points, 64 points behind the champion and teammate Mick Doohan and 77 points ahead of Luca Cadalora. 1997 After finishing as runner-up in 1996, some speculated that there was a real chance that Crivillé could win his first 500cc title in 1997. Crivillé started his season off by taking back-to-back second places, albeit losing out to teammate Mick Doohan once more. At the Malaysia, he finished a distant second behind his teammate. In Japan however, it was a much closer affair. Crivillé was closely following Doohan on the last lap but was not able to make a proper move. At turn 15 (part of the "Casio Triangle" set of corners), Crivillé tried to lunge up the inside of Doohan but backed off at the last moment, finishing 0.431 behind the Australian. At round three in Spain, Crivillé won his first race of the season. With teammates Doohan and Okada finishing second and third, the podium was an all-Factory Honda podium once again. Crivillé also took the fastest lap, his first - and only one - of the season. At the next three races in Italy, Austria and France, Crivillé finished fourth, fifth and fourth again respectively. At the seventh round of the season in the Netherlands, Crivillé did not start the race. He crashed heavily during qualifying practice on Friday, losing control of his bike on a chicane, sliding over the tarmac with his arm trapped underneath the bike. He was treated at the side of the track for ten minutes before being taken away on a stretcher. As a result of the crash, an artery was torn and had to be taken to the hospital for surgery to restore his thumb, requiring skin and bone grafts for his hand as well. He suffered tendon and bone damage as well as lesions of the blood vessels in his left wrist. His left thumb was badly injured. Because of the surgery and subsequent recovery, he missed not only the round in Assen, but also the City of Imola, German, Rio de Janeiro and British rounds, all of which his teammate Doohan won. Crivillé confirmed that he would not race until September of that year, with hopes that he could return for his home race in Cataluña, but that there was also a chance that he may never race again. Crivillé however, returned one round earlier. At the Czech Republic race, he