1979 British motorcycle Grand Prix
The 1979 British motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh event of the 1979 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It was held at the Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire in the United Kingdom.
The 500cc British Grand Prix would be one of the closest races in Grand Prix history.[1] The race began with Barry Sheene, Kenny Roberts and Wil Hartog breaking away from the rest of the field. At the midpoint of the race, Hartog fell off the pace as Sheene and Roberts continued to battle for the lead.[2] They continued to swap the lead throughout the 28 lap event with Roberts winning ahead of Sheene by a narrow margin of just three-hundreds of a second.[1]
Minutes before the start of the race, Roberts' Yamaha blew a seal and sprayed the bike with oil.[2] His crew managed to replace the seal in time but, Roberts went to the starting line with his gloves coated with oil, causing his hand to slip on the throttle during the race.[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.[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]
1979 500cc British Grand Prix final standings[4]
Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
1 | United States | Yamaha | 15 |
2 | ![]() |
7 | United Kingdom | Suzuki | 12 |
3 | ![]() |
3 | Netherlands | Suzuki | 10 |
4 | ![]() |
11 | Italy | Suzuki | 8 |
5 | ![]() |
20 | Netherlands | Suzuki | 6 |
6 | ![]() |
19 | France | Yamaha | 5 |
7 | ![]() |
12 | Italy | Suzuki | 4 |
8 | ![]() |
18 | Switzerland | Suzuki | 3 |
9 | ![]() |
9 | Italy | Suzuki | 2 |
10 | ![]() |
43 | United Kingdom | Suzuki | 1 |
11 | ![]() |
Italy | Suzuki | ||
12 | ![]() |
41 | Italy | Suzuki | |
13 | ![]() |
16 | Sweden | Suzuki | |
14 | ![]() |
49 | United Kingdom | Yamaha |
1979 350cc British Grand Prix final standings[5]
Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
1 | South Africa | Kawasaki | 15 |
2 | ![]() |
3 | Australia | Kawasaki | 12 |
3 | ![]() |
Australia | Yamaha | 10 | |
4 | ![]() |
Switzerland | Yamaha | 8 | |
5 | ![]() |
27 | Switzerland | Yamaha | 6 |
6 | ![]() |
6 | France | Yamaha | 5 |
7 | ![]() |
France | Chevallier-Yamaha | 4 | |
8 | ![]() |
United Kingdom | Yamaha | 3 | |
9 | ![]() |
South Africa | Yamaha | 2 | |
10 | ![]() |
4 | South Africa | Yamaha | 1 |
1979 250cc British Grand Prix final standings[6]
Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
1 | South Africa | Kawasaki | 15 |
2 | ![]() |
United States | Yamaha | 12 | |
3 | ![]() |
5 | West Germany | Kawasaki | 10 |
4 | ![]() |
Australia | Yamaha | 8 | |
5 | ![]() |
22 | Switzerland | Yamaha | 6 |
6 | ![]() |
France | Chevallier-Yamaha | 5 | |
7 | ![]() |
Austria | Yamaha | 4 | |
8 | ![]() |
3 | France | Yamaha | 3 |
9 | ![]() |
France | Kawasaki | 2 | |
10 | ![]() |
United Kingdom | Yamaha | 1 |
1979 125cc British Grand Prix final standings[7]
Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
2 | Spain | Minarelli | 15 |
2 | ![]() |
West Germany | Bender | 12 | |
3 | ![]() |
France | Motobécane | 10 | |
4 | ![]() |
Switzerland | Morbidelli | 8 | |
5 | ![]() |
3 | Italy | Minarelli | 6 |
6 | ![]() |
6 | Italy | MBA | 5 |
7 | ![]() |
7 | Switzerland | MBA | 4 |
8 | ![]() |
Austria | Morbidelli | 3 | |
9 | ![]() |
Switzerland | MBA | 2 | |
10 | ![]() |
United Kingdom | Morbidelli | 1 |
B2A Sidecars Standings [8]
Pos | Rider | Passenger | Manufacturer | Time/Retired | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
![]() |
Schmid-Yamaha | 15 | |
2 | ![]() |
![]() |
Windle-Yamaha | 12 | |
3 | ![]() |
![]() |
Yamaha | 10 | |
4 | ![]() |
![]() |
Yamaha | 8 | |
5 | ![]() |
![]() |
KSA-Yamaha | 6 | |
6 | ![]() |
![]() |
Yamaha | 5 | |
7 | ![]() |
![]() |
Busch-Yamaha | 4 | |
8 | ![]() |
![]() |
Yamaha | 3 | |
9 | ![]() |
![]() |
Krauser-Yamaha | 2 | |
10 | ![]() |
![]() |
Yamaha | 1 |
B2B Sidecars Standings [9]
Pos | Rider | Passenger | Manufacturer | Time/Retired | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
![]() |
Seymaz-Yamaha | 15 | |
2 | ![]() |
![]() |
LCR-Yamaha | 12 | |
3 | ![]() |
![]() |
Yamaha | 10 | |
4 | ![]() |
![]() |
Yamaha | 8 | |
5 | ![]() |
![]() |
Seymaz-Yamaha | 6 | |
6 | ![]() |
![]() |
CB-Yamaha | 5 | |
7 | ![]() |
![]() |
Seymaz-Yamaha | 4 | |
8 | ![]() |
![]() |
Suzuki | 3 | |
9 | ![]() |
![]() |
?-Yamaha | 2 | |
10 | ![]() |
![]() |
GEP-Yamaha | 1 |
References
- 1 2 "Silverstone 1979 – a Roberts-Sheene classic". motogp.com. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
- 1 2 3 "A Thriller At Silverstone". sportsillustrated.com. 20 August 1979. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
- 1 2 "The NR500s: A Humiliating Debut". world.honda.com. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
- ↑ "1979 500cc British Grand Prix". motogp.com. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
- ↑ "1979 350cc British Grand Prix". motogp.com. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
- ↑ "1979 250cc British Grand Prix". motogp.com. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
- ↑ "1979 125cc British Grand Prix". motogp.com. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
- ↑ "1979 - Sidecars 500cc B2A (Sidecars classiques)". Racing Memory (in French). Retrieved 13 November 2011.
- ↑ "1979 - Sidecars 500cc B2B (Sidecars modernes)". Racing Memory (in French). Retrieved 13 November 2011.
External links
- A Thriller At Silverstone - Sports Illustrated, August 20, 1979
- 1979 British Grand Prix on YouTube Part 1
- 1979 British Grand Prix on YouTube Part 2
- 1979 British Grand Prix on YouTube Part 3
- 1979 British Grand Prix on YouTube Part 4
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