1981 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season developed in the 1950s, to aluminium frames featuring large, twin beams as first pioneered by Spanish constructor, Antonio Cobas. The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 1981: Points are awarded to the top ten finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points. 1981 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season The 1981 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 33rd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Suzuki riders Marco Lucchinelli and Randy Mamola battled it out to the final race of the season with the Italian rider claiming the crown and Mamola finishing runner-up for the
1996 Monaco Grand Prix retired, leaving only four cars circulating, with Frentzen running last. The German, who so easily could have been leading the race, decided to pull into the pits on the penultimate lap as he was running last anyway, and everyone else had already seen the checkered flag. Therefore, only Panis, Coulthard and Herbert were counted as finishing the race (even though Frentzen was the last car still circulating on track), with the Frenchman winning his one and only Grand Prix and Ligier's first win in 15 seasons. Frentzen, Salo and Häkkinen were classified in the final points positions with Irvine credited