Eddie Ray Lawson (born March 11, 1958) is an American former professional motorcycle racer. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from to .

A four-time FIM 500cc road racing world champion, Lawson is prominent for being the first MotoGP competitor to win back-to-back 500cc world championships on machines from two different manufacturers. His record of not crashing and consistently finishing in the points earned him the nickname "Steady Eddie".Eddie Lawson profile at crash.net

Lawson was inducted into the MotoGP Legends Hall of Fame in 2005. After his motorcycle career, Lawson pursued a brief career in open-wheel single seater racing in the United States competing in the Indy Lights series and eventually to the CART racing series.

Biography Born in Upland, California, Lawson began his motorcycle racing career in the Southern California dirt track circuit. When he was young, Lawson also drove karts, which he "loved … maybe more than racing bikes", but he ultimately pursued a career on motorcycles as his father and grandfather had raced them. When it became increasingly difficult to find machinery able to compete with the dominant Harley-Davidsons, he switched his attention to road racing. In 1979, Lawson finished the season second behind Freddie Spencer in the AMA 250cc road racing National Championship. 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.

Lawson accepted an offer from Yamaha to contest the 500cc World Championship as Kenny Roberts' teammate 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. It would mark the first of four world titles Lawson would go on to win.

In 1985, Lawson won the prestigious Imola 200 pre-season race. Lawson began the 1986 season by winning the Daytona 200 in a dominating manner to give Yamaha their first AMA Superbike victory. He took an easy victory in his qualifying heat race and then won the pole position with a track record. After he disposed of early challengers Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz, Lawson won with a race time of one hour, 54 minutes, 49.656 seconds at an average of 106.030 mph, shattering the record for the Daytona 200 set the year before by Freddie Spencer by over three minutes.

After winning two more 500cc world championships for Yamaha in 1986 and 1988, Lawson shocked the racing world by announcing he would be leaving Yamaha to sign with their arch-rivals Rothmans Honda as teammate to his own archrival, Australia's 1987 World Champion Wayne Gardner. By switching teams, Lawson also fulfilled his desire to work with Erv Kanemoto. After Gardner crashed and broke his leg during the third round at Laguna Seca, Lawson went on to win the 1989 title for Honda, becoming the first rider to win back-to-back championships on machines from different manufacturers before Valentino Rossi did so in 2004 (moved from Honda to Yamaha). Furthermore, he was the fourth satellite rider to win the premier class world title before Valentino Rossi did so in 2001, 12 years later.

Lawson then switched to Cagiva in 1991 and the following year he achieved his last victory (that was also the first win for Cagiva after ten years of racing). In so doing, he joined a very limited riders who managed to win races in top class with three different manufacturers, the others being Mike Hailwood (British Norton, MV Agusta, Honda), Randy Mamola (Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha), Loris Capirossi (Yamaha, Honda, Ducati) and Maverick Viñales (Suzuki, Yamaha, Aprilia).

Lawson also won the ABC Superbikers event at Carlsbad Calif. in 1983 and 1985 which pitted the best riders from several disciplines against each other on a combined dirt and paved course. He was riding a specially equipped factory YZ 490 Yamaha.Moto Cross Mag. Feb. 1986

In 1990, Lawson won the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race on a Yamaha FZR750R paired with teammate Tadahiko Taira. When he retired from Grand Prix racing in the early 1990s, he ranked third on the all-time MotoGP class (then known as 500GP) Grand Prix wins list with 31. Lawson came out of retirement to win his second Daytona 200 in 1993.Daytona 200 winners at www.motorsportsetc.com

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 moving to CART.L.A. Times, March 10, 1994 Lawson enjoyed the driving experience, saying after his first test in an Indy Lights car that "Oh man, this is the greatest thing I've ever done. This is so much fun." 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, and historic Formula One cars, with a Walter Wolf Racing WR4 at vintage events.

Honors Lawson was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of AmericaEddie Lawson at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2002. Lawson was inducted into the FIM MotoGP Hall of Fame in 2005.

Racing career statistics

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 FRA NAT GER ESP AUT YUG NED BEL GBR SWE SMR 78 4th 0 1984 500cc Marlboro Agostini Yamaha YZR500 RSA NAT ESP AUT GER FRA YUG NED BEL GBR SWE SMR 142 1st 4 1985 500cc Marlboro Agostini Yamaha YZR500 RSA ESP GER NAT AUT YUG NED BEL FRA GBR SWE SMR 133 2nd 3 1986 500cc Marlboro Agostini Yamaha YZR500 ESP NAT GER AUT YUG NED BEL FRA GBR SWE SMR 139 1st 7 1987 500cc Marlboro Agostini Yamaha YZR500 JPN ESP GER NAT AUT YUG NED FRA GBR SWE CZE SMR POR BRA ARG 157 3rd 5 1988 500cc Marlboro Agostini Yamaha YZR500 JPN USA ESP EXP NAT GER AUT NED BEL YUG FRA GBR SWE CZE BRA 252 1st 7 1989 500cc Rothmans Kanemoto Honda NSR500 JPN AUS USA ESP NAT GER AUT YUG NED BEL FRA GBR SWE CZE BRA 228 1st 4 1990 500cc Marlboro Roberts Yamaha YZR500 JPNDNF USA ESPINJ NATINJ GERINJ AUTINJ YUGINJ NED BEL FRA GBR SWE CZE HUN AUS 118 7th 0 1991 500cc Cagiva Corse GP500 JPN AUS USA ESP ITA GER AUT EURDNF NED FRA GBR RSMDNF CZE VDM– MAL– 126 6th 0 1992 500cc Cagiva Corse GP500 JPN AUS MALDNF ESP ITA EUR GER NEDDNF HUN FRA GBR BRA RSADNF 56 9th 1

Suzuka 8 Hours results Year Team Co-Rider Bike Pos 1990 Shiseido Tech 21 Racing Team Tadahiko Taira Eddie Lawson Yamaha YZF750 1st

American open-wheel racing results (key)

Indy Lights Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points 1992 Leading Edge MotorsportPHXLBHDETPORMILNHATORCLEVANMDONAZLS NC 0 1993 Leading Edge MotorsportsPHXLBHMILDETPORCLETORNHAVANMDONAZLS12th42 1994 Tasman MotorsportsPHXLBHMILDETPORCLETORMDONHAVANNAZLS4th139

CART Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Rank Points Ref 1996 Galles Racing Lola T96/00 Mercedes-Benz IC108CMIARIOSRFLBHNZR500MILDETPORCLETORMISMDOROAVANLS20th26

References

External links

Eddie Lawson at MotoGP Legends