1979 British motorcycle Grand Prix

Pole position
Rider	Éric Saul
Time	Unknown
Fastest lap
Rider	Kork Ballington
Time	Unknown
Podium
First	Kork Ballington
Second	Gregg Hansford
Third	Jeff Sayle

Pole position
Rider	Kenny Roberts
Time	1:29.810
Fastest lap
Rider	Barry Sheene
Time	Unknown
Podium
First	Kenny Roberts
Second	Barry Sheene
Third	Wil Hartog

1979 British Grand Prix
Race details
Race 11 of 13 races in the; 1979 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	12 August 1979
Official name	Marlboro British Grand Prix
Location	Silverstone Circuit
Course	Permanent racing facility; 4.718 km (2.932 mi);
500 cc
Pole position
Rider	Kenny Roberts
Time	1:29.810
Fastest lap
Rider	Barry Sheene
Time	Unknown
Podium
First	Kenny Roberts
Second	Barry Sheene
Third	Wil Hartog
350 cc
Pole position
Rider	Éric Saul
Time	Unknown
Fastest lap
Rider	Kork Ballington
Time	Unknown
Podium
First	Kork Ballington
Second	Gregg Hansford
Third	Jeff Sayle
250 cc
Pole position
Rider	Kork Ballington
Time	Unknown
Fastest lap
Rider	Kork Ballington
Time	Unknown
Podium
First	Kork Ballington
Second	Randy Mamola
Third	Anton Mang
125 cc
Pole position
Rider	Hans Müller
Time	Unknown
Fastest lap
Rider	Pier Paolo Bianchi
Time	Unknown
Podium
First	Ángel Nieto
Second	Gert Bender
Third	Guy Bertin
Sidecar (B2A)
Pole position
Rider
Fastest lap
Rider	Jock Taylor
Podium
First	Rolf Biland
Second	Jock Taylor
Third
Sidecars (B2B)
Pole position
Rider	Rolf Biland
Fastest lap
Rider	Alain Michel
Podium
First	Alain Michel
Second
Third

The 1979 British motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 1979 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 10-12 August 1979 at the Silverstone Circuit.

Race summary[]

The 500cc British Grand Prix would be one of the closest races in Grand Prix history.^[4] 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.^[5] 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.^[4]

Minutes before the start of the race, Roberts' Yamaha blew a seal and sprayed the bike with oil.^[5] 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.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.^[6]

Classification[]

500 cc[]

Pos.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Time/Retired	Points
1	Kenny Roberts	Yamaha Motor Company	Yamaha	42'56.720	15
2	Barry Sheene	Texaco Heron Team Suzuki	Suzuki	+0.030	12
3	Wil Hartog	Riemersma Racing	Suzuki	+4.970	10
4	Virginio Ferrari	Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat	Suzuki	+35.280	8
5	Boet van Dulmen		Suzuki	+36.820	6
6	Christian Sarron	Team Sonauto Gauloises	Yamaha	+40.650	5
7	Franco Uncini	Team Zago International	Suzuki	+51.090	4
8	Philippe Coulon		Suzuki	+51.250	3
9	Marco Lucchinelli		Suzuki	+56.790	2
10	John Newbold	Team Appleby Glade	Suzuki	+1'16.490	1
11			Yamaha	+1'18.280
12		Scuderia Naldoni	Suzuki	+1'19.910
13		Ava MC Stockholm	Suzuki	+1 lap
14		Auto 66 Club	Suzuki	+1 lap
15	Keith Huewen	Len Manchester Motorcycles	Yamaha	+1 lap
16			Suzuki	+2 laps
17		Sports Motorcycles	Suzuki	+2 laps
18		Team 77	Suzuki	+2 laps
19			Suzuki	+2 laps
Ret	Michel Rougerie		Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Ron Haslam	Mal Carter	Suzuki	Retired
Ret			Yamaha	Retired
Ret			[[]]	Retired
Ret			Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Gerhard Vogt	Bill Smith Racing	Suzuki	Retired
Ret			Suzuki	Retired
Ret			Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Gianni Pelletier		Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Dennis Ireland	Derry's Racing	Suzuki	Retired
Ret			Suzuki	Retired
Ret		Dieter Braun Team	Suzuki	Retired
Ret		Dieter Braun Team		Retired
Ret	Alex George		Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Randy Mamola	Serge Zago	Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Johnny Cecotto	Yamaha Motor Company	Yamaha	Retired
Ret	Graziano Rossi	Morbidelli	Morbidelli	Retired
Ret			Suzuki	Retired
Ret		Kouv MK	Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Tony Rutter	Harold Coppock	Suzuki	Retired
Ret		Yamaha Motor Company	Yamaha	Retired
Ret	Takazumi Katayama	Honda International Racing	Honda	Retired
Ret			Suzuki	Retired
Ret			Yamaha	Retired
Ret	Steve Parrish	Texaco Heron Team Suzuki	Suzuki	Accident
Ret	Dave Potter	Team Mitsui Yamaha	Yamaha	Retired
Ret	Mick Grant	Honda International Racing	Honda	Accident
DNS	Jack Middelburg		Suzuki	Did not start
Sources: ^[7]^[8]

350cc[]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Time/Retired	Points
1	Kork Ballington	1	South Africa	Kawasaki	38min 9.91sec	15
2	Gregg Hansford	15	Australia	Kawasaki		12
3	Jeff Sayle	25	Australia	Yamaha		10
4	Michel Frutschi	14	Switzerland	Yamaha		8
5	Roland Freymond	24	Switzerland	Yamaha		6
6	Michel Rougerie	55	France	Yamaha		5
7	Olivier Chevallier	10	France	Chevallier-Yamaha		4
8	Tony Head	47	United Kingdom	Yamaha		3
9	Alan North	43	South Africa	Yamaha		2
10	Jon Ekerold	4	South Africa	Yamaha		1
Sources: ^[9]

250cc[]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points
1	Kork Ballington	1	South Africa	Kawasaki	15
2	Randy Mamola	17	United States	Yamaha	12
3	Anton Mang	5	West Germany	Kawasaki	10
4	Graeme McGregor	35	Australia	Yamaha	8
5	Roland Freymond	39	Switzerland	Yamaha	6
6	Olivier Chevallier	20	France	Chevallier-Yamaha	5
7	Edi Stoellinger	28	Austria	Yamaha	4
8	Patrick Fernandez	2	France	Yamaha	3
9	Christian Estrosi	12	France	Kawasaki	2
10	Tony Head	51	United Kingdom	Yamaha	1
11	Eero Hyvarinen	38	Finland	Yamaha
12	Eric Saul	21	France	Bimota Adriatica Yamaha
13	Rene Delaby	23	Belgium	Yamaha
Sources: ^[10]

125cc[]

Place	Rider	Number	Country	Machine	Points
1	Angel Nieto	2	Spain	Minarelli	15
2	Gert Bender	11	West Germany	Bender	12
3	Guy Bertin	5	France	Motobécane	10
4	Stefan Dörflinger	12	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	16	Austria	Morbidelli	3
9	Bruno Kneubühler	17	Switzerland	MBA	2
10	Clive Horton	10	United Kingdom	Morbidelli	1
Sources: ^[11]

B2A Sidecars Standings[]

Pos	Rider	Number	Manufacturer	Time/Retired	Points
1	Rolf Biland	1	Schmid-Yamaha	33min 39.47sec	15
2	Jock Taylor	7	Windle-Yamaha		12
3		5	Busch-Yamaha		10
4		4	Yamaha		8
5	Rolf Steinhausen	12	KSA-Yamaha		6
6		27	Yamaha		5
7		13	Busch-Yamaha		4
8		28	Reynoldson-Yamaha		3
9		14	Krauser-Yamaha		2
10		16	Yamaha		1

^[12]

B2B Sidecars Standings[]

Pos	Rider	Manufacturer	Points
1	Alain Michel	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

^[13]

References[]

^ "Alle Grand-Prix uitslagen en bijzonderheden, van 1973 (het jaar dat Jack begon met racen) tot heden". Archive.li. Archived from the original on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
^ Mitchell, Malcolm. "1979 500cc Class (FIM Grand Prix World Championship) Programmes - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Progcovers.com. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
^ Mitchell, Malcolm. "Silverstone Circuit - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Progcovers.com. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Silverstone 1979 – a Roberts-Sheene classic". Motogp.com. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c "A Thriller At Silverstone". Sportsillustrated.com. 20 August 1979. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "The NR500s: A Humiliating Debut". World.honda.com. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
^ "1979 British MotoGP - Motor Sport Magazine Database". Motorsportmagazine.com. 29 January 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
^ "BRITISH GRAND PRIX · 500cc Race Classification 1979". Motogp.com. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
^ "BRITISH GRAND PRIX · 350cc Race Classification 1979". Motogp.com. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
^ "BRITISH GRAND PRIX · 250cc Race Classification 1979". Motogp.com. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
^ "BRITISH GRAND PRIX · 125cc Race Classification 1979". Motogp.com. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
^ "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

Previous race: 1979 Finnish Grand Prix	FIM Grand Prix World Championship 1979 season	Next race:
Previous race: 1978 British Grand Prix	British Grand Prix	Next race: 1980 British Grand Prix

[1] "Alle Grand-Prix uitslagen en bijzonderheden, van 1973 (het jaar dat Jack begon met racen) tot heden". Archive.li. Archived from the original on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2018.

[2] Mitchell, Malcolm. "1979 500cc Class (FIM Grand Prix World Championship) Programmes - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Progcovers.com. Retrieved 4 November 2018.

[3] Mitchell, Malcolm. "Silverstone Circuit - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Progcovers.com. Retrieved 4 November 2018.

[Silverstone_1979_–_a_Roberts-Sheene_classic-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Silverstone 1979 – a Roberts-Sheene classic". Motogp.com. Retrieved 15 December 2010.

[A_Thriller_At_Silverston-5] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c "A Thriller At Silverstone". Sportsillustrated.com. 20 August 1979. Retrieved 15 December 2010.

[The_NR500s:_A_Humiliating_Debut-6] Jump up to: ^a ^b "The NR500s: A Humiliating Debut". World.honda.com. Retrieved 23 October 2012.

[7] "1979 British MotoGP - Motor Sport Magazine Database". Motorsportmagazine.com. 29 January 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2018.

[8] "BRITISH GRAND PRIX · 500cc Race Classification 1979". Motogp.com. Retrieved 4 November 2018.

[9] "BRITISH GRAND PRIX · 350cc Race Classification 1979". Motogp.com. Retrieved 4 November 2018.

[10] "BRITISH GRAND PRIX · 250cc Race Classification 1979". Motogp.com. Retrieved 4 November 2018.

[11] "BRITISH GRAND PRIX · 125cc Race Classification 1979". Motogp.com. Retrieved 4 November 2018.

[12] "1979 - Sidecars 500cc B2A (Sidecars classiques)". Racing Memory (in French). Retrieved 13 November 2011.

[13] "1979 - Sidecars 500cc B2B (Sidecars modernes)". Racing Memory (in French). Retrieved 13 November 2011.

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