1982 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1982 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 34th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Season summary Italian Franco Uncini on the Roberto Gallina backed Suzuki took a well-earned championship for Roberto Gallina's Italian Suzuki team in the 500cc class. Yamaha introduced a new motorcycle with a V4 engine for Kenny Roberts but, suffered from having to develop a new bike during the season. Roberts was also now using Dunlop tires after Goodyear withdrew from motorcycle racing. Honda abandoned its NR500 four-stroke in favor of a V3 two-stroke NS500 piloted by American newcomer, Freddie Spencer, defending champion Marco Lucchinelli and veteran Takazumi Katayama. Spencer would give Honda its first 500cc win since the 1967 season and its first with a two-stroke. Kawasaki would continue to campaign its KR500 with rider Kork Ballington but developing a new motorcycle proved to be difficult, and after three years in the 500cc class without being able to recreate the same success they had experienced in the smaller classes, they made the decision to withdraw from world championship competition after the 1982 season leaving Ballington without a job. Roberts injured a finger and a knee at the British Grand Prix and would miss the