1979 FIM Motocross World Championship

Last updated May 21, 2025

The 1979 FIM Motocross World Championship was the 23rd F.I.M. Motocross Racing World Championship season.

Summary

Graham Noyce won the 1979 500cc world championship for the Honda factory racing team, marking Honda's first ever motocross world championship as well as the first motocross world championship for a British rider since Jeff Smith in 1965.^[1]^[2] Yamaha's defending champion Heikki Mikkola struggled to recover from a broken leg suffered in preseason.^[1] Noyce's consistent results earned him 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.^[1] 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.^[1] Mikkola then suffered another injury at the Canadian Grand Prix and his injuries forced him to sit out the West German Grand Prix.^[1] 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.^[1] Noyce then took command of the championship by posting a series of top five finishes to win the title for the Honda team.

Håkan Carlqvist won the 250cc world championship for Husqvarna while Harry Everts dominated the 125cc world championship for the Suzuki factory racing team.

Grands Prix

500cc

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Location	Race 1 Winner	Race 2 Winner	Overall Winner	Report
1	April 22	Austrian Grand Prix	Sittendorf	Yvan van den Broeck	Brad Lackey	Graham Noyce	Report
2	April 29	French Grand Prix	Thours	Jean-Jacques Bruno	Brad Lackey	Brad Lackey	Report
3	May 13	Swedish Grand Prix	Huskvarna	Brad Lackey	Gerrit Wolsink	Gerrit Wolsink	Report
4	May 27	Italian Grand Prix	Faenza	Heikki Mikkola	Heikki Mikkola	Heikki Mikkola	Report
5	June 10	United States Grand Prix	Carlsbad	Gerrit Wolsink	Brad Lackey	Gerrit Wolsink	Report
6	June 17	Canadian Grand Prix	Mosport	Graham Noyce	Gerrit Wolsink	Gerrit Wolsink	Report
7	June 24	West German Grand Prix	Beuren	Jean-Jacques Bruno	André Malherbe	Jean-Jacques Bruno	Report
8	July 1	British Grand Prix	Farleigh Castle	Brad Lackey	Graham Noyce	Graham Noyce	Report
9	July 8	Swiss Grand Prix	Payerne	Heikki Mikkola	Heikki Mikkola	Heikki Mikkola	Report
10	July 29	Dutch Grand Prix	Markelo	Graham Noyce	Gerrit Wolsink	Gerrit Wolsink	Report
11	August 5	Belgian Grand Prix	Namur	Roger De Coster	André Malherbe	André Malherbe	Report
12	August 12	Luxembourg Grand Prix	Ettelbruck	Brad Lackey	André Malherbe	André Malherbe	Report

^[3]^[4]

250cc

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Location	Winner	Team	Report
1	April 8	Spanish Grand Prix	Sabadell	Håkan Carlqvist	Husqvarna	Report
2	April 22	Dutch Grand Prix	Halle	Håkan Carlqvist	Husqvarna	Report
3	April 29	Italian Grand Prix	Bra	Neil Hudson	Maico	Report
4	May 6	Belgian Grand Prix	Genk	Harry Everts	Suzuki	Report
5	May 20	Yugoslavian Grand Prix	Karlovac	Neil Hudson	Maico	Report
6	May 27	Czechoslovak Grand Prix	Holice	Håkan Carlqvist	Husqvarna	Report
7	June 10	Polish Grand Prix	Szczecin	Håkan Carlqvist	Husqvarna	Report
8	June 17	French Grand Prix	Lavaur	Håkan Carlqvist	Husqvarna	Report
9	July 1	Finnish Grand Prix	Hyvinkää	Kees van der Ven	Maico	Report
10	July 29	United States Grand Prix	Unadilla	Kent Howerton	Suzuki	Report
11	August 5	West German Grand Prix	Bielstein	Håkan Carlqvist	Husqvarna	Report
12	August 12	Bulgarian Grand Prix	Samokov	Gennady Moiseyev	KTM	Report

^[5]

125cc

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Location	Winner	Team	Report
1	April 8	Austrian Grand Prix	Launsdorf	Harry Everts	Suzuki	Report
2	April 15	West German Grand Prix	Goldbach	Harry Everts	Suzuki	Report
3	May 13	Dutch Grand Prix	Mill	Harry Everts	Suzuki	Report
4	May 20	Italian Grand Prix	Esanatoglia	Akira Watanabe	Suzuki	Report
5	June 10	Finnish Grand Prix	Tampere	Harry Everts	Suzuki	Report
6	June 17	Czechoslovak Grand Prix	Dalečín	Harry Everts	Suzuki	Report
7	June 24	Yugoslavian Grand Prix	Karlovac	Harry Everts	Suzuki	Report
8	July 1	Swiss Grand Prix	Schupfart	Mauro Miele	Ktm	Report
9	July 8	French Grand Prix	Sucé-sur-Erdre	Harry Everts	Suzuki	Report
10	July 15	Irish Grand Prix	Slane ^[6]	Harry Everts	Suzuki	Report
11	July 22	United States Grand Prix	Lexington	Mark Barnett	Suzuki	Report
12	August 12	Spanish Grand Prix	Montgai	Harry Everts	Suzuki	Report

^[7]

Final standings

500cc^[8]^[9]
Pos	Rider	Team	Points
1	Graham Noyce	Honda	225
2	Gerrit Wolsink	Suzuki	177
3	André Malherbe	Honda	176
4	Brad Lackey	Kawasaki	173
5	Heikki Mikkola	Yamaha	147
6	Roger De Coster	Suzuki	125
7	André Vromans	Suzuki	86
8	Jean-Jacques Bruno	KTM	85
9	Yvan van den Broeck	Maico	75
10	Gérard Rond	Suzuki	71
11	Herbert Schmitz	Maico	49
12	Fritz Köbele	Maico	32
13	Arne Lodal	Husqvarna	20
14	Bengt Åberg	Maico	18
15	Håkan Andersson	Husqvarna	16
16	Chuck Sun	Husqvarna	14
17	Bob Wright	CCM	11
18	Marty Smith	Honda	9
19	Laurence Spence	Cotton - Rotax	9
20	Rick Burgett	Yamaha	7
21	Jimmy Weinert	Kawasaki	7
22	Rex Staten	Yamaha	6
23	Pete Mathia	Cotton - Rotax	6
24	Arne Lindfors	Yamaha	5
25	Danny LaPorte	Suzuki	4
25	Ludwig Reinbold	KTM	4
25	Geoff Mayes	Maico	4
25	Toon Karsmakers	Maico	4
25	Tapani Pikkarainen	Suzuki	4
30	Raymond Heeren	Yamaha	3
31	Vic Allan	Bultaco	2
31	Steve Beamish	Suzuki	2
31	Frantz Sigmans	Maico	2
34	Peter Herlings	Maico	1
34	Parry Klassen	Maico	1
34	Zoli Berenyt	Yamaha	1
34	Ad Verstegen	Yamaha	1
34	Henk Poorte	Montesa	1
34	Herbert Salzmann	Husqvarna	1

250cc^[10]
Pos	Rider	Team	Points
1	Håkan Carlqvist	Husqvarna	248
2	Neil Hudson	Maico	178
3	Vladimir Kavinov	KTM	133
4	Gennady Moiseyev	KTM	126
5	Kees van der Ven	Maico	106
6	Rolf Dieffenbach	Kawasaki	99
7	Georges Jobé	Suzuki	71
8	Jean-Claude Laquaye	SWM	66
9	Jaak van Velthoven	KTM	61
10	Jaroslav Falta	ČZ	58
11	Torao Suzuki	Yamaha	46
12	Vaughan Semmens	Maico	38
13	Hans Maisch	Maico	36
14	Erkki Sundström	Husqvarna	34
15	Bennie Wilken	Maico	28
16	Raymond Boven	Husqvarna	26
17	Bob Hannah	Yamaha	25
18	Jim Pomeroy	Bultaco / Beta	25
19	Kent Howerton	Suzuki	24
20	Toni Elias	Bultaco	19
21	Marty Tripes	Honda	15
22	Zdenek Velky	ČZ	15
23	Ivan Alborghetti	KTM	15
24	Pavel Rulev	ČZ	10
25	Magnus Nyberg	KTM	9
25	Mike Guerra	Husqvarna	9
27	Rob Hooper	Maico	9
28	Pier Antonio Dal Brun	Aprilia	8
29	Pierre Schroyen	KTM	7
30	Jan Kristoffersen	Yamaha	5
31	Fernando Munoz	Montesa	4
31	Pierre Karsmakers	Yamaha	4
31	Mark Gregson	Yamaha	4
34	Daniel Péan	Montesa	3
34	Henk Van Mierlo	KTM	3
34	Henk Bloemert	Husqvarna	3
34	Dimitar Rangelov	Husqvarna	3
34	Tommy Olsson	Maico	3
34	Patrick Boniface	Honda	3
34	Frank Stacy	KTM	3
41	Timo Remes	Suzuki	1
41	Marian Avbelj	KTM	1

125cc^[11]
Pos	Rider	Team	Points
1	Harry Everts	Suzuki	314
2	Akira Watanabe	Suzuki	236
3	Gaston Rahier	Yamaha	183
4	Matti Autio	Suzuki	132
5	Corrado Maddii	Aprilia	68
6	Peter Groeneveld	Honda	62
7	Mauro Miele	KTM	61
8	Michèle Rinaldi	TGM	55
9	Robert Greisch	Puch	46
10	Göte Liljegren	Aprilia	43
11	Dinand Ziljlstra	Kawasaki	38
12	Yuri Khudiakov	ČZ	38
13	Valéri Korneev	ČZ	30
14	Renato Zocchi	Cagiva	29
15	Pauli Piippola	Husqvarna	28
16	Broc Glover	Yamaha	27
16	Mark Barnett	Suzuki	27
18	Jiry Churavy	ČZ	27
19	Siegfried Lerner	KTM	21
20	Dario Nani	Gilera	17
21	Donnie Cantaloupi	Yamaha	13
21	Brian Myerscough	Suzuki	13
23	Seppo Isomaki	Suzuki	11
24	Franco Perfini	Gilera	10
25	Tod Perkins	Yamaha	7
26	Ole Svendson	KTM	7
27	Bernd Betzelbacher	Maico	6
28	Graig Coleman	Suzuki	6
29	Steve Martin	Yamaha	5
30	Andrei Ledovskoy	ČZ	5
31	Eduard Hau	Zündapp	4
31	Tom Benolkin	Suzuki	4
33	Henk Pauw	Honda	3
34	Theunis Boersma	Suzuki	2
34	Randy Hess	Yamaha	2
36	Jaroslav Janis	ČZ	1
36	Arne Wilkman	Suzuki	1
36	Robert Handy	Suzuki	1
36	Jeff Ward	Kawasaki	1

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 Assoc, American Motorcyclist (September 1979). Noyce makes his mark with run for the title. American Motorcyclist. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
↑ "History MXGP". hondaracingcorporation.com. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
↑ "1979 500cc motocross world championship race results". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
↑ "1979 500cc motocross world championship race results". jwvanessen.com. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
↑ "1979 250cc motocross world championship race results". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
↑ "Fairyhouse To Host The Irish Motocross Grand Prix". motocross.ie. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
↑ "1979 125cc motocross world championship race results". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
↑ "1979 500cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
↑ "1979 500cc motocross world championship final standings". jwvanessen.com. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
↑ "1979 250cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
↑ "1979 125cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 3 February 2016.

External links

Official website

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[Noyce_makes_his_mark_with_run_for_the_title-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Assoc, American Motorcyclist (September 1979). Noyce makes his mark with run for the title. American Motorcyclist. Retrieved 31 December 2016.

[2] "History MXGP". hondaracingcorporation.com. Retrieved 31 December 2016.

[3] "1979 500cc motocross world championship race results". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 December 2016.

[4] "1979 500cc motocross world championship race results". jwvanessen.com. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2016.

[5] "1979 250cc motocross world championship race results". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 December 2016.

[6] "Fairyhouse To Host The Irish Motocross Grand Prix". motocross.ie. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.

[7] "1979 125cc motocross world championship race results". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 December 2016.

[8] "1979 500cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 December 2016.

[9] "1979 500cc motocross world championship final standings". jwvanessen.com. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2016.

[10] "1979 250cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 January 2016.

[11] "1979 125cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 3 February 2016.

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