1979 British motorcycle Grand Prix

  1979 British Grand Prix

Race details
Race 11 of 13 races in the 1979 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	12 August 1979
Location	Silverstone Circuit
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.718 km (2.932 mi)
500 cc
Pole position
Rider	Kenny Roberts	Yamaha
Fastest lap
Rider	Barry Sheene	Suzuki
Podium
First	Kenny Roberts	Yamaha
Second	Barry Sheene	Suzuki
Third	Wil Hartog	Suzuki
350 cc
Pole position
Rider	Eric Saul	Adriatica
Fastest lap
Rider	Kork Ballington	Kawasaki
Podium
First	Kork Ballington	Kawasaki
Second	Gregg Hansford	Kawasaki
Third	Jeff Sayle	Yamaha
250 cc
Pole position
Rider	Kork Ballington	Kawasaki
Fastest lap
Rider	Kork Ballington	Kawasaki
Podium
First	Kork Ballington	Kawasaki
Second	Randy Mamola	Yamaha
Third	Anton Mang	Kawasaki
125 cc
Pole position
Rider	Hans Müller	MBA
Fastest lap
Rider	Pier Paolo Bianchi	Minarelli
Podium
First	Ángel Nieto	Minarelli
Second	Gert Bender	Bender
Third	Guy Bertin	Motobécane
Sidecars (B2A)
Pole position
Rider	Derek Jones	Daytona-Yamaha
Passenger	Brian Ayres
Fastest lap
Rider	Jock Taylor	Windle-Yamaha
Passenger	Benga Johansson
Podium
First	Rolf Biland	Schmid-Yamaha
	Kurt Waltisperg
Second	Jock Taylor	Windle-Yamaha
	Benga Johansson
Third	Dick Greasley	Yamaha
	John Parkins
Sidecars (B2B)
Pole position
Rider	Rolf Biland	LCR-Yamaha
Passenger	Kurt Waltisperg
Fastest lap
Rider	Alain Michel	Seymaz-Yamaha
Passenger	Michael Burkhard
Podium
First	Alain Michel	Seymaz-Yamaha
	Michael Burkhard
Second	Bruno Holzer	LCR-Yamaha
	Karl Meierhans
Third	Masato Kumano	Yamaha
	Isao Arifuku

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	Kenny Roberts	1	United States	Yamaha	15
2	Barry Sheene	7	United Kingdom	Suzuki	12
3	Wil Hartog	3	Netherlands	Suzuki	10
4	Virginio Ferrari	11	Italy	Suzuki	8
5	Boet van Dulmen	20	Netherlands	Suzuki	6
6	Christian Sarron	19	France	Yamaha	5
7	Franco Uncini	12	Italy	Suzuki	4
8	Philippe Coulon	18	Switzerland	Suzuki	3
9	Marco Lucchinelli	9	Italy	Suzuki	2
10	John Newbold	43	United Kingdom	Suzuki	1
11	Carlo Perugini		Italy	Suzuki
12	Gianni Rolando	41	Italy	Suzuki
13	Peter Sjostrom	16	Sweden	Suzuki
14	Keith Huewen	49	United Kingdom	Yamaha

1979 350cc British Grand Prix final standings^[5]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points
1	Kork Ballington	1	South Africa	Kawasaki	15
2	Gregg Hansford	3	Australia	Kawasaki	12
3	Jeff Sayle		Australia	Yamaha	10
4	Michel Frutschi		Switzerland	Yamaha	8
5	Roland Freymond	27	Switzerland	Yamaha	6
6	Michel Rougerie	6	France	Yamaha	5
7	Olivier Chevallier		France	Chevallier-Yamaha	4
8	Tony Head		United Kingdom	Yamaha	3
9	Alan North		South Africa	Yamaha	2
10	Jon Ekerold	4	South Africa	Yamaha	1

1979 250cc British Grand Prix final standings^[6]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points
1	Kork Ballington	1	South Africa	Kawasaki	15
2	Randy Mamola		United States	Yamaha	12
3	Anton Mang	5	West Germany	Kawasaki	10
4	Graeme McGregor		Australia	Yamaha	8
5	Roland Freymond	22	Switzerland	Yamaha	6
6	Olivier Chevallier		France	Chevallier-Yamaha	5
7	Edi Stoellinger		Austria	Yamaha	4
8	Patrick Fernandez	3	France	Yamaha	3
9	Christian Estrosi		France	Kawasaki	2
10	Tony Head		United Kingdom	Yamaha	1

1979 125cc British Grand Prix final standings^[7]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points
1	Angel Nieto	2	Spain	Minarelli	15
2	Gert Bender		West Germany	Bender	12
3	Guy Bertin		France	Motobécane	10
4	Stefan Dörflinger		Switzerland	Morbidelli	8
5	Pier Paolo Bianchi	3	Italy	Minarelli	6
6	Maurizio Massimiami	6	Italy	MBA	5
7	Hans Müller	7	Switzerland	MBA	4
8	August Auinger		Austria	Morbidelli	3
9	Bruno Kneubühler		Switzerland	MBA	2
10	Clive Horton		United Kingdom	Morbidelli	1

B2A Sidecars Standings ^[8]

Pos	Rider	Passenger	Manufacturer	Time/Retired	Points
1	Rolf Biland	Kurt Waltisperg	Schmid-Yamaha		15
2	Jock Taylor	Benga Johansson	Windle-Yamaha		12
3	Dick Greasley	John Parkins	Yamaha		10
4	Werner Schwärzel	Andreas Huber	Yamaha		8
5	Rolf Steinhausen	Kenny Arthur	KSA-Yamaha		6
6	Walter Ohrmann	Erich Schmitz	Yamaha		5
7	Siegfried Schauzu	Lorenzo Puzo	Busch-Yamaha		4
8	John Barker	Nick Cutmore	Yamaha		3
9	Hermann Huber	Bernhard Schappacher	Krauser-Yamaha		2
10	Kalevi Rahko	Kari Laatikainen	Yamaha		1

B2B Sidecars Standings ^[9]

Pos	Rider	Passenger	Manufacturer	Time/Retired	Points
1	Alain Michel	Michael Burkhard	Seymaz-Yamaha		15
2	Bruno Holzer	Karl Meierhans	LCR-Yamaha		12
3	Masato Kumano	Isao Arifuku	Yamaha		10
4	Heinz Luthringshauser	Karl Paul	Yamaha		8
5	Yvan Trolliet	Marc Petel	Seymaz-Yamaha		6
6	Bernard Chabert	Patrice Daire	CB-Yamaha		5
7	Cees Smit	Charles Vroegop	Seymaz-Yamaha		4
8	Klaus Sprengel	Derek John Booth	Suzuki		3
9	Steve Sinnott	John Horspole	?-Yamaha		2
10	Rudolf Reinhard	Karin Sterzenbach	GEP-Yamaha		1

References

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