Aprilia won two more World Championships: Riders and Makers in the 125cc class. Aprilia's new standard-bearer is Valentino Rossi, who literally dominated the 125cc class, winning a total of 11 victories in 15 races: Valentino won in Malaysia, Spain, Italy, Austria, France, the Netherlands, San Marino, Germany, Brazil, Great Britain, Catalonia and Indonesia: such an advantage had not been seen for years. As well as the riders' title, Aprilia also won the makers' title well in advance of the end of the season.

In the 250cc class there were two new standard-bearers: Tetsuya Harada and Loris Capirossi: the Japanese rider carried on the fight for the title right up till the last race in Australia, losing it by just a handful of points, even though he won the Grand Prix in France, the Netherlands and Germany.

In the 500cc class Doriano Romboni took Aprilia onto the podium for the first time: he came third at Assen, in the Dutch Grand Prix.