The 1988 Brazilian motorcycle Grand Prix was the last round of the

1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. It took place on the weekend of 15–17 September 1988 at the

Goiânia Goiânia (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region and the 10th-largest in the country. Its metropolitan area has a population ...

circuit.

500 cc race report

Wayne Gardner Wayne Michael Gardner (born 11 October 1959) is an Australian former professional Grand Prix motorcycle and touring car racer. His most notable achievement was winning the 1987 500 cc Motorcycle World Championship, becoming the first Aus ...

was on pole, but

Eddie Lawson Eddie Lawson (born March 11, 1958) is an American former four-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. His record of not crashing and consistently finishing in the points earned him the nickname "Steady Eddie".Wayne Rainey Wayne Wesley Rainey (born October 23, 1960) is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he won the 500cc World Championship three times and the Daytona 200 once. He was characterized by his s ...

and

Kevin Schwantz Kevin Schwantz (born June 19, 1964) is an American former professional motorcycle road racer. He was the world champion of the 1993 FIM Road Racing World Championship. Early life Schwantz, whose parents owned a motorcycle shop, learned to ride ...

. Back in 6th place, Gardner was almost cut off by

Pierfrancesco Chili Pierfrancesco 'Frankie' Chili, (born 20 June 1964 in Bologna, Italy) is a former motorcycle racer who competed in the Superbike World Championship and the 250 cc and 500 cc classes in Grand Prix. In September 2020 he confirmed he was su ...

, 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 Randy Mamola (born November 10, 1959) is an American former professional motorcycle racer and television sports presenter. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing between and . A 13-time Premier Class race winner, Mamola was one of the mo ...

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

References

{{MotoGP_race_report , Name_of_race = Brazilian Grand Prix , Year_of_race = 1988 , Previous_race_in_season = 1988 Czechoslovakian Grand Prix , Next_race_in_season =

1989 Japanese Grand Prix The 1989 Japanese Grand Prix (formally the XV Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at Suzuka Circuit, Japan, on 22 October 1989. It was the 15th and penultimate round of the 1989 Formula One season. The 53-lap r ...

, Previous_year's_race = 1987 Brazilian Grand Prix , Next_year's_race = 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix Brazilian motorcycle Grand Prix Brazilian Motorcycle Grand Prix