Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/786372
CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE F rom an American perspective at least, the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was one of the greatest in the his- tory of the championship. The consistently excellent Eddie Lawson won back the world championship from the gritty Australian charger Wayne Gardner. Their battle en- sued with the backdrop of an intense 1980s Honda versus Yamaha battle. Just at the moment that American riders Freddie Spencer, Randy Mamola and Mike Baldwin were drawing closer to the end of their GP careers, suddenly appeared a duo from a new generation of young and excit- ing Americans in the form of Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz. Their red-hot AMA Superbike and Match Race battles of 1987 brought new heat to the GP circus for the first time. The industry was healthy. Motorcycle sales were gaining steam once again after a decade long slump. And sportbikes were beginning to mature and evolve into machines that were truly racetrack ready. That, and the demographics of the baby boomer genera- tion coming of age and having expendable income, meant that the grassroots of the sport was boom- ing with hundreds of riders showing up nearly every weekend at an increasing number of road courses across the country. Competition for the attention of grand prix racing was not yet fully developed. World superbike was up and running, but the challenge to grand prix in terms of factory racing dollars, rider talent and sponsorship dollars was, at that point, minimal. Also, Hollywood began to recognize motorcycle grand prix. For part of the season a movie crew filmed at the races for a movie that turned out to be "Race For Glory." The stars were aligned for an epic GP racing sea- son. The biggest story going into '88 was the sudden retirement of Honda's Freddie Spencer. The three- time world champion trained hard in the off-season and was seemingly ready to get back to being a championship contender after being largely absent for the previous two seasons. But towards the end of his training a right wrist problem cropped up. The wrist got worse during pre-season testing. He had tendentious and his physicians said nothing could solve it short term and Spencer announced his retirement just a couple of weeks before the start of the season. Another huge story was Randy Mamola, who'd finished runner up to Gardner in '87 riding for Lucky Strike Yamaha, was canned by the squad. Team owner Kenny Roberts decided instead to go with a youthful team of Rainey and Kevin Magee. The best-paying option for Mamola turned out to be with Cagiva. While a rider of Mamola's experience would be a valuable asset for Cagiva, the ride with the underdog team, using unproven Pirelli tires, likely meant that he would no longer be a serious title contender, so strike off another leading American. Mike Baldwin was scrambling to find a ride in '88 after a season of tough injuries meant he came into the '88 season lacking race time and confidence. He would race a black three-cylinder Honda for much of the season doing the riding scenes in the THE GOLDEN SEASON P110 Eddie Lawson (3) and Wayne Gardner (1) had a great GP battle in 1988, with Lawson winning back the world championship from the Aussie. PHOTOGRAPHY HENNY RAY ABRAMS