The following is an overview of the events of 1979 in motorsport including the major racing events, motorsport venues that were opened and closed during a year, championships and non-championship events that were established and disestablished in a year, and births and deaths of racing drivers and other motorsport people.

Annual events

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The calendar includes only annual major non-championship events or annual events that had significance separate from the championship. For the dates of the championship events see related season articles.

Date Event Ref
26 December-14 January 1st Dakar Rally [1]
3–4 February 17th 24 Hours of Daytona [2]
18 February 21st Daytona 500 [3]
27 May 37th Monaco Grand Prix [4]
27 May 63rd Indianapolis 500 [5]
3–9 June 62nd Isle of Man TT [6]
9–10 June 47th 24 Hours of Le Mans [7]
21–22 July 31st 24 Hours of Spa [8]
29 July 2nd Suzuka 8 Hours [9]
20 September 20th Hardie-Ferodo 1000 [10]
6–7 October 8th 24 Hours of Nurburgring [11]
18 November 26th Macau Grand Prix [12]

Births

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Date Month Name Nationality Occupation Note Ref
16 February Valentino Rossi Italian Motorcycle racer MotoGP World champion (2001-2005, 2008-2009). [13]
18 April Anthony Davidson British Racing driver FIA World Endurance champion (2014). [14]
2 July Sam Hornish Jr. American Racing driver Indianapolis 500 winner (2006). [15]
25 December Robert Huff British Racing driver World Touring Car champion (2012). [16]

Deaths

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Date Month Name Age Nationality Occupation Note Ref
22 June Louis Chiron 79 Monegasque Racing driver The first Monegasque Formula One driver. 1931 French Grand Prix winner. [17]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1979 Dakar Rally" (PDF). rssp.eu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  2. ^ "Daytona 24 Hours 1979 - Racing Sports Cars". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  3. ^ "1979 Daytona 500". racing-reference.info. Racing Reference. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  4. ^ "1979 Grand Prix of Monaco". racing-reference.info. Racing Reference. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  5. ^ "1979 Indianapolis 500". racing-reference.info. Racing Reference. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  6. ^ "TT 1979". iomtt.com. Isle of Man TT. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  7. ^ "Le Mans Register - 1979". formula2.net. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  8. ^ "24 h Spa-Francorchamps". touringcarracing.net. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  9. ^ "Suzuka 8 Hours 1979 results". Moto Racing JAPAN. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  10. ^ "1979 Bathurst 1000". Unique Cars & Parts. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  11. ^ "Nurburgring 24 hours". touringcarracing.net. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  12. ^ "1979 Macau Grand Prix". motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  13. ^ "Valentino Rossi". motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  14. ^ "Anthony Davidson". en.espn.co.uk. ESPN. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  15. ^ "Sam Hornish Jr". motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  16. ^ "Robert Huff". motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  17. ^ "Louis Chiron". en.espn.co.uk. ESPN. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
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