1979 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season explained

The 1979 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 31st F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.

Season summary

A season of changing fortunes in the 500cc class saw American, Kenny Roberts capture his second crown in the face of the Suzuki-mounted opposition. In the 50cc class, Eugenio Lazzarini won every race in which he finished to take the championship. Angel Nieto dominated on a Minarelli to take his seventh world championship. Kork Ballington would repeat as double world champion in the 250cc and 350cc classes for Kawasaki.

Defending champion Roberts was injured in a pre-season test but came back to win round two in impressive fashion.^[1] His rivals also suffered from bad luck. Hartog breaking his arm in practice, Cecotto badly breaking his kneecap in Austria and Sheene suffering from mechanical failures. The 1979 British Grand Prix would be remembered as one of the greatest races of the modern era with Roberts beating Sheene to the finish line by three-hundredths of a second.^[2]

After an eleven-year absence from world championship racing, Honda returned to competition with the exotic, four-stroke NR500 ridden by riders Mick Grant and Takazumi Katayama at the British Grand Prix.^[3] The motorcycle featured an engine with oval-shaped cylinders as well as a monocoque chassis. Both bikes retired from the race, Grant crashing out on the first turn after the bike spilled oil onto his rear tire. Katayama retired on the seventh lap due to ignition problems.^[3]

The top riders boycotted the Belgian Grand Prix over safety issues showing their increasing dissatisfaction with the way the FIM conducted races.^[4] After several safety issues, the top riders banded together near the end of the year to announce that they would create a competing championship called the World Series. Although the series never got off the ground, the riders had flexed their political muscles and it forced the FIM to change the way they dealt with races and the riders themselves. The FIM announced an increase in prize money for the following year. This would mark the beginning of an era of increased professionalism in the sport.

1979 Grand Prix season calendar

Round	Date	Race	Location	50cc winner	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Report
1	March 18	Venezuelan Grand Prix	San Carlos		Angel Nieto	Walter Villa	Carlos Lavado	Barry Sheene	Report
2	April 29	Austrian Grand Prix	Salzburgring		Angel Nieto		Kork Ballington	Kenny Roberts	Report
3	May 6	German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring	Gerhard Waibel	Angel Nieto	Kork Ballington	Jon Ekerold	Wil Hartog	Report
4	May 13	Nations Grand Prix	Imola	Eugenio Lazzarini	Angel Nieto	Kork Ballington	Gregg Hansford	Kenny Roberts	Report
5	May 20	Spanish Grand Prix	Jarama	Eugenio Lazzarini	Angel Nieto	Kork Ballington	Kork Ballington	Kenny Roberts	Report
6	June 10	Yugoslavian Grand Prix	Rijeka	Eugenio Lazzarini	Angel Nieto	Graziano Rossi	Kork Ballington	Kenny Roberts	Report
7	June 23	Dutch TT	Assen	Eugenio Lazzarini	Angel Nieto	Graziano Rossi	Gregg Hansford	Virginio Ferrari	Report
8	July 1	Belgian Grand Prix^[5]	Spa-Francorchamps	Henk van Kessel	Barry Smith	Edi Stoellinger		Dennis Ireland	Report
9	July 22	Swedish Grand Prix	Karlskoga		Pier Paolo Bianchi	Graziano Rossi		Barry Sheene	Report
10	July 29	Finnish Grand Prix	Imatra		Ricardo Tormo	Kork Ballington	Gregg Hansford	Boet van Dulmen	Report
11	August 12	British Grand Prix	Silverstone		Angel Nieto	Kork Ballington	Kork Ballington	Kenny Roberts	Report
12	August 19	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Brno		Guy Bertin	Kork Ballington	Kork Ballington		Report
13	September 2	French Grand Prix	Le Mans	Eugenio Lazzarini	Guy Bertin	Kork Ballington	Patrick Fernandez	Barry Sheene	Report

Final standings

500cc standings

Place	Rider	Team	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Kenny Roberts	Yamaha USA	YZR500	113	5
2	Virginio Ferrari	Nava Gallina-Suzuki	RG500	89	1
3	Barry Sheene	Heron-Suzuki	RG500	87	3
4	Wil Hartog	Riemersma Racing	RG500	66	1
5		Zago-Suzuki	RG500	51	0
6	Boet van Dulmen		RG500	50	1
7			RG500	42	0
8	Randy Mamola	Zago-Suzuki	RG500	29	0
9	Philippe Coulon	Frankonia Suzuki	RG500	29	0
10	Tom Herron	Heron-Suzuki	RG500	28	0
11	Christian Sarron	Sonauto Gauloises-Yamaha	YZR500	26
12	Steve Parrish	Heron-Suzuki	RG500	19
13	Mike Baldwin	Zago-Suzuki	RG500	17
14	Dennis Ireland	Derry's Racing	RG500	17	1
15	Michel Rougerie	Ecurie Ste Pernod	RG500	16
16	Bernard Fau	Suzuki-France	RG500	13
17	Kenny Blake		YZR500/RG500	12
18	Marco Lucchinelli		RG500	11
19	Gary Lingham		RG500	10
20	Johnny Cecotto	Venemotos-Yamaha	YZR500	10
21	Gustav Reiner	Dieter Braun Team	RG500	8
22	Hiroyuki Kawasaki	Heron-Suzuki	RG500	6
23	Henk De Vries	Team 77	RG500	6
24	Gerhard Vogt	Bill Smith Racing	RG500	6
25	Roberto Pietri		RG500	5
26	Sepp Hage	Dieter Braun Team	RG500	5
27	Jacky Matagne		RG500	4
28	Max Wiener		RG500	4
29	Ikujiro Takai	Yamaha International	YZR500	3
30	Carlo Perugini		RG500	3
31	Sergio Pellandini		RG500	2
32	Guy Cooremans		RG500	2
33	Graziano Rossi	Morbidelli		2
34	John Woodley		RG500	2
35	Peter Sjostrom	Ava MC Stockholm	RG500	1
36	Seppo Rossi	Kouv MK	RG500	1
37	Dieter Heinen		RG500	1
38	Mick Grant	Honda-HRC	RG500/NR500	1
39	John Newbold	Team Appleby Glade	RG500	1
40	Gianni Pelletier		RG500	1

350cc standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Kork Ballington	1	South Africa	Kawasaki	99	5
2	Patrick Fernandez		France	Yamaha	90	1
3	Gregg Hansford	3	Australia	Kawasaki	77	3
4	Anton Mang	16	West Germany	Kawasaki	63	0
5	Michel Frutschi		Switzerland	Yamaha	47	0
6	Michel Rougerie	6	France	Yamaha	47	0
7	Roland Freymond	27	Switzerland	Yamaha	40	0
8	Jon Ekerold	4	South Africa	Yamaha	34	1
9	Sadao Asami		Japan	Yamaha	27	0
10	Jeff Sayle		Australia	Yamaha	24	0
11	Pekka Nurmi				23
12	Penti Korhonen				17
13	Christian Estrosi				16
14	Carlos Lavado				15
15	Patrick Pons				12
16	Eric Saul				10
17	Michel Rougerie				10
18	Richard Hubin				9
19	Herve Guilleux				8
20	Olivier Chevallier				8
21	Victor Soussan				8
22	Graeme McGregor				5
23	Murray Sayle				5
24	Eddy Elias				4
25	Bengt Elgh				4
26	Paolo Pileri				4
27	Edi Stoellinger				4
28	Reinhold Roth				3
29	Tony Head				3
30	Klaas Hernamdt				3
31	Victor Palomo				3
32	Eero Hyvärinen				3
33	Alan North				3
34	Adelio Faccioli				2
35	Joey Dunlop				2
36	Yoshimi Matsumoto				2
37	Gianfranco Bonera				2
38	Max Wiener				1

250cc standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Kork Ballington	1	South Africa	Kawasaki	141	7
2	Gregg Hansford	2	Australia	Kawasaki	81	0
3	Graziano Rossi	46	Italy	Morbidelli	67	3
4	Randy Mamola		United States	Yamaha	64	0
5	Patrick Fernandez	3	France	Yamaha	63	0
6	Anton Mang	5	West Germany	Kawasaki	56	0
7	Walter Villa	16	Italy	Yamaha	39	1
8	Jean-François Baldé	13	France	Kawasaki	29	0
9	Edi Stoellinger		Austria	Kawasaki	28	1
10	Roland Freymond	22	Switzerland	Yamaha	22	0
11	Olivier Chevallier				22
12	Christian Estrosi				19
13	Chas Mortimer				14
14	Paolo Pileri				14
15	Graeme McGregor				14
16	Barry Ditchburn				13
17	Victor Soussan				11
18	Eric Saul				11
19	M.Sayle				10
20	Fernando Gonzales de N.				9
21	Penti Korhonen				9
22	Jon Ekerold				8
23	Richard Hubin				7
24	Guy Bertin				6
25	Michel Simeon				5
26	Jeffrey Sayle				4
27	Hans Müller				4
28	Massimo Matteoni				3
29	Maurizio Massimiani				3
30	Pekka Nurmi				3
31	J.Lazo				3
32	B.Elgh				2
33	Y.Matsumoto				2
34	Eero Hyvärinen				1
35	Tony Head				1
36	Sadao Asami				1
37	Thierry Espié				1
38	Alan North				1
39	Rinus Van Kasteren				1

125cc standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Angel Nieto	2	Spain	Minarelli	120	8
2	Maurizio Massimiani	6	Italy	MBA	53	0
3	Hans Müller	7	Switzerland	MBA	50	0
4	Thierry Espié	5	France	Motobécane	48	0
5	Gert Bender		West Germany	GB Bender	47	0
6	Guy Bertin		France	Motobécane	40	2
7	Ricardo Tormo	8	Spain	Bultaco	39	1
8	Harald Bartol	4	Austria	Morbidelli	36	0
9	Bruno Kneubühler		Switzerland	MBA	36	0
10	Pier Paolo Bianchi	3	Italy	Minarelli	35	1
11	Stefan Dörflinger				35
12	Barry Smith
13	Walter Koschine				25
14	August Auinger				25
15	Eugenio Lazzarini				22
16	Jean Louis Guignabodet				20
17	Matti Kinnunen				19
18	Patrick Herouard				18
19	Marcelino Garcia				17
20	Thierry Noblesse				16
21	Per-Edward Carlson				14
22	Jean Francois Lecureux				12
23	Patrick Plisson				12
24	Martin Van Soest				10
25	Gianpaolo Marchetti				10
26	Rolf Blatter				8
27	Peter Looijesteijn				8
28	Clive Horton				7
29	Francois Granon				7
30	Stefan Janssen				7
31	Ivan Troisi				5
32	Paul Bordes				5
33	Pierluigi Conforti				4
34	Anton Straver				4
35	Peter Balaz				3
36	Jean Paul Magnoni				2
37	Alfred Waibel				2
38	Stefano Ferretti				2
39	Henk van Kessel				2
40	Jan Huberts				2
41	Marc Antoine Constantin				2
42	Miguel Cortes				1
43	Fernando Gonzales de N.				1
44	Renè Renier				1
45	Johnny Wickstroem				1

50cc standings

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Eugenio Lazzarini	2	Italy	Kreidler	75	5
2	Rolf Blatter	5	Switzerland	Kreidler	62	0
3	Patrick Plisson	3	France	ABF	32	0
4	Gerhard Waibel		West Germany	Kreidler	31	1
5	Peter Looijensteijn	8	Netherlands	Kreidler	30	0
6	Hagen Klein	17	West Germany	Kreidler	26	0
7	Henk van Kessel	12	Netherlands	Sparta	23	1
8	Jacques Hutteau		France	Kreidler	27	0
9	Ingo Emmerich		West Germany	Kreidler	8	0
10	Stefan Dörflinger		Switzerland	Kreidler	6	0
11	Rainer Scheidhauer				17
12	Theo Timmer				16
13	Aldo Pero				16
14	Rudolf Kunz				13
15	E.Saffioti				10
16	Wolfgang Müller				9
17	Ricardo Tormo				6
18	Enrico Cereda				5
19	Joaquim Gali				5
20	Daniel Mateos				4
21	M.Servadio				4
22	Graham Singer				4
23	P.Verbic				3
24	Theo Van Geffen				3
25	R.Oosting				2
26	Claudio Granata				2
27	Hans Hummel				2
28	Cees Van Dongen				1
29	D.Priori				1
30	Gerrit Strikker				1

Notes

1. News: Roberts Ruptures Spleen In Crash . United Press International . The Hour . 26 . 16 February 1979 . 15 December 2010 .
2. Web site: Silverstone 1979 – a Roberts-Sheene classic . motogp.com . 23 October 2012 .
3. Web site: The NR500s: A Humiliating Debut . world.honda.com . 23 October 2012 .
4. News: Roberts Suspended For Boycott . Modesto Bee . Modesto Bee . 1 . 2 July 1979 . 15 December 2010 . https://archive.today/20130103015402/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Y_8iAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AcwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1305,1794539&dq=kenny+roberts&hl=en . dead . January 3, 2013 .
5. Top riders went on strike at the Belgian Grand Prix over track safety.

References

• Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A.
• Web site: The Official MotoGP website . 2010-07-06 . 2012-09-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120920044728/http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics/1979/NAT/500cc/World+Standing . dead .