1988 French motorcycle Grand Prix

The 1988 French motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 22–24 July 1988 at the 5.81 km (3.61 mi) Paul Ricard Circuit.

500 cc race report

Frenchman Christian Sarron claimed his 5th pole position in a row on his Yamaha YZR500, and his last ever in 500 GP.

Like most of the mid-field, Niall Mackenzie (Honda) jumped the start and raced to the lead, but the race was allowed to continue and no penalties were handed out by race officials. On the 1.8 km long Mistral Straight for the first time Wayne Gardner used the power of his factory Rothmans Honda to shoot to the lead from Kevin Schwantz (Suzuki), Mackenzie and Wayne Rainey (Yamaha).

Gardner and pole sitter Sarron battled for the lead with Schwantz and Eddie Lawson (Yamaha), who was battling a shoulder injury suffered in the previous race in Yugoslavia only one week before and had turned to famed Austrian Willi Dungl to help him get fit to race. Gardner's Honda had the advantage on the Mistral Straight over all but Lawson's YZR500, but Lawson, Sarron and Schwantz had the advantage through the turns, though the Suzuki was clearly the slowest on the Pit and Mistral straights. The quartet gradually pulled away from Rainey, who in turn pulled away from a pack including Randy Mamola (Cagiva), Didier de Radiguès (Yamaha), Pierfrancesco Chili (Honda) and Kevin Magee (Yamaha).

Going into the last lap, Gardner had pulled out a two-second lead over the trio and looked set to win his fourth race in a row. However, going through the Courbe de Signes at the end of the Mistral his bike developed mechanical problems when a crankshaft bolt broke loose and found its way into the water pump, though he had a big enough gap over Wayne Rainey to struggle home in 4th place only 5.720 seconds behind Lawson. Gardner's breakdown allowed Lawson to win the race and extend his lead in the championship. Sarron consolidated his second place in the title race, finishing only 0.22 behind the American. In one of the closest top 3 finishes in history, Schwantz finished in 3rd place only 0.24 behind Sarron and less than half a second from winning. Schwantz came out of the final turn and knowing his bike didn't have the acceleration to pass, pulled a wheelie until after crossing the line and celebrated on the cool down lap for gaining an unexpected podium finish.

Wayne Gardner, back in the form that has seen him win the World Championship in 1987, had the consolation of setting the races fastest lap.

1988 was the final time that the French motorcycle Grand Prix would be held on the full length 5.81 km (3.61 mi) Paul Ricard circuit. When Grand Prix racing next returned to the circuit in 1991, the 3.812 km (2.369 mi) 'Club' circuit was used.

500 cc classification

Pos.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Time/Retired	Points
1	Template:Flagicon Eddie Lawson	Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini	Yamaha	42:15.520	20
2	Template:Flagicon Christian Sarron	Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1	Yamaha	+0.220	17
3	Template:Flagicon Kevin Schwantz	Suzuki Pepsi Cola	Suzuki	+0.460	15
4	Template:Flagicon Wayne Gardner	Rothmans Honda Team	Honda	+5.720	13
5	Template:Flagicon Wayne Rainey	Team Lucky Strike Roberts	Yamaha	+17.630	11
6	Template:Flagicon Randy Mamola	Cagiva Corse	Cagiva	+27.810	10
7	Template:Flagicon Didier de Radiguès	Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini	Yamaha	+30.620	9
8	Template:Flagicon Pierfrancesco Chili	HB Honda Gallina Team	Honda	+30.870	8
9	Template:Flagicon Kevin Magee	Team Lucky Strike Roberts	Yamaha	+35.110	7
10	Template:Flagicon Ron Haslam	Team ROC Elf Honda	Elf Honda	+35.310	6
11	Template:Flagicon Rob McElnea	Suzuki Pepsi Cola	Suzuki	+59.870	5
12	Template:Flagicon Malcolm Campbell	Team ROC Elf Honda	Elf Honda	+1:19.040	4
13	Template:Flagicon Mike Baldwin	Racing Team Katayama	Honda	+1:42.640	3
14	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Valesi	Team Iberia	Honda	+1:46.140	2
15	Template:Flagicon Fabio Barchitta	Racing Team Katayama	Honda	+2:02.540	1
16	Template:Flagicon Donnie McLeod	Racing Team Katayama	Honda	+1 Lap
17	Template:Flagicon Marco Gentile	Fior Marlboro	Fior	+1 Lap
18	Template:Flagicon Marco Papa	Team Greco	Honda	+1 Lap
19	Template:Flagicon Fabio Biliotti	Team Amoranto	Honda	+1 Lap
20	Template:Flagicon Manfred Fischer	Team Hein Gericke	Honda	+1 Lap
21	Template:Flagicon Eddie Laycock	Millar Racing	Honda	+1 Lap
22	Template:Flagicon Claude Arciero		Honda	+1 Lap
23	Template:Flagicon Nicholas Schmassman	FMS	Honda	+1 Lap
24	Template:Flagicon Maarten Duyzers	HDJ International	Honda	+1 Lap
Ret	Template:Flagicon Patrick Igoa	Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1	Yamaha	Retirement
Ret	Template:Flagicon Rachel Nicotte	PVI Racing	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Template:Flagicon Daniel Amatriain	Ducados Lotus Guarz	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Template:Flagicon Thierry Rapicault		Fior	Retirement
Ret	Template:Flagicon Bruno Kneubühler	Romer Racing Suisse	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Template:Flagicon Josef Doppler	MRC Grieskirchen	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Template:Flagicon Wolfgang von Muralt		Suzuki	Retirement
Ret	Template:Flagicon Niall Mackenzie	Team HRC	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Template:Flagicon Shunji Yatsushiro	Rothmans Honda Team	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Template:Flagicon Raymond Roche	Cagiva	Retirement
Ret	Template:Flagicon Jean Luc Demierre		Suzuki	Retirement
Ret	Template:Flagicon Vittorio Scatola	Road Racing Team Avia	Suzuki	Retirement
DNS	Template:Flagicon Eric Sabatier	Weigl Telefix Racing Team	Honda	Did not start
DNQ	Template:Flagicon Andreas Leuthe		Suzuki	Did not qualify
DNQ	Template:Flagicon Larry Moreno Vacondio		Suzuki	Did not qualify
DNQ	Template:Flagicon Ari Ramo		Honda	Did not qualify
DNQ	Template:Flagicon Claude Albert		Suzuki	Did not qualify
DNQ	Template:Flagicon Patrick Leruste		Suzuki	Did not qualify
DNQ	Template:Flagicon Bernard Andrault		Honda	Did not qualify
DNQ	Template:Flagicon Vincenzo Cascino		Honda	Did not qualify
DNQ	Template:Flagicon Christian Polard		Honda	Did not qualify
Sources:

External links

• 1988 French Motorcycle Grand Prix