Eddie Lawson

Last updated
Eddie Lawson
Eddie Lawson 1990 Japanese GP.jpg
Lawson aboard the Yamaha YZR500, 1990.
Nationality Flag of the United States.svg American
Born (1958-03-11) March 11, 1958 (age 66)
Upland, California, U.S.
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years 1983 – 1992
First race 1983 500cc South African Grand Prix
Last race 1992 500cc South African Grand Prix
First win 1984 500cc South African Grand Prix
Last win 1992 500cc Hungarian Grand Prix
Team(s) Yamaha, Honda, Cagiva
Championships 500cc – 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989
StartsWinsPodiums Poles F. laps Points
127317818211429

Eddie Ray Lawson [1] (born March 11, 1958) is an American former professional motorcycle racer. [2] [3] He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1981 to 1992.

Contents

A four-time FIM 500cc road racing world champion, Lawson is prominent for being the first MotoGP competitor to win back-to-back 500cc world championships on machines from two different manufacturers. His record of not crashing and consistently finishing in the points earned him the nickname "Steady Eddie". [4]

Lawson was inducted into the MotoGP Legends Hall of Fame in 2005. [5] After his motorcycle career, Lawson pursued a brief career in open-wheel single seater racing in the United States competing in the Indy Lights series and eventually to the CART racing series.

Biography

Born in Upland, California, Lawson began his motorcycle racing career in the Southern California dirt track circuit. [3] When it became increasingly difficult to find machinery able to compete with the dominant Harley-Davidsons, he switched his attention to road racing. [3] In 1979, Lawson finished the season second behind Freddie Spencer in the AMA 250cc road racing National Championship. [3] Afterwards, he was offered a ride with the Kawasaki 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. [3]

Lawson in 1989 riding a Honda NSR500 Eddie Lawson 1989.jpg
Lawson in 1989 riding a Honda NSR500

Lawson accepted an offer from Yamaha to contest the 500cc World Championship as Kenny Roberts' teammate for the 1983 season. Lawson spent the 1983 season learning the ropes of the Grand Prix circuit. In 1984, Lawson began winning regularly and won the 1984 World Championship. [2] It would mark the first of four world titles Lawson would go on to win. [2]

In 1985, he won the prestigious Imola 200 pre-season race. [6] Lawson began the 1986 season by winning the Daytona 200 in a dominating manner to give Yamaha their first AMA Superbike victory. [7] He took an easy victory in his qualifying heat race and then won the pole position with a track record. [7] After he disposed of early challengers Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz, Lawson won with a race time of one hour, 54 minutes, 49.656 seconds at an average of 106.030 mph, shattering the record for the Daytona 200 set the year before by Freddie Spencer by over three minutes. [7]

After winning two more 500cc world championships 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 as teammate to his own archrival, Australia's 1987 World Champion Wayne Gardner. 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, Lawson went on to win the 1989 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 (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, 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 (British Norton, MV Agusta, Honda), Randy Mamola (Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha), Loris Capirossi (Yamaha, Honda, Ducati) and Maverick Viñales (Suzuki, Yamaha, Aprilia) and definitively silenced the critics who believed he would not be as successful away from the factory Marlboro Yamaha team. [3]

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. [8]

In 1990, Lawson won the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race on a Yamaha FZR750R paired with teammate Tadahiko Taira. [9] 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. [3] Lawson came out of retirement to win his second Daytona 200 in 1993. [10]

After finishing his motorcycle career, Lawson pursued a career in open-wheel single seater racing in the United States competing in the Indy Lights series and eventually to CART. [11] 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 Superkarts 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. [4]

Honors

Racing career statistics

[2]
Points system from 1969 to 1987:

Position12345678910
Points1512108654321

Points system from 1988 to 1992:

Position123456789101112131415
Points201715131110987654321

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearClassTeamMachine123456789101112131415PointsRankWins
1983 500ccMarlboro Agostini Yamaha YZR500 RSA
8		 FRA
NC		 NAT
3		 GER
9		 ESP
6		 AUT
2		 YUG
3		 NED
5		 BEL
5		 GBR
4		 SWE
5		 SMR
3		784th0
1984 500ccMarlboro Agostini Yamaha YZR500 RSA
1		 NAT
2		 ESP
1		 AUT
1		 GER
2		 FRA
2		 YUG
4		 NED
3		 BEL
4		 GBR
2		 SWE
1		 SMR
4		142 1st 4
1985 500ccMarlboro Agostini Yamaha YZR500 RSA
1		 ESP
2		 GER
4		 NAT
2		 AUT
2		 YUG
1		 NED
NC		 BEL
2		 FRA
4		 GBR
2		 SWE
2		 SMR
1		1332nd3
1986 500ccMarlboro Agostini Yamaha YZR500 ESP
2		 NAT
1		 GER
1		 AUT
1		 YUG
1		 NED
NC		 BEL
2		 FRA
1		 GBR
3		 SWE
1		 SMR
1		139 1st 7
1987 500ccMarlboro Agostini Yamaha YZR500 JPN
NC		 ESP
2		 GER
1		 NAT
2		 AUT
NC		 YUG
3		 NED
1		 FRA
NC		 GBR
1		 SWE
2		 CZE
2		 SMR
2		 POR
1		 BRA
2		 ARG
1		1573rd5
1988 500ccMarlboro Agostini Yamaha YZR500 JPN
3		 USA
1		 ESP
2		 EXP
1		 NAT
1		 GER
4		 AUT
1		 NED
2		 BEL
2		 YUG
10		 FRA
1		 GBR
6		 SWE
1		 CZE
2		 BRA
1		252 1st 7
1989 500ccRothmans Kanemoto Honda NSR500 JPN
3		 AUS
5		 USA
3		 ESP
1		 NAT
DNS		 GER
2		 AUT
2		 YUG
3		 NED
2		 BEL
1		 FRA
1		 GBR
2		 SWE
1		 CZE
2		 BRA
2		228 1st 4
1990 500ccMarlboro Roberts Yamaha YZR500 JPN
DNF		 USA
DNS		 ESP
INJ		 NAT
INJ		 GER
INJ		 AUT
INJ		 YUG
INJ		 NED
3		 BEL
3		 FRA
5		 GBR
3		 SWE
2		 CZE
3		 HUN
2		 AUS
4		1187th0
1991 500cc Cagiva Corse GP500 JPN
6		 AUS
6		 USA
5		 ESP
6		 ITA
3		 GER
4		 AUT
5		 EUR
DNF		 NED
4		 FRA
3		 GBR
6		 RSM
DNF		 CZE
8		 VDM
–		 MAL
–		1266th0
1992 500cc Cagiva Corse GP500 JPN
14		 AUS
6		 MAL
DNF		 ESP
11		 ITA
11		 EUR
6		 GER
6		 NED
DNF		 HUN
1		 FRA
5		 GBR
4		 BRA
11		 RSA
DNF		569th1

American open-wheel racing results

(key)

Indy Lights

YearTeam123456789101112RankPoints
1992 Leading Edge Motorsport PHX LBH DET POR MIL NHA TOR CLE VAN MDO NAZ LS
18		NC0
1993 Leading Edge Motorsports PHX LBH MIL DET POR
8		 CLE
9		 TOR NHA
10		 VAN
3		 MDO
17		 NAZ LS
2		12th42
1994 Tasman Motorsports PHX
3		 LBH
18		 MIL
2		 DET
2		 POR
3		 CLE
1		 TOR
5		 MDO
2		 NHA
11		 VAN
7		 NAZ
5		 LS
3		4th139

CART

YearTeamChassisEngine12345678910111213141516RankPointsRef
1996 Galles Racing Lola T96/00 Mercedes-Benz IC108C MIA
15		 RIO
21		 SRF
7		 LBH
9		 NZR
17		 500
6		 MIL
20		 DET
6		POR
15		CLE
24		 TOR
15		MISMDOROAVANLS20th26 [13]

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References

  1. ↑ "Eddie Ray Lawson". kz1000r.com. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Rider Statistics - Eddie Lawson". MotoGP.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-09. Retrieved 2015-12-16.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Eddie Lawson at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame". motorcyclemuseum.org. Retrieved 2015-12-16.
  4. 1 2 Eddie Lawson profile at crash.net Archived 2009-08-21 at the Wayback Machine
  5. 1 2 "Lawson enters MotoGP Hall of Fame". motogp.com. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  6. ↑ "Imola 200 race results". racingmemo.free.fr. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 "Cycle News Archives: Lawson Gives Yamaha an Important First". cyclenews.com. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  8. ↑ Moto Cross Mag. Feb. 1986
  9. ↑ "1990 Suzuka 8 Hours results at Moto Racing Japan". Archived from the original on 2011-03-15. Retrieved 2009-10-12.
  10. ↑ Daytona 200 winners at www.motorsportsetc.com Archived March 8, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ L.A. Times, March 10, 1994
  12. ↑ Eddie Lawson at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
  13. ↑ "Eddie Lawson – 1996 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
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