1988 French motorcycle Grand Prix

  1988 French Grand Prix

Race details
Race 11 of 15 races in the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	July 24, 1988
Location	Circuit Paul Ricard
Course	Permanent racing facility 3.812 km (2.369 mi)
500 cc
Pole position
Rider	Christian Sarron	Yamaha
Fastest lap
Rider	Wayne Gardner	Honda
Podium
First	Eddie Lawson	Yamaha
Second	Christian Sarron	Yamaha
Third	Kevin Schwantz	Suzuki
250 cc
Pole position
Rider	Dominique Sarron	Honda
Fastest lap
Rider	Juan Garriga	Yamaha
Podium
First	Jacques Cornu	Honda
Second	Sito Pons	Honda
Third	Dominique Sarron	Honda
125 cc
Pole position
Rider	Ezio Gianola	Honda
Fastest lap
Rider	Jorge Martínez	Derbi
Podium
First	Jorge Martínez	Derbi
Second	Ezio Gianola	Honda
Third	Corrado Catalano	Aprilia
Sidecars
Pole position
Rider	Rolf Biland	LCR-Krauser
Passenger	Kurt Waltisperg
Fastest lap
Rider	Rolf Biland	LCR-Krauser
Passenger	Kurt Waltisperg
Podium
First	Rolf Biland	LCR-Krauser
	Kurt Waltisperg
Second	Steve Webster	LCR-Krauser
	Tony Hewitt
Third	Markus Egloff	LCR-ADM
	Urs Egloff

The 1988 French motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 22-24 July, 1988 at the Paul Ricard circuit.

500 cc race report

Christian Sarron’s 5th pole in a row, and his last ever in 500 GP.

Niall Mackenzie gets the start, and through the Mistral Straight for the first time it’s Wayne Gardner, Kevin Schwantz, Mackenzie, Wayne Rainey, et al. At the start of the 2nd lap it’s Gardner, Sarron, Schwantz, Rainey, ….

Shunji Yatsushiro and Patrick Igoa collide and crash out.

Sarron moves to the front, Eddie Lawson to 4th.

The quartet of Gardner, Lawson, Sarron and Schwantz leave Rainey behind.

Going into the last lap, it seems Lawson has made a mistake, because Gardner has a gap and looks certain to take the win, but he has a breakdown and struggles home to a 4th place.

500cc classification

Pos	Rider	Manufacturer	Time/Retired	Points
1	Eddie Lawson	Yamaha	42:15.520	20
2	Christian Sarron	Yamaha	+0.220	17
3	Kevin Schwantz	Suzuki	+0.460	15
4	Wayne Gardner	Honda	+5.720	13
5	Wayne Rainey	Yamaha	+17.630	11
6	Randy Mamola	Cagiva	+27.810	10
7	Didier de Radiguès	Yamaha	+30.620	9
8	Pierfrancesco Chili	Honda	+30.870	8
9	Kevin Magee	Yamaha	+35.110	7
10	Ron Haslam	Elf Honda	+35.310	6
11	Rob McElnea	Suzuki	+59.870	5
12	Malcolm Campbell	Elf Honda	+1:19.040	4
13	Mike Baldwin	Honda	+1:42.640	3
14	Alessandro Valesi	Honda	+1:46.140	2
15	Fabio Barchitta	Honda	+2:02.540	1
16	Donnie McLeod	Honda	+1 Lap
17	Marco Gentile	Fior	+1 Lap
18	Marco Papa	Honda	+1 Lap
19	Fabio Biliotti	Honda	+1 Lap
20	Manfred Fischer	Honda	+1 Lap
21	Eddie Laycock	Honda	+1 Lap
22	Claude Arciero	Honda	+1 Lap
23	Nicholas Schmassman	Honda	+1 Lap
24	Maarten Duyzers	Honda	+1 Lap
Ret	Patrick Igoa	Yamaha	Retirement
Ret	Rachel Nicotte	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Daniel Amatriain	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Thierry Rapicault	Fior	Retirement
Ret	Bruno Kneubuhler	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Wolfgang von Muralt	Suzuki	Retirement
Ret	Niall Mackenzie	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Shunji Yatsushiro	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Raymond Roche	Cagiva	Retirement
Ret	Eric Sabatier	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Jean Luc Demierre	Suzuki	Retirement
Ret	Vittorio Scatola	Suzuki	Retirement

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