Wikipedia

1979 FIM Motocross World Championship

The 1979 FIM Motocross World Championship was the 23rd F.I.M. Motocross Racing World Championship season.

Summary edit

Graham Noyce won the 1979 500cc world championship for the Honda factory racing team, marking Honda's first ever motocross world championship as well as the first motocross world championship for a British rider since Jeff Smith in 1965.[1][2] Yamaha's defending champion Heikki Mikkola struggled to recover from a broken leg suffered in preseason.[1] Noyce's consistent results earned him the championship points lead at the midpoint of the season with Suzuki's Gerrit Wolsink, Mikkola and Kawasaki's Brad Lackey within reach of the points lead.[1] Wolsink won his fifth 500cc United States Grand Prix in six years and followed that with another victory at the Canadian Grand Prix to narrow the points lead.[1] Mikkola then suffered another injury at the Canadian Grand Prix and his injuries forced him to sit out the West German Grand Prix.[1] Former Honda factory rider, Lackey, won 6 individual moto victories, more than any other rider in the championship yet, his factory sponsored Kawasaki proved to be unreliable as the team struggled through development issues on a new motorcycle.[1] Noyce then took command of the championship by posting a series of top five finishes to win the title for the Honda team.

Håkan Carlqvist won the 250cc world championship for Husqvarna while Harry Everts dominated the 125cc world championship for the Suzuki factory racing team.

Grands Prix edit

500cc edit

Round Date Grand Prix Location Race 1 Winner Race 2 Winner Overall Winner Report
1 April 22   Austrian Grand Prix Sittendorf   Yvan van den Broeck   Brad Lackey   Graham Noyce Report
2 April 29   French Grand Prix Thours   Jean-Jacques Bruno   Brad Lackey   Brad Lackey Report
3 May 13   Swedish Grand Prix Huskvarna   Brad Lackey   Gerrit Wolsink   Gerrit Wolsink Report
4 May 27   Italian Grand Prix Faenza   Heikki Mikkola   Heikki Mikkola   Heikki Mikkola Report
5 June 10   United States Grand Prix Carlsbad   Gerrit Wolsink   Brad Lackey   Gerrit Wolsink Report
6 June 17   Canadian Grand Prix Mosport   Graham Noyce   Gerrit Wolsink   Gerrit Wolsink Report
7 June 24   West German Grand Prix Beuren   Jean-Jacques Bruno   André Malherbe   Jean-Jacques Bruno Report
8 July 1   British Grand Prix Farleigh Castle   Brad Lackey   Graham Noyce   Graham Noyce Report
9 July 8   Swiss Grand Prix Payerne   Heikki Mikkola   Heikki Mikkola   Heikki Mikkola Report
10 July 29   Dutch Grand Prix Markelo   Graham Noyce   Gerrit Wolsink   Gerrit Wolsink Report
11 August 5   Belgian Grand Prix Namur   Roger De Coster   André Malherbe   André Malherbe Report
12 August 12   Luxembourg Grand Prix Ettelbruck   Brad Lackey   André Malherbe   André Malherbe Report

[3][4]

250cc edit

Round Date Grand Prix Location Winner Team Report
1 April 8   Spanish Grand Prix Sabadell   Håkan Carlqvist Husqvarna Report
2 April 22   Dutch Grand Prix Halle   Håkan Carlqvist Husqvarna Report
3 April 29   Italian Grand Prix Bra   Neil Hudson Maico Report
4 May 6   Belgian Grand Prix Genk   Harry Everts Suzuki Report
5 May 20   Yugoslavian Grand Prix Karlovac   Neil Hudson Maico Report
6 May 27   Czechoslovakian Grand Prix Holice   Håkan Carlqvist Husqvarna Report
7 June 10   Polish Grand Prix Szczecin   Håkan Carlqvist Husqvarna Report
8 June 17   French Grand Prix Lavaur   Håkan Carlqvist Husqvarna Report
9 July 1   Finnish Grand Prix Hyvinkää   Kees van der Ven Maico Report
10 July 29   United States Grand Prix Unadilla   Kent Howerton Suzuki Report
11 August 5   West German Grand Prix Bielstein   Håkan Carlqvist Husqvarna Report
12 August 12   Bulgarian Grand Prix Samokov   Gennady Moiseyev KTM Report

[5]

125cc edit

Round Date Grand Prix Location Winner Team Report
1 April 8   Austrian Grand Prix Launsdorf   Harry Everts Suzuki Report
2 April 15   West German Grand Prix Goldbach   Harry Everts Suzuki Report
3 May 13   Dutch Grand Prix Mill   Harry Everts Suzuki Report
4 May 20   Italian Grand Prix Esanatoglia   Akira Watanabe Suzuki Report
5 June 10   Finnish Grand Prix Tampere   Harry Everts Suzuki Report
6 June 17   Czechoslovakian Grand Prix Dalečín   Harry Everts Suzuki Report
7 June 24   Yugoslavian Grand Prix Karlovac   Harry Everts Suzuki Report
8 July 1   Swiss Grand Prix Schupfart   Gaston Rahier Suzuki Report
9 July 8   French Grand Prix Sucé-sur-Erdre   Harry Everts Suzuki Report
10 July 15   Irish Grand Prix Slane[6]   Harry Everts Suzuki Report
11 July 22   United States Grand Prix Lexington   Mark Barnett Suzuki Report
12 August 12   Spanish Grand Prix Montgai   Harry Everts Suzuki Report

[7]

Final standings edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f Assoc, American Motorcyclist (September 1979). Noyce makes his mark with run for the title. Retrieved 31 December 2016. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  2. ^ "History MXGP". hondaracingcorporation.com. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  3. ^ "1979 500cc motocross world championship race results". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  4. ^ "1979 500cc motocross world championship race results". jwvanessen.com. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  5. ^ "1979 250cc motocross world championship race results". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Fairyhouse To Host The Irish Motocross Grand Prix". motocross.ie. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  7. ^ "1979 125cc motocross world championship race results". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  8. ^ "1979 500cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  9. ^ "1979 500cc motocross world championship final standings". jwvanessen.com. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  10. ^ "1979 250cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  11. ^ "1979 125cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 3 February 2016.

External links edit

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1979_FIM_Motocross_World_Championship&oldid=1172542807"