at the Italy he finished fifth, whilst teammate Doohan won the race. At round seven in the Netherlands, Crivillé took his first-ever 500cc pole position on Saturday. On Sunday, he battled hard with teammate Doohan and Alberto Puig in the closing stages of the race. On the last lap, Crivillé overtook Puig by outbreaking him, moving him from third up to second. However, Crivillé was never able to attack Doohan and thus he crossed the line, 0.114 behind him. After his second-place podium finish in Assen, Crivillé retired once more in France. In Great Britain, he took his fourth third-place finish of the year. Further points came at the following rounds in the Czech Republic, Rio de Janeiro (sixth on both occasions) and Argentina, where he finished fourth. After his teammate Doohan already had clinched the title in Buenos Aires, Crivillé won the last race of the season out in Europe, which was held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Cataluña|Circuito de Cataluña or his 'backyard'. On Saturday, bike problems prevented Crivillé from posting a proper lap time with his main bike and he was forced to switch to his less optimal alternative one, pushing him back to seventh position whilst teammates Doohan started second and sixth on the grid. On Sunday, he moved up from seventh to fourth as the race went on. When he overtook another rider for third, he passed the grandstands where Spanish fans were cheering him on, shouting "Crivi, Crivi, Crivi!" in the process. After overtaking Loris Capirossi for then second place, he hunt down first place Carlos Checa who was suffering from tyre wear. While Crivillé was closing down the gap, Checa slid out of contention when his tyres gave up, gifting the lead to the Catalan. However, Crivillé himself began to suffer from the same tyre wear problems in the closing laps, allowing teammate Shinichi Ito and Capirossi to close the gap. On the final lap, Ito tried to attack but Crivillé defended by outbreaking him. A second attack followed at turn 10, the "La Caixa" corner, with Ito taking the lead, running wide and so giving it back to Crivillé. Crivillé eventually crossed the line 0.160 seconds ahead of Ito, becoming the first Catalan to win on home soil. Crivillé finished fourth in the championship with 166 points, 82 points behind the champion and teammate Mick Doohan and 49 points behind runner-up Daryl Beattie.