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1979 FIM Motocross World Championship

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

Summary

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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

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500cc

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

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250cc

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Round Date Grand Prix Location Winner Team Report
1 April 8 Spain Spanish Grand Prix Sabadell Sweden Håkan Carlqvist Husqvarna Report
2 April 22 Netherlands Dutch Grand Prix Halle Sweden Håkan Carlqvist Husqvarna Report
3 April 29 Italy Italian Grand Prix Bra United Kingdom Neil Hudson Maico Report
4 May 6 Belgium Belgian Grand Prix Genk Belgium Harry Everts Suzuki Report
5 May 20 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavian Grand Prix Karlovac United Kingdom Neil Hudson Maico Report
6 May 27 Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakian Grand Prix Holice Sweden Håkan Carlqvist Husqvarna Report
7 June 10 Poland Polish Grand Prix Szczecin Sweden Håkan Carlqvist Husqvarna Report
8 June 17 France French Grand Prix Lavaur Sweden Håkan Carlqvist Husqvarna Report
9 July 1 Finland Finnish Grand Prix Hyvinkää Netherlands Kees van der Ven Maico Report
10 July 29 United States United States Grand Prix Unadilla United States Kent Howerton Suzuki Report
11 August 5 Germany West German Grand Prix Bielstein Sweden Håkan Carlqvist Husqvarna Report
12 August 12 Bulgaria Bulgarian Grand Prix Samokov Soviet Union Gennady Moiseyev KTM Report

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125cc

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Round Date Grand Prix Location Winner Team Report
1 April 8 Austria Austrian Grand Prix Launsdorf Belgium Harry Everts Suzuki Report
2 April 15 Germany West German Grand Prix Goldbach Belgium Harry Everts Suzuki Report
3 May 13 Netherlands Dutch Grand Prix Mill Belgium Harry Everts Suzuki Report
4 May 20 Italy Italian Grand Prix Esanatoglia Japan Akira Watanabe Suzuki Report
5 June 10 Finland Finnish Grand Prix Tampere Belgium Harry Everts Suzuki Report
6 June 17 Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakian Grand Prix Dalečín Belgium Harry Everts Suzuki Report
7 June 24 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavian Grand Prix Karlovac Belgium Harry Everts Suzuki Report
8 July 1 Switzerland Swiss Grand Prix Schupfart Italy Mauro Miele Ktm Report
9 July 8 France French Grand Prix Sucé-sur-Erdre Belgium Harry Everts Suzuki Report
10 July 15 Republic of Ireland Irish Grand Prix Slane[6] Belgium Harry Everts Suzuki Report
11 July 22 United States United States Grand Prix Lexington United States Mark Barnett Suzuki Report
12 August 12 Spain Spanish Grand Prix Montgai Belgium Harry Everts Suzuki Report

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Final standings

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References

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  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.
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