1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

1988 F.I.M. Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

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1987

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1989

The 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 40th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.

Season summary

Eddie Lawson would recapture the championship from Wayne Gardner in a season that witnessed several fierce duels. Two newcomers joined the Grand Prix circuit with Americans Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz each winning races in their first full year. This was Rainey’s debut in the 500s; he had ridden a 250 in 1984 and gotten 1 podium of 12 starts. Alan Cathcart’s pre-season assessment in Cycle News was that “Rainey is a good rider, but he’ll never be a great rider. And he’ll certainly never be a Randy Mamola.”

The V4 machines used by the factories were extremely powerful and in combination with rigid chassis produced power slides that sometimes caused violent highsides, throwing the riders into the air. Cagiva joined the racing with Randy Mamola as their rider. The first United States Grand Prix in 23 years was held in Monterrey, California.

Sito Pons beat out fellow countryman Juan Garriga for the 250 title winning four races to Garriga's three. Spain's Jorge Martinez captured double championships in the 80 and 125 classes for the Spanish firm Derbi.

1988 Grand Prix season calendar

The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 1988:

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit
1	27 March	Grand Prix of Japan	Suzuka Circuit
2	10 April	United States International Grand Prix	Laguna Seca Raceway
3	24 April	Gran Premio Marlboro de España	Circuito Permanente Del Jarama
4	1 May	Gran Premio Campsa	Circuito Permanente de Jerez
5	22 May	Nations Grand Prix	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
6	29 May	Grosser Preis von Deutschland	Nürburgring
7	12 June	Großer Preis von Österreich	Salzburgring
8	25 June	Dutch-TT	TT Circuit Assen
9	3 July	G.P. of Belgium Gauloises Blondes	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
10	17 July	Yu Grand Prix	Automotodrom Rijeka
11	24 July	Grand Prix de France	Circuit Paul Ricard
12	7 August	Shell Oils British Motorcycle Grand Prix	Donington Park
13	14 August	Swedish TT	Scandinavian Raceway
14	28 August	Grand Prix CSSR-Brno	Brno Circuit
15	17 September	Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo Internacional Ayrton Senna

Calendar changes

• The United States Grand Prix was added to the calendar after a 23-year absence.
• The Spanish Grand Prix moved from the Jerez to the Jarama circuit.
• The Expo 92 Grand Prix was added as a one-off race to replace the Portuguese Grand Prix which was held in Spain at the Jarama circuit. The venue hosting the Grand Prix was the Jerez circuit.
• The Nations Grand Prix moved from the Monza to the Imola circuit.
• The German Grand Prix moved from the Hockenheimring to the Nürburgring.
• The German Grand Prix was moved back, from 17 to 29 May.
• The Belgian Grand Prix returned after a one-year absence.
• The French Grand Prix moved from the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans to the Paul Ricard circuit.
• The San Marino Grand Prix was taken off the calendar.
• The Argentine Grand Prix was removed from the calendar because of bad organisation and unsafe track conditions.

Results and standings

Grands Prix

Round	Date	Race	Location	80cc winner	125cc winner	250cc winner	500cc winner	Report
1	27 March	Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix	Suzuka	No race held	No race held	Anton Mang	Kevin Schwantz	Report
2	10 April	United States motorcycle Grand Prix	Laguna Seca	No race held	No race held	Jim Filice	Eddie Lawson	Report
3	24 April	Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix	Jarama	Stefan Dörflinger	Jorge Martínez	Sito Pons	Kevin Magee	Report
4	1 May	Expo 92 motorcycle Grand Prix	Jerez	Jorge Martínez	No race held	Juan Garriga	Eddie Lawson	Report
5	22 May	Italian motorcycle Grand Prix	Imola	Jorge Martínez	Jorge Martínez	Dominique Sarron	Eddie Lawson	Report
6	29 May	German motorcycle Grand Prix	Nürburgring	Jorge Martínez	Ezio Gianola	Luca Cadalora	Kevin Schwantz	Report
7	12 June	Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix	Salzburgring	No race held	Jorge Martínez	Jacques Cornu	Eddie Lawson	Report
8	25 June	Dutch TT	Assen	Jorge Martínez	Jorge Martínez	Juan Garriga	Wayne Gardner	Report
9	3 July	Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix	Spa	No race held	Jorge Martínez	Sito Pons	Wayne Gardner	Report
10	17 July	Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix	Rijeka	Jorge Martínez	Jorge Martínez	Sito Pons	Wayne Gardner	Report
11	24 July	French motorcycle Grand Prix	Paul Ricard	No race held	Jorge Martínez	Jacques Cornu	Eddie Lawson	Report
12	7 August	British motorcycle Grand Prix	Donington	No race held	Ezio Gianola	Luca Cadalora	Wayne Rainey	Report
13	14 August	Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix	Anderstorp	No race held	Jorge Martínez	Sito Pons	Eddie Lawson	Report
14	28 August	Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix	Brno	Jorge Martínez	Jorge Martínez	Juan Garriga	Wayne Gardner	Report
15	17 September	Brazilian motorcycle Grand Prix	Goiânia	No race held	No race held	Dominique Sarron	Eddie Lawson	Report

500cc riders' standings

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th
Points	20	17	15	13	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

Pos Rider Bike JPN USA ESP AND NAT GER AUT NED BEL YUG FRA GBR SWE CZE BRA Pts 1 Eddie Lawson Yamaha 3 1 2 1 1 4 1 2 2 10 1 6 1 2 1 252 2 Wayne Gardner Honda 2 2 3 5 2 8 Ret 1 1 1 4 2 2 1 2 229 3 Wayne Rainey Yamaha 6 4 6 2 3 2 3 7 5 3 5 1 5 3 Ret 189 4 Christian Sarron Yamaha 8 6 4 4 Ret 3 Ret 3 Ret 2 2 3 3 Ret 5 149 5 Kevin Magee Yamaha 7 Ret 1 3 5 5 6 4 Ret 5 9 5 6 Ret 6 138 6 Niall Mackenzie Honda 4 3 5 7 11 9 Ret 5 11 Ret Ret 4 4 6 4 125 7 Didier de Radiguès Yamaha 9 8 8 6 Ret 7 2 12 4 6 7 7 7 Ret 9 120 8 Kevin Schwantz Suzuki 1 5 Ret Ret 4 1 4 8 Ret 3 Ret 12 Ret 3 119 9 Pierfrancesco Chili Honda 14 Ret 7 6 6 5 6 8 11 8 8 9 4 7 110 10 Rob McElnea Suzuki Ret 9 12 8 12 11 9 10 6 8 11 Ret 13 8 8 83 11 Ron Haslam Honda 12 7 10 Ret 16 Ret 8 13 7 9 10 14 11 7 Ret 68 12 Randy Mamola Cagiva Ret 7 Ret Ret Ret 3 4 6 11 10 Ret Ret 58 13 Shunji Yatsushiro Honda 10 Ret 9 Ret 8 10 7 11 9 7 Ret 57 14 Patrick Igoa Yamaha 13 15 12 10 9 10 12 Ret 16 Ret 9 10 44 15 Tadahiko Taira Yamaha 5 10 10 14 5 36 16 Alessandro Valesi Honda 19 11 13 10 13 16 Ret Ret 12 Ret 14 Ret Ret 13 Ret 19 17 Marco Papa Honda Ret 9 24 14 Ret 14 14 Ret 18 Ret 12 17 18 Roger Burnett Honda Ret 9 8 Ret Ret 15 19 Mike Baldwin Honda 10 Ret 20 14 13 13 14 20 Raymond Roche Cagiva Ret Ret 11 Ret 9 Ret Ret Ret 15 Ret 13 21 Fabio Barchitta Honda 18 18 Ret Ret 29 16 15 18 16 10 11 12 22 Bruno Kneubühler Honda 15 14 19 25 12 17 25 15 Ret Ret 20 15 Ret 9 23 Donnie McLeod Honda 13 13 16 13 9 24 Marco Gentile Fior Ret Ret Ret Ret 14 17 Ret 15 30 Ret 17 20 19 11 Ret 8 25 Daniel Amatriain Honda 14 11 Ret Ret Ret 18 22 19 Ret 19 Ret Ret 7 26 Hikaru Miyagi Honda 11 5 27 Gustav Reiner Honda Ret 11 Ret 5 28 Steve Manley Suzuki 16 12 Ret Ret 4 29 Malcolm Campbell Honda Ret 12 4 30 Norihiko Fujiwara Yamaha Ret 12 17 4 31 Francisco Gonzales Honda 12 4 32 Fabio Biliotti Paton Ret Ret 13 16 16 17 19 15 Ret 16 4 33 Rachel Nicotte Honda 17 13 23 19 Ret Ret 20 3 34 Peter Schleef Honda 13 Ret 3 35 Massimo Broccoli Cagiva Ret Ret 14 2 36 Peter Linden Honda Ret 18 14 2 37 Osamu Hiwatashi Suzuki 15 1 38 Maarten Duyzers Honda 21 15 25 19 Ret Ret Ret 24 22 Ret 1 39 Michael Rudroff Honda 15 19 Ret 1 40 Manfred Fischer Honda Ret Ret Ret 15 Ret Ret 20 19 1 41 Cees Doorakkers Honda Ret 15 1 42 Takazumi Katayama Yamaha 16 0 43 Nicholas Schmassman Honda 19 16 26 24 19 Ret 28 23 25 Ret 22 0 44 Andreas Leuthe Suzuki Ret Ret Ret 16 Ret 27 21 Ret Ret 0 45 Masaru Mizutani Suzuki 17 0 46 Josef Doppler Honda 17 20 18 21 21 0 47 Alberto Rota Honda 17 0 48 Franz Holzmeier Honda 17 0 49 Eddie Laycock Honda Ret Ret 20 17 20 21 17 Ret 0 50 Wolfgang van Muralt Suzuki Ret 18 23 Ret Ret 22 17 0 51 Keiji Kinoshita Honda 18 0 52 Ian Pratt Suzuki Ret 18 0 53 Kees van der Endt Honda 22 18 24 0 54 Karl Truchsess Honda Ret 18 21 0 55 Silvo Habat Honda 23 22 18 0 56 Jean Luc Demierre Suzuki 20 Ret 24 Ret 0 57 Romolo Balbi Honda 20 0 58 Georg Jung Honda Ret 20 24 25 0 59 Ari Ramo Honda 21 22 26 Ret 0 60 Helmut Schutz Honda 21 21 26 0 61 Dave Leach Suzuki 21 0 62 Peter Skold Honda 22 23 21 0 63 Chris Buerki Honda 22 Ret 26 0 64 Claude Arciero Honda 22 0 65 Johann Ten Napel Suzuki 23 0 66 Damon Buckmaster Honda 23 23 Ret 0 67 Claus Wulff Honda 31 24 23 0 68 Pavel Dekanek Honda Ret 24 0 69 Ake Dahli Suzuki 25 0 70 Lars Johansson Suzuki 27 0 71 Hisashi Yamana Suzuki Ret 0 72 Katunori Shinozaki Suzuki Ret 0 73 John Long Yamaha Ret 0 74 Claude Albert Suzuki Ret 0 75 Vincenzo Cascino Honda Ret Ret 0 76 Larry Moreno Vacondio Suzuki Ret Ret Ret 0 77 Tony Carey Suzuki Ret 0 78 Hans Klingbiel Suzuki Ret 0 79 Hansjörg Butz Honda Ret 0 80 Koos van Leyen Suzuki Ret 0 81 Vittorio Scatola Paton Ret Ret 0 82 Eric Sabatier Honda Ret 0 83 Thierry Rapicault Fior Ret 0 84 Darren Dixon Suzuki Ret 0 85 Steve Spray Suzuki Ret 0 86 Thomas Aronsson Nicco Bakker Ret 0 References Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A. ISBN 2-940125-32-5 "The Official MotoGP website". Retrieved 2010-07-06.