Sports season
Kenny Roberts (pictured top in Assen) and
Jon Ekerold (pictured in Assen) became the 1980 500cc and 350cc world champion.
The 1980 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 32nd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
Season summary
Yamaha's Kenny Roberts claimed his third successive 500cc world championship in a season shortened by the cancellations of the Venezuelan and Austrian rounds.[1] Randy Mamola took over at Suzuki from Barry Sheene. Kawasaki returned to the 500cc class with a monocoque, four cylinder bike for Kork Ballington.[1] Honda soldiered on with its exotic four-stroke NR500 but began to realize it was at a disadvantage against its two-stroke opposition.[1]
There were only six rounds in the 350cc class that saw South Africa's Jon Ekerold, a true privateer, take the championship from the Kawasaki factory-sponsored Anton Mang.[1] Mang would take the 250cc crown from defending champion Ballington while Pier Paolo Bianchi won the 125cc title.[1] Eugenio Lazzarini won a tight battle from Swiss Stefan Dörflinger to take the 50cc championship by only 2 points.[2]
1980 Grand Prix season calendar
The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 1980:[3][4]
Calendar changes
Results and standings
1980 Grand Prix season results
Participants
500cc participants
- Notes
- * The 500cc did not participate in rounds 4 and 9 of the championship, the Yugoslav and Czechoslovak GPs.
- ** Katayama raced with the Suzuki for the first four races until the Honda was ready.
- *** Ballington missed some races due to an injury.
- **** Pons was killed in a racing accident at the British GP.
500cc riders' standings
- Scoring system
Points are awarded to the top ten finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.
350cc standings
250cc standings
125cc standings
50cc standings
References
- Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A. ISBN 2-940125-32-5
- "The Official MotoGP website". Retrieved 2010-07-06.
- ^ a b c d e Noyes, Dennis; Scott, Michael (1999), Motocourse: 50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix, Hazleton Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1-874557-83-7
- ^ "Results and Statistics". MotoGP.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
- ^ "Grand Prix uitslagen en bijzonderheden 1980". Archive.li. Archived from the original on 2012-09-05. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
- ^ "1980 World Motorcycle Championship". 15 January 2018.
- ^ "500cc Grand Prix entry list for 1983". Motorcycle Racing Online.
- ^ (in English) Iprem : 50cc Roadracing Story - The Iprem was a rebadged Van Veen-Kreidler