Eddie Lawson (born March 11, 1958) is an American former four-time

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start of ...

World Champion. His record of not crashing and consistently finishing in the points earned him the nickname "Steady Eddie".Eddie Lawson profile at crash.net

Biography

Born in

Upland, California Upland is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States on the border with neighboring Los Angeles County. The municipality is located at an elevation of 1,242 feet (379 m). As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 79,040 ...

, Lawson began his

motorcycle racing Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. ...

career in the

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

dirt track circuit. When it became increasingly difficult to find machinery able to compete with the dominant

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...

s, he switched his attention to

road racing Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on p ...

. In 1979, Lawson finished the season second behind Freddie Spencer in the

AMA Ama or AMA may refer to: Ama Languages * Ama language (New Guinea) * Ama language (Sudan) People * Ama (Ama Kōhei), former ring name for sumo wrestler Harumafuji Kōhei * Mary Ama, a New Zealand artist * Shola Ama, a British singer * Ām ...

250cc road racing National Championship. Afterwards, he was offered a ride with the

Kawasaki Kawasaki ( ja, 川崎, Kawasaki, river peninsula, links=no) may refer to: Places *Kawasaki, Kanagawa, a Japanese city **Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, a ward in Kawasaki, Kanagawa **Kawasaki City Todoroki Arena **Kawasaki Stadium, a multi-sport stadium *K ...

Superbike team and won the AMA Superbike Series in 1981 and 1982. He also won the AMA 250cc road racing National Championship in 1980 and 1981 for Kawasaki. Eddie Lawson 1989

Lawson accepted an offer from Yamaha to contest the 500cc World Championship as Kenny Roberts' teammate for the

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

season. Lawson spent the 1983 season learning the ropes of the Grand Prix circuit. In

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast As ...

, Lawson began winning regularly and won the 1984 World Championship. It would mark the first of four world titles Lawson would go on to win. In 1985, he won the prestigious

Imola 200 The Imola 200 (also known as the 200 Miglia) is a motorcycle race held annually at Imola. The race originally ran as a modern motorcycle race from 1972 to 1985. In 2010, the Imola 200 Miglia Revival began as a classic bike race. Background In r ...

pre-season race. After winning two more titles for Yamaha in 1986 and 1988, Lawson shocked the racing world by announcing he would be leaving Yamaha to sign with their arch-rivals Rothmans

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

as teammate to his own archrival, Australia's

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...

World Champion

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 Au ...

. By switching teams, Lawson also fulfilled his desire to work with Erv Kanemoto. After Gardner crashed and broke his leg during the third round at

Laguna Seca Laguna Seca may refer to: * Laguna Seca Formation, a geologic formation in California * Laguna Seca (Mexico), see Convention of London * Laguna Seca (Santa Clara County), a seasonal lake in California * Laguna Seca, Texas, United States * Rancho L ...

, Lawson went on to win the

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...

title for Honda, becoming the first rider to win back-to-back championships on machines from different manufacturers before Valentino Rossi did so in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

(moved from Honda to Yamaha). Furthermore, he was the fourth satellite rider to win the premier class world title before Valentino Rossi did so in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, 12 years later. Lawson then switched to Cagiva in 1991 and the following year he achieved his last victory (that was also the first win for Cagiva after 10 years of racing). In so doing, he joined a very restricted number of great riders who managed to win races in top class with three different manufacturers, the others being

Mike Hailwood Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, (2 April 1940 – 23 March 1981) was a British professional motorcycle racer and racing driver. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest racers of all time. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycl ...

(British Norton, MV Agusta, Honda), Randy Mamola (Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha) and

Loris Capirossi Loris Capirossi (born 4 April 1973) is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, currently serving as Safety Advisor to Dorna Sports, the commercial rights holder of Grand Prix motorcycle racing. He is a 9-time Premier Class race wi ...

(Yamaha, Honda, Ducati) and definitively silenced the critics who believed he would not be as successful away from the factory

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Ma ...

Yamaha team. Lawson also won the ABC Superbikers event at Carlsbad Calif. in 1983 and 1985 which pitted the best riders from several disciplines against each other on a combined dirt and paved course. He was riding a specially equipped factory YZ 490 Yamaha. In 1990, Lawson won the

Suzuka 8 Hours The is a motorcycle endurance race held at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan each year. The race runs for eight hours consecutively and entrants are composed of two or more riders who alternate during pitstops. History The race began in 1978 as ...

endurance race on a

Yamaha FZR750R Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

paired with teammate

Tadahiko Taira Tadahiko Taira (born November 12, 1956) is a Japanese former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Born in Minamisōma, he won three consecutive All Japan 500cc championships in 1983, 1984 and 1985. Taira began his Grand Prix career in 1984 with ...

. Lawson also won the Daytona 200 in 1986 and came out of retirement to win it again in 1993. When he retired from Grand Prix racing in the early 1990s, he ranked third on the all-time MotoGP class (then known as 500GP) Grand Prix wins list with 31. After finishing his motorcycle career, Lawson pursued a career in open-wheel single seater racing in the United States competing in the

Indy Lights Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a progr ...

series and eventually to

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed tr ...

. In the 1996 IndyCar season, he competed in 11 races with his best results being two sixth-place finishes at U.S. 500 and the Detroit Indy Grand Prix. His passion for speed remains undiminished and the former World Champion now enjoys driving 250cc

Superkart Superkart is a form of motorsport road racing that uses karts on long circuits. The most obvious difference between a superkart and most other forms of kart is that they have full aerodynamic bodykits as well as having a longer wheel base than s ...

s often accompanied by his great friend and rival Wayne Rainey, who races in a specially modified Superkart to cope with his spinal injuries, and historic Formula One cars, with a Walter Wolf Racing WR4 at vintage events.

Honors

* Lawson was inducted into the

Motorcycle Hall of Fame The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum is an offshoot of the American Motorcyclist Association, recognizing individuals who have contributed to motorcycle sport, motorcycle construction, or motorcycling in general. It also displays motorcycles ...

in 1999. * He was inducted in the

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles, ...

Eddie Lawson
at the

in 2002. * Lawson was inducted into the FIM MotoGP Hall of Fame in 2005.MotoGP Legends at MotoGP.com

Racing career statistics

Points system from 1969 to 1987: Points system from 1988 to 1992: ( key) (Races in bold indicate

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

American open-wheel racing results

( key)

Indy Lights

CART

References

External links

*
Eddie Lawson at MotoGP Legends
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, Eddie American motorcycle racers AMA Grand National Championship riders American racing drivers 500cc World Championship riders AMA Superbike Championship riders Champ Car drivers Indy Lights drivers People from Upland, California 1958 births Living people Racing drivers from California Tasman Motorsports drivers