# 1978 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

The 1978 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 30th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.

## Season summary

There was an air of excitement at the start of the 1978 Grand Prix season. The popularity of defending champion Barry Sheene had boosted the appeal of motorcycle racing into the realm of the mass marketing media. The arrival of Kenny Roberts from America added to the anticipation. A young Spaniard, Ricardo Tormo took five of seven rounds to claim the 50 cc title for Bultaco. Italy's Eugenio Lazzarini won the 125 cc crown aboard an MBA. South Africa's Kork Ballington pulled off an impressive double, winning the 250 cc and 350 cc titles for Kawasaki, matching the double championships of Walter Villa in 1976 and Mike Hailwood in 1967.
In the 500 cc class, Suzuki returned with its defending world champion, Barry Sheene, along with teammates Teuvo Lansivuori, Pat Hennen and Wil Hartog. Yamaha's official factory team entered former 350 cc world champions Johnny Cecotto and Takazumi Katayama. Lacking a competitive bike with which to compete against Harley Davidson in the AMA Grand National Championship, Yamaha's American subsidiary decided to send its former AMA champion Roberts to compete in the 250 cc, 500 cc and Formula 750 F.I.M. road racing world championships. Roberts also secured the financial backing of the Goodyear tire company.
Sheene opened the season with a win in the Venezuelan Grand Prix but then fell ill to a virus that weakened him for the first part of the year. Roberts won the 250 cc Grand Prix in Venezuela but then suffered a mechanical failure in the 500 cc race. American Pat Hennen won the second round at the Spanish Grand Prix with Roberts finishing in second place and Sheene relegated to fifth place. Roberts then won his first-ever 500 cc Grand Prix with a win at the Austrian Grand Prix, quickly followed by two more victories in France and Italy to take the championship points lead. Hennen's promising career was cut short when he suffered head injuries while competing in the Isle of Man TT during a break in the Grand Prix season schedule.
Cecotto won the Dutch TT with Roberts finishing ahead of a resurgent Sheene in third place. Hartog would claim the Belgian Grand Prix for Suzuki with Roberts and Sheene once again finishing in second and third places respectively. At the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix, Roberts crashed during practice for the 250 cc race, sustaining a concussion and a thumb injury. Shaken up by the accident, he could do no better than seventh place in the 500 cc race, while Sheene won the race to close the points gap on championship points leader Roberts. Hartog won his second Grand Prix of the season with a victory at the Finnish Grand Prix, while the two championship leaders, Roberts and Sheene failed to finish the race.
The two championship contenders arrived in England for the British Grand Prix with only three points separating them. The race ended in controversy when torrential rains during the race, along with pit stops for tire changes by both Roberts and Sheene, created confusion among official scorers. Eventually, Roberts was declared the winner with Sheene being awarded third place behind privateer Steve Manship, who did not stop for a tire change.
The title fight between Roberts and Sheene went down to the final race of the season, the German Grand Prix held at the daunting, 14.2-mile-long (22.9 km) Nürburgring racetrack. Suzuki privateer, Virginio Ferrari, won the first Grand Prix of his career, while Roberts finished in third place, ahead of Sheene in fourth place to claim the first world championship for an American rider in Grand Prix road racing history. Cecotto claimed third place in the final championship standings.

## 1978 Grand Prix season calendar

| Round | Date | Race | Location | 50cc winner | 125cc winner | 250cc winner | 350cc winner | 500cc winner | Report |
| 1 | March 19 | Venezuelan Grand Prix | San Carlos | | Pier Paolo Bianchi | Kenny Roberts | Takazumi Katayama | Barry Sheene | Report |
| 2 | April 16 | Spanish Grand Prix | Jarama | Eugenio Lazzarini | Eugenio Lazzarini | Gregg Hansford | | Pat Hennen | Report |
| 3 | April 30 | Austrian Grand Prix | Salzburgring | | Eugenio Lazzarini | | Kork Ballington | Kenny Roberts | Report |
| 4 | May 7 | French Grand Prix | Nogaro | | Pier Paolo Bianchi | Gregg Hansford | Gregg Hansford | Kenny Roberts | Report |
| 5 | May 14 | Nations Grand Prix | Mugello | Ricardo Tormo | Eugenio Lazzarini | Kork Ballington | Kork Ballington | Kenny Roberts | Report |
| 6 | June 24 | Dutch TT | Assen | Eugenio Lazzarini | Eugenio Lazzarini | Kenny Roberts | Kork Ballington | Johnny Cecotto | Report |
| 7 | July 2 | Belgian Grand Prix | Spa-Francorchamps | Ricardo Tormo | Pier Paolo Bianchi | Paolo Pileri | | Wil Hartog | Report |
| 8 | July 23 | Swedish Grand Prix | Karlskoga | | Pier Paolo Bianchi | Gregg Hansford | Gregg Hansford | Barry Sheene | Report |
| 9 | July 30 | Finnish Grand Prix | Imatra | | Angel Nieto | Kork Ballington | Kork Ballington | Wil Hartog | Report |
| 10 | August 6 | British Grand Prix | Silverstone | | Angel Nieto | Anton Mang | Kork Ballington | Kenny Roberts | Report |
| 11 | August 20 | German Grand Prix | Nürburgring Nordschleife | Ricardo Tormo | Angel Nieto | Kork Ballington | Takazumi Katayama | Virginio Ferrari | Report |
| 12 | August 27 | Czechoslovakian Grand Prix | Brno | Ricardo Tormo | | Kork Ballington | Kork Ballington | | Report |
| 13 | September 17 | Yugoslavian Grand Prix | Rijeka | Ricardo Tormo | Angel Nieto | Gregg Hansford | Gregg Hansford | | Report |

## Final standings
### 500cc standings

| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
| 1 | Kenny Roberts | 80 | United States | Yamaha | 110 | 4 |
| 2 | Barry Sheene | 7 | United Kingdom | Suzuki | 100 | 2 |
| 3 | Johnny Cecotto | 4 | Venezuela | Yamaha | 66 | 1 |
| 4 | Wil Hartog | 10 | Netherlands | Suzuki | 65 | 2 |
| 5 | Takazumi Katayama | 8 | Japan | Yamaha | 53 | 0 |
| 6 | Pat Hennen | 3 | United States | Suzuki | 51 | 1 |
| 7 | Steve Baker | 2 | United States | Suzuki | 42 | 0 |
| 8 | Teuvo Lansivuori | 9 | Finland | Suzuki | 39 | 0 |
| 9 | Marco Lucchinelli | 11 | Italy | Suzuki | 30 | 0 |
| 10 | Michel Rougerie | 13 | France | Suzuki | 23 | 0 |
| 11 | Virginio Ferrari | 12 | Italy | Suzuki | 22 | 1 |
| 12 | Steve Parrish | 6 | United Kingdom | Suzuki | 20 | 0 |
| 13 | Boet van Dulmen | | Netherlands | Suzuki | 15 | 0 |
| 14 | Steve Manship | | United Kingdom | Suzuki | 12 | 0 |
| 15 | Christian Estrosi | | France | Suzuki | 11 | 0 |
| 16 | Graziano Rossi | | Italy | Suzuki | 7 | 0 |
| 17 | John Newbold | | United Kingdom | Suzuki | 7 | 0 |
| 18 | Roberto Pietri | | Venezuela | Yamaha | 6 | 0 |
| 19 | Gianni Rolando | | Italy | Suzuki | 6 | 0 |
| 20 | Gerhard Vogt | | West Germany | Yamaha | 5 | 0 |
| 21 | Philippe Coulon | | Switzerland | Suzuki | 5 | 0 |
| 22 | Leandro Becheroni | | Italy | Suzuki | 4 | 0 |
| 23 | Alex George | | United Kingdom | Suzuki | 4 | 0 |
| 24 | Jurgen Steiner | | West Germany | Suzuki | 4 | 0 |
| 25 | Jean Philippe Orban | | Belgium | Suzuki | 3 | 0 |
| 26 | Carlo Peruginin | | Italy | Suzuki | 2 | 0 |
| 27 | Tom Herron | | United Kingdom | Suzuki | 2 | 0 |
| 28 | Gianfranco Bonera | | Italy | Suzuki | 2 | 0 |
| 29 | Bruno Kneubühler | | Switzerland | Suzuki | 2 | 0 |
| 30 | Dennis Ireland | | New Zealand | Suzuki | 1 | 0 |
| 31 | Kenny Blake | | Australia | Yamaha | 1 | 0 |

### 350cc standings

| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
| 1 | Kork Ballington | 5 | South Africa | Kawasaki | 134 | 6 |
| 2 | Takazumi Katayama | 1 | Japan | Yamaha | 77 | 2 |
| 3 | Gregg Hansford | | Australia | Kawasaki | 76 | 3 |
| 4 | Jon Ekerold | 3 | South Africa | Yamaha | 64 | 0 |
| 5 | Tom Herron | 2 | United Kingdom | Yamaha | 50 | 0 |
| 6 | Michel Rougerie | 4 | France | Yamaha | 47 | 0 |
| 7 | Franco Bonera | | Italy | Yamaha | 37 | 0 |
| 8 | Patrick Fernandez | 8 | France | Yamaha | 36 | 0 |
| 9 | Victor Soussan | 12 | Australia | Yamaha | 34 | 0 |
| 10 | Olivier Chevallier | 6 | France | Yamaha | 27 | 0 |
| 11 | Penti Korhonen | | Finland | Yamaha | 20 | |
| 12 | Franco Uncini | | Italy | Yamaha | 19 | |
| 13 | Paolo Pileri | | Italy | | 18 | |
| 14 | Mick Grant | | United Kingdom | Kawasaki | 16 | |
| 15 | Christian Sarron | | France | Yamaha | 15 | |
| 16 | Anton Mang | | West Germany | Kawasaki | 14 | |
| 17 | Patrick Pons | | France | Yamaha | 9 | |
| 18 | Marco Lucchinelli | | Italy | Yamaha | 5 | |
| 19 | Guy Bertin | | France | Yamaha | 5 | |
| 20 | Eric Saul | | France | Yamaha | 4 | |
| 21 | Vanes Francini | | Italy | Yamaha | 3 | |
| 22 | Raymond Roche | | France | Yamaha | 3 | |
| 23 | Alejandro Aleman | | Venezuela | Yamaha | 2 | |
| 24 | Leif Gustafsson | | Sweden | Yamaha | 2 | |
| 25 | Peter Van Der Wal | | Netherlands | Yamaha | 2 | |
| 26 | Gianni Pelletier | | Italy | Yamaha | 2 | |
| 27 | A.Piccioni | | Italy | Yamaha | 1 | |
| 28 | Eero Hyvärinen | | Finland | Yamaha | 1 | |
| 29 | Hervi Moineau | | France | Yamaha | 1 | |
| 30 | Roland Freymond | | Switzerland | Yamaha | 1 | |
| 31 | Mario Lega | | Italy | | 1 | |

### 250cc standings

| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
| 1 | Kork Ballington | 6 | South Africa | Kawasaki | 124 | 4 |
| 2 | Gregg Hansford | | Australia | Kawasaki | 118 | 4 |
| 3 | Patrick Fernandez | 10 | France | Yamaha | 55 | 0 |
| 4 | Kenny Roberts | 80 | United States | Yamaha | 54 | 2 |
| 5 | Anton Mang | | Germany | Kawasaki | 52 | 1 |
| 6 | Tom Herron | 5 | United Kingdom | Yamaha | 48 | 0 |
| 7 | Mario Lega | | Italy | Morbidelli | 44 | 0 |
| 8 | Franco Uncini | | Italy | Yamaha | 42 | 0 |
| 9 | Jon Ekerold | 9 | South Africa | Yamaha | 40 | 0 |
| 10 | Paolo Pileri | 31 | Italy | Morbidelli | 35 | 1 |
| 11 | Raymond Roche | | France | | 26 | |
| 12 | Olivier Chevallier | | France | | 25 | |
| 13 | Jean-François Baldé | | France | | 19 | |
| 14 | Mick Grant | | United Kingdom | | 17 | |
| 15 | Victor Soussan | | Australia | | 14 | |
| 16 | Walter Villa | | Italy | | 13 | |
| 17 | Carlos Lavado | | Venezuela | | 12 | |
| 18 | Chas Mortimer | | United Kingdom | | 12 | |
| 19 | Penti Korhonen | | Finland | | 10 | |
| 20 | Clive Padgett | | United Kingdom | | 5 | |
| 21 | Hans Müller | | Switzerland | | 5 | |
| 22 | Roland Freymond | | Switzerland | | 4 | |
| 23 | Ted Henter | | United States | | 3 | |
| 24 | Pekka Nurmi | | Finland | | 2 | |
| 25 | Ray Quincey | | Australia | | 2 | |
| 26 | Alejandro Aleman | | Venezuela | | 2 | |
| 27 | John Dodds | | Australia | | 2 | |
| 28 | Leif Gustafsson | | Sweden | | 1 | |
| 29 | Sadao Asami | | Japan | | 1 | |
| 30 | Eero Hyvärinen | | Finland | | 1 | |
| 31 | Marc Fontan | | France | | 1 | |
| 32 | Hervi Moineau | | France | | 1 | |
| 33 | Guy Bertin | | France | | 1 | |
| 34 | Thierry Espié | | France | | 1 | |

### 125cc standings

| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
| 1 | Eugenio Lazzarini | 2 | Italy | MBA | 114 | 4 |
| 2 | Angel Nieto | 3 | Spain | Minarelli | 88 | 4 |
| 3 | Pier Paolo Bianchi | 1 | Italy | Minarelli | 70 | 4 |
| 4 | Harald Bartol | 7 | Austria | Morbidelli | 68 | 0 |
| 5 | Thierry Espié | 27 | France | Motobécane | 62 | 0 |
| 6 | Maurizio Massimiani | 11 | Italy | Morbidelli | 56 | 0 |
| 7 | Hans Müller | 8 | Switzerland | Morbidelli | 48 | 0 |
| 8 | Per-Edward Carlsson | | Sweden | Morbidelli | 46 | 0 |
| 9 | Jean-Louis Guignabodet | | France | Morbidelli | 42 | 0 |
| 10 | Clive Horton | | United Kingdom | MBA | 25 | 0 |
| 11 | Patrick Plisson | | | | 20 | |
| 12 | Matti Kinnunen | | | | 18 | |
| 13 | Stefan Dörflinger | | | | 17 | |
| 14 | Pierluigi Conforti | | | | 16 | |
| 15 | August Auinger | | | | 14 | |
| 16 | Christian Leon | | | | 10 | |
| 17 | Thierry Noblesse | | | | 9 | |
| 18 | Alejandro Aleman | | | | 8 | |
| 19 | Felice Agostini | | | | 7 | |
| 20 | Ricardo Russo | | | | 6 | |
| 21 | Cees van Dongen | | | | 6 | |
| 22 | Claudio Granata | | | | 5 | |
| 23 | Gert Bender | | | | 5 | |
| 24 | Walter Koschine | | | | 5 | |
| 25 | M.Cortes | | | | 4 | |
| 26 | Luciano Schiavone | | | | 4 | |
| 27 | Y.Dupont | | | | 3 | |
| 28 | Rolf Blatter | | | | 3 | |
| 29 | Henk van Kessel | | | | 2 | |
| 30 | Alois Meyer | | | | 1 | |
| 31 | Benny Janssen | | | | 1 | |
| 32 | Ricardo Tormo | | | | 1 | |
| 33 | Enrico Cereda | | | | 1 | |
| 34 | B.Wilbers | | | | 1 | |

### 50cc standings

| Place | Rider | Number | Country | Machine | Points | Wins |
| 1 | Ricardo Tormo | 3 | Spain | Bultaco | 99 | 5 |
| 2 | Eugenio Lazzarini | 2 | Italy | Kreidler | 64 | 2 |
| 3 | Patrick Plisson | 5 | France | ABF | 48 | 0 |
| 4 | Wolfgang Müller | 20 | West Germany | Kreidler | 28 | 0 |
| 5 | Rolf Blatter | 17 | Switzerland | Kreidler | 25 | 0 |
| 6 | Stefan Dörflinger | 6 | Switzerland | Kreidler | 24 | 0 |
| 7 | Claudio Lusuardi | 18 | Italy | Bultaco | 20 | 0 |
| 8 | Peter Looijensteijn | 27 | Netherlands | Kreidler | 14 | 0 |
| 9 | Ingo Emmerich | 23 | West Germany | Kreidler | 14 | 0 |
| 10 | Aldo Pero | 15 | Italy | Kreidler | 13 | 0 |
| 11 | Angel Nieto | | | | 12 | |
| 12 | Henk van Kessel | | | | 11 | |
| 13 | Enrico Cereda | | | | 11 | |
| 14 | Julien van Zeebroeck | | | | 10 | |
| 15 | Cees van Dongen | | | | 10 | |
| 16 | Willi Scheidhauer | | | | 10 | |
| 17 | Hagen Klein | | | | 9 | |
| 18 | Theo Timmer | | | | 9 | |
| 19 | C.Dumont | | | | 6 | |
| 20 | Daniel Corvi | | | | 5 | |
| 21 | Gerrit Strikker | | | | 4 | |
| 22 | Luigi Rinaudo | | | | 4 | |
| 23 | Ramon Gali | | | | 3 | |
| 24 | A.Jeva | | | | 3 | |
| 25 | S.Monreale | | | | 2 | |
| 26 | Zbynek Havdra | | | | 2 | |
| 27 | J.Mira | | | | 1 | |
| 28 | Jacques Hutteau | | | | 1 | |