1977 Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix
# 1977 Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix

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. 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.

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. Other riders chose to compete, but with less than their full efforts. In the 1974 Yugoslavian Grand Prix, British rider Billie Nelson crashed into the crowd during the 250cc race, injuring several spectators. Nelson died later that night at a hospital.

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. He died four days later in a hospital. During the 50 cc race, Ulrich Graf crashed when his bike developed a rear tire puncture and he was thrown into a rock wall. He suffered serious head injuries and died later in a hospital. 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.

## 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: ||||||||

## 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: ||||||||

## 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: ||||||||

## 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: ||||||||
