1983 French motorcycle Grand Prix

  1983 French Grand Prix

Race details
Race 2 of 12 races in the 1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	April 3, 1983
Location	Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.240 km (2.635 mi)
500 cc
Pole position
Rider	Kenny Roberts	Yamaha
Time	1:36.800
Fastest lap
Rider	Freddie Spencer	Honda
Time	1:37.500
Podium
First	Freddie Spencer	Honda
Second	Marco Lucchinelli	Honda
Third	Ron Haslam	Honda
250 cc
Pole position
Rider	Christian Sarron	Yamaha
Time	1:42.970
Fastest lap
Rider	Alan Carter	Yamaha
Time	1:43.850
Podium
First	Alan Carter	Yamaha
Second	Jacques Cornu	Yamaha
Third	Thierry Rapicault	Yamaha
125 cc
Pole position
Rider	Ricardo Tormo	MBA
Time	1:51.240
Fastest lap
Rider	Pierluigi Aldrovandi	MBA
Time	2:00.250
Podium
First	Ricardo Tormo	MBA
Second	Jean-Claude Selini	MBA
Third	Maurizio Vitali	MBA
50 cc
Pole position
Rider	Stefan Dörflinger	Kreidler
Fastest lap
Rider	Stefan Dörflinger	Kreidler
Podium
First	Stefan Dörflinger	Kreidler
Second	Eugenio Lazzarini	Garelli
Third	Hagen Klein	FKN
Sidecars
Pole position
Rider	Rolf Biland	LCR-Yamaha
Passenger	Kurt Waltisperg
Fastest lap
Rider	Rolf Biland	LCR-Yamaha
Passenger	Kurt Waltisperg
Podium
First	Rolf Biland	LCR-Yamaha
	Kurt Waltisperg
Second	Mick Barton	Windle-Yamaha
	Simon Birchall
Third	Werner Schwärzel	Seymaz-Yamaha
	Andreas Huber

The 1983 French motorcycle Grand Prix^[1] was held at the Bugatti Circuit on April 3, 1983. It was the second round of the 1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season.

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.^[2] In the race itself, defending winner Michel Frutschi crashed heavily and was taken to hospital, but later died.^[2][3][4]

500 cc classification

Pos	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time/Retired	Points
1	Freddie Spencer	Honda	29	47:47.900	15
2	Marco Lucchinelli	Honda	29	+14.990	12
3	Ron Haslam	Honda	29	+36.280	10
4	Kenny Roberts	Yamaha	29	+44.110	8
5	Keith Huewen	Yamaha	29	+44.850	6
6	Marc Fontan	Yamaha	29	+45.720	5
7	Barry Sheene	Suzuki	29	+46.090	4
8	Guido Paci	Honda	29	+1:30.190	3
9	Sergio Pellandini	Suzuki	29	+1:33.850	2
10	Jack Middelburg	Honda	29	+1:35.820	1
11	Wolfgang von Muralt	Suzuki	29	+1:39.650
12	Philippe Coulon	Suzuki	29	+1:43.140
13	Peter Sjöström	Suzuki	28	+1 Lap
14	Maurizio Massimiani	Honda	28	+1 Lap
15	Louis-Luc Maisto	Suzuki	28	+1 Lap
16	Walter Magliorati	Suzuki	28	+1 Lap
17	Stuart Avant	Suzuki	28	+1 Lap
18	Ernst Gschwender	Suzuki	28	+1 Lap
19	Jon Ekerold	Cagiva	26	+3 Laps
Ret	Paolo Ferretti	Yamaha	25	Accident
Ret	Alain Röthlisberger	Yamaha	24	Retirement
Ret	Marco Greco	Suzuki	23	Accident
Ret	Steve Parrish	Yamaha	20	Accident
Ret	Christophe Guyot	Suzuki	17	Accident
Ret	Eero Hyvärinen	Suzuki	16	Retirement
Ret	Virginio Ferrari	Cagiva	12	Retirement
Ret	Leandro Becheroni	Suzuki	7	Accident
Ret	Michel Frutschi	Honda	5	Fatal accident
Ret	Didier de Radiguès	Honda	5	Accident
Ret	Franco Uncini	Suzuki	4	Accident
Ret	Raymond Roche	Honda	2	Retirement
Ret	Gustav Reiner	Suzuki	1	Accident
Ret	Eddie Lawson	Yamaha	0	Collision
Ret	Randy Mamola	Suzuki	0	Collision
Ret	Jean Lafond	Fior	0	Accident
Ret	Andreas Hofmann	Suzuki	0	Accident
DNS	Boet van Dulmen	Suzuki		Injury
DNS	Iwao Ishikawa	Honda		Fatal accident
DNS	Takazumi Katayama	Honda		Injury

References

1. "1983 French GP Results". MotoGP official website. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
2. "Second Le Mans death". The Glasgow Herald. 4 April 1983. p. 16.
3. "Michel Frutschi career profile". ozebook.com. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
4. "Motorcycle Racing Memorium". motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 5 December 2012.