Eddie Lawson | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lawson aboard the Yamaha YZR500, 1990. |
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Nationality | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | March 11, 1958 Upland, California |
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Eddie Lawson (born March 11, 1958Upland, California) is a former four-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion.[1][2] His penchant for not crashing & consistently finishing in the points earned him the nickname "Steady Eddie".[3]
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Lawson began his motorcycle racing career in the Southern California dirt track circuit.[2] When it became increasingly difficult to find machinery able to compete with the dominant Harley Davidsons, he switched his attention to road racing.[2] In 1979, Lawson finished the season second behind Freddie Spencer in the AMA 250cc road racing National Championship.[2] Afterwards, he was offered a ride with the Kawasaki Superbike team and won the AMA Superbike Series in 1981 and 1982. He also won the AMA 250cc road racing National Championship in 1980 and 1981 for Kawasaki.[2]
Lawson accepted an offer from Yamaha to contest the 500cc World Championship as Kenny Roberts' team-mate for the 1983 season. Lawson spent the 1983 season learning the ropes of the Grand Prix circuit. In 1984 , Lawson began winning regularly and won the 1984 world championship.[1] It would mark the first of four world titles Lawson would go on to win.[1] After winning two more titles for Yamaha in 1986 and 1988, Lawson shocked the racing world by announcing he would be leaving Yamaha to sign with their arch-rivals Honda fulfilling his desire to work with Erv Kanemoto. He went on to win the 1989 title for Honda, becoming the first rider to win back-to-back championships on machines from different manufacturers.[2]
In 1990, Lawson won the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race on a Yamaha FZR750R OW01 paired with Japanese rider Tadahiko Taira.[4] Lawson also won the Daytona 200 in 1986 and came out of retirement to win it again in 1993.[5] When he retired from GP racing in the early 1990s, he ranked third on the all-time 500cc Grand Prix wins list with 31.[2]
After finishing his motorcycle career, Lawson pursued a career in open wheel single seater racing in the United States competing in the Indy Lights series and eventually to CART.[6] In the 1996 IndyCar season, he competed in 11 races with his best results being two sixth place finishes at U.S. 500 and the Detroit Indy Grand Prix. His passion for speed remains undiminished and the former World Champion now enjoys driving 250cc Superkarts often accompanied by his great friend and rival Wayne Rainey, who races in a specially modified Superkart to cope with his spinal injuries.[3]
Points system from 1969 to 1987:
Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Points system from 1988 to 1992:
Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
Points | 20 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Class | Team | Machine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Points | Rank | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1983 | 500cc | Marlboro Agostini Yamaha | YZR500 | RSA 8 |
FRA NC |
NAT 3 |
GER 9 |
ESP 6 |
AUT 2 |
YUG 3 |
NED 5 |
BEL 5 |
GBR 4 |
SWE 5 |
SMR 3 |
78 | 4th | 0 | |||
1984 | 500cc | Marlboro Agostini Yamaha | YZR500 | RSA 1 |
NAT 2 |
ESP 1 |
AUT 1 |
GER 2 |
FRA 2 |
YUG 4 |
NED 3 |
BEL 4 |
GBR 2 |
SWE 1 |
SMR 4 |
142 | 1st | 4 | |||
1985 | 500cc | Marlboro Agostini Yamaha | YZR500 | RSA 1 |
ESP 2 |
GER 4 |
NAT 2 |
AUT 2 |
YUG 1 |
NED NC |
BEL 2 |
FRA 4 |
GBR 2 |
SWE 2 |
SMR 1 |
133 | 2nd | 3 | |||
1986 | 500cc | Marlboro Agostini Yamaha | YZR500 | ESP 2 |
NAT 1 |
GER 1 |
AUT 1 |
YUG 1 |
NED NC |
BEL 2 |
FRA 1 |
GBR 3 |
SWE 1 |
SMR 1 |
139 | 1st | 7 | ||||
1987 | 500cc | Marlboro Agostini Yamaha | YZR500 | JPN NC |
ESP 2 |
GER 1 |
NAT 2 |
AUT NC |
YUG 3 |
NED 1 |
FRA NC |
GBR 1 |
SWE 2 |
CZE 2 |
SMR 2 |
POR 1 |
BRA 2 |
ARG 1 |
157 | 3rd | 5 |
1988 | 500cc | Marlboro Agostini Yamaha | YZR500 | JPN 3 |
USA 1 |
ESP 2 |
EXP 1 |
NAT 1 |
GER 4 |
AUT 1 |
NED 2 |
BEL 2 |
YUG 10 |
FRA 1 |
GBR 6 |
SWE 1 |
CZE 2 |
BRA 1 |
252 | 1st | 7 |
1989 | 500cc | Rothmans Kanemoto Honda | NSR500 | JPN 3 |
AUS 5 |
USA 3 |
ESP 1 |
NAT DNS |
GER 2 |
AUT 2 |
YUG 3 |
NED 2 |
BEL 1 |
FRA 1 |
GBR 2 |
SWE 1 |
CZE 2 |
BRA 2 |
228 | 1st | 4 |
1990 | 500cc | Marlboro Roberts Yamaha | YZR500 | JPN DNF |
USA DNS |
ESP INJ |
NAT INJ |
GER INJ |
AUT INJ |
YUG INJ |
NED 3 |
BEL 3 |
FRA 5 |
GBR 3 |
SWE 2 |
CZE 3 |
HUN 2 |
AUS 4 |
118 | 7th | 0 |
1991 | 500cc | Cagiva Corse | GP500 | JPN 6 |
AUS 6 |
USA 5 |
ESP 6 |
ITA 3 |
GER 4 |
AUT 5 |
EUR DNF |
NED 4 |
FRA 3 |
GBR 6 |
RSM DNF |
CZE 8 |
VDM - |
MAL - |
126 | 6th | 0 |
1992 | 500cc | Cagiva Corse | GP500 | JPN 14 |
AUS 6 |
MAL DNF |
ESP 11 |
ITA 11 |
EUR 6 |
GER 6 |
NED DNF |
HUN 1 |
FRA 5 |
GBR 4 |
BRA 11 |
RSA DNF |
56 | 9th | 1 |
(key)
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | Leading Edge Motorsport | PHX |
LBH |
DET |
POR |
MIL |
LOU |
TOR |
CLE |
VAN |
MDO |
NAZ |
LS 18 |
NC | 0 | ||
1993 | Leading Edge Motorsports | PHX |
LBH |
MIL |
DET |
POR 8 |
CLE 9 |
MEA 10 |
TOR |
DEN |
VAN 3 |
MDO 17 |
ROA |
NAZ |
LS 2 |
12th | 42 |
1994 | Tasman Motorsports | LBH 3 |
PHX 18 |
MIL 2 |
DET 2 |
POR 3 |
CLE 1 |
MEA 5 |
TOR 2 |
DEN 11 |
MDO 7 |
NAZ 5 |
LS 3 |
4th | 139 |
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1996 | Galles Racing | MIA 15 |
RIO 21 |
SRF 7 |
LBH 9 |
NZR 17 |
500 6 |
MIL 20 |
DET 6 |
POR 15 |
CLE 24 |
TOR 15 |
MIS |
MDO |
ROA |
VAN |
LS |
20th | 26 |
Preceded by Wes Cooley |
AMA Superbike Champion 1981-1982 |
Succeeded by Wayne Rainey |
Preceded by Freddie Spencer |
500cc Motorcycle World Champion 1984 |
Succeeded by Freddie Spencer |
Preceded by Freddie Spencer |
500cc Motorcycle World Champion 1986 |
Succeeded by Wayne Gardner |
Preceded by Wayne Gardner |
500cc Motorcycle World Champion 1988-1989 |
Succeeded by Wayne Rainey |
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