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	Velika Nagrada Jugoslavije/Grand Prix de Yougoslavie[1]
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 FIM 1977 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on 19 June 1977 at the Opatija Circuit. The event was marred by two fatalities, and this turned out to be the last Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix at Opatija. The event moved to the further inland Rijeka Circuit.

Race summary

The event took place under heavy rumors of it being cancelled because of the existing safety conditions of the seaside Opatija street circuit. The Yugoslavian Grand Prix promoters had received an ultimatum from the FIM before the race that, if they did not improve the safety of the circuit, the event would be canceled.^[2] Despite the circuit's scenic setting, it was an unsafe race track due to high speeds on narrow roads coupled with numerous unmovable roadside obstacles, such as trees, stone walls, lampposts, electric poles, embankments, houses, and the Adriatic Sea.^[3]

The safety conditions at the Opatija Circuit had previously been protested by competitors in 1973 when, in the aftermath of the deaths of Jarno Saarinen and Renzo Pasolini at the Monza round, several racing teams including Yamaha, Harley Davidson and MV Agusta, boycotted the event due to unsafe track conditions.^[3] Other riders chose to compete, but with less than their full efforts.^[4] In the 1974 Yugoslavian Grand Prix, British rider Billie Nelson crashed into the crowd during the 250cc race, injuring several spectators.^[3] Nelson died later that night at a hospital.^[5]

The 1977 Grand Prix turned into a disaster when Italian rider, Giovanni Ziggiotto, crashed during practice for the 250cc race when his motorcycle's engine seized and he was hit from behind by Per-Edward Carlson.^[3] He died four days later in a hospital.^[6] During the 50 cc race, Ulrich Graf crashed when his bike developed a rear tire puncture and he was thrown into a rock wall.^[3] He suffered serious head injuries and died later in a hospital.^[2][6] The tragedy forced the venue off the Grand Prix schedule and the Yugoslavian Grand Prix was moved to the Rijeka Circuit for the 1978 season.^[2]

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
Source: [7][8]

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
Source: [8][9]

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
Source: [8][10]

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
Source: [8][11]

References