The 1978 British motorcycle Grand Prix was the tenth round of the 1978 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on 5–6 August 1978 at Silverstone Circuit.

500cc race report Kenny Roberts and Barry Sheene, the two championship contenders arrived in England for the British Grand Prix with only three points separating them. 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. Eventually, Roberts was declared the winner with Sheene being awarded third place behind privateer Steve Manship, who did not stop for a tire change.

500cc classification Pos. No. Rider Team Manufacturer Time/Retired Points 1 1 Kenny Roberts Yamaha Motor Company Yamaha 55'56.930 15 2 43 Steve Manship Suzuki +8.050 12 3 7 Barry Sheene Texaco Heron Team Suzuki Suzuki +1'06.760 10 4 11 Marco Lucchinelli Cagiva Corse Suzuki +1'29.350 8 5 2 Tepi Länsivuori Suzuki +1'56.980 6 6 22 Gianni Rolando Team Librenti Suzuki +1 lap 5 7 4 Johnny Cecotto Yamaha Motor Company Yamaha +1 lap 4 8 5 John Newbold Ray Hamblin Motorcycles Suzuki +1 lap 3 9 8 Takazumi Katayama Sarome & Motul Team Yamaha +1 lap 2 10 12 Virginio Ferrari Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat Suzuki +1 lap 1 11 13 Michel Rougerie Suzuki +1 lap 12 16 John Williams Team Appleby Glade Suzuki +1 lap 13 9 Alex George Suzuki +1 lap 14 42 Jack Middelburg Suzuki +1 lap 15 6 Steve Parrish Suzuki +2 laps 16 3 Philippe Coulon Marlboro Nava Total Suzuki +2 laps 17 28 Gerhard Vogt Bill Smith Racing Suzuki +2 laps 18 38 Peter Sjoström Suzuki +3 laps 19 17 John Woodley Sid Griffiths Racing Suzuki +3 laps 20 37 Dick Alblas Suzuki +3 laps Ret ?? Wil Hartog Riemersma Racing Suzuki Retired Ret ?? Graziano Rossi Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat Suzuki Accident Ret ?? Franco Bonera Team Kiwi Yamoto Cagiva Accident Ret ?? Bruno Kneubühler RSS Racing Team Suzuki Tyre problems Ret ?? Dennis Ireland Suzuki Tyre problems Ret ?? Roger Marshall George Beale Yamaha Tyre problems Ret ?? Jack Findlay Suzuki Tyre problems Ret ?? Leslie van Breda Suzuki Retired Ret ?? Max Wiener Suzuki Retired Ret ?? Boet van Dulmen Suzuki Retired Ret ?? Kevin Stowe Harold Coppock Suzuki Retired Ret ?? Werner Nenning Mobel Nenning Racing Team Suzuki Retired Ret ?? Steve Baker Team Gallina Nava Olio Fiat Suzuki Retired Ret ?? Franz Rau Kazenmaier Autovermietung Suzuki Retired Ret ?? Graham Wood Barton Spondon Suzuki Retired Ret ?? Dave Potter Ted Broad Suzuki Retired Ret ?? Ron Haslam Mal Carter Yamaha Retired Ret ?? Marc Fontan Suzuki Retired Sources:

350 cc classification Pos No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time Grid Points 1 5 Kork Ballington Kawasaki 28 44:43.57 1 15 2 2 Tom Herron Yamaha 28 +10.23 6 12 3 10 Mick Grant Kawasaki 28 +23.01 10 10 4 4 Michel Rougerie Yamaha 28 +52.43 5 8 5 23 Franco Bonera Yamaha 28 +59.09 6 6 25 Vic Soussan Yamaha 28 +59.76 5 7 7 Christian Sarron Yamaha 28 +59.85 8 4 8 6 Olivier Chevallier Yamaha 28 +1:00.24 3 3 9 28 Leif Gustafsson Yamaha 28 +1:00.74 2 10 19 Patrick Pons Yamaha 28 +1:30.23 1 11 51 Roland Freymond Yamaha 28 +1:31.27 12 29 Paolo Pileri Morbidelli 28 +1:31.48 13 50 Clive Padgett Yamaha 27 +1 lap 14 44 Ian Richards Yamaha 27 +1 lap 15 31 Sadao Asami Yamaha 27 +1 lap 16 47 Jack Middelburg Yamaha 27 +1 lap 17 40 Reino Eskelinen Yamaha 27 +1 lap 18 41 Walter Villa Harley-Davidson 27 +1 lap Takazumi Katayama Yamaha 2 Gregg Hansford Kawasaki 4 Ray Quincey Yamaha 7 Raymond Roche Yamaha 9 41 starters in total

250 cc classification Pos No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time Grid Points 1 15 Anton Mang Kawasaki 26 43:03.32 15 2 5 Tom Herron Yamaha 26 +0.19 4 12 3 29 Raymond Roche Yamaha 26 +23.45 9 10 4 10 Mick Grant Kawasaki 26 +30.82 8 8 5 13 Olivier Chevallier Yamaha 26 +30.97 7 6 6 26 Hans Müller Yamaha 26 +31.48 5 5 7 18 Jean-François Baldé Kawasaki 26 +31.64 10 4 8 9 Patrick Fernandez Yamaha 26 +31.78 3 9 51 Roland Freymond Yamaha 26 +59.31 2 10 43 Marc Fontan Yamaha 26 +59.63 1 11 22 Clive Padgett Yamaha 26 +1:10.30 12 21 Vic Soussan Yamaha 26 +1:11.84 13 53 Hervé Moineau Yamaha 26 +1:13.67 14 54 Greg Johnson Yamaha 26 +1:21.87 15 33 Dudley Cramond Yamaha 26 +1:31.36 16 32 Reino Eskelinen Yamaha 26 +1:34.76 17 28 Sadao Asami Yamaha 26 +1:35.41 18 30 Ken Nemoto Yamaha 25 +1 lap 19 25 Harald Bartol HBI 25 +1 lap 20 17 Bernard Murray Yamaha 25 +1 lap Kork Ballington Kawasaki 1 Kenny Roberts Yamaha 2 Gregg Hansford Kawasaki 3 John Dodds Yamaha 6 38 starters in total, 21 finishers

125 cc classification Pos No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time Grid Points 1 3 Ángel Nieto Minarelli 24 44:51.08 4 15 2 10 Clive Horton Morbidelli 24 +17.02 8 12 3 2 Eugenio Lazzarini MBA 24 +21.20 1 10 4 38 Thierry Espié Motobécane 24 +29.90 2 8 5 8 Hans Müller Morbidelli 24 +40.67 5 6 6 7 Stefan Dörflinger Morbidelli 24 +40.94 7 5 7 17 Per-Edward Carlson Morbidelli 24 +45.37 4 8 39 Yves Dupont Morbidelli 24 +1:01.91 3 9 4 Jean-Louis Guignabodet Morbidelli 24 +1:10.39 2 10 20 Felice Agostini Morbidelli 24 +1:10.65 1 11 43 Karl Fuchs Morbidelli 24 +1:44.40 12 30 Cees van Dongen Morbidelli 23 +1 lap 13 34 Daniel Meyer Morbidelli 23 +1 lap 14 47 Ernst Fagerer Morbidelli 23 +1 lap 15 24 Patrick Herouard Morbidelli 23 +1 lap 16 29 Jan Ubels Buton 22 +2 laps 17 36 Alain Pellet Morbidelli 22 +2 laps Pierluigi Conforti Morbidelli 3 Harald Bartol Morbidelli 6 Bengt Johansson Morbidelli 9 Thierry Noblesse Morbidelli 10 34 starters in total

Sidecar classification Pos No. Rider Passenger Manufacturer Laps Time Grid Points 1 5 Alain Michel Stu Collins Seymaz-Yamaha 25 45:27.56 2 15 2 2 Rolf Biland Kenny Williams Beo-Yamaha 25 +11.36 1 12 3 17 Jock Taylor James Neil Windle-Yamaha 25 +1:02.13 5 10 4 14 Bill Hodgkins John Parkins Windle-Yamaha 25 +1:10.44 8 5 1 George O'Dell Cliff Holland Seymaz-Yamaha 25 +1:23.39 4 6 6 22 Mick Boddice Chas Burns Woodhouse-Yamaha 25 +1:27.92 5 7 18 Jean-François Monnin Paul Gerard Seymaz-Yamaha 25 +1:41.19 4 8 7 Dick Greasley Gordon Russell Busch-Yamaha 24 +1 lap 6 3 9 11 Siegfried Schauzu Lorenzo Puzo Busch-Yamaha 24 +1 lap 2 10 6 Göte Brodin Per-Erik Wickström Yamaha 24 +1 lap 8 1 11 23 Cees Smit Jan Smit Seymaz-Yamaha 24 +1 lap 12 15 Hermann Huber Bernd Schappacher König 24 +1 lap 13 32 Gérard Corbaz Roland Gabriel Schmid-Yamaha 24 +1 lap 14 27 Derek Jones Brian Ayres Daytona-Yamaha 24 +1 lap 15 29 John Barker Nick Cutmore Yamaha 24 +1 lap Rolf Steinhausen Wolfgang Kalauch Seymaz-Yamaha 3 Wolfgang Stropek Karl Altrichter Schmid-Yamaha 7 Bruno Holzer Karl Meierhans LCR-Yamaha 9 Hermann Schmid Kenny Arthur Schmid-Yamaha 10 31 starters in total, 21 finishers

References