The 1980 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 32nd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.

Season summary

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

Kenny Roberts Kenneth Leroy Roberts (born December 31, 1951, in Modesto, California) is an American former professional motorcycle racer and racing team owner. In 1978, he became the first American to win a Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship. He ...

claimed his third successive 500cc world championship in a season shortened by the cancellations of the Venezuelan and Austrian rounds.

Randy Mamola Randy Mamola (born November 10, 1959) is an American former professional motorcycle racer and television sports presenter. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing between and . A 13-time Premier Class race winner, Mamola was one of the mo ...

took over at

Suzuki is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...

from

Barry Sheene Barry Steven Frank Sheene (11 September 1950 – 10 March 2003) was a British professional motorcycle racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing even ...

. Kawasaki returned to the 500cc class with a

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

, four cylinder bike for

Kork Ballington Hugh Neville "Kork" Ballington (born 10 April 1951) is a South African former professional motorcycle racer. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1976 to 1982, most prominently as a member of the Kawasaki f ...

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

soldiered on with its exotic

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

NR500 NR500 was a racing motorcycle developed by Honda HRC in 1979 to compete in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. "NR" stands for "New Racing". Model history The motivation behind the NR500 was company founder Soichiro Honda's desire to compete using ...

but began to realize it was at a disadvantage against its

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

opposition. There were only six rounds in the 350cc class that saw South Africa's

Jon Ekerold Jonathan "Jon" Ekerold (born 8 October 1946) is a South African former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Ekerold is one of the few racers in the modern era to have won a world championship as a ...

, a true

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

, take the championship from the Kawasaki factory-sponsored Anton Mang. Mang would take the 250cc crown from defending champion Ballington while

Pier Paolo Bianchi Pier Paolo Bianchi (born 11 March 1952) is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion. He won consecutive FIM 125 cc world championships in 1976 and 1977. He won one more 125 championship in 1980 Events January ...

won the 125cc title.

Eugenio Lazzarini Eugenio Lazzarini (born 26 March 1945) is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion. Lazzarini began his Grand Prix career in 1969 in the 250 class on a Benelli. He won his first Grand Prix at the 1973 Dutch TT on a Ma ...

won a tight battle from Swiss Stefan Dörflinger to take the 50cc championship by only 2 points.

1980 Grand Prix season calendar

The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 1980:

Calendar changes

* The

Venezuelan Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and Swedish Grand Prix was taken off the calendar due to financial problems. * The Austrian Grand Prix, originally scheduled for April, was eventually cancelled due to snowy conditions on race week. It was the last Grand Prix to have all races cancelled until the 2018 British Grand Prix (although all free practices and qualifying took place). * The

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history; the Nürburgring in R ...

had its date moved from 6 May to 24 August and the venue was moved from the

Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it has hos ...

to the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. * The

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...

had its date moved from 2 September to 25 May and the venue was moved from the

Bugatti Circuit The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport Race track, race course, chiefly known as the venue for ...

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

to the

Circuit Paul Ricard The Circuit Paul Ricard () is a French motorsport race track built in 1969 at Le Castellet, Var, near Marseille, with finance from pastis magnate Paul Ricard. Ricard wanted to experience the challenge of building a racetrack. The circuit has h ...

. * The

Belgian Grand Prix The Belgian Grand Prix (French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship. The first national race of ...

moved from the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps to the

Circuit Zolder The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. History Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, a ...

due to problems with the new track last year.

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. * {{Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing seasons Grand Prix motorcycle racing season