1988 Superbike World Championship season

The 1988 Superbike World Championship season was the inaugural F.I.M. Superbike World Championship season. The season started on 3 April at Donington Park, and finished on 3 October at Manfeild Autocourse after 9 rounds.

American Fred Merkel won the riders' championship and Honda won the manufacturers' championship.

Season calendar

The second Le Mans race was not held due to schedule issues.^[1]

Round		Country	Circuit	Date	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning rider	Winning team	Report
1	R1	Great Britain	Donington Park	3 April	Roger Burnett	Marco Lucchinelli	Davide Tardozzi	Bimota SpA	Report
	R2					Bubba Shobert	Marco Lucchinelli	Ducati Team Lucky
2	R1	Hungary	Hungaroring	30 April	Davide Tardozzi	Fred Merkel	Fred Merkel	RCM	Report
	R2					Marco Lucchinelli	Adrien Morillas	Team Kawasaki France
3	R1	West Germany	Hockenheimring	8 May	Alex Vieira	Christophe Bouheben	Davide Tardozzi	Bimota SpA	Report
	R2					Virginio Ferrari	Davide Tardozzi	Bimota SpA
4	R1	Austria	Zeltweg	3 July	Malcolm Campbell	Davide Tardozzi	Marco Lucchinelli	Ducati Team Lucky	Report
	R2					Christophe Bouheben	Davide Tardozzi	Bimota SpA
5	R1	Japan	Sugo	28 August	Marco Lucchinelli	Gary Goodfellow	Gary Goodfellow	Don Knit Sugano Racing Team	Report
	R2					Kenichiro Iwahashi	Mick Doohan	Marlboro Yamaha Dealer Team
6	R1	France	Le Mans	4 September	Marco Lucchinelli	Fabrizio Pirovano	Fabrizio Pirovano	Moto Club Carate Brianza	Report
	R2					Race cancelled
7	R1	Portugal	Estoril	11 September	Stéphane Mertens	Davide Tardozzi	Davide Tardozzi	Bimota SpA	Report
	R2					Raymond Roche	Stéphane Mertens	Bimota SpA
8	R1	Australia	Oran Park	25 September	Mick Doohan	Fred Merkel	Mick Doohan	Marlboro Yamaha Dealer Team	Report
	R2					Mick Doohan	Mick Doohan	Marlboro Yamaha Dealer Team
9	R1	New Zealand	Manfeild	2 October	Davide Tardozzi	Fred Merkel	Fred Merkel	RCM	Report
	R2					Stéphane Mertens	Stéphane Mertens	Bimota SpA

Season standings

In each race, points were awarded as follows:^[1]

For the first ever Superbike World Championship round at Donington Park, and for the only time in the championship's history, the race results were combined to determine an overall winner;^[2] double points were awarded on that occasion, as well as in the only race held in Le Mans.^[1]

Riders' standings

Pos. Rider Bike GBR HUN FRG AUT JPN FRA POR AUS NZL Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1 Merkel Honda 4 2 1 5 17 Ret Ret 8 2 11 6 C 4 5 4 3 1 5 99 2 Pirovano Yamaha 8 4 5 6 11 8 2 7 Ret 10 1 C 6 6 6 7 2 13 93.5 3 Tardozzi Bimota 1 Ret 2 3 1 1 5 1 Ret 4 12 C 1 2 11 10 5 DNS 91.5 4 Mertens Bimota Ret Ret 3 2 13 2 4 16 3 C 2 1 7 6 6 1 90.5 5 Lucchinelli Ducati 2 1 9 Ret 6 11 1 Ret 12 Ret 10 C 3 4 63 6 Vieira Honda 3 3 4 3 4 C 42 7 Phillis Kawasaki 8 Ret 6 6 3 4 4 3 42 8 Goodfellow Suzuki Ret DNS 1 3 39.5 Honda 8 5 3 6 9 Campbell Honda 3 6 17 15 5 8 11 2 33.5 10 Rymer Honda 8 C 5 3 14 11 9 7 32.5 11 Burnett Honda Ret 3 8 4 5 4 Ret DNS 7 C 31.5 12 Doohan Yamaha NC 1 1 1 30 13 J. Dunlop Honda 3 5 6 Ret 7 5 30 14 Delcamp Kawasaki 11 13 9 6 2 C 29.5 15 Bouheben Honda 2 Ret Ret 2 5 C 28 16 Morillas Kawasaki 4 1 19 16 7 5 Ret C 26.5 17 Weibel Honda 4 Ret 6 4 Ret 5 16 C Ret DNS 23.5 18 Suhonen Yamaha 7 10 14 10 Ret DNS 17 13 16 27 11 C Ret 13 21 19 McGladdery Suzuki 9 7 15 Ret DNQ DNQ 18.5 Honda 19 C 15 12 12 13 14 10 20 Andersson Suzuki 25 12 18 12 20 23 9 12 15 19 13 C 8 9 18.5 21 Scolyer Honda 9 9 8 4 17.5 22 Dowson Yamaha Ret Ret 2 2 17 23 Iddon Bimota Ret DNS 12 8 12 13 32 Ret 9 8 17 24 Ferrari Honda DNQ DNQ Ret 11 10 9 Ret Ret 10 8 Ret C 16 25 Irons Honda 6 8 14 7 15.5 26 Gschwender Suzuki 10 9 18 27 10 10 Ret C 12 Ret 14.5 27 Marshall Suzuki 5 6 20 18 13 28 Fabbri Bimota 28 Ret Ret 9 9 C 16 11 13 29 R. Dunlop Honda Ret DNS 26 17 29 21 21 23 18 C 10 7 13 14 15 12 12.5 30 Douglas Yamaha 16 15 17 Ret 7 11 11 31 Oshima Suzuki 3 13 9 32 Rasmussen Suzuki 7 7 21 Ret Ret DNS DNQ C 21 Ret 9 33 Iwahashi Honda Ret 2 8.5 34 Hanamura Honda 8 9 7.5 35 S. Williams Bimota 11 9 19 16 31 Ret 7 36 Rubatto Bimota Ret Ret 21 14 15 14 16 Ret 23 C 7 17 7 37 Hofmann Honda 8 10 7 38 G. Williams Ducati 10 8 7 39 Farmer Suzuki 14 11 6 40 Ricci Ducati 15 Ret 21 C 11 10 6 41 Watanabe Yamaha 5 24 5.5 42 Slight Bimota 7 14 5.5 43 Kobayashi Honda 9 12 5.5 44 Stroud Bimota 13 9 5 45 Gallagher Honda 10 12 5 46 Leach Yamaha 15 13 24 18 DNQ DNQ 22 C 5 47 Morrison Honda 26 7 4.5 48 Lofthouse Suzuki 17 14 3 49 Riegl Bimota DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 11 18 25 C 18 19 2.5 50 Ramon Honda Ret 11 DNS C 2.5 51 Kaneko Yamaha 11 25 2.5 52 Kemter Honda 12 15 2.5 53 King Ducati 12 15 2.5 54 Mark Bimota 22 17 13 14 27 C 17 16 2.5 55 Gruschka Honda 24 24 Ret C 13 14 2.5 56 Moyce Kawasaki 19 16 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 2 57 Schmidt Bimota Ret 12 Ret Ret 2 58 Mounier Yamaha 14 C 2 59 Galinski Bimota Ret DNS 13 Ret Ret 15 2 60 Guignabodet Honda 20 15 25 Ret 18 17 17 C 14 15 2 61 Nakamura Suzuki 13 17 1.5 62 Kuparinen Kawasaki 20 17 25 23 DNQ DNQ 1 63 Heinen Honda 14 16 DNS C 1 64 Endoh Honda 14 22 1 65 Linscott Honda 15 C 1 66 Warren Honda NC 14 1 67 Pero Suzuki 15 Ret 0.5 68 Willing Yamaha Ret 15 0.5 Pos. Rider Bike GBR HUN FRG AUT JPN FRA POR AUS NZL Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole position Italics – Fastest lap Source:[3]

Manufacturers' standings

Pos.	Manufacturer	GBR		HUN		FRG		AUT		JPN		FRA		POR		AUS		NZL		Pts
		R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
1	Honda	3	2	1	4	2	3	3	2	2	2	4	C	4	3	4	3	1	2	142
2	Bimota	1	9	2	2	1	1	5	1	4	4	3	C	1	1	7	6	5	1	132.5
3	Yamaha	7	4	5	6	11	8	2	7	5	1	1	C	6	6	1	1	2	11	117.5
4	Kawasaki	19	16	4	1	9	6	7	5	6	6	2	C	25	24	3	4	4	3	92
5	Ducati	2	1	9	Ret	6	11	1	21	12	Ret	10	C	3	4	20	19	10	8	70
6	Suzuki	5	6	7	7	18	20	9	10	1	3	13	C	8	9	15	16	16	16	57
Pos.	Manufacturer	GBR		HUN		FRG		AUT		JPN		FRA		POR		AUS		NZL		Pts

References

External links

• "1988 Qualifying & Race Results". wsb-archives.co.uk.