# 1978 British motorcycle Grand Prix

The 1978 British motorcycle Grand Prix was the tenth round of the 1978 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on 5–6 August 1978 at Silverstone Circuit.

## 500cc race report

Kenny Roberts and Barry Sheene, 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.

## 500cc classification

| Pos. | No. | Rider | Team | Manufacturer | Time/Retired | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Kenny Roberts | Yamaha Motor Company | Yamaha | 55'56.930 | 15 |
| 2 | 43 | Steve Manship | | Suzuki | +8.050 | 12 |
| 3 | 7 | Barry Sheene | Texaco Heron Team Suzuki | Suzuki | +1'06.760 | 10 |
| 4 | 11 | Marco Lucchinelli | Cagiva Corse | Suzuki | +1'29.350 | 8 |
| 5 | 2 | Tepi Länsivuori | | Suzuki | +1'56.980 | 6 |
| 6 | 22 | Gianni Rolando | Team Librenti | Suzuki | +1 lap | 5 |
| 7 | 4 | Johnny Cecotto | Yamaha Motor Company | Yamaha | +1 lap | 4 |
| 8 | 5 | John Newbold | Ray Hamblin Motorcycles | Suzuki | +1 lap | 3 |
| 9 | 8 | Takazumi Katayama | Sarome & Motul Team | Yamaha | +1 lap | 2 |
| 10 | 12 | Virginio Ferrari | Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat | Suzuki | +1 lap | 1 |
| 11 | 13 | Michel Rougerie | | Suzuki | +1 lap | |
| 12 | 16 | John Williams | Team Appleby Glade | Suzuki | +1 lap | |
| 13 | 9 | Alex George | | Suzuki | +1 lap | |
| 14 | 42 | Jack Middelburg | | Suzuki | +1 lap | |
| 15 | 6 | Steve Parrish | | Suzuki | +2 laps | |
| 16 | 3 | Philippe Coulon | Marlboro Nava Total | Suzuki | +2 laps | |
| 17 | 28 | Gerhard Vogt | Bill Smith Racing | Suzuki | +2 laps | |
| 18 | 38 | Peter Sjoström | | Suzuki | +3 laps | |
| 19 | 17 | John Woodley | Sid Griffiths Racing | Suzuki | +3 laps | |
| 20 | 37 | Dick Alblas | | Suzuki | +3 laps | |
| Ret | ?? | Wil Hartog | Riemersma Racing | Suzuki | Retired | |
| Ret | ?? | Graziano Rossi | Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat | Suzuki | Accident | |
| Ret | ?? | Franco Bonera | Team Kiwi Yamoto | Cagiva | Accident | |
| Ret | ?? | Bruno Kneubühler | RSS Racing Team | Suzuki | Tyre problems | |
| Ret | ?? | Dennis Ireland | | Suzuki | Tyre problems | |
| Ret | ?? | Roger Marshall | George Beale | Yamaha | Tyre problems | |
| Ret | ?? | Jack Findlay | | Suzuki | Tyre problems | |
| Ret | ?? | Leslie van Breda | | Suzuki | Retired | |
| Ret | ?? | Max Wiener | | Suzuki | Retired | |
| Ret | ?? | Boet van Dulmen | | Suzuki | Retired | |
| Ret | ?? | Kevin Stowe | Harold Coppock | Suzuki | Retired | |
| Ret | ?? | Werner Nenning | Mobel Nenning Racing Team | Suzuki | Retired | |
| Ret | ?? | Steve Baker | Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat | Suzuki | Retired | |
| Ret | ?? | Franz Rau | Kazenmaier Autovermietung | Suzuki | Retired | |
| Ret | ?? | Graham Wood | Barton Spondon | Suzuki | Retired | |
| Ret | ?? | Dave Potter | Ted Broad | Suzuki | Retired | |
| Ret | ?? | Ron Haslam | Mal Carter | Yamaha | Retired | |
| Ret | ?? | Marc Fontan | | Suzuki | Retired | |
| Sources: |||||||

## 350 cc classification

| Pos | No. | Rider | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 5 | Kork Ballington | Kawasaki | 28 | 44:43.57 | 1 | 15 |
| 2 | 2 | Tom Herron | Yamaha | 28 | +10.23 | 6 | 12 |
| 3 | 10 | Mick Grant | Kawasaki | 28 | +23.01 | 10 | 10 |
| 4 | 4 | Michel Rougerie | Yamaha | 28 | +52.43 | 5 | 8 |
| 5 | 23 | Franco Bonera | Yamaha | 28 | +59.09 | | 6 |
| 6 | 25 | Vic Soussan | Yamaha | 28 | +59.76 | | 5 |
| 7 | 7 | Christian Sarron | Yamaha | 28 | +59.85 | 8 | 4 |
| 8 | 6 | Olivier Chevallier | Yamaha | 28 | +1:00.24 | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | 28 | Leif Gustafsson | Yamaha | 28 | +1:00.74 | | 2 |
| 10 | 19 | Patrick Pons | Yamaha | 28 | +1:30.23 | | 1 |
| 11 | 51 | Roland Freymond | Yamaha | 28 | +1:31.27 | | |
| 12 | 29 | Paolo Pileri | Morbidelli | 28 | +1:31.48 | | |
| 13 | 50 | Clive Padgett | Yamaha | 27 | +1 lap | | |
| 14 | 44 | Ian Richards | Yamaha | 27 | +1 lap | | |
| 15 | 31 | Sadao Asami | Yamaha | 27 | +1 lap | | |
| 16 | 47 | Jack Middelburg | Yamaha | 27 | +1 lap | | |
| 17 | 40 | Reino Eskelinen | Yamaha | 27 | +1 lap | | |
| 18 | 41 | Walter Villa | Harley-Davidson | 27 | +1 lap | | |
| | | Takazumi Katayama | Yamaha | | | 2 | |
| | | Gregg Hansford | Kawasaki | | | 4 | |
| | | Ray Quincey | Yamaha | | | 7 | |
| | | Raymond Roche | Yamaha | | | 9 | |
| 41 starters in total ||||||||

## 250 cc classification

| Pos | No. | Rider | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 15 | Anton Mang | Kawasaki | 26 | 43:03.32 | | 15 |
| 2 | 5 | Tom Herron | Yamaha | 26 | +0.19 | 4 | 12 |
| 3 | 29 | Raymond Roche | Yamaha | 26 | +23.45 | 9 | 10 |
| 4 | 10 | Mick Grant | Kawasaki | 26 | +30.82 | 8 | 8 |
| 5 | 13 | Olivier Chevallier | Yamaha | 26 | +30.97 | 7 | 6 |
| 6 | 26 | Hans Müller | Yamaha | 26 | +31.48 | 5 | 5 |
| 7 | 18 | Jean-François Baldé | Kawasaki | 26 | +31.64 | 10 | 4 |
| 8 | 9 | Patrick Fernandez | Yamaha | 26 | +31.78 | | 3 |
| 9 | 51 | Roland Freymond | Yamaha | 26 | +59.31 | | 2 |
| 10 | 43 | Marc Fontan | Yamaha | 26 | +59.63 | | 1 |
| 11 | 22 | Clive Padgett | Yamaha | 26 | +1:10.30 | | |
| 12 | 21 | Vic Soussan | Yamaha | 26 | +1:11.84 | | |
| 13 | 53 | Hervé Moineau | Yamaha | 26 | +1:13.67 | | |
| 14 | 54 | Greg Johnson | Yamaha | 26 | +1:21.87 | | |
| 15 | 33 | Dudley Cramond | Yamaha | 26 | +1:31.36 | | |
| 16 | 32 | Reino Eskelinen | Yamaha | 26 | +1:34.76 | | |
| 17 | 28 | Sadao Asami | Yamaha | 26 | +1:35.41 | | |
| 18 | 30 | Ken Nemoto | Yamaha | 25 | +1 lap | | |
| 19 | 25 | Harald Bartol | HBI | 25 | +1 lap | | |
| 20 | 17 | Bernard Murray | Yamaha | 25 | +1 lap | | |
| | | Kork Ballington | Kawasaki | | | 1 | |
| | | Kenny Roberts | Yamaha | | | 2 | |
| | | Gregg Hansford | Kawasaki | | | 3 | |
| | | John Dodds | Yamaha | | | 6 | |
| 38 starters in total, 21 finishers ||||||||

## 125 cc classification

| Pos | No. | Rider | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 3 | Ángel Nieto | Minarelli | 24 | 44:51.08 | 4 | 15 |
| 2 | 10 | Clive Horton | Morbidelli | 24 | +17.02 | 8 | 12 |
| 3 | 2 | Eugenio Lazzarini | MBA | 24 | +21.20 | 1 | 10 |
| 4 | 38 | Thierry Espié | Motobécane | 24 | +29.90 | 2 | 8 |
| 5 | 8 | Hans Müller | Morbidelli | 24 | +40.67 | 5 | 6 |
| 6 | 7 | Stefan Dörflinger | Morbidelli | 24 | +40.94 | 7 | 5 |
| 7 | 17 | Per-Edward Carlson | Morbidelli | 24 | +45.37 | | 4 |
| 8 | 39 | Yves Dupont | Morbidelli | 24 | +1:01.91 | | 3 |
| 9 | 4 | Jean-Louis Guignabodet | Morbidelli | 24 | +1:10.39 | | 2 |
| 10 | 20 | Felice Agostini | Morbidelli | 24 | +1:10.65 | | 1 |
| 11 | 43 | Karl Fuchs | Morbidelli | 24 | +1:44.40 | | |
| 12 | 30 | Cees van Dongen | Morbidelli | 23 | +1 lap | | |
| 13 | 34 | Daniel Meyer | Morbidelli | 23 | +1 lap | | |
| 14 | 47 | Ernst Fagerer | Morbidelli | 23 | +1 lap | | |
| 15 | 24 | Patrick Herouard | Morbidelli | 23 | +1 lap | | |
| 16 | 29 | Jan Ubels | Buton | 22 | +2 laps | | |
| 17 | 36 | Alain Pellet | Morbidelli | 22 | +2 laps | | |
| | | Pierluigi Conforti | Morbidelli | | | 3 | |
| | | Harald Bartol | Morbidelli | | | 6 | |
| | | Bengt Johansson | Morbidelli | | | 9 | |
| | | Thierry Noblesse | Morbidelli | | | 10 | |
| 34 starters in total ||||||||

## Sidecar classification

| Pos | No. | Rider | Passenger | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 5 | Alain Michel | Stu Collins | Seymaz-Yamaha | 25 | 45:27.56 | 2 | 15 |
| 2 | 2 | Rolf Biland | Kenny Williams | Beo-Yamaha | 25 | +11.36 | 1 | 12 |
| 3 | 17 | Jock Taylor | James Neil | Windle-Yamaha | 25 | +1:02.13 | 5 | 10 |
| 4 | 14 | Bill Hodgkins | John Parkins | Windle-Yamaha | 25 | +1:10.44 | | 8 |
| 5 | 1 | George O'Dell | Cliff Holland | Seymaz-Yamaha | 25 | +1:23.39 | 4 | 6 |
| 6 | 22 | Mick Boddice | Chas Burns | Woodhouse-Yamaha | 25 | +1:27.92 | | 5 |
| 7 | 18 | Jean-François Monnin | Paul Gerard | Seymaz-Yamaha | 25 | +1:41.19 | | 4 |
| 8 | 7 | Dick Greasley | Gordon Russell | Busch-Yamaha | 24 | +1 lap | 6 | 3 |
| 9 | 11 | Siegfried Schauzu | Lorenzo Puzo | Busch-Yamaha | 24 | +1 lap | | 2 |
| 10 | 6 | Göte Brodin | Per-Erik Wickström | Yamaha | 24 | +1 lap | 8 | 1 |
| 11 | 23 | Cees Smit | Jan Smit | Seymaz-Yamaha | 24 | +1 lap | | |
| 12 | 15 | Hermann Huber | Bernd Schappacher | König | 24 | +1 lap | | |
| 13 | 32 | Gérard Corbaz | Roland Gabriel | Schmid-Yamaha | 24 | +1 lap | | |
| 14 | 27 | Derek Jones | Brian Ayres | Daytona-Yamaha | 24 | +1 lap | | |
| 15 | 29 | John Barker | Nick Cutmore | Yamaha | 24 | +1 lap | | |
| | | Rolf Steinhausen | Wolfgang Kalauch | Seymaz-Yamaha | | | 3 | |
| | | Wolfgang Stropek | Karl Altrichter | Schmid-Yamaha | | | 7 | |
| | | Bruno Holzer | Karl Meierhans | LCR-Yamaha | | | 9 | |
| | | Hermann Schmid | Kenny Arthur | Schmid-Yamaha | | | 10 | |
| 31 starters in total, 21 finishers |||||||||