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 500 cc Pos. No. Rider Team Manufacturer Time/Retired Points 1 1 Kenny Roberts Yamaha Motor Company Yamaha 56'42.500 15 2 3 Pat Hennen Texaco Heron Team Suzuki Suzuki +10.500 12 3 7 Barry Sheene Texaco Heron Team Suzuki Suzuki +29.700 10 4 2 Christian Estrosi Suzuki +37.200 8 5 9 Wil Hartog Riemersma Racing Suzuki +1'07.300 6 6 31 Graziano Rossi Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat Suzuki +1 lap 5 7 5 Steve Parrish Suzuki +1 lap 4 8 23 Jean-Philippe Orban Team La Licorne Suzuki +1 lap 3 9 48 Carlo Perugini Suzuki +2 laps 2 10 52 Kenny Blake Yamaha +2 laps 1 11 43 Alex George Suzuki +2 laps 12 51 Marc Chabert Yamaha +2 laps 13 15 John Woodley Sid Griffiths Racing Suzuki +2 laps 14 37 Franz Rau Kazenmaier Autovermietung Suzuki +3 laps 15 25 Børge Nielsen Suzuki +3 laps 16 38 Gerhard Vogt Suzuki +3 laps 17 18 Virginio Ferrari Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat Suzuki +4 laps 18 11 John Newbold Ray Hamblin Motorcycles Suzuki +4 laps 19 26 Kimmo Kopra Yamaha +4 laps 20 16 Philippe Coulon Marlboro Nava Total Suzuki +7 laps 21 Boet van Dulmen Suzuki +11 laps 22 Gianfranco Bonera Team Kiwi Yamoto Suzuki +12 laps 23 Johnny Cecotto Yamaha Motor Company Yamaha +16 laps 24 Alain Beraud Yamaha +18 laps Ret Michel Rougerie Suzuki Retired Ret Pierre Tocco Yamaha Accident Ret Jean-Paul Boinet Buton Retired Ret Leslie van Breda Suzuki Retired Ret Eddie Roberts Suzuki Retired Ret Teuvo Länsivuori Suzuki Retired Ret René Gutknecht Suzuki Retired Ret Bruno Kneubühler RSS Racing Team Suzuki Retired Ret Jack Findlay Suzuki Retired Ret Steve Wright Len Manchester Motorcycles Yamaha Retired Ret Takazumi Katayama Sarome & Motul Team Yamaha Accident Ret Marco Lucchinelli Cagiva Corse Suzuki Clutch DNS Ikujiro Takai Yamaha Motor Company Yamaha Did not start DNS Leandro Becheroni Suzuki Did not start Sources:
350cc Pos No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time Grid Points 1 16 Gregg Hansford Kawasaki 36 51:29.2 3 15 2 5 Kork Ballington Kawasaki 36 +7.8 2 12 3 3 Jon Ekerold Yamaha 36 +46.8 12 10 4 2 Tom Herron Yamaha 36 +54.3 8 5 31 Vic Soussan Yamaha 36 +1:09.1 8 6 6 1 Patrick Fernandez Yamaha 36 +1:11.3 5 5 7 6 Olivier Chevallier Yamaha 36 +1:18.3 1 4 8 29 Pentti Korhonen Yamaha 36 +1:23.8 3 9 41 Raymond Roche Yamaha 36 +1:24.5 4 2 10 4 Michel Rougerie Yamaha 35 +1 lap 1 11 10 Mick Grant Kawasaki 35 +1 lap 11 12 49 Clive Padgett Yamaha 35 +1 lap 13 19 Sadao Asami Yamaha 35 +1 lap 14 21 Franco Bonera Yamaha 35 +1 lap 15 11 Chas Mortimer Yamaha 35 +1 lap 16 34 Michel Frutschi Yamaha 35 +1 lap 17 30 Leif Gustafsson Yamaha 35 +1 lap 18 40 Denis Boulom Yamaha 34 +2 laps 19 24 Eero Hyvärinen Yamaha 33 +3 laps 20 57 Michel Rastel Yamaha 33 +3 laps Guy Bertin Yamaha 6 Christian Sarron Yamaha 7 John Dodds Yamaha 9 Takazumi Katayama Yamaha 10 36 starters in total, 21 finishers
250cc Pos No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time Grid Points 1 25 Gregg Hansford Kawasaki 33 48:22.1 2 15 2 20 Kenny Roberts Yamaha 33 +2.1 7 12 3 6 Kork Ballington Kawasaki 33 +25.1 4 10 4 8 Jon Ekerold Yamaha 33 +48.9 8 5 5 Tom Herron Yamaha 33 +1:07.1 6 6 37 Raymond Roche Yamaha 33 +1:12.7 3 5 7 12 Chas Mortimer Yamaha 33 +1:15.9 9 4 8 4 Olivier Chevallier Yamaha 33 +1:22.6 6 3 9 21 Vic Soussan Yamaha 33 +1:22.9 12 2 10 34 Guy Bertin Yamaha 33 +1:23.3 8 1 11 2 Franco Uncini Yamaha 33 +1:30.2 10 12 48 Clive Padgett Yamaha 32 +1 lap 13 27 Hervé Moineau Yamaha 32 +1 lap 14 39 Sadao Asami Yamaha 32 +1 lap 15 16 Leif Gustafsson Yamaha 32 +1 lap 16 40 Jean-Claude Meilland Yamaha 32 +1 lap 17 31 Jacques Cornu Yamaha 32 +1 lap 18 46 Pierre Tocco Yamaha 32 +1 lap 11 19 51 Carlos Lavado Yamaha 31 +2 laps 20 22 Josef Hage Yamaha 31 +2 laps Patrick Fernandez Yamaha 1 Jean-François Baldé Kawasaki 5 36 starters in total, 24 finishers
125cc Pos No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time Grid Points 1 1 Pierpaolo Bianchi Minarelli 32 50:21.3 2 15 2 2 Eugenio Lazzarini MBA 32 +12.5 3 12 3 33 Per-Edward Carlson Morbidelli 32 +33.7 5 10 4 9 Maurizio Massimiani Morbidelli 32 +37.0 7 8 5 4 Jean-Louis Guignabodet Bender 32 +1:30.9 6 6 6 18 Thierry Noblesse Morbidelli 31 +1 lap 9 5 7 32 Matti Kinnunen Morbidelli 31 +1 lap 12 4 8 36 Patrick Plisson Morbidelli 31 +1 lap 8 3 9 6 Harald Bartol Morbidelli 31 +1 lap 11 2 10 48 Daniel Meyer Morbidelli 31 +1 lap 1 11 46 Claude Gorry Morbidelli 31 +1 lap 12 7 Stefan Dörflinger Morbidelli 30 +2 laps 10 13 27 Bennie Wilbers Morbidelli 30 +2 laps 14 29 Johann Parzer Morbidelli 30 +2 laps 15 28 Ernst Fagerer Morbidelli 30 +2 laps 16 19 Yves Dupont Morbidelli 29 +3 laps 17 45 Jacques Hutteau Morbidelli 29 +3 laps 18 42 Pierluigi Conforti Morbidelli 27 +5 laps 19 16 Bernd Schneider Bender 27 +5 laps 20 23 Karl Fuchs Morbidelli 22 +10 laps Thierry Espié Motobécane 1 Hans Müller Morbidelli 4 32 starters in total, 20 finishers
Sidecar classification Pos No. Rider Passenger Manufacturer Laps Time Grid Points 1 2 Rolf Biland Kenny Williams Beo-Yamaha 30 46:25.2 2 15 2 5 Alain Michel Stu Collins Seymaz-Yamaha 30 +2.0 1 12 3 10 Mac Hobson Ken Birch Yamaha 30 +48.5 7 10 4 1 George O'Dell Cliff Holland Seymaz-Yamaha 30 +1:25.9 8 5 8 Bruno Holzer Karl Meierhans LCR-Yamaha 30 +1:25.4 8 6 6 3 Werner Schwärzel Andreas Huber Fath 29 +1 lap 6 5 7 19 Jock Taylor Lewis Ward Windle-Yamaha 29 +1 lap 4 8 6 Göte Brodin Per-Erik Wickström Yamaha 29 +1 lap 3 9 15 Bill Hodgkins John Parkins Windle-Yamaha 29 +1 lap 2 10 23 Gérard Corbaz Roland Gabriel Schmid-Yamaha 29 +1 lap 1 11 16 John Barker Nick Cutmore Yamaha 29 +1 lap 12 36 Ernst Trachsel Andreas Stager TTM-Suzuki 29 +1 lap 9 13 12 Siegfried Schauzu Lorenzo Puzo Busch-Yamaha 28 +2 laps 14 30 Bernard Chabert Patrick Jourdain GEP-Yamaha 28 +2 laps 15 33 Jean-Claude Jaquet René Delarre Yamaha 28 +2 laps Jean-François Monnin Philippe Miserez Seymaz-Yamaha 3 Yvan Troillet Pierre Muller GEP-Yamaha 4 Rolf Steinhausen Wolfgang Kalauch Seymaz-Yamaha 5 Hermann Huber Bernd Schappacher König 10 24 starters in total, 18 finishers
References