1996 With Crivillé performing well in 1995, expectations were high in 1996. Initially he retired on the opening round in Malaysia and had only finished fourth in Indonesia whilst teammate Mick Doohan won the race. However, at the Japanese race, he took his first pole of the season on Saturday and finished second on Sunday. In Spain however, he recorded his second retirement of the year. Initially taking the lead of the race from polesitter and teammate Doohan, as well as Luca Cadalora (who had a better start and thus led into turn one), Crivillé pulled a gap after a short battle with Cadalora, who's tyres began to fade. Crivillé then led for much of the race but Doohan was closing in at the final laps. On the last lap, spectators who already thought the race had ended, invaded the track around turn nine (the "Curva Àngel Nieto"), distracting Crivillé enough to allow Doohan to get back right on his tail going into the last couple of corners. Going into the last hairpin before the start-finish straight, Doohan went to the inside, going side-by-side with Crivillé. The pair did not touch, but Crivillé lost the rear whilst trying to accelerate, highsiding out of contention on the very last corner of the race, allowing Doohan to win the race as a result. After Jerez however, Crivillé responded well by scoring three consecutive second-place finishes. In Italy, he battled with teammate Mick Doohan for much of the race but ultimately came short and finished 0.726 seconds behind the Australian. Crivillé did take the fastest lap, his first of the year. In France, he took another pole position on Saturday but once again lost out to Doohan on Sunday, but managing to score back-to-back fastest laps in the process. In the Netherlands, Crivillé took his second consecutive pole on Friday, but it was Doohan once more who prevailed in the Saturday race after a battle between the pair. At the German GP, Crivillé took his third consecutive pole of the season on Saturday. On Sunday, Crivillé finished behind Doohan once more after a battle between him, Doohan and Luca Cadalora ended in the Italian winning the race. In Great Britain, Doohan beat Crivillé once more when he won the race, with the Catalan finishing second. Fortunes turned for Crivillé in the following two rounds, however. In Austria, Doohan lead in the closing laps,