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.^[1] The popularity of defending champion Barry Sheene had boosted the appeal of motorcycle racing into the realm of the mass marketing media.^[1] The arrival of Kenny Roberts from America added to the anticipation.^[1] 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.^[1]

In the 500 cc class, Suzuki returned with its defending world champion, Barry Sheene, along with teammates Teuvo Lansivuori, Pat Hennen and Wil Hartog.^[1] Yamaha's official factory team entered former 350 cc world champions Johnny Cecotto and Takazumi Katayama.^[1] 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.^[2] Roberts also secured the financial backing of the Goodyear tire company.^[2]

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.^[1][3] Roberts won the 250 cc Grand Prix in Venezuela but then suffered a mechanical failure in the 500 cc race.^[1][4] American Pat Hennen won the second round at the Spanish Grand Prix with Roberts finishing in second place and Sheene relegated to fifth place.^[5] 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.^[6][7][8] 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.^[9]

Cecotto won the Dutch TT with Roberts finishing ahead of a resurgent Sheene in third place.^[10] Hartog would claim the Belgian Grand Prix for Suzuki with Roberts and Sheene once again finishing in second and third places respectively.^[11] At the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix, Roberts crashed during practice for the 250 cc race, sustaining a concussion and a thumb injury.^[12] 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.^[12][13] 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.^[14]

The two championship contenders arrived in England for the British Grand Prix with only three points separating them.^[12] 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.^[15] Eventually, Roberts was declared the winner with Sheene being awarded third place behind privateer Steve Manship, who did not stop for a tire change.^[16][17][18]

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 (22.8 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.^[19][20] Cecotto claimed third place in the final championship standings.^[20]

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 Perugini (motorcyclist)		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

^[20]

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

^[21]

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

^[22]

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

^[23]

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

^[24]