Graham Noyce

Graham Noyce
Born	(1957-02-18) 18 February 1957 (age 68) Eastleigh, Hampshire, England
Motocross career
Years active	1975–1984
Teams	Maico, Honda
Championships	500cc- 1979
Wins	6

Graham Noyce (born 18 February 1957) is an English former professional motocross racer. He competed in the Motocross World Championships from 1975 to 1984. Noyce was the 1979 500cc motocross world champion.

Motocross career

Growing up in Fair Oak, Hampshire, England, Noyce was encouraged by his father to start riding motorcycles at the age of 6. ^[1] He won the British Schoolboy motocross championship at the age of 14 riding a 125cc Zündapp. ^[1] Noyce left Wyvern County Secondary School at the age of 15 to become an apprentice tool maker for the Rickman brothers, noted British motorcycle frame builders. ^[1] The Rickman brothers also provided him with a 250cc Montesa on which to compete. ^[1]

After winning support races at the 1974 British motocross Grand Prix, Noyce was offered a contract to race for the Maico factory racing team. ^[1] In 1975, he competed in the British motocross championships as well as selected 125cc world championship Grand Prix races. ^[1] He finished the season ranked 17th in the 125cc motocross world championship. ^{[2] [3]} He moved up to the premier 500cc class in 1976 and won his first Grand Prix heat race at the British motocross Grand Prix and finished the season ranked a respectable 4th place in the final world championship standings. ^{[4] [5]} Despite falling to 8th place in the 1977 world championship, his riding talent earned him a place on the Honda-HRC factory racing team for the 1978 season. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

Noyce faced a strong field of competitors going into the 1979 season that included the defending World Champion Heikki Mikkola (Yamaha), five-time World Champion Roger De Coster (Suzuki), Gerrit Wolsink (Suzuki), Brad Lackey (Kawasaki) and his own Honda teammate André Malherbe. Mikkola had dominated the previous two seasons and was the overwhelming favorite to win the title until he suffered torn ligaments in his leg during pre-season practice. Mikkola's injury allowed his competitors to fill the void and six different competitors won Grand Prix races in 1979 (Noyce, Lackey, Wolsink, Mikkola, Bruno and Malherbe). Although Lackey won six heat races during the year, he struggled with his Kawasaki's lack of reliability. Noyce won the season-opening 500cc Austrian Grand Prix then, at the fourth round in Italy, he took the championship points lead never to relinquish it. Although he won only one more Grand Prix at his home event in Great Britain, he was able to fend off a challenge by Wolsink by posting a string of consistent podium results to clinch the title at the penultimate Grand Prix in Belgium. ^{[9] [10] [11]} He became the first British rider to win a 500cc motocross world championship since Jeff Smith won the title in 1965. ^{[11] [12] [13]}

Noyce won the 1980 500cc Finnish Grand Prix but then suffered a broken leg that forced him to withdraw from the championship to recover from his injury while his Honda teammate Malherbe won the World Championship. ^{[14] [15]} He returned in 1981 and fought a season-long duel with Malherbe as the two riders traded the top two positions in the points standings several times during the 500cc World Championship. ^{[14] [15]} The championship wasn't decided until the final race of the year in Luxembourg where Malherbe would prevail over Noyce to score his second consecutive World Championship. ^{[14] [15] [16]}

Noyce won the 1982 500cc Swedish Grand Prix but failed to score points consistently and dropped to fourth place in the final points standings. ^[17] In the 1983 500cc World Championship, Noyce won the season-opening Swiss Grand Prix, challenging Malherbe and Håkan Carlqvist (Yamaha) for the championship points lead until the halfway point where he began to fade. Carlqvist would win the World Championship with Malherbe and Noyce ending the season in second and third places. ^[18] Noyce rode a KTM in the 1984 500cc World Championship finishing the season in 27th place. ^[19] He competed in his final World Championship race at the 1985 500cc French Grand Prix at the age of 28. ^[19]

Noyce won 14 individual heat races and 6 Grand Prix victories during his world championship racing career. ^[19] He won one 500cc Motocross World Championship (1979) and was a five-time British Motocross National Champion (1978-1979, 1981). ^[19] He was a member of six British Motocross des Nations teams (1975-1979, 1981) and seven Trophée des Nations teams (1975-1979, 1981-1982). ^[19]

Noyce continues his involvement in the sport competing in vintage motocross events. He won the over 50 race at Polesworth in 2007 and competed at Farleigh Castle in July 2019. ^{[20] [21]}

Motocross Grand Prix Results

Points system from 1969 to 1983:

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Points	15	12	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1

Points system from 1984:

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th
Points	20	17	15	13	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

Year	Class	Team	1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		12		Pos	Pts
			R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
1975	125cc	Husqvarna	FRA 5	FRA -	UK 7	UK -	YUG -	YUG -	SWE -	SWE -	NED -	NED -	POL -	POL -	GER 9	GER -	CZE 10	CZE -	USA -	USA -	CAN -	CAN -	ESP -	ESP -	BEL -	BEL -	17th	13
1976	500cc	Maico	CH 7	CH 3	FRA -	FRA -	ITA 3	ITA -	AUT -	AUT 2	SWE 6	SWE -	FIN 8	FIN 3	GER -	GER 2	USA 2	USA -	CAN -	CAN 3	UK 1	UK -	BEL -	BEL -	LUX -	LUX -	4th	103
1977	500cc	Maico	AUT 6	AUT 2	NED 4	NED 5	SWE 10	SWE -	FIN -	FIN -	GER -	GER -	ITA -	ITA -	USA -	USA -	CAN -	CAN -	UK 3	UK -	BEL 4	BEL 5	LUX -	LUX -	CH 4	CH 3	8th	74
1978	500cc	Honda	CH 6	CH -	AUT -	AUT 4	FRA 8	FRA -	DEN 9	DEN -	FIN 4	FIN 3	SWE -	SWE 5	USA -	USA -	ITA -	ITA -	UK 5	UK 2	BEL -	BEL -	LUX 4	LUX 2	NED 2	NED -	7th	92
1979	500cc	Honda	AUT 2	AUT 2	FRA 2	FRA 7	SWE 2	SWE 6	ITA 3	ITA 3	USA 3	USA 5	CAN 1	CAN 3	GER 6	GER 2	UK 2	UK 1	CH 2	CH 5	NED 1	NED 2	BEL 3	BEL -	LUX 4	LUX -	1st	225
1980	500cc	Honda	CH -	CH -	AUT -	AUT -	FRA 3	FRA 4	SWE 5	SWE -	FIN 1	FIN 4	ITA 4	ITA -	NED -	NED -	USA -	USA -	CAN -	CAN -	GER -	GER -	BEL -	BEL -	LUX -	LUX -	8th	55
1981	500cc	Honda	AUT -	AUT 5	CH 2	CH -	FIN 3	FIN 4	SWE 2	SWE 1	ITA 2	ITA 2	FRA 1	FRA 4	USA 3	USA 6	UK 3	UK 2	NED 1	NED 6	CZE 4	CZE 5	BEL 4	BEL -	LUX 3	LUX 4	2nd	207
1982	500cc	Honda	FRA -	FRA 3	NED 8	NED 6	SWE 1	SWE 1	FIN -	FIN 3	AUT 2	AUT 5	ITA 9	ITA -	GER 6	GER 6	USA 8	USA -	CAN 5	CAN 2	UK 4	UK 5	BEL 3	BEL 1	LUX -	LUX -	4th	148
1983	500cc	Honda	CH 2	CH 1	AUT 3	AUT 1	GER 4	GER 2	SWE 4	SWE 3	FIN 3	FIN 6	ITA 5	ITA 9	USA 7	USA 7	FRA -	FRA -	UK 7	UK 5	BEL 3	BEL -	SM 6	SM 2	NED 1	NED -	3rd	173
1984	500cc	KTM	AUT -	AUT 8	CH -	CH -	ESP -	ESP -	FRA -	FRA -	SWE -	SWE -	GER 11	GER 7	NED -	NED -	USA -	USA -	CAN -	CAN -	UK -	UK -	BEL -	BEL -	ITA -	ITA -	27th	22
Sources: [3] [5] [7] [22] [10] [23] [16] [17] [18] [24]

References

1. Melling, Frank (1977), "Introducing Our Next World Champ" (PDF), Motorcycle Mechanics , EMAP
2. "1975 125cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
3. "1975 125cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
4. "1976 500cc motocross world championship race results". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
5. "1976 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
6. "1977 500cc motocross world championship race results". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
7. "1977 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
8. "History MXGP". hondaracingcorporation.com. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
9. "1979 500cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
10. "1979 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
11. Assoc, American Motorcyclist (September 1979). "Noyce makes his mark with run for the title". American Motorcyclist. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
12. Skelton, Richard (2013). "Motorcycling in the 1970s". Richard Skelton. ISBN   9780993002069 . Retrieved 18 January 2018.
13. "Graham Noyce career profile". bestsports.com. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
14. "André Malherbe: a life full of struggle". mxmag.net. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
15. "Jack Burnicle looks back at Andre Malherbe's remarkable career". dirtbikerider.com. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
16. "1981 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
17. "1982 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
18. "1983 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
19. "Graham Noyce career statistics" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
20. "Noyce takes a bite". dirtbikerider.com. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
21. "World champion Graham Noyce back on track with Bridgestone to celebrate 40th anniversary". dirtbikerider.com. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
22. "1978 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
23. "1980 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
24. "1984 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 10 November 2025.

Preceded by Heikki Mikkola

F.I.M. 500cc Motocross World Champion 1979

Succeeded by André Malherbe