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.

Grands Prix

Round Race Location 80cc winner 125cc winner 250cc winner 500cc winner Report
1 Japan Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka Germany Anton Mang United States Kevin Schwantz Report
2 United States United States Grand Prix Laguna Seca United States Jim Filice United States Eddie Lawson Report
3 Spain Spanish Grand Prix Jarama Switzerland Stefan Dörflinger Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Sito Pons Australia Kevin Magee Report
4 Spain Expo 92 Grand Prix Jerez Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Juan Garriga United States Eddie Lawson Report
5 Italy Nations Grand Prix Imola Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Jorge Martínez France Dominique Sarron United States Eddie Lawson Report
6 Germany German Grand Prix Nürburgring Spain Jorge Martínez Italy Ezio Gianola Italy Luca Cadalora United States Kevin Schwantz Report
7 Austria Austrian Grand Prix Salzburgring Spain Jorge Martínez Switzerland Jacques Cornu United States Eddie Lawson Report
8 Netherlands Dutch TT Assen Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Juan Garriga Australia Wayne Gardner Report
9 Belgium Belgian Grand Prix Spa Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Sito Pons Australia Wayne Gardner Report
10 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavian Grand Prix Rijeka Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Sito Pons Australia Wayne Gardner Report
11 France French Grand Prix Paul Ricard Spain Jorge Martínez Switzerland Jacques Cornu United States Eddie Lawson Report
12 United Kingdom British Grand Prix Donington Italy Ezio Gianola Italy Luca Cadalora United States Wayne Rainey Report
13 Sweden Swedish Grand Prix Anderstorp Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Sito Pons United States Eddie Lawson Report
14 Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakian Grand Prix Brno Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Juan Garriga Australia Wayne Gardner Report
15 Brazil Brazilian Grand Prix Goiânia France Dominique Sarron United States Eddie Lawson Report

Final standings

500cc standings[2][3]

Place Rider No. Country Team Machine Points Wins Poles F.Laps
1 United States Eddie Lawson 3 United States Marlboro-Yamaha YZR500 252 7 2 5
2 Australia Wayne Gardner 1 Australia Rothmans-Honda NSR500 229 4 5 3
3 United States Wayne Rainey 17 United States Lucky Strike-Yamaha YZR500 189 1 1 0
4 France Christian Sarron 7 France Sonauto Gauloises-Yamaha YZR500 149 0 5 3
5 Australia Kevin Magee 16 Australia Lucky Strike-Yamaha YZR500 138 1 1 1
6 United Kingdom Niall Mackenzie 5 United Kingdom Rothmans-Honda NSR500 125 0 0 0
7 Belgium Didier de Radiguès 12 Belgium Marlboro-Yamaha YZR500 120 0 0 1
8 United States Kevin Schwantz 34 United States Pepsi-Suzuki RGV500 119 2 0 2
9 Italy Pier-Francesco Chili 8 Italy HB-Honda NSR500 110 0 0 0
10 United Kingdom Rob McElnea 10 United Kingdom Pepsi-Suzuki RGV500 83 0 0 0
11 United Kingdom Ron Haslam 4 United Kingdom Elf ROC-Honda Elf5-NSR500 68 0 0 0
12 United States Randy Mamola 2 United States Cagiva GP500 58 0 0 0
13 Japan Shunji Yatsushiro 9 Japan Rothmans-Honda NSR500 57 0 0 0
14 France Patrick Igoa 14 France Sonauto Gauloises-Yamaha YZR500 44 0 0 0
15 Japan Tadahiko Taira 6 Japan Tech-21 Yamaha YZR500 36 0 1 0
16 Italy Alessandro Valesi 27 Italy Iberna-Honda RS500 26 0 0 0
17 Italy Marco Papa 22 Italy Greco-Honda RS500 17 0 0 0
18 United Kingdom Roger Burnett 11 United Kingdom Katayama-Honda RS500 15 0 0 0
19 United States Mike Baldwin 18 United States Katayama-Honda RS500 14 0 0 0
20 France Raymond Roche 21 France Cagiva GP500 13 0 0 0
21 San Marino Fabio Barchitta 31 San Marino Katayama-Honda RS500 12
22 Switzerland Bruno Kneubühler 29 Switzerland Römer Racing Suisse-Honda RS500 9
23 United Kingdom Donnie McLeod 9
24 Italy Marco Gentile 8
25 Spain Daniel Amatriain 7
26 Gustav Reiner 5
27 Japan Hikaru Miyagi 5
28 Steve Manley 4
29 Japan Katsuaki Fujiwara 4
30 Fernando Gonzales de N. 4
31 Keith Campbell 4
32 Fabio Biliotti 4
33 Peter Schleef 3
34 Rachel Nicotte 3
35 Peter Linden 2
36 Massimo Broccoli 2
37 Japan Osamu Hiwatashi 1
38 Maarten Duyzers 1
39 Cees Doorakkers 1
40 Michael Rudroff 1
41 Manfred Fischer 1

250cc standings[4][5]

Place Rider Number Country Team Machine Points Wins
1 Spain Sito Pons 3 Spain Campsa-Honda NSR250 231 4
2 Spain Juan Garriga 11 Spain Ducados-Yamaha YZR250 221 3
3 Switzerland Jacques Cornu 9 Switzerland Parisienne Elf-Honda NSR250 166 2
4 France Dominique Sarron 4 France Rothmans-Honda France NSR250 158 2
5 Germany Reinhold Roth 2 West Germany HB Römer-Honda NSR250 158 0
6 Italy Luca Cadalora 7 Italy Marlboro-Yamaha YZR250 136 2
7 France Jean-Philippe Ruggia 17 France Gauloises Blondes-Yamaha YZR250 104 0
8 Germany Anton Mang 1 West Germany Rothmans-Honda Germany NSR250 87 1
9 Spain Carlos Cardús 5 Spain Ducados-Honda NSR250 71 0
10 Japan Masahiro Shimizu 12 Japan Ajinomoto-Honda NSR250 68 0
11 Venezuela Carlos Lavado 55
12 Donnie McLeod 47
13 Loris Reggiani 44
14 Martin Wimmer 40
15 Manfred Herweh 35
16 August Auinger 31
17 Helmut Bradl 27
18 Venezuela Ivan Palazzese 25
19 John Kocinski 24
20 Harald Eckl 22
21 Jim Filice 20
22 Stefano Caracchi 20
23 Bruno Casanova 17
24 Masaru Kobayashi 15
25 Jean Michel Mattioli 12
26 Maurizio Vitali 12
27 Bubba Shobert 11
28 Harald Becker 11
29 Jean Foray 10
30 Alberto Puig 10
31 Jean-François Baldé 10
32 Toshihiko Honma 8
33 Masumitsu Taguchi 6
34 Jochen Schmid 6
35 Hiroyuki Kikuchi 5
36 Erich Neumair 5
37 Guy Bertin 5
38 Wilco Zeelenberg
39 Hermann Holder 4
40 Urs Jücker 4
41 Kyoji Nanba 4
42 Garry Cowan 3
43 Urs Lüzi 3
44 Paolo Casoli 3
45 Takehiro Yamamoto 2
46 Massimo Matteoni 2
47 Keiji Tamura 1
48 Alan Carter 1

125cc standings

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1 Spain Jorge Martinez 5 Spain Derbi 197 9
2 Italy Ezio Gianola 6 Italy Honda 168 2
3 Netherlands Hans Spaan 27 Netherlands Honda 110 0
4 Spain Julian Miralles 3 Spain Honda 104 0
5 Italy Domenico Brigaglia 4 Italy Rotax 69 0
6 Italy Gastone Grassetti 12 Italy Honda 66 0
7 Germany Adi Stadler West Germany Honda 63 0
8 Germany Stefan Prein 35 West Germany Honda 59 0
9 Belgium Lucio Pietroniro 9 Belgium Honda 56 0
10 Germany Gerhard Waibel 6 West Germany Honda 52 0
11 Hisashi Unemoto 43
12 Alan Scott 38
13 Corrado Catalano 36
14 Luis Miguel Reyes 34
15 Manuel Herreros 30
16 Heinz Lüthi 30
17 Koji Takada 29
18 Johnny Wickstroem 25
19 Pierpaolo Bianchi 24
20 Alfred Waibel 24
21 Fausto Gresini 22
22 Josef Fischer 19
23 Kris Galatowicz 19
24 Hubert Abold 18
25 Bady Hassaine 14
26 Robin Milton 13
27 Mike Leitner 11
28 Ian McConnachie 10
29 Alex Bedford 8
30 Jussi Hautaniemi 8
31 Flemming Kistrup 7
32 Àlex Crivillé 7
33 Esa Kytölä 6
34 Robin Appleyard 6
35 Thierry Feuz 6
36 Manuel Hernandez 4
37 Stefan Dörflinger 2
38 Taru Rinne 2
39 Paul Bordes 1
40 Emilio Cuppini 1

80cc standings

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1 Spain Jorge Martínez 1 Spain Derbi 137 6
2 Spain Àlex Crivillé Spain Derbi 90 0
3 Switzerland Stefan Dörflinger 4 Switzerland Krauser 77 1
4 Spain Manuel Herreros 2 Spain Derbi 69 0
5 Germany Peter Öttl 5 West Germany Krauser 65 0
6 Bulgaria Bogdan Nikolov Bulgaria Krauser 55 0
7 Hungary Károly Juhász Hungary Krauser 54 0
8 Netherlands Jos van Dongen Netherlands Casal 47 0
9 Italy Giuseppe Ascareggi Italy BBFT 46 0
10 Italy Gabriele Gnani Italy Gnani 36 0
11 Herri Torrontegui 28
12 Jörg Seel 27
13 Andrie Nijenhuis 27
14 Günter Schirnhofer 27
15 Bert Smit 25
16 René Dünki 22
17 Reiner Koster 11
18 Heinz Paschen 10
19 Hans Koopman 10
20 Serge Julin 8
21 Jacques Bernard 8
22 Paolo Priori 6
23 Ian McConnachie 6
24 Rudolf Kunz 5
25 Janos Szabo 5
26 Janez Pintar 4
27 Stefan Bragger 3
28 Xavier Arumi 3
29 Hagen Klein 2
30 Hubert Abold 2
31 Alojz Pavlic 1
32 Jaime Mariano 1

References

  1. Scott, Michael: "Wayne Rainey", page 95. Haynes Publishing, 1997.
  2. 1988 500cc Final Standings at MotoGP.com
  3. 1988 500cc Entries List at www.f1network.net
  4. 1988 250cc Final Standings at MotoGP.com
  5. 1988 250cc Entries List at www.f1network.net