The 1988 Nations motorcycle Grand Prix was the fifth race 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 20–22 May 1988, at the

Autodromo Dino Ferrari The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, better known as Imola, is a motor racing circuit in the town of Imola, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, east of Bologna. It is one of the few major international circuits to run in an an ...

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 Aust ...

on pole. Through the first turn, it was

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".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 ...

, Didier De Radiguès,

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 ...

and Gardner. At the end of the first lap, it was Lawson, De Radiguès, Schwantz, Gardner, Chili and

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 ...

. Another few laps and it was Lawson, Gardner, De Radiguès, then a small gap to Rainey and Schwantz. Lawson got a gap from a re-formed quartet behind.

Christian Sarron Christian Sarron (born 27 March 1955 in Clermont-Ferrand, France) is a French former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. __TOC__ Motorcycle racing career He began his career on a Kawasaki when he met French Grand Prix racer Patrick Pons. Pons h ...

went down at a chicane, forcing Kevin Magee and

Niall Mackenzie Niall Macfarlane Mackenzie (born 19 July 1961) is a Scottish former professional motorcycle road racer. Career Mackenzie, who hails from Fankerton, near Denny, Stirlingshire; won the British Superbike Championship three times from 1996 to ...

off the track. On the cool down lap there was a collision between Tadahiko Taira and Raymond Roche.

500 cc classification

References

{{MotoGP_race_report , Name_of_race =

Nations Grand Prix The Italian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. From 1949 to 1990 the event was known by the it, Gran Premio Delle Nazioni (''Nations Grand Prix''). It was one of the original ...

, Year_of_race = 1988 , Previous_race_in_season = 1988 Expo 92 Grand Prix , Next_race_in_season =

1988 German Grand Prix The 1988 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 24 July 1988 at the Hockenheimring, Hockenheim. It was the ninth race of the 1988 Formula One World Championship. The 44-lap race was won from pole position by Ayrton Senna, driving ...

, Previous_year's_race = 1987 Nations Grand Prix , Next_year's_race = 1989 Nations Grand Prix Italian motorcycle Grand Prix

Nations A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...