1988 Donington Superbike World Championship round

Last updated
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg   1988 Donington Superbike World Championship round
Round details
Round 1 of 9 rounds in the
1988 Superbike World Championship.
 Previous round
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Hungary
Donington Park short.svg
Date3 April, 1988
Location Donington Park
CoursePermanent racing facility
3.149 km (1.957 mi)
Superbike World Championship
Pole position
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Roger Burnett
1:14.810
Fastest lap race 1Fastest lap race 2
Flag of Italy.svg Marco Lucchinelli Flag of the United States.svg Bubba Shobert
1:14.1401:14.100

The 1988 Donington Superbike World Championship round was the opening round of the 1988 Superbike World Championship season and the first ever in the series. It took place on 3 April 1988 at the Donington circuit in Great Britain.

Contents

Report

The first grand prix in the history of the Superbike World Championship took place on April 3, 1988, on the 3.149 km National Circuit layout of Donington Park. 45 riders participated in qualifying, with pole position initially going to Doug Polen of the Yoshimura Suzuki team, but he, along with teammate Scott Gray, were disqualified (and deprived of the opportunity to participate in either race) because their bikes were found to have a cubic volume of 765 cm3, against the imposed limit of 750 cm3. [1] This arose from the fact that the AMA Superbike regulations (the championship in which Polen and Gray raced) allowed this through "overboring" of the Suzuki's cylinders, while the World Superbike regulations were more rigid. [2] With the exclusion of Polen from the starting grid, pole was inherited by Roger Burnett, who became the first rider to take pole position in a World Superbike race.

In the first race, 40 riders (the maximum allowed) lined up, but only 39 left the grid; rider Peter Häfner unable to take the start. The first race was won by Davide Tardozzi on a Bimota, despite having to manually restart the electronic injection system a few laps from the finish. The 1981 FIM 500cc World Champion Marco Lucchinelli finished second on the lone Ducati in the field, while Joey Dunlop finished third. [3]

Only riders who made it to at least half distance in the first race were allowed to compete in the second, therefore only 31 riders were allowed to take the start, however only 30 did so. In the second race, Tardozzi and Lucchinelli once again fought for the top two positions, with the battle only being decided when Tardozzi crashed just after Starkey's Bridge on the final lap. Three-time AMA Superbike champion Fred Merkel would take second, and Burnett third. [4]

Due to the points system being based on the combined results of the two races, Tardozzi's final lap crash would prevent him from scoring any points, despite his win in the first race. From the next round at Hungary onwards, half points would be awarded, but now for each race. [5]

Classification

Race 1

PosNo.RiderBikeLapsTime/RetiredGrid
12 Flag of Italy.svg Davide Tardozzi Bimota 3037:50.7202
239 Flag of Italy.svg Marco Lucchinelli Ducati 30+1.0903
33 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Joey Dunlop Honda 30+30.0505
417 Flag of the United States.svg Fred Merkel Honda 30+31.87011
511 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Roger Marshall Suzuki 30+35.8306
68 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Kenny Irons Honda 30+36.0909
715 Flag of Finland.svg Jari Suhonen Yamaha 30+42.67027
810 Flag of Italy.svg Fabrizio Pirovano Yamaha 30+51.67013
918 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Andy McGladdery Suzuki 30+1:00.94018
1036 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Michel Mercier Suzuki 30+1:01.79015
1124 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Steve Williams Bimota 30+1:10.16020
1257 Flag of Spain.svg José Maria Pardo Yamaha 30+1:11.36024
1335 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Rueben McMurter Yamaha 30+1:17.43019
1441 Flag of Ireland.svg Mark Farmer Suzuki 29+1 lap21
1563 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Dave Leach Yamaha 29+1 lap25
1637 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Tom Douglas Yamaha 29+1 lap30
1765 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Lofthouse Suzuki 29+1 lap31
1860 Flag of Finland.svg Kimmo Kopra Yamaha 29+1 lap28
1956 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Asa Moyce Kawasaki 29+1 lap34
2022 Flag of Finland.svg Esko Kuparinen Kawasaki 29+1 lap36
2161 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Steve Veasey Kawasaki 29+1 lap35
2264 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Steve Mason Suzuki 28+2 laps40
2362 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Dave Hill Suzuki 27+3 laps37
2419 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Graeme McGregor Honda 25+5 laps32
257 Flag of Sweden.svg Anders Andersson Suzuki 24+6 laps17
Ret6 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Stéphane Mertens Bimota 28Retirement4
Ret34 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Gary Goodfellow Suzuki 24Accident7
Ret16 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Keith Huewen Bimota 24Retirement22
Ret31 Flag of the United States.svg Bubba Shobert Honda 20Retirement10
Ret14 Flag of Germany.svg Peter Rubatto Bimota 17Retirement16
Ret9 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Roger Burnett Honda 15Accident1
Ret4 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mark Phillips Bimota 14Retirement12
Ret43 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Michael Williams Honda 13Accident39
Ret42 Flag of Austria.svg Hans Lindner Honda 9Retirement14
Ret30 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Des Barry Yamaha 9Retirement29
Ret20 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Robert Dunlop Honda 9Retirement26
Ret49 Flag of Spain.svg Antonio García Moreno Bimota 8Retirement33
Ret23 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Galinski Bimota 4Retirement23
Ret21 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Paul Iddon Bimota 2Retirement8
DNS47 Flag of Germany.svg Peter Häfner Bimota 0Did not start38
DSQ32 Flag of the United States.svg Doug Polen Suzuki Disqualified
DSQ66 Flag of the United States.svg Scott Gray Suzuki Disqualified
DNQ54 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Claudio Biesele Bimota
DNQ52 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Darren Dixon Suzuki
DNQ1 Flag of Italy.svg Virginio Ferrari Honda

Race 2

PosNo.RiderBikeLapsTime/RetiredGrid
139 Flag of Italy.svg Marco Lucchinelli Ducati 3038:15.9103
217 Flag of the United States.svg Fred Merkel Honda 30+9.35010
39 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Roger Burnett Honda 30+15.5001
410 Flag of Italy.svg Fabrizio Pirovano Yamaha 30+20.93011
53 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Joey Dunlop Honda 30+21.5805
611 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Roger Marshall Suzuki 30+23.8906
718 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Andy McGladdery Suzuki 30+46.61015
88 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Kenny Irons Honda 30+50.3708
924 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Steve Williams Bimota 30+53.78017
1015 Flag of Finland.svg Jari Suhonen Yamaha 30+53.82022
1141 Flag of Ireland.svg Mark Farmer Suzuki 30+1:16.27018
127 Flag of Sweden.svg Anders Andersson Suzuki 30+1:25.01014
1363 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Dave Leach Yamaha 29+1 lap21
1465 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Lofthouse Suzuki 29+1 lap25
1537 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Tom Douglas Yamaha 29+1 lap24
1656 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Asa Moyce Kawasaki 29+1 lap27
1722 Flag of Finland.svg Esko Kuparinen Kawasaki 29+1 lap29
1861 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Steve Veasey Kawasaki 29+1 lap28
1919 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Graeme McGregor Honda 28+2 laps26
2062 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Dave Hill Suzuki 27+3 laps30
Ret2 Flag of Italy.svg Davide Tardozzi Bimota 29Accident2
Ret35 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Rueben McMurter Yamaha 29Retirement16
Ret14 Flag of Germany.svg Peter Rubatto Bimota 21Retirement13
Ret31 Flag of the United States.svg Bubba Shobert Honda 19Retirement9
Ret57 Flag of Spain.svg José Maria Pardo Yamaha 19Accident20
Ret36 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Michel Mercier Suzuki 11Accident12
Ret16 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Keith Huewen Bimota 10Retirement19
Ret6 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Stéphane Mertens Bimota 0Accident4
Ret60 Flag of Finland.svg Kimmo Kopra Yamaha 0Accident23
Ret64 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Steve Mason Suzuki 0Accident31
DNS34 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Gary Goodfellow Suzuki Injured7

Combined results

Only riders that finished both races were included.

PosNo.RiderBikeLapsTime/RetiredPts
139 Flag of Italy.svg Marco Lucchinelli Ducati 601:16:07.72020
217 Flag of the United States.svg Fred Merkel Honda 60+40.13017
33 Ulster Banner.svg Joey Dunlop Honda 60+50.54015
411 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Roger Marshall Suzuki 60+58.63013
510 Flag of Italy.svg Fabrizio Pirovano Yamaha 60+1:11.51011
68 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Kenny Irons Honda 60+1:25.37010
715 Flag of Finland.svg Jari Suhonen Yamaha 60+1:35.4009
818 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Andy McGladdery Suzuki 60+1:46.4608
924 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Steve Williams Bimota 60+2:02.8507
1041 Flag of Ireland.svg Mark Farmer Suzuki 59+1 lap6
1163 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Dave Leach Yamaha 58+2 laps5
1237 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Tom Douglas Yamaha 58+2 laps4
1365 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Lofthouse Suzuki 58+2 laps3
1456 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Asa Moyce Kawasaki 58+2 laps2
1522 Flag of Finland.svg Esko Kuparinen Kawasaki 58+2 laps1
1661 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Steve Veasey Kawasaki 58+2 laps
1762 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Dave Hill Suzuki 54+6 laps
187 Flag of Sweden.svg Anders Andersson Suzuki 54+6 laps
1919 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Graeme McGregor Honda 53+7 laps

References

  1. Paolo Gozzi (21 May 2013). RCS MediaGroup S.p.A. (ed.). "Donington 1988, là dove tutto è cominciato". paologozzi.gazzetta.it (in Italian).
  2. Maurizio Mazzoni (21 May 2001). "Donington: curiosità e record". motocorse.com (in Italian).
  3. Marco Lucchinelli career statistics at MotoGP.com
  4. AMA Superbike Champions
  5. "Davide Tardozzi's Bimota YB4EI-R racer test: Coulda bin a champion | DriveMag Riders". 25 January 2018.