# 1979 Venezuelan motorcycle Grand Prix

The 1979 Venezuelan motorcycle Grand Prix, the first of 13 rounds of the F.I.M. 1979 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, was held on 18 March at the San Carlos Circuit. British rider Barry Sheene, world champion in 1976 and 1977, won the 500cc GP by 18 seconds from Italian Virginio Ferrari to make it three successive Venezuelan GPs. Venezuelan racer Carlos Lavado won the 350cc class from Italian Walter Villa and Frenchman Patrick Fernandez.
Villa won the 250cc event, ahead of South African rider Kork Ballington by 20 seconds, marking the final Grand Prix victory of Villa's motorcycle racing career. Spanish rider Ángel Nieto won the 125cc class from Frenchman Thierry Espié and Italian Maurizio Massimiani. Nieto would later win the 125cc season championship. Yamaha won two races, and Suzuki and Minarelli one each.

## Classifications
### 500 cc

| Pos. | Rider | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Grid | Points |
| 1 | Barry Sheene | Texaco Heron Team Suzuki | Suzuki | 30 | 47'52.900 | 1 | 15 |
| 2 | Virginio Ferrari | Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat | Suzuki | 30 | +18.600 | 4 | 12 |
| 3 | Tom Herron | Texaco Heron Team Suzuki | Suzuki | 30 | +30.900 | 2 | 10 |
| 4 | Franco Uncini | Team Zago International | Suzuki | 30 | +1'34.800 | 6 | 8 |
| 5 | Michel Rougerie | | Suzuki | 29 | +1 lap | 10 | 6 |
| 6 | Roberto Pietri | | Suzuki | 29 | +1 lap | 11 | 5 |
| 7 | Christian Sarron | Team Sonauto Gauloises | Yamaha | 29 | +1 lap | 12 | 4 |
| 8 | Gerhard Vogt | Bill Smith Racing | Suzuki | 28 | +2 laps | 13 | 3 |
| 9 | Stefan Pellandini | | Suzuki | 27 | +3 laps | 15 | 2 |
| 10 | Dennis Ireland | Derry's Racing | Suzuki | 27 | +3 laps | 16 | 1 |
| | Johnny Cecotto | Yamaha Motor Company | Yamaha | | | 3 | |
| | Wil Hartog | Riemersma Racing | Suzuki | | | 5 | |
| | Steve Parrish | | Suzuki | | | 7 | |
| | Mick Grant | | Suzuki | | | 8 | |
| | Gianni Pelletier | | Suzuki | | | 9 | |
| | Carlos Delgado de San Antonio | | Suzuki | | | 14 | |
| Sources: ||||||||

### 350 cc

| Pos | Rider | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Grid | Points |
| 1 | Carlos Lavado | Yamaha | 29 | 46:48.4 | 1 | 15 |
| 2 | Walter Villa | Yamaha | 29 | +15.3 | 2 | 12 |
| 3 | Patrick Fernandez | Yamaha | 29 | +23.5 | 4 | 10 |
| 4 | Kork Ballington | Kawasaki | 29 | +28.1 | 6 | 8 |
| 5 | Jon Ekerold | Yamaha | 29 | +33.8 | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | Christian Estrosi | Kawasaki | 29 | +40.0 | 9 | 5 |
| 7 | Eric Saul | Yamaha | 29 | +1:11.9 | 11 | 4 |
| 8 | Victor Soussan | Yamaha | 29 | +1:22.4 | 8 | 3 |
| 9 | Olivier Chevallier | Yamaha | 29 | +1:25.6 | 12 | 2 |
| 10 | Patrick Pons | Yamaha | 29 | +1:35.7 | 7 | 1 |
| 11 | Eduardo Alemán | Yamaha | 28 | +1 lap | 14 | |
| 12 | Gregg Hansford | Kawasaki | 28 | +1 lap | 10 | |
| 13 | Randy Mamola | Yamaha | 28 | +1 lap | | |
| 14 | Barry Woodland | Yamaha | 28 | +1 lap | | |
| 15 | J. Gonzalez | Yamaha | 27 | +2 laps | | |
| | Iván Palazzese | Yamaha | | | 5 | |
| | C. Giroto | Yamaha | | | 13 | |
| | Franco Uncini | Yamaha | | | 15 | |
| 30 starters in total, 18 finishers |||||||

### 250 cc

| Pos | Rider | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Grid | Points |
| 1 | Walter Villa | Yamaha | 28 | 46:13.5 | 2 | 15 |
| 2 | Kork Ballington | Kawasaki | 28 | +20.6 | 3 | 12 |
| 3 | Victor Soussan | Yamaha | 28 | +1:14.2 | 9 | 10 |
| 4 | Olivier Chevallier | Yamaha | 28 | +1:17.6 | 7 | 8 |
| 5 | Randy Mamola | Bimota | 28 | +1:21.5 | 13 | 6 |
| 6 | Eric Saul | Yamaha | 28 | +1:27.1 | 8 | 5 |
| 7 | Gregg Hansford | Kawasaki | 28 | +1:40.5 | 5 | 4 |
| 8 | Maurizio Massimiani | MBA | 27 | +1 lap | 12 | 3 |
| 9 | Chas Mortimer | Yamaha | 27 | +1 lap | 11 | 2 |
| 10 | Fernando Gonzalez | Yamaha | 27 | +1 lap | | 1 |
| 11 | A. Rubio | Yamaha | 27 | +1 lap | | |
| 12 | I. Troisi | Yamaha | 27 | +1 lap | | |
| 13 | B. Jull | Yamaha | 27 | +1 lap | | |
| 14 | G. Di Carlo | Yamaha | 27 | +1 lap | | |
| 15 | Carlos Morante | Yamaha | 24 | +4 laps | | |
| 16 | Eduardo Alemán | Yamaha | 24 | +4 laps | 10 | |
| | Carlos Lavado | Yamaha | | | 1 | |
| | Patrick Fernandez | Yamaha | | | 4 | |
| | Christian Estrosi | Kawasaki | | | 6 | |
| | Graziano Rossi | Morbidelli | | | 14 | |
| 26 starters in total, ? finishers |||||||

### 125 cc

| Pos | Rider | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Grid | Points |
| 1 | Ángel Nieto | Minarelli | 26 | 45:39.3 | 3 | 15 |
| 2 | Thierry Espié | Motobécane | 26 | +6.1 | 4 | 12 |
| 3 | Maurizio Massimiani | MBA | 26 | +40.6 | 6 | 10 |
| 4 | Patrick Herouard | MBA | 26 | +58.5 | 7 | 8 |
| 5 | Jean Lecureux | Morbidelli | 26 | +1:12.9 | | 6 |
| 6 | Ivan Troisi | Yamaha | 26 | +1:18.4 | 8 | 5 |
| 7 | Francois Granon | Morbidelli | 26 | +1:28.5 | 13 | 4 |
| 8 | Hans Müller | Morbidelli | 26 | +1:44.2 | 10 | 3 |
| 9 | Jean Paul Magnoni | Morbidelli | 25 | +1 lap | 15 | 2 |
| 10 | Patrick Plisson | Motoshop | 25 | +1 lap | 11 | 1 |
| 11 | Bernie Wilbers | MBA | 25 | +1 lap | | |
| 12 | H. Vigneti | Morbidelli | 25 | +1 lap | | |
| 13 | Eduardo Cereda | MBA | 25 | +1 lap | 12 | |
| 14 | J. Huberts | MBA | 25 | +1 lap | | |
| 15 | D. Abreu | Honda | 23 | +3 laps | | |
| | Ivan Palazzese | MBA | | | 1 | |
| | Eugenio Lazzarini | MBA | | | 2 | |
| | Bam Carlson | Morbidelli | | | 5 | |
| | Jean P. Marchetti | MBA | | | 9 | |
| | Fernando Gonzalez | Morbidelli | | | 14 | |
| 25 starters in total, 17 finishers |||||||