The 1997 British motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 1997 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on 17 August 1997 at Donington Park.
500cc race report
This race was most notable for Mick Doohan's victory and subsequent fourth title conquest, the battle for the win between Mick Doohan and Tadayuki Okada and the fight for third position between Alex Barros and Luca Cadalora.
Mick Doohan is on pole - his eighth consecutive pole position of the year -, setting a time of 1:32.872 on the Saturday. In second place is Carlos Checa, third place is Alex Barros and fourth place is Tadayuki Okada. The second row of the grid consists of Doriano Romboni in fifth, Nobuatsu Aoki in sixth, Luca Cadalora in seventh and Kenny Roberts Jr. in eighth. Àlex Crivillé was still out of contention due to a fall at one of the free practice sessions at the Dutch round, sustaining serious tendon and bone damage as well as lesions of the blood vessels in his left wrist. His left thumb was badly injured. As a result, he has undergone an operation and has to wait until September to ride again.
All riders take off and do their usual warm-up lap before lining up in their respective grid slots. As the lights go out, both Barros and Checa get a good getaway heading into Redgate (Turn 1), Checa initially leading but getting overtaken upon entry. Norifumi Abe also has a fantastic start from eleventh on the grid to slot behind into third, then second place after Checa loses out. Okada is fourth and Doohan - who has a mediocre start - slots behind into fifth. Cadalora is sixth. At the Old Hairpin, Barros has already opened up a small gap to Abe. With Checa losing out after a good start, he is now seventh behind Takuma Aoki on the opening lap. Régis Laconi is already out of the race, distraught looking at his bike as the marshalls are taking care of it. At the end of Starkey's Straight, Okada makes a move on Abe and passes him for second place heading into The Esses (Turn 9). Checa also tries a move, going down the inside of Oaki and taking sixth place as a result. Doohan then does the same to the Japanese, gently going up his inside at the Melbourne Hairpin (Turn 10) to pass him for third.
On lap two, Barros leads the way but is already losing ground to Okada. The top six is as follows: Barros, Okada, Doohan, Abe, Cadalora and Checa. At the Old Hairpin, T. Aoki goes wide and loses metres to Checa. At Coppice (Turn 8), Okada has by now closed the gap to Barros and tries a move around the outside of the Brazilian but he holds on heading into The Esses. At the Melbourne Hairpin, Doohan then goes up the inside of teammate Okada and overtakes him for second spot.
Lap three and Doohan easily blasts past Barros for the lead at Wheatcroft Straight. At the exit of McLean's, Checa does a low-speed highside and crashes out of a strong fifth place. He slides onto the edge of the track and into the grass, then runs away from the crash site being assisted by the marshalls as he disappointingly puts his hands on his helmet, the other marshalls then recovering his bike. This now promotes N. Aoki to sixth place.
On lap four, Doohan is leading the way followed by Barros. Exiting the Melbourne Hairpin, he has a moment but does not lose any time.
Lap five and Okada has closed up fully on Barros at the end of Wheatcroft Straight but is not able to get by. Barros sets the fastest lap of the race. The top six is as follows: Doohan, Barros, Okada, Abe, Cadalora, and N. Aoki. At the end of Starkey's Straight, Okada goes side by side with Barros and takes second position. It's now a Repsol Honda 1–2.
On lap six, N. Aoki is closing up to the rear of Cadalora. Anthony Gobert on the Lucky Strike Suzuki is going slowly but also doing a wheelie, having to retire due to technical problems. Abe is also slowly reeling in Barros now.
Lap seven and Okada now sets the fastest lap and is closing the gap to Doohan. No overtakes happened at the front.
On lap eight, the top six is as follows: Doohan, Okada, Barros, Abe, Cadalora and N. Aoki. Okada has now almost caught up to the back of Doohan, with N. Aoki doing likewise to Cadalora.
Lap nine and Okada has closed the gap to his teammate at the Melbourne Hairpin. Exiting the hairpin, Doohan has a bit of a moment but does not lose any time or places from it.
On lap ten, the top six is as follows: Doohan, Okada, Barros, Abe, Cadalora and N. Aoki. Fourth place Abe is now being hunted down by Cadalora, himself also coming under pressure from N. Aoki as well.