The 1979 British motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 1979 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 10–12 August 1979 at the Silverstone Circuit.

Race summary The 500cc British Grand Prix would be one of the closest races in Grand Prix history. The race began with Barry Sheene, Kenny Roberts and Wil Hartog breaking away from the rest of the field. At the midpoint of the race, Hartog fell off the pace as Sheene and Roberts continued to battle for the lead. The event featured numerous lead changes throughout the 28 lap race. Heading into the final lap of the race, the two leaders came upon lapped riders. Roberts was unhindered as he passed the slower riders however, Sheene was momentarily held up, allowing Roberts to increase his lead. An undeterred Sheene put in an impressive lap time to catch Roberts as they entered the final corner. With momentum on his side, Sheene attempted a last second pass, but Roberts was able to prevail over Sheene by a narrow margin of just three-hundredths of a second.

Minutes before the start of the race, Roberts' Yamaha blew a seal and sprayed the bike with oil. His crew managed to replace the seal in time but, Roberts went to the starting line with his gloves coated with oil, causing his hand to slip on the throttle during the race.

After an eleven-year absence from world championship racing, Honda returned to competition with the exotic, four-stroke NR500 ridden by riders Mick Grant and Takazumi Katayama. The motorcycle featured an engine with oval-shaped cylinders as well as a monocoque chassis. Both bikes retired from the race, Grant crashing out on the first turn after the bike spilled oil onto his rear tire. Katayama retired on the seventh lap due to ignition problems.

Classification 500 cc Pos. Rider Team Manufacturer Time/Retired Points 1 Kenny Roberts Yamaha Motor Company Yamaha 42'56.720 15 2 Barry Sheene Texaco Heron Team Suzuki Suzuki +0.030 12 3 Wil Hartog Riemersma Racing Suzuki +4.970 10 4 Virginio Ferrari Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat Suzuki +35.280 8 5 Boet van Dulmen Suzuki +36.820 6 6 Christian Sarron Team Sonauto Gauloises Yamaha +40.650 5 7 Franco Uncini Team Zago International Suzuki +51.090 4 8 Philippe Coulon Suzuki +51.250 3 9 Marco Lucchinelli Suzuki +56.790 2 10 John Newbold Team Appleby Glade Suzuki +1'16.490 1 11 Carlo Perugini Yamaha +1'18.280 12 Gianni Rolando Scuderia Naldoni Suzuki +1'19.910 13 Peter Sjöström Ava MC Stockholm Suzuki +1 lap 14 Steve Ward Auto 66 Club Suzuki +1 lap 15 Keith Huewen Len Manchester Motorcycles Yamaha +1 lap 16 Max Wiener Suzuki +2 laps 17 George Fogarty Sports Motorcycles Suzuki +2 laps 18 Henk de Vries Team 77 Suzuki +2 laps 19 Corrado Tuzii Suzuki +2 laps Ret Michel Rougerie Suzuki Retired Ret Ron Haslam Mal Carter Suzuki Retired Ret Stan Woods Yamaha Retired Ret Eddie Grant Retired Ret Gary Lingham Suzuki Retired Ret Gerhard Vogt Bill Smith Racing Suzuki Retired Ret John Woodley Suzuki Retired Ret Roberto Pietri Suzuki Retired Ret Gianni Pelletier Suzuki Retired Ret Dennis Ireland Derry's Racing Suzuki Retired Ret Toni Garcia Suzuki Retired Ret Josef Hage Dieter Braun Team Suzuki Retired Ret Roger Marshall Dieter Braun Team Silver Dream Retired Ret Alex George Suzuki Retired Ret Randy Mamola Serge Zago Suzuki Retired Ret Johnny Cecotto Yamaha Motor Company Yamaha Retired Ret Graziano Rossi Morbidelli Morbidelli Retired Ret Rod Scivyer Suzuki Retired Ret Seppo Rossi Kouv MK Suzuki Retired Ret Tony Rutter Harold Coppock Suzuki Retired Ret Ikujiro Takai Yamaha Motor Company Yamaha Retired Ret Takazumi Katayama Honda International Racing Honda Retired Ret Lennart Backström Suzuki Retired Ret Russell Wood Yamaha Retired Ret Steve Parrish Texaco Heron Team Suzuki Suzuki Accident Ret Dave Potter Team Mitsui Yamaha Yamaha Retired Ret Mick Grant Honda International Racing Honda Accident DNS Jack Middelburg Suzuki Did not start Sources:

350cc Place Rider Number Country Machine Time/Retired Points1 Kork Ballington1 South Africa Kawasaki38min 9.91sec152 Gregg Hansford15 Australia Kawasaki123 Jeff Sayle25 Australia Yamaha104 Michel Frutschi14 Switzerland Yamaha85 Roland Freymond24 Switzerland Yamaha66 Michel Rougerie55 France Yamaha57 Olivier Chevallier10 France Chevallier-Yamaha48 Tony Head47 United Kingdom Yamaha39 Alan North43 South Africa Yamaha210 Jon Ekerold4 South Africa Yamaha1 Sources:

250cc Place Rider Number Country Machine Points1 Kork Ballington1 South Africa Kawasaki152 Randy Mamola17 United States Yamaha123 Anton Mang5 West Germany Kawasaki104 Graeme McGregor35 Australia Yamaha85 Roland Freymond39 Switzerland Yamaha66 Olivier Chevallier20 France Chevallier-Yamaha57 Edi Stoellinger28 Austria Yamaha48 Patrick Fernandez2 France Yamaha39 Christian Estrosi12 France Kawasaki210 Tony Head51 United Kingdom Yamaha111 Eero Hyvarinen38 Finland Yamaha12 Eric Saul21 France Bimota Adriatica Yamaha13 Rene Delaby23 Belgium Yamaha Sources:

125cc Place Rider Number Country Machine Points1 Angel Nieto2 Spain Minarelli152 Gert Bender11 West Germany Bender123 Guy Bertin5 France Motobécane104 Stefan Dörflinger12 Switzerland Morbidelli85 Pier Paolo Bianchi3 Italy Minarelli66 Maurizio Massimiami6 Italy MBA57 Hans Müller7 Switzerland MBA48 August Auinger16 Austria Morbidelli39 Bruno Kneubühler17 Switzerland MBA210 Clive Horton10 United Kingdom Morbidelli1 Sources:

B2A Sidecars Standings Pos Rider Passenger Number Manufacturer Time/Retired Points 1 Rolf Biland Kurt Waltisperg 1 Schmid-Yamaha 33min 39.47sec 15 2 Jock Taylor Benga Johansson 7 Windle-Yamaha 12 3 Dick Greasley John Parkins 5 Busch-Yamaha 10 4 Werner Schwärzel Andreas Huber 4 Yamaha 8 5 Rolf Steinhausen Kenny Arthur 12 KSA-Yamaha 6 6 Walter Ohrmann Erich Schmitz 27 Yamaha 5 7 Siegfried Schauzu Lorenzo Puzo 13 Busch-Yamaha 4 8 John Barker Nick Cutmore 28 Reynoldson-Yamaha 3 9 Hermann Huber Bernhard Schappacher 14 Krauser-Yamaha 2 10 Kalevi Rahko Kari Laatikainen 16 Yamaha 1

B2B Sidecars Standings Pos Rider Passenger Manufacturer Time/Retired Points 1 Alain Michel Michael Burkhard Seymaz-Yamaha 15 2 Bruno Holzer Karl Meierhans LCR-Yamaha 12 3 Masato Kumano Isao Arifuku Yamaha 10 4 Heinz Luthringshauser Karl Paul Yamaha 8 5 Yvan Trolliet Marc Petel Seymaz-Yamaha 6 6 Bernard Chabert Patrice Daire CB-Yamaha 5 7 Cees Smit Charles Vroegop Seymaz-Yamaha 4 8 Klaus Sprengel Derek John Booth Suzuki 3 9 Steve Sinnott John Horspole ?-Yamaha 2 10 Rudolf Reinhard Karin Sterzenbach GEP-Yamaha 1

References

External links A Thriller At Silverstone - Sports Illustrated, August 20, 1979 Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4