1978 French motorcycle Grand Prix

Motorcycle race

France 1978 French Grand Prix

Race details

Race 4 of 13 races in the
1978 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

Date

7 May 1978

Official name

Grand Prix de France^[1]

Location

Circuit de Nogaro

Course

Permanent racing facility
3.120 km (1.939 mi)

500cc

Pole position
Rider	Venezuela Johnny Cecotto
Time	1:24.850
Fastest lap
Rider	United States Kenny Roberts
Time	1:22.800
Podium
First	United States Kenny Roberts
Second	United States Pat Hennen
Third	United Kingdom Barry Sheene

350cc

Pole position
Rider	France Olivier Chevallier
Time	1:26.450
Fastest lap
Rider	Australia Gregg Hansford
Time	1:24.500
Podium
First	Australia Gregg Hansford
Second	South Africa Kork Ballington
Third	South Africa Jon Ekerold

250cc

Pole position
Rider	France Patrick Fernandez
Time	1:27.690
Fastest lap
Rider	Australia Gregg Hansford
Time	1:25.800
Podium
First	Australia Gregg Hansford
Second	United States Kenny Roberts
Third	South Africa Kork Ballington

125cc

Pole position
Rider	France Thierry Espié
Time	1:31.760
Fastest lap
Rider	Italy Pierpaolo Bianchi
Time	1:30.300
Podium
First	Italy Pierpaolo Bianchi
Second	Italy Eugenio Lazzarini
Third	Sweden Per-Edward Carlsson

Sidecar (B2A)

Pole position
Rider	France Alain Michel
Time	1:29.100
Fastest lap
Rider	Switzerland Rolf Biland
Time	1:29.600
Podium
First	Switzerland Rolf Biland
Second	France Alain Michel
Third	United Kingdom Mac Hobson

The 1978 French motorcycle Grand Prix was the fourth round of the 1978 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 5–7 May 1978 at the Circuit de Nogaro.

Classification

[edit ]

500 cc

[edit ]

Pos.	No.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Time/Retired	Points
1	1	United States Kenny Roberts	Yamaha Motor Company	Yamaha	56'42.500	15
2	3	United States Pat Hennen	Suzuki	+10.500	12
3	7	United Kingdom Barry Sheene	Texaco Heron Team Suzuki	Suzuki	+29.700	10
4	2	France Christian Estrosi	Suzuki	+37.200	8
5	9	Netherlands Wil Hartog	Riemersma Racing	Suzuki	+1'07.300	6
6	31	Italy Graziano Rossi	Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat	Suzuki	+1 lap	5
7	5	United Kingdom Steve Parrish	Suzuki	+1 lap	4
8	23	Belgium Jean-Philippe Orban	Team La Licorne	Suzuki	+1 lap	3
9	48	Italy Carlo Perugini	Suzuki	+2 laps	2
10	52	Australia Kenny Blake	Yamaha	+2 laps	1
11	43	United Kingdom Alex George	Suzuki	+2 laps
12	51	France Marc Chabert	Yamaha	+2 laps
13	15	New Zealand John Woodley	Sid Griffiths Racing	Suzuki	+2 laps
14	37	West Germany Franz Rau	Kazenmaier Autovermietung	Suzuki	+3 laps
15	25	Denmark Børge Nielsen	Suzuki	+3 laps
16	38	West Germany Gerhard Vogt	Suzuki	+3 laps
17	18	Italy Virginio Ferrari	Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat	Suzuki	+4 laps
18	11	United Kingdom John Newbold	Ray Hamblin Motorcycles	Suzuki	+4 laps
19	26	Finland Kimmo Kopra	Yamaha	+4 laps
20	16	Switzerland Philippe Coulon	Marlboro Nava Total	Suzuki	+7 laps
21	Netherlands Boet van Dulmen	Suzuki	+11 laps
22	Italy Gianfranco Bonera	Team Kiwi Yamoto	Suzuki	+12 laps
23	Venezuela Johnny Cecotto	Yamaha Motor Company	Yamaha	+16 laps
24	France Alain Beraud	Yamaha	+18 laps
Ret	France Michel Rougerie	Suzuki	Retired
Ret	France Pierre Tocco	Yamaha	Accident
Ret	France Jean-Paul Boinet	Buton	Retired
Ret	South Africa Leslie van Breda	Suzuki	Retired
Ret	United Kingdom Eddie Roberts	Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Finland Teuvo Länsivuori	Suzuki	Retired
Ret	West Germany René Gutknecht	Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Switzerland Bruno Kneubühler	RSS Racing Team	Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Australia Jack Findlay	Suzuki	Retired
Ret	United Kingdom Steve Wright	Len Manchester Motorcycles	Yamaha	Retired
Ret	Japan Takazumi Katayama	Sarome & Motul Team	Yamaha	Accident
Ret	Italy Marco Lucchinelli	Cagiva Corse	Suzuki	Clutch
DNS	Japan Ikujiro Takai	Yamaha Motor Company	Yamaha	Did not start
DNS	Italy Leandro Becheroni	Suzuki	Did not start
Sources:^[2]^[3]^[4]

350cc

[edit ]

Pos	No.	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Grid	Points
1	16	Australia Gregg Hansford	Kawasaki	36	51:29.2	3	15
2	5	South Africa Kork Ballington	Kawasaki	36	+7.8	2	12
3	3	South Africa Jon Ekerold	Yamaha	36	+46.8	12	10
4	2	United Kingdom Tom Herron	Yamaha	36	+54.3	8
5	31	Australia Vic Soussan	Yamaha	36	+1:09.1	8	6
6	1	France Patrick Fernandez	Yamaha	36	+1:11.3	5	5
7	6	France Olivier Chevallier	Yamaha	36	+1:18.3	1	4
8	29	Finland Pentti Korhonen	Yamaha	36	+1:23.8	3
9	41	France Raymond Roche	Yamaha	36	+1:24.5	4	2
10	4	France Michel Rougerie	Yamaha	35	+1 lap	1
11	10	United Kingdom Mick Grant	Kawasaki	35	+1 lap	11
12	49	United Kingdom Clive Padgett	Yamaha	35	+1 lap
13	19	Japan Sadao Asami	Yamaha	35	+1 lap
14	21	Italy Franco Bonera	Yamaha	35	+1 lap
15	11	United Kingdom Chas Mortimer	Yamaha	35	+1 lap
16	34	Switzerland Michel Frutschi	Yamaha	35	+1 lap
17	30	Sweden Leif Gustafsson	Yamaha	35	+1 lap
18	40	France Denis Boulom	Yamaha	34	+2 laps
19	24	Finland Eero Hyvärinen	Yamaha	33	+3 laps
20	57	France Michel Rastel	Yamaha	33	+3 laps
France Guy Bertin	Yamaha	6
France Christian Sarron	Yamaha	7
Australia John Dodds	Yamaha	9
Japan Takazumi Katayama	Yamaha	10
36 starters in total, 21 finishers
^[4]

250cc

[edit ]

Pos	No.	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Grid	Points
1	25	Australia Gregg Hansford	Kawasaki	33	48:22.1	2	15
2	20	United States Kenny Roberts	Yamaha	33	+2.1	7	12
3	6	South Africa Kork Ballington	Kawasaki	33	+25.1	4	10
4	8	South Africa Jon Ekerold	Yamaha	33	+48.9	8
5	5	United Kingdom Tom Herron	Yamaha	33	+1:07.1	6
6	37	France Raymond Roche	Yamaha	33	+1:12.7	3	5
7	12	United Kingdom Chas Mortimer	Yamaha	33	+1:15.9	9	4
8	4	France Olivier Chevallier	Yamaha	33	+1:22.6	6	3
9	21	Australia Vic Soussan	Yamaha	33	+1:22.9	12	2
10	34	France Guy Bertin	Yamaha	33	+1:23.3	8	1
11	2	Italy Franco Uncini	Yamaha	33	+1:30.2	10
12	48	United Kingdom Clive Padgett	Yamaha	32	+1 lap
13	27	France Hervé Moineau	Yamaha	32	+1 lap
14	39	Japan Sadao Asami	Yamaha	32	+1 lap
15	16	Sweden Leif Gustafsson	Yamaha	32	+1 lap
16	40	France Jean-Claude Meilland	Yamaha	32	+1 lap
17	31	Switzerland Jacques Cornu	Yamaha	32	+1 lap
18	46	France Pierre Tocco	Yamaha	32	+1 lap	11
19	51	Venezuela Carlos Lavado	Yamaha	31	+2 laps
20	22	West Germany Josef Hage	Yamaha	31	+2 laps
France Patrick Fernandez	Yamaha	1
France Jean-François Baldé	Kawasaki	5
36 starters in total, 24 finishers
^[4]

125cc

[edit ]

Pos	No.	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Grid	Points
1	1	Italy Pierpaolo Bianchi	Minarelli	32	50:21.3	2	15
2	2	Italy Eugenio Lazzarini	MBA	32	+12.5	3	12
3	33	Sweden Per-Edward Carlson	Morbidelli	32	+33.7	5	10
4	9	Italy Maurizio Massimiani	Morbidelli	32	+37.0	7	8
5	4	France Jean-Louis Guignabodet	Bender	32	+1:30.9	6	6
6	18	France Thierry Noblesse	Morbidelli	31	+1 lap	9	5
7	32	Finland Matti Kinnunen	Morbidelli	31	+1 lap	12	4
8	36	France Patrick Plisson	Morbidelli	31	+1 lap	8	3
9	6	Austria Harald Bartol	Morbidelli	31	+1 lap	11	2
10	48	France Daniel Meyer	Morbidelli	31	+1 lap	1
11	46	France Claude Gorry	Morbidelli	31	+1 lap
12	7	Switzerland Stefan Dörflinger	Morbidelli	30	+2 laps	10
13	27	Netherlands Bennie Wilbers	Morbidelli	30	+2 laps
14	29	Austria Johann Parzer	Morbidelli	30	+2 laps
15	28	Austria Ernst Fagerer	Morbidelli	30	+2 laps
16	19	Italy Yves Dupont	Morbidelli	29	+3 laps
17	45	France Jacques Hutteau	Morbidelli	29	+3 laps
18	42	Italy Pierluigi Conforti	Morbidelli	27	+5 laps
19	16	West Germany Bernd Schneider	Bender	27	+5 laps
20	23	Switzerland Karl Fuchs	Morbidelli	22	+10 laps
France Thierry Espié	Motobécane	1
Switzerland Hans Müller	Morbidelli	4
32 starters in total, 20 finishers
^[4]

Sidecar classification

[edit ]

Pos	No.	Rider	Passenger	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Grid	Points
1	2	Switzerland Rolf Biland	United Kingdom Kenny Williams	Beo-Yamaha	30	46:25.2	2	15
2	5	France Alain Michel	United Kingdom Stu Collins	Seymaz-Yamaha	30	+2.0	1	12
3	10	United Kingdom Mac Hobson	United Kingdom Ken Birch	Yamaha	30	+48.5	7	10
4	1	United Kingdom George O'Dell	United Kingdom Cliff Holland	Seymaz-Yamaha	30	+1:25.9	8
5	8	Switzerland Bruno Holzer	Switzerland Karl Meierhans	LCR-Yamaha	30	+1:25.4	8	6
6	3	West Germany Werner Schwärzel	West Germany Andreas Huber	Fath	29	+1 lap	6	5
7	19	United Kingdom Jock Taylor	United Kingdom Lewis Ward	Windle-Yamaha	29	+1 lap	4
8	6	Sweden Göte Brodin	Sweden Per-Erik Wickström	Yamaha	29	+1 lap	3
9	15	United Kingdom Bill Hodgkins	United Kingdom John Parkins	Windle-Yamaha	29	+1 lap	2
10	23	Switzerland Gérard Corbaz	Switzerland Roland Gabriel	Schmid-Yamaha	29	+1 lap	1
11	16	United Kingdom John Barker	United Kingdom Nick Cutmore	Yamaha	29	+1 lap
12	36	Switzerland Ernst Trachsel	Switzerland Andreas Stager	TTM-Suzuki	29	+1 lap	9
13	12	West Germany Siegfried Schauzu	West Germany Lorenzo Puzo	Busch-Yamaha	28	+2 laps
14	30	France Bernard Chabert	France Patrick Jourdain	GEP-Yamaha	28	+2 laps
15	33	Switzerland Jean-Claude Jaquet	Switzerland René Delarre	Yamaha	28	+2 laps
Switzerland Jean-François Monnin	Switzerland Philippe Miserez	Seymaz-Yamaha	3
France Yvan Troillet	France Pierre Muller	GEP-Yamaha	4
West Germany Rolf Steinhausen	West Germany Wolfgang Kalauch	Seymaz-Yamaha	5
West Germany Hermann Huber	West Germany Bernd Schappacher	König	10
24 starters in total, 18 finishers
^[4]

References

[edit ]

^ "Alle Grand-Prix uitslagen en bijzonderheden, van 1973 (het jaar dat Jack begon met racen) tot heden". Archive.li. Archived from the original on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
^ "1978 French MotoGP - Motor Sport Magazine Database". Motorsportmagazine.com. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
^ "motogp.com · FRENCH GRAND PRIX · 500cc Race Classification 1978". Motogp.com. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Coleman, Barry, ed. (March 1979). Motocourse 1978-1979. Hazleton Securities Ltd. p. 81. ISBN 0-905138-06-6.

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1978 Austrian Grand Prix FIM Grand Prix World Championship
1978 season Next race:
1978 Nations Grand Prix

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1977 French Grand Prix French Grand Prix Next race:
1979 French Grand Prix

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