1979 in motorsport explained

The following is an overview of the events of 1979 in motorsport including the major racing events, motorsport venues that were opened and closed during a year, championships and non-championship events that were established and disestablished in a year, and births and deaths of racing drivers and other motorsport people.

Annual events

The calendar includes only annual major non-championship events or annual events that had significance separate from the championship. For the dates of the championship events see related season articles.

Date	Event	Ref
26 -14 January	1st Dakar Rally	^[1]
3–4 February	17th 24 Hours of Daytona	^[2]
18 February	21st Daytona 500	^[3]
27 May	37th Monaco Grand Prix	^[4]
27 May	63rd Indianapolis 500	^[5]
3–9 June	62nd Isle of Man TT	^[6]
9–10 June	47th 24 Hours of Le Mans	^[7]
21–22 July	31st 24 Hours of Spa	^[8]
29 July	2nd Suzuka 8 Hours	^[9]
20 September	20th Hardie-Ferodo 1000	^[10]
6–7 October	8th 24 Hours of Nurburgring	^[11]
18 November	26th Macau Grand Prix	^[12]

Births

Date	Month	Name	Nationality	Occupation	Note	Ref
16	February	Valentino Rossi	Italian	Motorcycle racer	MotoGP World champion (-, -).	^[13]
18	April	Anthony Davidson	British	Racing driver	FIA World Endurance champion (2014).	^[14]
2	July	Sam Hornish Jr.	American	Racing driver	Indianapolis 500 winner (2006).	^[15]
25	December	Robert Huff	British	Racing driver	World Touring Car champion .	^[16]

See also

• List of 1979 motorsport champions

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1979 Dakar Rally. rssp.eu. 29 April 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20090929212004/http://rssp.eu/downloads/dakar/1979.pdf. 29 September 2009. dead.
2. Web site: Daytona 24 Hours 1979 - Racing Sports Cars. racingsportscars.com. 16 April 2017.
3. Web site: 1979 Daytona 500. racing-reference.info. Racing Reference. 16 April 2017.
4. Web site: 1979 Grand Prix of Monaco. racing-reference.info. Racing Reference. 15 April 2017.
5. Web site: 1979 Indianapolis 500. racing-reference.info. Racing Reference. 15 April 2017.
6. Web site: TT 1979. iomtt.com. Isle of Man TT. 15 April 2017.
7. Web site: Le Mans Register - 1979. formula2.net. 16 April 2017.
8. Web site: 24 h Spa-Francorchamps. touringcarracing.net. 16 April 2017.
9. Web site: Suzuka 8 Hours 1979 results. Moto Racing JAPAN. 24 April 2017. 1 December 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201201013553/http://www.motoracing-japan.com/result/spl/798h.html. dead.
10. Web site: 1979 Bathurst 1000. Unique Cars & Parts. 22 April 2017.
11. Web site: Nurburgring 24 hours. touringcarracing.net. 23 April 2017.
12. Web site: 1979 Macau Grand Prix. motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. 22 April 2017.
13. Web site: Valentino Rossi. motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. 18 April 2018.
14. Web site: Anthony Davidson. en.espn.co.uk. ESPN. 17 April 2018.
15. Web site: Sam Hornish Jr.. motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. 18 April 2018.
16. Web site: Robert Huff. motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. 17 April 2018.
17. Web site: Louis Chiron. en.espn.co.uk. ESPN. 15 April 2018.