The 1988 Brazilian motorcycle Grand Prix was the last round of the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 15–17 September 1988 at the Goiânia circuit.
500 cc race report
Wayne Gardner was on pole, but Eddie Lawson got into the lead at the start, ahead of Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz. Back in 6th place, Gardner was almost cut off by Pierfrancesco Chili, who tried a block pass on him; Gardner shook a fist.
Schwantz got around Lawson for 1st, but Lawson looked like he's not going to let it go. Gardner caught up to make it a trio, while Lawson retook the lead. Randy Mamola was hot-dogging, deliberately sliding the rear. Schwantz and Gardner went at it for 2nd place. Mamola almost highsided trying to impress the crowd, a bit later on a left-hander he looked over his shoulder and immediately slid the bike into a highside. Schwantz will do something similar next year at Phillip Island. Rainey retired with a punctured tire.
500cc classification Pos. Rider Team Manufacturer Time/Retired Points 1 Eddie Lawson Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha 47:22.550 20 2 Wayne Gardner Rothmans Honda Team Honda +13.360 17 3 Kevin Schwantz Suzuki Pepsi Cola Suzuki +21.350 15 4 Niall Mackenzie Team HRC Honda +24.120 13 5 Christian Sarron Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 Yamaha +24.240 11 6 Kevin Magee Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha +24.280 10 7 Pierfrancesco Chili HB Honda Gallina Team Honda +1:13.100 9 8 Rob McElnea Suzuki Pepsi Cola Suzuki +1:14.950 8 9 Didier de Radiguès Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha +1:23.300 7 10 Patrick Igoa Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 Yamaha +1 Lap 6 11 Fabio Barchitta Racing Team Katayama Honda +1 Lap 5 12 Francisco Gonzales Honda +1 Lap 4 13 Donnie McLeod Racing Team Katayama Honda +1 Lap 3 Ret Wayne Rainey Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha Retirement Ret Marco Gentile Fior Marlboro Fior Retirement Ret Ron Haslam Team ROC Elf Honda Elf Honda Retirement Ret Bruno Kneubühler Romer Racing Suisse Honda Retirement Ret Alessandro Valesi Team Iberia Honda Retirement Ret Randy Mamola Cagiva Corse Cagiva Retirement Ret Roger Burnett Racing Team Katayama Honda Retirement Sources:
References