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Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. acquires a majority stake in Öhlins. However, company founder Kenth Öhlin remains on board and continues to head up the brand.
Kramer can produce approximately 30 models per month.
Production at the new BPS site cannot be utilized to a reasonable extent. With the exception of the YAK models, all other models are already delivered ready-made by suppliers and only need to be relabeled with BPS.
Piero Sironi, co-founder of SWM, makes a financial investment in Giancarlo Gori's company.
Penton sells his company to KTM. By then, more than 25,000 Penton motorcycles had already been sold in America.
TM produces 200 motocross motorcycles in its first year
Sylvain Geboers takes over as head of the European Suzuki factory team and signs Harry Everts for the 1979 season. Harry was actually already in Spain to extend his contract with Bultaco. But since he didn't meet Bulto, he flew back to Belgium without having achieved anything.
Jan Witteven moves from Simonini to Gilera and takes over as technical director of the racing department. Among other things, he developed the innovative 125cc twin-cylinder motocross bike there.
Avello is being taken over completely by Puch.
KTM establishes its first American subsidiary in Lorain, Ohio (USA) under the name "KTM America Inc.".
Franco Acerbis teamed up with specialized engineers to found Forcella Italia, with the aim of becoming a leader not only in plastic components but also in high-end suspension technology (forks).

Motocross

Models in this year
Michele Magarotto wins the Italian 250cc Junior Championship on Montesa
fim_wc.png125ccm Cross WM
After his injury last year, Akira Watanabe made an extremely strong comeback. He became the first and so far only Japanese rider to win the Motocross World Championship.
For the extremely fast but injury- and bad luck-plagued defending champion Gaston Rahier, the series comes to an end after three consecutive world championship titles.
Despite numerous race wins, Yamaha's spearhead Gérard Rond is missing points in the final standings due to retirements and weaker days. The two Suzuki riders are more consistent in finishing races over the season, which carries extreme weight in the points system at the time.
Austrian rider Siegfried Lerner consistently performed well, bringing his KTM to an impressive fourth place.
Corrado Maddi Beta takes 10th place in the World Championship
In his first GP, young Marc Velkeneers immediately scores points.
fim_wc.png250ccm Cross WM
Genadi Moisiev can defend his world championship title from last year for KTM. Among other things, he also benefits from the new Öhlins shock absorbers, with their extremely precise valve system and the use of the highest quality materials, which do not yield even under the toughest loads and heat.
belgium.png125ccm Cross 125 Belgian National (-1987) / Inter
At just 16 years of age, Marc Velkeneers causes a sensation by winning the Belgian championship.
As Belgian vice-champion, Milissen actually achieved the only notable success for the small Italian manufacturer Gori.
italy.png125ccm Cross Campionato italiano
Corrado Maddi achieves Beta's last major success in motocross for the time being by winning the Italian vice-championship.
italy.png250ccm Cross Campionato italiano
Franco Perfini had a perfect year. While he won the first title for Simonini in the 125 class, he also secured the first Italian title for Montesa in the 250 class.
World champions of the year
Europe and US champions
National champions