The 1997 season deserves a separate section, as it represented the biggest acheivement available in Grand Prix racing. The Repsol Honda Team went from not having won a single race, to taking 15 victories from 15 GPs. Mick Doohan, Alex Criville and Tadayuki Okada, onboard their three powerful NSR V4s, monopolised the top step of the podium.
On the way to his fourth consecutive World Championship, Doohan claimed 12 victories and went on a run of 10 in a row. He kept up the untouchable form which had begun in 1994, converting him into a MotoGP legend.
Whenever he didn’t win, his teammates picked up the slack. Criville took 2 wins, and Okada broke his 500cc duck with victory in Indonesia.
A hitherto unheard of occurence also took place: Three teammates featuring on the same podium. It happened at Suzuka, Japan, on April 20th, 1997. The fourth man on the team, Takuma Aoki, also finished fourth in that race –making it four Repsol Honda riders in the top four positions.
But there was more: The feat was repeated a fortnight later, with Criville this time triumphing. In the final standings, the quartet was only split by Nobuatsu Aoki –a Honda privateer and brother of Takuma. Doohan was crowned champion, Okada placed second, Criville fourth and Takuma Aoki fifth overall.
The much–anticipated duel between Doohan and Criville never quite came to fruition. Doohan dominated the early part of the season, and was out on his own when Criville injured his hand in practice at Assen and was sidelined for five races. The title was claimed by the Australian at the British GP, held at Donington Park, with four rounds to spare.
To round off the campaign, Doohan had only a home win at Phillip Island in his sights. However, he was unable to do so, as he crashed out of the race when leading comfortably. It was his first race crash of the season and a cruel one at that, denying him glory at an Australian GP eventually won by Criville.
Checa was one of the standouts of the season, as predicted the previous year. He would not win a race, but would take three podium finishes and impress on many occasions before crashing. On the flipside, Puig was a shadow of his former self, hurt by the problems of 1995 and 1996. Despite seemingly having overcome the serious injuries of seasons past, the results indicated otherwise.
It was also a tough campaign for Luis D’Antin and Jose Luis Cardoso in 250cc. They opted for a Yamaha ride, but their lack of competitive equipment prevented them from shining. The best of Spanish success in the lower cylinder classes came courtesy of Aspar, who fought for race victories in what was to be his final season as a rider. He said goodbye to the 125cc class and the Grand Prix riding after 18 years of competition.
