A Legendary Season - 1977

   The 1977 World Motocross Championships were a rather historical season for many reasons. Belgian legend Roger De Coster went into the 1977 season as the defending champion and was going for his sixth World motocross championship, trying to equal his fellow Belgian Joel Robert for six World titles at the very top of the Grand Prix all-time list. 

Having won the 500cc championship in 1971, 72, 73, 75 and 76, the current king of motocross seems a solid chance to make history, however his former 500cc rival, Heikki Mikkola wasn’t having any of it.

Mikkola who had won the 1974 500cc championship to stop DeCoster from winning six titles in a row, and then dropped down to the 250cc class to win his second World title, had returned to the big bike class and looked ruthless on his very impressive Yamaha machine.

Mikkola was signed by Yamaha after winning his two previous titles with Husqvarna, and he rewarded them with a 500 cc World Championship. He repeated as 500 cc champion in 1978 and after a fifth-place finish in the 1979 season, the 34-year-old Mikkola decided to retire.

More history as Mikkola would win the World 500cc championship and join a very select group of three time World motocross champions, American Brad Lackey won his first ever 500cc overall, and Japanese rider Akira Watanabe won his first ever 125cc Grand Prix, while Gaston Rahier won his third World 125cc championship joining Mikkola among the all-time greats.

Of course, in following years Lackey and Watanabe would both eventually win World titles for their countries, a first for both America and Japan to do so. Amazingly, while Joel Robert and De Coster had ruled the 250cc and 500cc championships on their Suzuki machines in the early 1970s, the domination of the first Japanese brand in European motocross would end, as they would win only one more title in the 500cc class with Lackey in 1982. 

Mikkola won 12 motos and eight GPs to clinch the title ahead of Suzuki teammates De Coster and Gerrit Wolsink. Former 500cc champion Bengt Åberg competed in the 500cc world championship on a highly modified four stroke Yamaha XT500 built in collaboration with former world champions Torsten Hallman and Sten Lundin. 

Åberg rode the bike to a victory in the first moto of the 1977 500cc Luxembourg Grand Prix and ended the season ranked 9th in the final world championship standings.

The same year Guennady Moisseev won his second 250cc world championship as KTM swept the top three positions with Vladimir Kavinov finishing in second place and André Malherbe taking third place in the final standings.

1977 Grand Prix 500cc Results (Moto one and Two and Overall)

1. April 17 - Austrian Grand Prix Roger De Coster Gerrit Wolsink Roger De Coster          

2. May 8 - Dutch Grand Prix Heikki Mikkola Heikki Mikkola Heikki Mikkola

3. May 15 - Swedish Grand Prix Brad Lackey Heikki Mikkola Heikki Mikkola

4. May 22 - Finnish Grand Prix Heikki Mikkola Heikki Mikkola Heikki Mikkola

5. June 5 - West German GP Heikki Mikkola Gerrit Wolsink Heikki Mikkola

6. June 12 - Italian Grand Prix Heikki Mikkola Roger De Coster Heikki Mikkola

7. June 19 - United States GP Jim Pomeroy Heikki Mikkola Gerrit Wolsink  

8. June 26 - Canadian GP Heikki Mikkola Gerrit Wolsink Heikki Mikkola

9. July 3 - British Grand Prix Brad Lackey Heikki Mikkola Brad Lackey 

10. August 7 - Belgian Grand Prix Roger De Coster Heikki Mikkola Heikki Mikkola

11. August 14 - Luxembourg GP Bengt Åberg Heikki Mikkola Heikki Mikkola

12. August 28 - Swiss GP Jaak van Velthoven Roger De Coster Roger De Coster