchell, Malcolm. "Le Mans - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
- ^ a b "Second Le Mans death". The Glasgow Herald. 4 April 1983. p. 16.
- ^ "Michel Frutschi career profile". ozebook.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ^ "Motorcycle Racing Memorium". motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ^ "1983 French MotoGP". 9 October 2017.
- ^ "1983 French GP Results". MotoGP official website. Retrieved 31 March 2015.