1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

Sports season Grand Prix motorcycle racing F.I.M. Grand Prix motorcycle racing season Grand Prix motorcycle racing season 1988 1988 World Champions500cc – Eddie Lawson (Yamaha)250cc – Sito Pons (Honda)125cc – Jorge Martínez (Derbi)80cc – Jorge Martínez (Derbi) 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.”Scott, Michael: "Wayne Rainey", page 95. Haynes Publishing, 1997. 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: RoundDateGrand PrixCircuit 1 27 March Japan Grand Prix of Japan Suzuka Circuit 2 10 April United States United States International Grand Prix Laguna Seca Raceway 3 24 April Spain Gran Premio Marlboro de España Circuito Permanente Del Jarama 4 1 May Andalucia Gran Premio Campsa Circuito Permanente de Jerez 5 22 May Italy Nations Grand Prix Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari 6 29 May Germany Grosser Preis von Deutschland Nürburgring 7 12 June Austria Großer Preis von Österreich Salzburgring 8 25 June Netherlands Dutch-TT TT Circuit Assen 9 3 July Belgium G.P. of Belgium Gauloises Blondes Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 10 17 July Yugoslavia Yu Grand Prix Automotodrom Rijeka 11 24 July France Grand Prix de France Circuit Paul Ricard 12 7 August UK Shell Oils British Motorcycle Grand Prix Donington Park 13 14 August Sweden Swedish TT Scandinavian Raceway 14 28 August Czechoslovakia Grand Prix CSSR-Brno Brno Circuit 15 17 September Brazil Brazilian Grand Prix Autódromo Internacional Ayrton SennaSources:http://www.jumpingjack.nl/GP-races_1988_heden.htm Grand Prix uitslagen en bijzonderheden 1988 jumpingjack.nl usurped https://web.archive.org/web/20150725172956/http://www.jumpingjack.nl/GP-races_1988_heden.htm 2015-07-25 2018-06-12 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 Japan Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka No race held No race held Germany Anton Mang United States Kevin Schwantz Report 2 10 April United States United States Grand Prix Laguna Seca No race held No race held United States Jim Filice United States Eddie Lawson Report 3 24 April Spain Spanish Grand Prix Jarama Switzerland Stefan Dörflinger Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Sito Pons Australia Kevin Magee Report 4 1 May Andalucia Expo 92 Grand Prix Jerez Spain Jorge Martínez No race held Spain Juan Garriga United States Eddie Lawson Report 5 22 May Italy Italian Grand Prix Imola Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Jorge Martínez France Dominique Sarron United States Eddie Lawson Report 6 29 May Germany German Grand Prix Nürburgring Spain Jorge Martínez Italy Ezio Gianola Italy Luca Cadalora United States Kevin Schwantz Report 7 12 June Austria Austrian Grand Prix Salzburgring No race held Spain Jorge Martínez Switzerland Jacques Cornu United States Eddie Lawson Report 8 25 June Netherlands Dutch TT Assen Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Juan Garriga Australia Wayne Gardner Report 9 3 July Belgium Belgian Grand Prix Spa No race held Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Sito Pons Australia Wayne Gardner Report 10 17 July Yugoslavia Yugoslavian Grand Prix Rijeka Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Sito Pons Australia Wayne Gardner Report 11 24 July France French Grand Prix Paul Ricard No race held Spain Jorge Martínez Switzerland Jacques Cornu United States Eddie Lawson Report 12 7 August UK British Grand Prix Donington No race held Italy Ezio Gianola Italy Luca Cadalora United States Wayne Rainey Report 13 14 August Sweden Swedish Grand Prix Anderstorp No race held Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Sito Pons United States Eddie Lawson Report 14 28 August Czechoslovakia Czechoslovak Grand Prix Brno Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Juan Garriga Australia Wayne Gardner Report 15 17 September Brazil Brazilian Grand Prix Goiânia No race held No race held France Dominique Sarron United States 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 Team Machine JPNJPN USAUSA ESPESP ANDAndalucia NATITA GERGER AUTAUT NEDNED BELBEL YUGYUG FRAFRA GBRGBR SWESWE TCHTCH BRABRA Pts 1 USA Eddie Lawson Marlboro Yamaha-Agostini YZR500 3 1 2 1 1 4 1 2 2 10 1 6 1 2 1 252 2 AUS Wayne Gardner Rothmans Honda-HRC NSR500 2 2 3 5 2 8 Ret 1 1 1 4 2 2 1 2 229 3 USA Wayne Rainey Lucky Strike Yamaha-Roberts YZR500 6 4 6 2 3 2 3 7 5 3 5 1 5 3 Ret 189 4 FRA Christian Sarron Sonauto Gauloises-Yamaha YZR500 8 6 4 4 Ret 3 Ret 3 Ret 2 2 3 3 Ret 5 149 5 AUS Kevin Magee Lucky Strike Yamaha-Roberts YZR500 7 Ret 1 3 5 5 6 4 Ret 5 9 5 6 Ret 6 138 6 GBR Niall Mackenzie HB-Honda NSR500 4 3 5 7 11 9 Ret 5 11 Ret Ret 4 4 6 4 125 7 BEL Didier de Radiguès Marlboro Yamaha-Agostini YZR500 9 8 8 6 Ret 7 2 12 4 6 7 7 7 Ret 9 120 8 USA Kevin Schwantz Pepsi-Suzuki RGV500 1 5 Ret Ret 4 1 4 8 Ret 3 Ret 12 Ret 3 119 9 ITA Pierfrancesco Chili HB Honda-Gallina NSR500 14 Ret 7 6 6 5 6 8 11 8 8 9 4 7 110 10 GBR Rob McElnea Pepsi-Suzuki RGV500 Ret 9 12 8 12 11 9 10 6 8 11 Ret 13 8 8 83 11 GBR Ron Haslam Team Elf-ROC Elf5-RS500 12 7 10 Ret 16 Ret 8 13 7 9 10 14 11 7 Ret 68 12 USA Randy Mamola Cagiva GP500 Ret 7 Ret Ret Ret 3 4 6 11 10 Ret Ret 58 13 JPN Shunji Yatsushiro Rothmans Honda-HRC NSR500 10 Ret 9 Ret 8 10 7 11 9 7 Ret 57 14 FRA Patrick Igoa Sonauto Gauloises-Yamaha YZR500 13 15 12 10 9 10 12 Ret 16 Ret 9 10 44 15 JPN Tadahiko Taira Yamaha Japan YZR500 5 10 10 14 5 36 16 ITA Alessandro Valesi Team Iberna RS500 19 11 13 10 13 16 Ret Ret 12 Ret 14 Ret Ret 13 Ret 19 17 ITA Marco Papa Team Greco RS500 Ret 9 24 14 Ret 14 14 Ret 18 Ret 12 17 18 GBR Roger Burnett Rothmans Honda-HRC NSR500 Ret 9 8 Ret Ret 15 19 USA Mike Baldwin RS500 10 Ret 20 14 13 13 14 20 FRA Raymond Roche Cagiva GP500 Ret Ret 11 Ret 9 Ret Ret Ret 15 Ret 13 21 SMR Fabio Barchitta RS500 18 18 Ret Ret 29 16 15 18 16 10 11 12 22 CHE Bruno Kneubühler Römer Racing Suisse RS500 15 14 19 25 12 17 25 15 Ret Ret 20 15 Ret 9 23 GBR Donnie McLeod RS500 13 13 16 13 9 24 CHE Marco Gentile Marlboro Fior Fior-RS500 Ret Ret Ret Ret 14 17 Ret 15 30 Ret 17 20 19 11 Ret 8 25 ESP Daniel Amatriain Ducados-Honda RS500 14 11 Ret Ret Ret 18 22 19 Ret 19 Ret Ret 7 26 JPN Hikaru Miyagi Honda NSR500 11 5 27 DEU Gustav Reiner Team Hein Gericke RS500 Ret 11 Ret 5 28 GBR Steve Manley Gateford Motors RG500 16 12 Ret Ret 4 29 AUS Malcolm Campbell Team Elf-ROC Elf5-RS500 Ret 12 4 30 JPN Norihiko Fujiwara Yamaha Japan YZR500 Ret 12 17 4 31 ESP Francisco Gonzales RS500 12 4 32 ITA Fabio Biliotti Team Amaranto Paton-RS500 Ret Ret 13 16 16 17 19 15 Ret 16 4 33 FRA Rachel Nicotte PVI Racing / Jacadi RS500 17 13 23 19 Ret Ret 20 3 34 DEU Peter Schleef Schuh Racing Team RS500 13 Ret 3 35 ITA Massimo Broccoli Cagiva GP500 Ret Ret 14 2 36 SWE Peter Linden Honda Sweden RS500 Ret 18 14 2 37 JPN Osamu Hiwatashi Suzuki Japan RGV500 15 1 38 NED Maarten Duyzers HDJ International RS500 21 15 25 19 Ret Ret Ret 24 22 Ret 1 39 DEU Michael Rudroff RS500 15 19 Ret 1 40 DEU Manfred Fischer Team Hein Gericke RS500 Ret Ret Ret 15 Ret Ret 20 19 1 41 NED Cees Doorakkers Grundig-Daf Racing Team RS500 Ret 15 1 42 JPN Shinji Katayama Yamaha Japan YZR500 16 0 43 CHE Nicholas Schmassman FMS RS500 19 16 26 24 19 Ret 28 23 25 Ret 22 0 44 LUX Andreas Leuthe RG500 Ret Ret Ret 16 Ret 27 21 Ret Ret 0 45 JPN Masaru Mizutani Suzuki Japan RGV500 17 0 46 AUT Josef Doppler MRC Grieskirchen RS500 17 20 18 21 21 0 47 ITA Alberto Rota RS500 17 0 48 DEU Franz Holzmeier RS500 17 0 49 IRL Eddie Laycock Millar Racing RS500 Ret Ret 20 17 20 21 17 Ret 0 50 CHE Wolfgang van Muralt RG500 Ret 18 23 Ret Ret 22 17 0 51 JPN Keiji Kinoshita RS500 18 0 52 GBR Ian Pratt RG500 Ret 18 0 53 NED Kees van der Endt Autobedrijf Koens RS500 22 18 24 0 54 AUT Karl Truchsess RS500 Ret 18 21 0 55 YUG Silvo Habat Fego Racing Team RS500 23 22 18 0 56 FRA Jean Luc Demierre RG500 20 Ret 24 Ret 0 57 ITA Romolo Balbi RS500 20 0 58 DEU Georg Jung RS500 Ret 20 24 25 0 59 FIN Ari Ramo RS500 21 22 26 Ret 0 60 DEU Helmut Schutz RS500 21 21 26 0 61 GBR Dave Leach RG500 21 0 62 SWE Peter Skold RS500 22 23 21 0 63 CHE Chris Buerki RS500 22 Ret 26 0 64 FRA Claude Arciero RS500 22 0 65 NED Johann Ten Napel RG500 23 0 66 GBR Simon Buckmaster RS500 23 23 Ret 0 67 DNK Claus Wulff RS500 31 24 23 0 68 TCH Pavol Dekánek RS500 Ret 24 0 69 SWE Ake Dahli RG500 25 0 70 SWE Lars Johansson RG500 27 0 71 JPN Hisashi Yamana RG500 Ret 0 72 JPN Katunori Shinozaki RG500 Ret 0 73 USA John Long YZR500 Ret 0 74 FRA Claude Albert RG500 Ret 0 75 ITA Vincenzo Cascino RS500 Ret Ret 0 76 VEN Larry Moreno Vacondio RS500 Ret Ret Ret 0 77 IRL Tony Carey RG500 Ret 0 78 DEU Hans Klingbiel RG500 Ret 0 79 DEU Hansjörg Butz RS500 Ret 0 80 NED Koos van Leyen RG500 Ret 0 81 ITA Vittorio Scatola Team Amaranto Paton-RS500 Ret Ret 0 82 FRA Eric Sabatier RS500 Ret 0 83 FRA Thierry Rapicault Marlboro Fior Fior-RS500 Ret 0 84 GBR Darren Dixon RG500 Ret 0 85 GBR Steve Spray RG500 Ret 0 86 SWE Thomas Aronsson Nicco Bakker-RS500 Ret 0Sources:https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/championships/1988-world-motorcycle-championship/ 1988 500cc World Championship race results at motorsportmagazine.com motorsportmagazine.com 19 March 2026https://www.motogp.com/en/world-standing/1988/500cc/championship-standings 1988 500cc World Championship race results at MotoGP.com motogp.com 19 March 2026 250cc standings Place Rider Number Country Team Machine Points Wins1 Spain Sito Pons3 Spain Campsa-Honda NSR25023142 Spain Juan Garriga11 Spain Ducados-Yamaha YZR25022133 Switzerland Jacques Cornu9 Switzerland Parisienne Elf-Honda NSR25016624 France Dominique Sarron4 France Rothmans-Honda France NSR25015825 Germany Reinhold Roth2 West Germany HB Römer-Honda NSR25015806 Italy Luca Cadalora7 Italy Marlboro-Yamaha YZR25013627 France Jean-Philippe Ruggia17 France Gauloises Blondes-Yamaha YZR25010408 Germany Anton Mang1 West Germany Rothmans-Honda Germany NSR2508719 Spain Carlos Cardús5 Spain Ducados-Honda NSR25071010 Japan Masahiro Shimizu12 Japan Ajinomoto-Honda NSR250680 11Carlos Lavado 55 12Donnie McLeod 47 13Loris Reggiani 44 14Martin Wimmer 40 15Manfred Herweh 35 16August Auinger 31 17Helmut Bradl 27 18Ivan Palazzese 25 19John Kocinski 24 20Harald Eckl 22 21Jim Filice 20 22Stefano Caracchi 20 23Bruno Casanova 17 24Masaru Kobayashi 15 25Jean Michel Mattioli 12 26Maurizio Vitali 12 27Bubba Shobert 11 28Harald Becker 11 29Jean Foray 10 30Alberto Puig 10 31Jean-François Baldé 10 32Toshihiko Honma 8 33Masumitsu Taguchi 6 34Jochen Schmid 6 35Hiroyuki Kikuchi 5 36Erich Neumair 5 37Guy Bertin 5 38Wilco Zeelenberg 39Hermann Holder 4 40Urs Jücker 4 41Kyoji Nanba 4 42Garry Cowan 3 43Urs Lüzi 3 44Paolo Casoli 3 45Takehiro Yamamoto 2 46Massimo Matteoni 2 47Keiji Tamura 1 48Alan Carter 1Sources:https://www.motogp.com/en/world-standing/1988/250cc/championship-standings 1988 250cc World Championship race results at MotoGP.com motogp.com 19 March 2026http://www.f1network.net/main/s180/st70956.htm 1988 250cc Entries List at www.f1network.net f1network.net 19 March 2026 125cc standings Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins1 Spain Jorge Martinez5 Spain Derbi19792 Italy Ezio Gianola6 Italy Honda16823 Netherlands Hans Spaan27 Netherlands Honda11004 Spain Julian Miralles3 Spain Honda10405 Italy Domenico Brigaglia4 Italy Rotax6906 Italy Gastone Grassetti12 Italy Honda6607 Germany Adi Stadler West Germany Honda6308 Germany Stefan Prein35 West Germany Honda5909 Belgium Lucio Pietroniro9 Belgium Honda56010 Germany Gerhard Waibel6 West Germany Honda520 11Hisashi Unemoto 43 12Alan Scott 38 13Corrado Catalano 36 14Luis Miguel Reyes 34 15Manuel Herreros 30 16Heinz Lüthi 30 17Koji Takada 29 18Johnny Wickstroem 25 19Pierpaolo Bianchi 24 20Alfred Waibel 24 21Fausto Gresini 22 22Josef Fischer 19 23Kris Galatowicz 19 24Hubert Abold 18 25Bady Hassaine 14 26Robin Milton 13 27Mike Leitner 11 28Ian McConnachie 10 29Alex Bedford 8 30Jussi Hautaniemi 8 31Flemming Kistrup 7 32Alex Criville 7 33Esa Kytölä 6 34Robin Appleyard 6 35Thierry Feuz 6 36Manuel Hernandez 4 37Stefan Dörflinger 2 38Taru Rinne 2 39Paul Bordes 1 40Emilio Cuppini 1 80cc standings Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins1 Spain Jorge Martínez1 Spain Derbi13762 Spain Àlex Crivillé Spain Derbi9003 Switzerland Stefan Dörflinger4 Switzerland Krauser GmbH de Krauser (Unternehmen)7714 Spain Manuel Herreros2 Spain Derbi6905 Germany Peter Öttl5 West Germany Krauser GmbH de Krauser (Unternehmen)6506 Bulgaria 1971 Bogdan Nikolov Bulgaria Krauser GmbH de Krauser (Unternehmen)5507 Hungary 1957 Károly Juhász Hungary Krauser GmbH de Krauser (Unternehmen)5408 Netherlands Jos van Dongen Netherlands Casal4709 Italy Giuseppe Ascareggi Italy BBFT46010 Italy Gabriele Gnani Italy Gnani360 11Herri Torrontegui 28 12Jörg Seel 27 13Andrie Nijenhuis 27 14Günter Schirnhofer 27 15Bert Smit 25 16René Dünki 22 17Reiner Koster 11 18Heinz Paschen 10 19Hans Koopman 10 20Serge Julin 8 21Jacques Bernard 8 22Paolo Priori 6 23Ian McConnachie 6 24Rudolf Kunz 5 25Janos Szabo 5 26Janez Pintar 4 27Stefan Bragger 3 28Xavier Arumi 3 29Hagen Klein 2 30Hubert Abold 2 31Alojz Pavlic 1 32Jaime Mariano 1 References Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A. 2-940125-32-5 Peter Clifford (1988) Motocourse 1988-89, The World's Leading Grand Prix & Superbike Annual Hazleton Publishing 978-0905138589 The Official MotoGP website http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics/1988/NAT/500cc/World+Standing 2010-07-06 2012-09-20 https://web.archive.org/web/20120920045258/http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics/1988/NAT/500cc/World+Standing dead Category:Grand Prix motorcycle racing seasons