The 1988 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix was the first round of the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 25–27 March 1988 at the Suzuka Circuit.
500 cc race report Tadahiko Taira was on pole of the 5-column grid (it became 4-columns in 1990). Wayne Rainey got the start and lead through the first turns, with Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Gardner and Christian Sarron behind. Schwantz took the inside of the hairpin, but Rainey dove back under and got him back on the exit; Schwantz succeeded in taking the lead on Spoon.
At the end of the 1st lap, it was Schwantz and Gardner, then a gap to Toshihiko Honma (riding #46) and Sarron. Gardner and Schwantz swapped the lead many times.
Eddie Lawson and Niall Mackenzie moved through the field to 3rd and 4th. Norihiko Fujiwara lowsided at the hairpin.
On the last lap Gardner ran off the track and stayed on, but lost any chance of winning the race.
500 cc classification Pos. Rider Team Manufacturer Time/Retired Points 1 Kevin Schwantz Suzuki Pepsi Cola Suzuki 50:03.750 20 2 Wayne Gardner Rothmans Honda Team Honda +8.384 17 3 Eddie Lawson Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha +12.724 15 4 Niall Mackenzie Team HRC Honda +15.785 13 5 Tadahiko Taira Tech 21 Yamaha +36.383 11 6 Wayne Rainey Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha +42.070 10 7 Kevin Magee Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha +42.179 9 8 Christian Sarron Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 Yamaha +45.186 8 9 Didier de Radiguès Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha +1:01.213 7 10 Shunji Yatsushiro Rothmans Honda Team Honda +1:10.228 6 11 Hikaru Miyagi Team HRC Honda +1:16.201 5 12 Ron Haslam Team ROC Elf Honda Elf Honda +1:20.045 4 13 Patrick Igoa Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 Yamaha +1:29.535 3 14 Pierfrancesco Chili HB Honda Gallina Team Honda +1:38.989 2 15 Osamu Hiwatashi Suzuki Japan Suzuki +1:42.545 1 16 Shinji Katayama Yamaha +1:43.611 17 Masaru Mizutani Suzuki +2:04.446 18 Keiji Kinoshita Honda +1 Lap 19 Alessandro Valesi Team Iberia Honda +1 Lap Ret Raymond Roche Cagiva Corse Cagiva Retirement Ret Rob McElnea Suzuki Pepsi Cola Suzuki Retirement Ret Katunori Shinozaki Suzuki Retirement Ret Norihiko Fujiwara Lucky Strike Yamaha Yamaha Retirement Ret Randy Mamola Cagiva Corse Cagiva Retirement Ret Hisashi Yamana Suzuki Retirement Ret Marco Gentile Fior Marlboro Fior Retirement Ret Manfred Fischer Team Hein Gericke Honda Retirement DNS Fabio Barchitta Racing Team Katayama Honda Did not start DNQ Kunio Machii Honda Yamaha Sources:
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