1978 Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix

1978 Finnish Grand Prix
Race details
Race 9 of 13 races in the; 1978 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	30 July 1978
Official name	Imatranajo
Location	Imatra Circuit
Course	Public roads; 6.030 km (3.747 mi);
500 cc
Rider
Pole position
Rider	Johnny Cecotto
Time	2:10.400
Fastest lap
Rider	Johnny Cecotto
Time	2:08.700
Podium
First	Wil Hartog
Second	Takazumi Katayama
Third	Johnny Cecotto
350 cc
Rider
Pole position
Rider	Kork Ballington
Time	2:14.900
Fastest lap
Rider	Takazumi Katayama
Time	2:13.800
Podium
First	Kork Ballington
Second	Takazumi Katayama
Third	Tom Herron
250 cc
Rider
Pole position
Rider	Gregg Hansford
Time	2:18.300
Fastest lap
Rider	Kork Ballington
Time	2:17.400
Podium
First	Kork Ballington
Second	Gregg Hansford
Third	Mario Lega
125 cc
Rider
Pole position
Rider	Eugenio Lazzarini
Time	2:25.50
Fastest lap
Rider	Ángel Nieto
Time	2:24.200
Podium
First	Ángel Nieto
Second	Eugenio Lazzarini
Third	Harald Bartol

The 1978 Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix was the ninth round of the 1978 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on 30 July 1978 at the Imatra circuit.

500cc classification[edit]

Pos.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Time/Retired	Points
1	Wil Hartog	Riemersma Racing	Suzuki	45'44.100	15
2	Takazumi Katayama	Sarome & Motul Team	Yamaha	+4.800	12
3	Johnny Cecotto	Yamaha Motor Company	Yamaha	+11.400	10
4	Tepi Länsivuori		Suzuki	+43.700	8
5	Steve Parrish		Suzuki	+58.400	6
6	Steve Baker	Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat	Suzuki	+1'04.700	5
7	Boet van Dulmen		Suzuki	+1'11.700	4
8	Jürgen Steiner	Caramba Racing Team Bohme	Suzuki	+1'23.300	4
9	Graziano Rossi	Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat	Suzuki	+2'27.100	2
10	Bruno Kneubühler	RSS Racing Team	Suzuki	+1 lap	1
11	Clive Padgett		Suzuki	+1 lap
12	Max Wiener		Suzuki	+1 lap
13	Dick Alblas		Suzuki	+1 lap
14	Gerhard Vogt	Bill Smith Racing	Suzuki	+1 lap
15	Børge Nielsen		Suzuki	+1 lap
16	Ilkka Jaakkola		Yamaha	+2 laps
Ret	Marco Lucchinelli	Cagiva Corse	Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Barry Sheene	Texaco Heron Team Suzuki	Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Timo Haarala		Yamaha	Retired
Ret	Alex George		Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Bo Granath		Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Dennis Ireland		Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Franz Rau	Kazenmaier Autovermietung	Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Harry Hoffman	Manila Disco Racing	Suzuki	Retired
Ret	John Woodley	Sid Griffiths Racing	Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Kenny Roberts	Yamaha Motor Company	Yamaha	Retired
Ret	Lars Johansson		Yamaha	Retired
Ret	Leslie van Breda		Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Markku Matikäinen		Suzuki	Retired
Ret	Michel Rougerie		Suzuki	Accident
Ret	Pentti Lehtelä		Yamaha	Accident
Ret	Virginio Ferrari	Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat	Suzuki	Retired
Sources: ^[2]^[3]^[4]

350 cc classification[edit]

Pos	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Grid	Points
1	Kork Ballington	Kawasaki	20	45:33.2	1	15
2	Takazumi Katayama	Yamaha	20	+3.2	9	12
3	Tom Herron	Yamaha	20	+35.8	19	10
4	Vic Soussan	Yamaha	20	+36.9	6	8
5	Jon Ekerold	Yamaha	20	+44.7	5	6
6	Guy Bertin	Yamaha	20	+49.0	7	5
7	Michel Rougerie	Yamaha	20	+50.7	2	4
8	Olivier Chevallier	Yamaha	20	+1:10.4	10	3
9	Paolo Pileri	Morbidelli	20	+1:10.8	8	2
10	Eero Hyvärinen	Yamaha	20	+1:12.2		1
11	Bruno Kneubühler	Yamaha	20	+1:35.8
12	Michel Frutschi	Yamaha	20	+1:45.8	12
13	Seppo Rossi	Yamaha	20	+2:09.8
14	Reino Eskelinen	Yamaha	20	+2:22.4
15	Les van Breda	Yamaha	19	+1 lap
	Gregg Hansford	Kawasaki			3
	Anton Mang	Kawasaki			4
	Marco Lucchinelli	Harley-Davidson			11
	Mick Grant	Kawasaki			13
	Leif Gustafsson	Yamaha			14
	Chas Mortimer	Yamaha			15
	Patrick Fernandez	Yamaha			16
	Christian Sarron	Yamaha			17
	Patrick Pons	Yamaha			18
	Pentti Korhonen	Yamaha			20
35 starters in total
^[2]

250 cc classification[edit]

Pos	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Grid	Points
1	Kork Ballington	Kawasaki	19	43:56.5	2	15
2	Gregg Hansford	Kawasaki	19	+29.2	1	12
3	Mario Lega	Morbidelli	19	+33.4	3	10
4	Anton Mang	Kawasaki	19	+42.5	7	8
5	Paolo Pileri	Morbidelli	19	+51.2	6	6
6	Jean-François Baldé	Kawasaki	19	+51.5	12	5
7	Mick Grant	Kawasaki	19	+1:03.7	10	4
8	Tom Herron	Yamaha	19	+1:04.1	5	3
9	John Dodds	Yamaha	19	+1:10.3	16	2
10	Jon Ekerold	Morbidelli	19	+1:30.4	11	1
11	Olivier Chevallier	Yamaha	19	+1:30.7	8
12	Pentti Korhonen	Yamaha	19	+1:55.3
13	Leif Gustafsson	Yamaha	19	+2:04.1	13
14	Hervé Moineau	Yamaha	18	+1 lap
15	Clive Padgett	Yamaha	18	+1 lap
16	Roland Freymond	Yamaha	18	+1 lap
17	Reino Eskelinen	Yamaha	18	+1 lap
18	S. Torvinen	Yamaha	18	+1 lap
	Kenny Roberts	Yamaha			4
	Patrick Fernandez	Yamaha			9
	Chas Mortimer	Yamaha			14
	Walter Villa	MBA			15
	Vic Soussan	Yamaha			17
	Pekka Nurmi	Yamaha			18
	Harald Bartol	Yamaha			19
	Raymond Roche	Yamaha			20
36 starters in total
^[2]

125 cc classification[edit]

Pos	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Grid	Points
1	Ángel Nieto	Minarelli	18	43:55.6	4	15
2	Eugenio Lazzarini	MBA	18	+0.9	1	12
3	Harald Bartol	Morbidelli	18	+56.8	6	10
4	Jean-Louis Guignabodet	Morbidelli	18	+1:14.3	14	8
5	Stefan Dörflinger	Morbidelli	18	+1:19.0	7	6
6	Hans Müller	Morbidelli	18	+1:22.9	5	5
7	Thierry Espié	Motobécane	18	+1:23.1	3	4
8	Per-Edward Carlson	Morbidelli	18	+1:23.6	10	3
9	Walter Koschine	Bender	18	+1:39.3	16	2
10	Clive Horton	Morbidelli	18	+2:01.3	17	1
11	Patrick Plisson	Morbidelli	18	+2:04.5	8
12	Thierry Noblesse	Morbidelli	18	+2:32.3	13
13	P. Herouard	Morbidelli	18	+3:13.1
14	François Granon	Morbidelli	17	+1 lap	20
15	Karl Fuchs	Morbidelli	17	+1 lap
16	Johnny Wickström	Morbidelli	17	+1 lap
17	Roland Olsson	Starol	17	+1 lap
18	J. Valaskari	Yamaha	15	+3 laps
	Pierpaolo Bianchi	Minarelli			2
	Matti Kinnunen	Morbidelli			9
	Maurizio Massimiani	Morbidelli			11
	Bengt-Göran Johansson	Morbidelli			12
	Enrico Cereda	Morbidelli			15
	August Auinger	Morbidelli			18
	Bennie Wilbers	Morbidelli			19
32 starters in total
^[2]

References[edit]

^ "Grand Prix uitslagen en bijzonderheden 1978". Archive.li. 25 July 2015. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Coleman, Barry (ed.). Motocourse 1978-1979. Hazleton Securities Ltd. p. 111. ISBN 0-905138-06-6.
^ "1978 Finnish MotoGP - Motor Sport Magazine Database". Motor Sport Magazine. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
^ "FINLAND GRAND PRIX · 500cc Race Classification 1978". Motogp.com. Retrieved 8 December 2018.

Previous race: 1978 Swedish Grand Prix	FIM Grand Prix World Championship 1978 season	Next race: 1978 British Grand Prix
Previous race: 1977 Finnish Grand Prix	Finnish Grand Prix	Next race: 1979 Finnish Grand Prix

[1] "Grand Prix uitslagen en bijzonderheden 1978". Archive.li. 25 July 2015. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2018.

[motocourse-2] Coleman, Barry (ed.). Motocourse 1978-1979. Hazleton Securities Ltd. p. 111. ISBN 0-905138-06-6.

[3] "1978 Finnish MotoGP - Motor Sport Magazine Database". Motor Sport Magazine. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.

[4] "FINLAND GRAND PRIX · 500cc Race Classification 1978". Motogp.com. Retrieved 8 December 2018.

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