Just as Everts forms a team at Suzuki with the young Geboers as an experienced rider, Gilera also has a powerful team at the start with the veteran Gaston Rahier and the extremely talented Michele Rinaldi. Gaston is getting better and better with the Gilera, but has to fight hard to keep up with the young wild ones. After all, he has been internationally successful for 16 years!

Three-time world champion Gaston Rahier is hired to further develop the Gilera development program led by Jan Witteven. With his experience with the outstanding Suzuki and the water-cooled Yamaha, he is the ideal man for the job. But compared to Rahier's former factory Suzuki, the new water-cooled Gilera is still too heavy. The additional weight of the cooling system (radiator, hoses, water pump) impairs the agility of the machine in tight sections. The engine is designed for maximum power at high revs. The lack of torque in the lower rev range forced Rahier to push the machine to its limits with extreme clutch use. He also expressed dissatisfaction with the rear suspension setup. The Gilera's geometry was optimized more for fast, hard-packed Italian tracks and did not offer the usual stability on the sandy, rutted tracks of the World Championship.

Gaston Rahier moved from Suzuki to Yamaha, not least for financial reasons, where he replaced Gérard Rond, who in turn was given a Suzuki contract for the 500cc class.

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.

The Japanese immediately set the standard in the new 125cc World Championship with their factory Suzuki. It was rev-happy, lightweight, and had state-of-the-art chassis technology. Ideal for the small Rahier. With good starts and his consistency, no one could hold a candle to him.

Suzuki had been preparing intensively with Gaston Rahier for over a year. He gained sufficient World Championship experience in the 250cc class. In numerous test sessions in Japan, he developed the RA 125 into the outstanding machine that would dominate this class in its early years.

Gaston Rahier signs his first factory contract with Suzuki.