The 1979 World trials season consisted of twelve trials events. It began on 10 February, with round one in Newtownards, Ireland and ended with round twelve in Ricany, Czechoslovakia on 16 September.
Season summary Bernie Schreiber would claim his first World trials championship in 1979, the first American to win the FIM World Trials Championship.
1979 World trials season calendar
Round Date Trial Venue Trial GP 1 10 February Ireland Newtownards 1) Rob Shepherd 2) John Reynolds 3) Martin Lampkin 2 17 February Great Britain Rhayader 1) Malcolm Rathmell 2) Yrjo Vesterinen 3) Martin Lampkin 3 25 February Belgium Bilstain 1) Yrjo Vesterinen 2) Martin Lampkin 3) Malcolm Rathmell 4 4 March Netherlands Norg 1) Ulf Karlson 2) Yrjo Vesterinen 3) Nigel Birkett 5 11 March Spain Matadepera 1) Bernie Schreiber 2) Jaime Subira 3) Marlan Whaley 6 18 March France Montbelliard 1) Ulf Karlson 2) Bernie Schreiber 3) Charles Coutard 7 10 June Canada Calgary 1) Malcolm Rathmell 2) Martin Lampkin 3) Bernie Schreiber 8 17 June United States Pueblo 1) Bernie Schreiber 2) Rob Shepherd 3) Martin Lampkin 9 15 July Italy Mezzo Lago 1) Charles Coutard 2) Bernie Schreiber 3) Rob Shepherd 10 19 August Sweden Boras 1) Bernie Schreiber 2) Ulf Karlson 3) Antonio Gorgot 11 26 August Finland Espoo 1) Manuel Soler 2) Ulf Karlson 3) Yrjo Vesterinen 12 16 September Czechoslovakia Ricany 1) Bernie Schreiber 2) Ulf Karlson 3) Martin Lampkin
Scoring system Points were awarded to the top ten finishers. All twelve rounds counted for the World Trials class.
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1
World Trials final standings
Pos Rider Machine IRL GBR BEL NED SPA FRA CAN USA ITA SWE FIN CZE Pts Notes 1 Bernie Schreiber Bultaco - 7 6 4 1 2 3 1 2 1 7 1 115 first American to win a trials world championship 2 Yrjo Vesterinen Bultaco 5 2 1 2 4 4 4 6 6 4 3 4 105 1979 Finnish champion 3 Ulf Karlson Montesa 9 - 9 1 6 1 7 5 4 2 2 2 93 1979 Swedish Champion 4 Martin Lampkin Bultaco 3 3 2 6 5 5 2 3 - 5 - 3 87 5 Malcolm Rathmell Montesa 4 1 3 7 - 7 1 4 8 9 4 - 77 1979 British champion 6 Rob Shepherd HRC Honda 1 - 8 - 7 6 6 2 3 8 9 - 59 7 Charles Coutard SWM - 5 4 9 - 3 9 10 1 - - 10 45 1979 French Champion 8 Manuel Soler Bultaco 10 - - - 9 - - - 5 7 1 9 30 9 Marland Whaley Montesa - - 10 - 3 9 5 8 9 - - - 24 1979 US NATC Champion 10 Jean-Marie Lejeune Montesa 8 9 5 5 - - 8 7 - - - - 24 11 Jaime Subira Montesa - 8 - - 2 - - - 10 - 10 6 22 12 Nigel Birkett Montesa 7 4 - 3 - - - - - - - - 22 13 Antonio Gorgot Bultaco 6 10 - - - - - - - 3 6 - 21 1979 Spanish Champion 14 John Reynolds Suzuki 2 - - - - - - - - - - - 12 15 Eddy Lejeune HRC Honda - - - - - - 10 9 - 6 - 7 12 16 Mick Andrews Ossa - - 7 - - 8 - - - 10 - 8 11 17 Timo Ryysy SWM - - - 10 - - - - - - 5 - 7 18 Jean-Luc Colson Montesa - - - - - - - - - - - 5 6 1979 Belgian Champ 19 Joe Wallman Bultaco - 6 - - - - - - - - - - 5 20 Danilo Galeazzi SWM - - - - - - - - 7 - - - 4 21 Anttoni Vesterinen Bultaco - - - - - - - - - - 8 3 21 Jo Jose Bultaco - - - - 8 - - - - - - - 3 21 Claude Goset Montesa - - - 8 - - - - - - - - 3 24 Ettore Baldini Bultaco - - - - - 10 - - - - - - 1 1979 Italian Champion 24 Felix Krahnstover Montesa - - - - 10 - - - - - - - 1 1979 German Champion
References