1978 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

There was an air of excitement at the start of the 1978 Grand Prix season.^[1] The popularity of defending champion Barry Sheene had boosted the appeal of motorcycle racing into the realm of the mass marketing media.^[1] The arrival of Kenny Roberts from America added to the anticipation.^[1] A young Spaniard, Ricardo Tormo took five of seven rounds to claim the 50 cc title for Bultaco. Italy's Eugenio Lazzarini won the 125 cc crown aboard an MBA. South Africa's Kork Ballington pulled off an impressive double, winning the 250 cc and 350 cc titles for Kawasaki, matching the double championships of Walter Villa in 1976 and Mike Hailwood in 1967.^[1]

In the 500 cc class, Suzuki returned with its defending world champion, Barry Sheene, along with teammate Pat Hennen, Wil Hartog and Teuvo Lansivuori.^[1] Yamaha's official factory team entered former 350 cc world champions Johnny Cecotto and Takazumi Katayama.^[1] Lacking a competitive bike with which to compete against Harley Davidson in the AMA Grand National Championship, Yamaha's American subsidiary decided to send its former AMA champion Roberts to compete in the 250 cc, 500 cc and Formula 750 F.I.M. road racing world championships.^[2] Roberts also secured the financial backing of the Goodyear tire company, as well as exclusive use of their tires for the season.^[2]

Sheene opened the season with a win in the Venezuelan Grand Prix.^[1][3] Roberts won the 250 cc Grand Prix in Venezuela but then suffered a mechanical failure in the 500 cc race.^[1][4] American Pat Hennen won the second round at the Spanish Grand Prix with Roberts finishing in second place and Sheene some distance back in fifth place.^[5] Roberts then won his first-ever 500 cc Grand Prix with a win at the Austrian Grand Prix, quickly followed by two more victories in France and Italy to take the championship points lead.^[6][7][8] Hennen's promising career was cut short when he suffered head injuries while competing in the Isle of Man TT at the midpoint of the season. He trailed Roberts by only a couple of points in the point standings, with Sheene some distance behind.^[9]

Cecotto won the Dutch TT with Roberts finishing ahead of a resurgent Sheene in third place.^[10] Hartog would claim the Belgian Grand Prix for Suzuki with Roberts and Sheene once again finishing in second and third places respectively.^[11] At the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix, Roberts crashed during practice for the 250 cc race, sustaining a concussion and a thumb injury.^[12] Shaken up by the accident, he could do no better than seventh place in the 500 cc race, while Sheene won the race to close the points gap on championship points leader Roberts.^[12][13] Hartog won his second Grand Prix of the season with a victory at the Finnish Grand Prix, while the two championship leaders, Roberts and Sheene failed to finish the race.^[14]

The two championship contenders arrived in England for the British Grand Prix with only three points separating them.^[12] The race ended in controversy when torrential rains during the race, along with pit stops for tire changes by both Roberts and Sheene, created confusion among official scorers.^[15] Eventually, Roberts was declared the winner with Sheene being awarded third place behind privateer Steve Manship, who did not stop for a tire change.^[16][17][18]

The title fight between Roberts and Sheene went down to the final race of the season, the German Grand Prix held at the daunting, 14.2-mile-long (22.9 km) Nürburgring racetrack. Suzuki privateer, Virginio Ferrari, won the first Grand Prix of his career, while Roberts finished in third place, ahead of Sheene in fourth place to claim the first world championship for an American rider in Grand Prix road racing history.^[19][20] Cecotto claimed third place in the final championship standings.^[20]

Round	Date	Race	Location	50cc winner	125cc winner	250cc winner	350cc winner	500cc winner	Report
1	March 19	Venezuelan Grand Prix	San Carlos		Pier Paolo Bianchi	Kenny Roberts	Takazumi Katayama	Barry Sheene	Report
2	April 16	Spanish Grand Prix	Jarama	Eugenio Lazzarini	Eugenio Lazzarini	Gregg Hansford		Pat Hennen	Report
3	April 30	Austrian Grand Prix	Salzburgring		Eugenio Lazzarini		Kork Ballington	Kenny Roberts	Report
4	May 7	French Grand Prix	Nogaro		Pier Paolo Bianchi	Gregg Hansford	Gregg Hansford	Kenny Roberts	Report
5	May 14	Nations Grand Prix	Mugello	Ricardo Tormo	Eugenio Lazzarini	Kork Ballington	Kork Ballington	Kenny Roberts	Report
6	June 24	Dutch TT	Assen	Eugenio Lazzarini	Eugenio Lazzarini	Kenny Roberts	Kork Ballington	Johnny Cecotto	Report
7	July 2	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa-Francorchamps	Ricardo Tormo	Pier Paolo Bianchi	Paolo Pileri		Wil Hartog	Report
8	July 23	Swedish Grand Prix	Karlskoga		Pier Paolo Bianchi	Gregg Hansford	Gregg Hansford	Barry Sheene	Report
9	July 30	Finnish Grand Prix	Imatra		Angel Nieto	Kork Ballington	Kork Ballington	Wil Hartog	Report
10	August 6	British Grand Prix	Silverstone		Angel Nieto	Anton Mang	Kork Ballington	Kenny Roberts	Report
11	August 20	German Grand Prix	Nürburgring Nordschleife	Ricardo Tormo	Angel Nieto	Kork Ballington	Takazumi Katayama	Virginio Ferrari	Report
12	August 27	Czechoslovak Grand Prix	Brno	Ricardo Tormo		Kork Ballington	Kork Ballington		Report
13	September 17	Yugoslavian Grand Prix	Rijeka	Ricardo Tormo	Angel Nieto	Gregg Hansford	Gregg Hansford		Report
Sources:[1][20][21]

Points were awarded to the top ten finishers in each race. All races counted towards the final standings.^[1]

(key)

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
Points	15	12	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1

Place	Rider	Team	Machine	VEN	ESP	AUT	FRA	NAT	NED	BEL	SWE	FIN	GBR	GER	Points
1	Kenny Roberts	Yamaha USA	YZR500	Ret	2	1	1	1	2	2	7	Ret	1	3	110
2	Barry Sheene	Heron-Suzuki	RG500	1	5	3	3	5	3	3	1	Ret	3	4	100
3	Johnny Cecotto	Venemotos-Yamaha	YZR500	Ret	4	2	Ret	Ret	1	Ret	6	3	7	2	66
4	Wil Hartog	Riemersma Racing	RG500		9	7	5	6	5	1	2	1	Ret	Ret	65
5	Takazumi Katayama	Sarome & Motul Team	YZR500	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	Ret	4	6	3	2	9	5	53
6	Pat Hennen	Heron-Suzuki	RG500	2	1	Ret	2	2							51
7	Steve Baker	Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat	RG500	3	6	Ret	DNS	4	9	Ret	4	6	Ret	7	42
8	Teuvo Länsivuori		RG500		7	5	Ret	7		5	8	4	5	9	39
9	Marco Lucchinelli		RG500		Ret	4	Ret	3	Ret	7	Ret	Ret	4	Ret	30
10	Michel Rougerie		RG500		14	6		Ret	6	4	Ret	Ret	11	6	23
11	Virginio Ferrari	Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat	RG500	Ret	Ret	Ret	17	Ret	Ret	Ret	5	Ret	10	1	22
12	Steve Parrish		RG500	4	10	Ret	7	Ret	10	Ret	15	5	15	13	20
13	Boet van Dulmen		RG500		11	8	21	9	8	Ret	11	7	Ret	8	15
14	Steve Manship		RG500										2		12
15	Christian Estrosi		RG500		8		4	Ret							11
16	Graziano Rossi	Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat	RG500				6	12	16	14		9	Ret	Ret	7
John Newbold	Ray Hamblin Motorcycles	RG500		Ret	Ret	18		7	Ret			8		7
18	Roberto Pietri	Venemotos Yamaha	YZR500	5											6
Gianni Rolando	Team Librenti	RG500		DNQ			10	Ret				6	Ret	6
20	Gerhard Vogt	Bill Smith Racing	YZR500	6			16		21	20		14	17	16	5
Philippe Coulon	Marlboro Nava Total	RG500		Ret	11	20	8	11	Ret	9		16	20	5
22	Leandro Becheroni		RG500	7			DNS								4
Alex George	Hermetite Racing International	RG500		18		11	14	14	8	10	Ret	13	15	4
Jürgen Steiner	Caramba Racing Team Bohme	RG500			14					Ret	8		10	4
25	Jean Philippe Orban	Team La Licorne	RG500		12	Ret	8								3
26	Carlo Perugini		RG500				9	Ret							2
Tom Herron		RG500			Ret				9					2
Gianfranco Bonera	Team Kiwi Yamoto	RG500			9	22		13				Ret	12	2
Bruno Kneubühler	RSS Racing Team	RG500		16	10	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	14	10	Ret	Ret	2
27	Dennis Ireland		RG500							10	Ret	Ret	Ret		1
Kenny Blake		YZR500				10								1
Sources:[1][20][21]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Kork Ballington	5	South Africa	Kawasaki	134	6
2	Takazumi Katayama	1	Japan	Yamaha	77	2
3	Gregg Hansford		Australia	Kawasaki	76	3
4	Jon Ekerold	3	South Africa	Yamaha	64	0
5	Tom Herron	2	United Kingdom	Yamaha	50	0
6	Michel Rougerie	4	France	Yamaha	47	0
7	Franco Bonera		Italy	Yamaha	37	0
8	Patrick Fernandez	8	France	Yamaha	36	0
9	Victor Soussan	12	Australia	Yamaha	34	0
10	Olivier Chevallier	6	France	Yamaha	27	0
11	Penti Korhonen		Finland	Yamaha	20
12	Franco Uncini		Italy	Yamaha	19
13	Paolo Pileri		Italy		18
14	Mick Grant		United Kingdom	Kawasaki	16
15	Christian Sarron		France	Yamaha	15
16	Anton Mang		West Germany	Kawasaki	14
17	Patrick Pons		France	Yamaha	9
18	Marco Lucchinelli		Italy	Yamaha	5
19	Guy Bertin		France	Yamaha	5
20	Eric Saul		France	Yamaha	4
21	Vanes Francini		Italy	Yamaha	3
22	Raymond Roche		France	Yamaha	3
23	Alejandro Aleman		Venezuela	Yamaha	2
24	Leif Gustafsson		Sweden	Yamaha	2
25	Peter Van Der Wal		Netherlands	Yamaha	2
26	Gianni Pelletier		Italy	Yamaha	2
27	A.Piccioni		Italy	Yamaha	1
28	Eero Hyvärinen		Finland	Yamaha	1
29	Hervi Moineau		France	Yamaha	1
30	Roland Freymond		Switzerland	Yamaha	1
31	Mario Lega		Italy		1
Sources:[1][22]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Kork Ballington	6	South Africa	Kawasaki	124	4
2	Gregg Hansford		Australia	Kawasaki	118	4
3	Patrick Fernandez	10	France	Yamaha	55	0
4	Kenny Roberts	80	United States	Yamaha	54	2
5	Anton Mang		Germany	Kawasaki	52	1
6	Tom Herron	5	United Kingdom	Yamaha	48	0
7	Mario Lega		Italy	Morbidelli	44	0
8	Franco Uncini		Italy	Yamaha	42	0
9	Jon Ekerold	9	South Africa	Yamaha	40	0
10	Paolo Pileri	31	Italy	Morbidelli	35	1
11	Raymond Roche		France		26
12	Olivier Chevallier		France		25
13	Jean-François Baldé		France		19
14	Mick Grant		United Kingdom		17
15	Victor Soussan		Australia		14
16	Walter Villa		Italy		13
17	Carlos Lavado		Venezuela		12
18	Chas Mortimer		United Kingdom		12
19	Penti Korhonen		Finland		10
20	Clive Padgett		United Kingdom		5
21	Hans Müller		Switzerland		5
22	Roland Freymond		Switzerland		4
23	Ted Henter		United States		3
24	Pekka Nurmi		Finland		2
25	Ray Quincey		Australia		2
26	Alejandro Aleman		Venezuela		2
27	John Dodds		Australia		2
28	Leif Gustafsson		Sweden		1
29	Sadao Asami		Japan		1
30	Eero Hyvärinen		Finland		1
31	Marc Fontan		France		1
32	Hervi Moineau		France		1
33	Guy Bertin		France		1
34	Thierry Espié		France		1
Sources:[1][23]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Eugenio Lazzarini	2	Italy	MBA	114	4
2	Angel Nieto	3	Spain	Minarelli	88	4
3	Pier Paolo Bianchi	1	Italy	Minarelli	70	4
4	Harald Bartol	7	Austria	Morbidelli	68	0
5	Thierry Espié	27	France	Motobécane	62	0
6	Maurizio Massimiani	11	Italy	Morbidelli	56	0
7	Hans Müller	8	Switzerland	Morbidelli	48	0
8	Per-Edward Carlsson		Sweden	Morbidelli	46	0
9	Jean-Louis Guignabodet		France	Morbidelli	42	0
10	Clive Horton		United Kingdom	MBA	25	0
11	Patrick Plisson		jpn		20
12	Matti Kinnunen		Kor		18
13	Stefan Dörflinger		jpn		17
14	Pierluigi Conforti		fra		16
15	August Auinger		fra		14
16	Christian Leon		Fra		10
17	Thierry Noblesse		ita		9
18	Alejandro Aleman		ita		8
19	Felice Agostini		ita		7
20	Ricardo Russo		Gbr		6
21	Cees van Dongen		gbr		6
22	Claudio Granata		gbr		5
23	Gert Bender		isl		5
24	Walter Koschine		Isl		5
25	Hiroshi		isl		4
26	Luciano Schiavone		irl		4
27	Hiroshi		irl		3
28	Rolf Blatter		irl		3
29	Henk van Kessel		Spa		2
30	Alois Meyer		spa		1
31	Benny Janssen		spa		1
32	Ricardo Tormo		Aus		1
33	Enrico Cereda		Aus		1
34	Hiroshi		aus		1
Sources:[1][24]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Ricardo Tormo	3	Spain	Bultaco	99	5
2	Eugenio Lazzarini	2	Italy	Kreidler	64	2
3	Patrick Plisson	5	France	ABF	48	0
4	Wolfgang Müller	20	West Germany	Kreidler	28	0
5	Rolf Blatter	17	Switzerland	Kreidler	25	0
6	Stefan Dörflinger	6	Switzerland	Kreidler	24	0
7	Claudio Lusuardi	18	Italy	Bultaco	20	0
8	Peter Looijensteijn	27	Netherlands	Kreidler	14	0
9	Ingo Emmerich	23	West Germany	Kreidler	14	0
10	Aldo Pero	15	Italy	Kreidler	13	0
11	Angel Nieto				12
12	Henk van Kessel				11
13	Enrico Cereda				11
14	Julien van Zeebroeck				10
15	Cees van Dongen				10
16	Willi Scheidhauer				10
17	Hagen Klein				9
18	Theo Timmer				9
19	C.Dumont				6
20	Daniel Corvi				5
21	Gerrit Strikker				4
22	Luigi Rinaudo				4
23	Ramon Gali				3
24	A.Jeva				3
25	S.Monreale				2
26	Zbynek Havdra				2
27	J.Mira				1
28	Jacques Hutteau				1
Sources:[1][25]

• Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A. ISBN 2-940125-32-5
• "The Official MotoGP website". Retrieved 2010-07-06.