1982

The 1982 season had Yamaha's YZR500 machines in the hands of Kenny Roberts, Barry Sheene, Graeme Crosby and Marc Fontan for the 12-round series. Although he didn't win any races, Crosby took five podium finishes this season, including a 2nd place, and ultimately finished 2ndin the championship as the highest ranked Yamaha rider of the season. The title went to Franco Uncini of Suzuki, who won five races in the series.

Honda's participation in the GP was also a hot topic for the season. Freddie Spencer entered the series on Honda's liquid-cooled 3-cylinder machine, while South African rider Kork Ballington rode Kawasaki's 500cc machine, as the four major Japanese manufacturers went head to head. From this season Roberts began using Dunlop tires and won the opening round in Argentina. Sheene came 2nd to give Yamaha a one-two finish and a great start to the season. Yamaha introduced the new YZR500 (0W61) in the second round in Austria. This machine was powered by a 2-stroke V-4 engine, the first 2-stroke 500cc GP machine to feature a V-4 engine. Roberts finished 3rd on the new machine in its debut race. However, tragedy struck 10 days prior to the Spanish GP, when Ikujiro Takai was involved in a fatal crash on turn one of the Sportsland SUGO circuit while testing the YZR500.

With this catastrophe still fresh in everyone's mind, Roberts and Sheene rode the 0W61 in the Spanish GP for a one-two finish. Roberts was able to take 4th at Misano, a 2nd in the Netherlands, and 4th in Belgium. However, mechanical issues in the final four races placed him 4th in the overall ranking. Spencer, on the other hand, finished 3rd overall thanks to good results that included a win in the Belgium GP (the first GP win for Honda with a 2-stroke engine).

Although the majority of the GP250 riders were on Yamaha's production racer TZ250 from the late 1970's into the mid 1980's, championships were won by the Kawasaki factory team from 1978 to 1981. But in 1982, Yamaha rider Jean-Louis Tournadre fought through some intense championship battles with the German rider Anton Mang (Kawasaki) to win the title by a single point. This was Yamaha's eighth rider's championship title overall and the first one since Dieter Braun's crowning in 1973. Yamaha also won back the manufacturer's title after a five-year domination by Kawasaki.