1979 FIM Motocross World Championship

Motocross championship season December 2022 1979 FIM Motocross World Championship FIM 8 April/12 August 36 18 Champions 500cc UK Graham Noyce 250cc SWE Håkan Carlqvist 125cc BEL Harry Everts FIM Motocross World Championship 1978 1980 The 1979 FIM Motocross World Championship was the 23rd F.I.M. Motocross Racing World Championship season. Summary As the 1970s came to an end, it also marked a changing of the guard in the 500cc Motocross World Championships. Roger De Coster (Suzuki) and Heikki Mikkola (Yamaha) had dominated the premier class during the 1970s, between them winning every World Championship from 1971 to 1978. That streak came to an end in 1979 as Mikkola struggled to recover from a broken leg suffered in preseason and De Coster was still feeling the effects from his serious injuries in 1978.Assoc American Motorcyclist https://books.google.com/books?id=FvgDAAAAMBAJ&q=1979+graham+noyce&pg=PA29 Noyce makes his mark with run for the title September 1979 American Motorcyclist 31 December 2016http://mxgp.hondaracingcorporation.com/history/ History MXGP hondaracingcorporation.com 31 December 2016 Despite only winning two Grand Prix races, Graham Noyce (Honda) won the 1979 500cc World Championship by consistently scoring points in all but two races. Noyce earned 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. 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. Mikkola then suffered another injury at the Canadian Grand Prix and his injuries forced him to sit out the West German Grand Prix. 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. Noyce then took command of the championship by posting a series of top five finishes to win the title for the Honda team. The victory marked the Honda factory's first ever motocross world championship as well as the first motocross world championship for a British rider since Jeff Smith in 1965. Four-time World Champion Mikkola made the decision to retire from competition at the end of the 1979 season. Jean-Jacques Bruno won the first heat race at the French Grand Prix to become the first French competitor in history to win a 500cc World Championship heat race. He then won the 500cc West German Grand Prix to become the first French 500cc Motocross Grand Prix winner. Håkan Carlqvist won six of the twelve Grand Prix events, finishing comfortably ahead of second-placed Neil Hudson to be crowned the 250cc World Champion. Harry Everts dominated the 125cc world championship for the Suzuki factory racing team. Grands Prix 500cc RoundDateGrand PrixLocationRace 1 WinnerRace 2 WinnerOverall WinnerReport 1 April 22 AUT Austrian Grand Prix Sittendorf BEL Yvan van den Broeck USA Brad Lackey UK Graham Noyce Report 2 April 29 FRA French Grand Prix Thours FRA Jean-Jacques Bruno USA Brad Lackey USA Brad Lackey Report 3 May 13 SWE Swedish Grand Prix Huskvarna USA Brad Lackey NED Gerrit Wolsink NED Gerrit Wolsink Report 4 May 27 ITA Italian Grand Prix Faenza FIN Heikki Mikkola FIN Heikki Mikkola FIN Heikki Mikkola Report 5 June 10 USA United States Grand Prix Carlsbad NED Gerrit Wolsink USA Brad Lackey NED Gerrit Wolsink Report 6 June 17 CAN Canadian Grand Prix Mosport UK Graham Noyce NED Gerrit Wolsink NED Gerrit Wolsink Report 7 June 24 RFA West German Grand Prix Beuren FRA Jean-Jacques Bruno BEL André Malherbe FRA Jean-Jacques Bruno Report 8 July 1 UK British Grand Prix Farleigh Castle USA Brad Lackey UK Graham Noyce UK Graham Noyce Report 9 July 8 CH Swiss Grand Prix Payerne FIN Heikki Mikkola FIN Heikki Mikkola FIN Heikki Mikkola Report 10 July 29 Netherlands Dutch Grand Prix Markelo UK Graham Noyce NED Gerrit Wolsink NED Gerrit Wolsink Report 11 August 5 BEL Belgian Grand Prix Namur BEL Roger De Coster BEL André Malherbe BEL André Malherbe Report 12 August 12 LUX Luxembourg Grand Prix Ettelbruck USA Brad Lackey BEL André Malherbe BEL André Malherbe ReportSources:http://www.memotocross.fr/maison/reservation/index.php#0440929e450c07d01 1979 500cc motocross world championship race results memotocross.fr 30 December 2016 250cc RoundDateGrand PrixLocationRace 1 WinnerRace 2 WinnerOverall WinnerReport 1 April 8 ESP Spanish Grand Prix Sabadell CZE Jaroslav Falta SWE Håkan Carlqvist SWE Håkan Carlqvist Report 2 April 22 NED Dutch Grand Prix Halle SWE Håkan Carlqvist SWE Håkan Carlqvist SWE Håkan Carlqvist Report 3 April 29 ITA Italian Grand Prix Bra UK Neil Hudson SWE Håkan Carlqvist UK Neil Hudson Report 4 May 6 BEL Belgian Grand Prix Genk UK Neil Hudson SWE Håkan Carlqvist UK Neil Hudson Report 5 May 20 YUG Yugoslavian Grand Prix Karlovac SWE Håkan Carlqvist UK Neil Hudson UK Neil Hudson Report 6 May 27 CZE Czechoslovak Grand Prix Holice SWE Håkan Carlqvist SWE Håkan Carlqvist SWE Håkan Carlqvist Report 7 June 10 POL Polish Grand Prix Szczecin SWE Håkan Carlqvist SWE Håkan Carlqvist SWE Håkan Carlqvist Report 8 June 17 FRA French Grand Prix Lavaur SWE Håkan Carlqvist SWE Håkan Carlqvist SWE Håkan Carlqvist Report 9 July 1 FIN Finnish Grand Prix Hyvinkää Netherlands Kees van der Ven UK Neil Hudson Netherlands Kees van der Ven Report 10 July 29 USA United States Grand Prix Unadilla USA Marty Tripes USA Bob Hannah USA Kent Howerton Report 11 August 5 RFA West German Grand Prix Bielstein SWE Håkan Carlqvist SWE Håkan Carlqvist SWE Håkan Carlqvist Report 12 August 12 Bulgaria Bulgarian Grand Prix Samokov USSR Gennady Moiseyev USSR Gennady Moiseyev USSR Gennady Moiseyev ReportSources:http://www.memotocross.fr/maison/philosophie/index.php#0440929e440b02e01 1979 250cc motocross world championship race results memotocross.fr 30 December 2016 125cc RoundDateGrand PrixLocationRace 1 WinnerRace 2 WinnerOverall WinnerReport 1 April 8 AUT Austrian Grand Prix Launsdorf BEL Harry Everts BEL Harry Everts BEL Harry Everts Report 2 April 15 RFA West German Grand Prix Goldbach BEL Harry Everts BEL Harry Everts BEL Harry Everts Report 3 May 13 NED Dutch Grand Prix Mill BEL Harry Everts BEL Harry Everts BEL Harry Everts Report 4 May 20 ITA Italian Grand Prix Esanatoglia JPN Akira Watanabe JPN Akira Watanabe JPN Akira Watanabe Report 5 June 10 FIN Finnish Grand Prix Tampere BEL Harry Everts BEL Harry Everts BEL Harry Everts Report 6 June 17 CZE Czechoslovak Grand Prix Dalečín BEL Harry Everts BEL Harry Everts BEL Harry Everts Report 7 June 24 YUG Yugoslavian Grand Prix Karlovac JPN Akira Watanabe BEL Harry Everts BEL Harry Everts Report 8 July 1 CH Swiss Grand Prix Schupfart BEL Harry Everts BEL Gaston Rahier ITA Mauro Miele Report 9 July 8 FRA French Grand Prix Sucé-sur-Erdre BEL Harry Everts BEL Harry Everts BEL Harry Everts Report 10 July 15 IRL Irish Grand Prix Slanehttp://www.motocross.ie/?select=3&id=651 Fairyhouse To Host The Irish Motocross Grand Prix motocross.ie 6 March 2017 7 March 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170307045756/http://www.motocross.ie/?select=3&id=651 dead BEL Harry Everts BEL Harry Everts BEL Harry Everts Report 11 July 22 USA United States Grand Prix Lexington USA Broc Glover USA Mark Barnett USA Mark Barnett Report 12 August 12 ESP Spanish Grand Prix Montgai BEL Harry Everts BEL Harry Everts BEL Harry Everts ReportSources:http://www.memotocross.fr/maison/situation/index.php#0440929e440b70f02 1979 125cc motocross world championship race results memotocross.fr 30 December 2016 Final standings Points are awarded based on the results of each individual heat race. The top 10 classified finishers in each heat race score points according to the following scale; Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th  Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 500cc (Results in italics indicate overall winner) Pos Rider Machine AUTAUT FRAFRA SWESWE ITAITA USAUSA CANCAN RFARFA UKUK CHCH NEDNED BELBEL LUXLUX Points 1 UK Graham Noyce Honda 2 2 2 7 2 6 3 3 3 5 1 3 6 2 2 1 2 5 1 2 3 4 225 2 NED Gerrit Wolsink Suzuki 3 3 7 8 4 1 10 6 1 3 2 1 5 3 4 8 6 2 1 3 177 3 BEL André Malherbe Honda 6 5 2 6 5 4 5 4 7 1 6 2 3 2 4 2 1 2 1 176 4 USA Brad Lackey Kawasaki 5 1 3 1 1 4 1 4 2 9 1 4 4 8 9 7 1 2 173 5 FIN Heikki Mikkola Yamaha 4 3 3 2 1 1 2 5 1 1 3 3 10 4 147 6 BEL Roger De Coster Suzuki 10 4 6 3 2 7 2 7 3 4 3 3 3 1 5 125 7 BEL André Vromans Suzuki 8 6 5 9 2 5 7 5 5 6 4 5 8 6 5 8 86 8 FRA Jean-Jacques Bruno KTM 4 9 1 5 7 8 7 8 6 1 5 5 4 85 9 BEL Yvan van den Broeck Maico 1 6 8 9 8 3 8 9 9 7 4 8 3 6 75 10 NED Gérard Rond Suzuki 8 5 9 4 7 4 6 8 7 7 5 4 2 73 11 RFA Herbert Schmitz Maico 7 10 6 9 6 9 4 10 8 6 3 46 12 RFA Fritz Köbele Maico 9 7 10 5 8 7 6 5 31 13 DEN Arne Lodal Husqvarna 9 10 8 9 6 6 7 22 14 SWE Bengt Åberg Maico 10 2 6 18 15 SWE Håkan Andersson Husqvarna 9 7 7 5 16 16 USA Chuck Sun Husqvarna 10 9 10 4 9 14 17 UK Bob Wright CCM 7 5 10 18 USA Marty Smith Honda 10 4 9 IRL Laurence Spence Cotton - Rotax 8 10 10 9 9 9 20 USA Rick Burgett Yamaha 9 6 7 USA Jimmy Weinert Kawasaki 9 6 7 22 UK Peter Mathia Maico 9 10 8 6 USA Rex Staten Yamaha 8 8 6 24 SWE Arne Lindfors Yamaha 8 9 5 25 USA Danny LaPorte Suzuki 7 4 UK Geoff Mayes Maico 7 4 NED Toon Karsmakers Maico 7 4 FIN Tapani Pikkarainen Suzuki 7 4 RFA Ludwig Reinbold KTM 10 8 4 30 BEL Raymond Heeren Yamaha 8 3 USA Parry Klassen Maico 10 10 10 3 32 UK Steve Beamish Suzuki 9 2 NED Frantz Sigmans Maico 9 2 UK Vic Allan Bultaco 10 10 2 35 NED Peter Herlings Maico 10 1 NED Ad Verstegen Maico 10 1 NED Henk Poorte Montesa 10 1 CH Herbert Salzmann Husqvarna 10 1Sources:https://memotocross.fr/downloads/2cm-1979-500-res-complet.pdf 1979 500cc motocross world championship final results memotocross.fr 31 October 2025https://www.memotocross.fr/maison/equipe/index.php#0440929e430bc8d01 1979 500cc motocross world championship final standings memotocross.fr 31 October 2025 250cc (Results in italics indicate overall winner) Pos Rider Machine ESPESP NEDNED ITAITA BELBEL YUGYUG CZECZE POLPOL FRAFRA FINFIN USAUSA GERRFA BULBUL Points 1 SWE Håkan Carlqvist Husqvarna 2 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 248 2 UK Neil Hudson Maico 5 3 4 5 1 4 1 2 2 1 2 3 3 1 2 2 178 3 USSR Vladimir Kavinov KTM 6 8 6 2 3 5 3 5 6 4 2 4 2 2 5 6 4 133 4 USSR Gennady Moiseyev KTM 6 2 3 2 2 3 3 8 5 4 4 1 1 126 5 NED Kees van der Ven Maico 5 2 5 9 2 8 10 7 1 3 8 5 5 3 7 5 106 6 RFA Rolf Dieffenbach Kawasaki 3 7 3 6 4 9 4 4 3 2 3 7 4 99 7 BEL Georges Jobé Suzuki 8 9 5 6 8 3 7 2 3 4 9 9 9 9 71 8 BEL Jean-Claude Laquaye SWM 10 3 6 5 6 5 5 6 10 7 2 6 66 9 BEL Jaak van Velthoven KTM 10 10 6 4 9 6 4 8 7 5 10 6 2 61 10 CZE Jaroslav Falta ČZ 1 5 6 7 7 4 5 3 58 11 JPN Torao Suzuki Montesa 9 7 6 4 5 6 5 3 46 12 UK Vaughan Semmens Maico 4 7 10 10 6 9 7 3 8 38 13 RFA Hans Maisch Maico 4 9 5 5 2 9 36 14 FIN Erkki Sundström Husqvarna 10 7 9 7 10 8 6 8 8 4 34 15 NED Bennie Wilken Maico 3 4 10 6 9 9 28 16 BEL Raymond Boven Husqvarna 7 9 10 6 6 10 6 8 26 17 USA Bob Hannah Yamaha 3 1 25 USA Jim Pomeroy Bultaco / Beta 9 8 4 7 4 25 19 USA Kent Howerton Suzuki 2 2 24 20 ESP Antonio Elias Bultaco 8 2 10 8 19 21 CZE Zdeněk Velký ČZ 9 2 10 15 USA Marty Tripes Honda 1 15 ITA Ivan Alborghetti KTM 8 8 7 9 8 15 24 USSR Pavel Rulev ČZ 5 7 10 25 SWE Magnus Nyberg KTM 10 4 9 USA Mike Guerra Husqvarna 6 7 9 UK Rob Hooper Husqvarna 10 10 10 7 9 9 28 ITA Pier Antonio Dal Brun Aprilia 4 8 29 BEL Pierre Schroyen KTM 7 8 7 30 NOR Jan Kristoffersen Yamaha 9 10 9 5 31 ESP Fernando Muñoz Montesa 7 4 NED Pierre Karsmakers Yamaha 7 4 USA Mark Gregson Yamaha 7 4 34 NED Henk Van Mierlo KTM 8 3 France Daniel Péan Montesa 8 3 BUL Dimitar Rangelov ČZ 8 3 SWE Tommy Olsson Maico 8 3 FRA Patrick Boniface Honda 8 3 NED Henk Bloemert Husqvarna 9 10 3 USA Frank Stacy KTM 10 9 3 41 FIN Timo Remes Yamaha 10 1 YUG Marian Avbelj KTM 10 1Sources:https://memotocross.fr/downloads/2cm-1979-250-res-complet.pdf 1979 250cc motocross world championship final results memotocross.fr 31 October 2025https://www.memotocross.fr/maison/visite/index.php#0440929ca80bf1b19 1979 250cc motocross world championship final standings memotocross.fr 5 November 2025 125cc (Results in italics indicate overall winner) Pos Rider Machine AUTAUT GERRFA NEDNED ITAITA FINFIN CZECZE YUGYUG CHCH FRAFRA IRLIRL USAUSA ESPESP Points 1 BEL Harry Everts Suzuki 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 314 2 JPN Akira Watanabe Suzuki 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 4 1 2 2 8 2 4 2 5 2 2 236 3 BEL Gaston Rahier Yamaha 2 4 5 4 3 3 3 4 3 4 1 3 2 3 3 3 5 3 3 183 4 FIN Matti Autio Suzuki 5 6 3 4 4 2 3 4 2 2 3 6 5 4 2 132 5 ITA Corrado Maddii Aprilia 8 8 5 9 10 7 5 8 7 4 5 6 6 6 7 8 68 6 NED Peter Groeneveld Honda 7 8 6 3 6 9 7 6 10 7 4 5 6 62 7 ITA Mauro Miele KTM 10 9 7 4 5 4 4 3 2 10 10 61 8 ITA Michele Rinaldi TGM 9 6 9 7 4 7 6 6 5 5 6 8 55 9 BEL Robert Greisch Puch 10 9 10 9 8 8 5 3 4 3 46 10 FIN Göte Liljegren Aprilia 5 6 5 10 8 8 8 8 10 9 9 9 10 6 43 11 USSR Yuri Khudiakov ČZ 7 3 10 9 7 6 9 7 5 38 NED Dinand Ziljlstra Kawasaki 5 5 5 7 10 7 10 7 8 8 38 13 USSR Valéri Korneev ČZ 8 9 8 5 5 5 9 9 30 14 ITA Renato Zocchi Cagiva 8 3 7 10 6 6 10 29 15 FIN Pauli Piippola Husqvarna 7 10 8 8 10 4 4 28 16 USA Mark Barnett Suzuki 2 1 27 USA Broc Glover Yamaha 1 2 27 CZE Jiří Churavý ČZ 4 4 7 6 9 27 19 AUT Siegfried Lerner KTM 5 3 6 21 20 ITA Dario Nani Gilera 6 9 3 17 21 USA Donnie Cantaloupi Yamaha 4 6 13 USA Brian Myerscough Suzuki 6 4 13 23 FIN Seppo Isomaki Suzuki 6 5 11 24 ITA Franco Perfini Gilera 4 9 10 25 USA Tod Perkins Yamaha 8 7 7 DEN Ole Svendson KTM 7 9 10 7 27 RFA Bernd Betzelbacher Maico 9 7 6 NZ Graig Coleman Suzuki 9 7 6 29 USSR Andrei Ledovskoy ČZ 10 7 5 USA Steve Martin Yamaha 9 8 5 31 USA Tom Benolkin Suzuki 7 4 BEL Eddy Hau Zündapp 8 10 4 33 NED Henk Pauw Honda 8 3 34 USA Randy Hess Yamaha 9 2 NED Theunis Boersma Suzuki 9 2 36 CZE Jaroslav Janis ČZ 10 1 FIN Arne Wilkman Suzuki 10 1 USA Jeff Ward Kawasaki 10 1 USA Robert Handy Suzuki 10 1Sources:https://memotocross.fr/downloads/2cm-1979-125-res-complet.pdf 1979 125cc motocross world championship final results" memotocross.fr 31 October 2025https://www.memotocross.fr/maison/chambres/index.php#0440929e3e0cfa101 1979 125cc motocross world championship final standings memotocross.fr 31 October 2025 References External links https://www.fim-moto.com/en/sports/view/fim-motocross-world-championship-4414 FIM Motocross World Championship season Category:Motocross World Championship seasons