1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

1988 F.I.M. Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Previous:	1987	Next:	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.”^[1]

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:^[2]^[3]

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.

↑ Scott, Michael: "Wayne Rainey", page 95. Haynes Publishing, 1997.
↑ "Grand Prix uitslagen en bijzonderheden 1988". Archive.li. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
↑ "1988 World Motorcycle Championship". 12 June 2017.

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[1] Scott, Michael: "Wayne Rainey", page 95. Haynes Publishing, 1997.

[2] "Grand Prix uitslagen en bijzonderheden 1988". Archive.li. Retrieved 2018-06-12.

[3] "1988 World Motorcycle Championship". 12 June 2017.