# 1978 FIM World Motorcycle Trials season

The 1978 World trials season consisted of twelve trials events. It began on 11 February, with round one in Newtownards, Ireland and ended with round twelve in Říčany, Czechoslovakia on 24 September.

## Season summary

Yrjo Vesterinen would claim his third World trials championship in 1978, repeating his 1976 and 1977 titles.

## 1978 World trials season calendar

| Round | Date | Trial | Venue | Trial GP |
| 1 | 11 February | Ireland | Newtownards | 1) Yrjo Vesterinen 2) Martin Lampkin 3) Rob Shepherd |
| 2 | 18 February | Great Britain | Rhayader | 1) Yrjo Vesterinen 2) Ulf Karlson 3) Mick Andrews |
| 3 | 26 February | Belgium | Bilstain | 1) Martin Lampkin 2) Rob Shepherd 3) Yrjo Vesterinen |
| 4 | 5 March | France | Sommieres | 1) Bernie Schreiber 2) Martin Lampkin 3) Yrjo Vesterinen |
| 5 | 12 March | Spain | Matadepera | 1) Bernie Schreiber 2) Martin Lampkin 3) Mick Andrews |
| 6 | 28 May | Germany | Gefrees | 1) Martin Lampkin 2) Bernie Schreiber 3) Ulf Karlson |
| 7 | 11 June | United States | Roaring Branch | 1) Bernie Schreiber 2) Yrjo Vesterinen 3) Ulf Karlson |
| 8 | 16 July | Italy | Pinerolo | 1) Bernie Schreiber 2) Martin Lampkin 3) Antonio Gorgot |
| 9 | 23 July | Austria | Spital Am Semmering | 1) Yrjo Vesterinen 2) Bernie Schreiber 3) Ulf Karlson |
| 10 | 20 August | Sweden | Molndal | 1) Ulf Karlson 2) Yrjo Vesterinen 3) Bernie Schreiber |
| 11 | 27 August | Finland | Ekenas | 1) Yrjo Vesterinen 2) Ulf Karlson 3) Timo Ryysy |
| 12 | 24 September | Czechoslovakia | Říčany | 1) Martin Lampkin 2) Bernie Schreiber 3)Yrjo Vesterinen |

### Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top ten finishers. All twelve rounds counted for the World Trials class.
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
| Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

### World Trials final standings

| Pos | Rider | Machine | IRL | GBR | BEL | FRA | SPA | GER | USA | ITA | AUT | SWE | FIN | CZE | Pts | Notes |
| 1 | Yrjo Vesterinen | Bultaco | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 128 | 1978 Finnish champion |
| 2 | Martin Lampkin | Bultaco | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 126 | 1978 British champion |
| 3 | Bernie Schreiber | Bultaco | 9 | 8 | - | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 116 | 1978 US NATC Champion |
| 4 | Ulf Karlson | Montesa | 6 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 104 | 1978 Swedish Champion |
| 5 | Rob Shepherd | HRC Honda | 3 | - | 2 | 6 | 5 | 4 | - | - | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 63 | |
| 6 | Mick Andrews | Yamaha / Ossa | 4 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | 44 | |
| 7 | Antonio Gorgot | Bultaco | - | - | - | 8 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 3 | - | - | - | 4 | 29 | 1978 Spanish Champion |
| 8 | Jean Marie LeJeune | Montesa | 8 | - | 4 | - | - | 5 | - | - | 4 | - | - | - | 25 | 1978 Belgian champion |
| 9 | Jaime Subira | Montesa | - | - | - | 4 | - | - | - | 7 | - | 4 | 10 | 7 | 25 | |
| 10 | Manuel Soler | Bultaco | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | 7 | 5 | 7 | - | 22 | |
| 11 | Timo Ryysy | SWM | - | - | - | - | - | 9 | - | - | 9 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 18 | |
| 12 | Charles Coutard | SWM | 5 | - | - | - | 10 | - | 10 | - | 8 | 10 | 9 | - | 14 | |
| 13 | Joe Wallman | Bultaco | 7 | 9 | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | - | 9 | 8 | - | 12 | |
| 14 | Malcolm Rathmell | Suzuki | 10 | 10 | 8 | 9 | - | - | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | 11 | |
| 15 | Jean-Luc Colson | Montesa | - | - | 5 | - | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | |
| 16 | Marland Whaley | Montesa | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | 8 | 10 | - | - | - | 10 | |
| 17 | Nigel Birkett | Montesa | - | - | 9 | - | 8 | - | - | 9 | - | - | - | 8 | 10 | |
| 18 | John Reynolds | Suzuki | - | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | |
| 19 | Curt Comer | Montesa | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | |
| 19 | Rob Edwards | Montesa | - | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | |
| 21 | Christian Desnoyers | Montesa | - | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | 1978 French Champion |
| 22 | Ettore Baldini | Bultaco | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9 | 2 | |
| 23 | Felix Krahnstover | KTM | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1978 German Champion |
| 23 | Joaquim Abad | Ossa | - | - | - | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | |
| 23 | Claude Goset | Montesa | - | - | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | |