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1988 Donington Superbike World Championship round

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.

United Kingdom   1988 Donington Superbike World Championship round
Round details
Round 1 of 9 rounds in the
1988 Superbike World Championship.
← Previous round
none
Next round →
Hungary
Date3 April, 1988
LocationDonington Park
CoursePermanent racing facility
3.149 km (1.957 mi)
Superbike World Championship
Pole position
United Kingdom Roger Burnett
1:14.810
Fastest lap race 1 Fastest lap race 2
Italy Marco Lucchinelli United States Bubba Shobert
1:14.140 1:14.100

Report

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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

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Race 1

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Pos No. Rider Bike Laps Time/Retired Grid
1 2   Davide Tardozzi Bimota 30 37:50.720 2
2 39   Marco Lucchinelli Ducati 30 +1.090 3
3 3   Joey Dunlop Honda 30 +30.050 5
4 17   Fred Merkel Honda 30 +31.870 11
5 11   Roger Marshall Suzuki 30 +35.830 6
6 8   Kenny Irons Honda 30 +36.090 9
7 15   Jari Suhonen Yamaha 30 +42.670 27
8 10   Fabrizio Pirovano Yamaha 30 +51.670 13
9 18   Andy McGladdery Suzuki 30 +1:00.940 18
10 36   Michel Mercier Suzuki 30 +1:01.790 15
11 24   Steve Williams Bimota 30 +1:10.160 20
12 57   José Maria Pardo Yamaha 30 +1:11.360 24
13 35   Rueben McMurter Yamaha 30 +1:17.430 19
14 41   Mark Farmer Suzuki 29 +1 lap 21
15 63   Dave Leach Yamaha 29 +1 lap 25
16 37   Tom Douglas Yamaha 29 +1 lap 30
17 65   John Lofthouse Suzuki 29 +1 lap 31
18 60   Kimmo Kopra Yamaha 29 +1 lap 28
19 56   Asa Moyce Kawasaki 29 +1 lap 34
20 22   Esko Kuparinen Kawasaki 29 +1 lap 36
21 61   Steve Veasey Kawasaki 29 +1 lap 35
22 64   Steve Mason Suzuki 28 +2 laps 40
23 62   Dave Hill Suzuki 27 +3 laps 37
24 19   Graeme McGregor Honda 25 +5 laps 32
25 7   Anders Andersson Suzuki 24 +6 laps 17
Ret 6   Stéphane Mertens Bimota 28 Retirement 4
Ret 34   Gary Goodfellow Suzuki 24 Accident 7
Ret 16   Keith Huewen Bimota 24 Retirement 22
Ret 31   Bubba Shobert Honda 20 Retirement 10
Ret 14   Peter Rubatto Bimota 17 Retirement 16
Ret 9   Roger Burnett Honda 15 Accident 1
Ret 4   Mark Phillips Bimota 14 Retirement 12
Ret 43   Michael Williams Honda 13 Accident 39
Ret 42   Hans Lindner Honda 9 Retirement 14
Ret 30   Des Barry Yamaha 9 Retirement 29
Ret 20   Robert Dunlop Honda 9 Retirement 26
Ret 49   Antonio García Moreno Bimota 8 Retirement 33
Ret 23   Michael Galinski Bimota 4 Retirement 23
Ret 21   Paul Iddon Bimota 2 Retirement 8
DNS 47   Peter Häfner Bimota 0 Did not start 38
DSQ 32   Doug Polen Suzuki Disqualified
DSQ 66   Scott Gray Suzuki Disqualified
DNQ 54   Claudio Biesele Bimota
DNQ 52   Darren Dixon Suzuki
DNQ 1   Virginio Ferrari Honda

Race 2

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Pos No. Rider Bike Laps Time/Retired Grid
1 39   Marco Lucchinelli Ducati 30 38:15.910 3
2 17   Fred Merkel Honda 30 +9.350 10
3 9   Roger Burnett Honda 30 +15.500 1
4 10   Fabrizio Pirovano Yamaha 30 +20.930 11
5 3   Joey Dunlop Honda 30 +21.580 5
6 11   Roger Marshall Suzuki 30 +23.890 6
7 18   Andy McGladdery Suzuki 30 +46.610 15
8 8   Kenny Irons Honda 30 +50.370 8
9 24   Steve Williams Bimota 30 +53.780 17
10 15   Jari Suhonen Yamaha 30 +53.820 22
11 41   Mark Farmer Suzuki 30 +1:16.270 18
12 7   Anders Andersson Suzuki 30 +1:25.010 14
13 63   Dave Leach Yamaha 29 +1 lap 21
14 65   John Lofthouse Suzuki 29 +1 lap 25
15 37   Tom Douglas Yamaha 29 +1 lap 24
16 56   Asa Moyce Kawasaki 29 +1 lap 27
17 22   Esko Kuparinen Kawasaki 29 +1 lap 29
18 61   Steve Veasey Kawasaki 29 +1 lap 28
19 19   Graeme McGregor Honda 28 +2 laps 26
20 62   Dave Hill Suzuki 27 +3 laps 30
Ret 2   Davide Tardozzi Bimota 29 Accident 2
Ret 35   Rueben McMurter Yamaha 29 Retirement 16
Ret 14   Peter Rubatto Bimota 21 Retirement 13
Ret 31   Bubba Shobert Honda 19 Retirement 9
Ret 57   José Maria Pardo Yamaha 19 Accident 20
Ret 36   Michel Mercier Suzuki 11 Accident 12
Ret 16   Keith Huewen Bimota 10 Retirement 19
Ret 6   Stéphane Mertens Bimota 0 Accident 4
Ret 60   Kimmo Kopra Yamaha 0 Accident 23
Ret 64   Steve Mason Suzuki 0 Accident 31
DNS 34   Gary Goodfellow Suzuki Injured 7

Combined results

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Only riders that finished both races were included.

Pos No. Rider Bike Laps Time/Retired Pts
1 39   Marco Lucchinelli Ducati 60 1:16:07.720 20
2 17   Fred Merkel Honda 60 +40.130 17
3 3   Joey Dunlop Honda 60 +50.540 15
4 11   Roger Marshall Suzuki 60 +58.630 13
5 10   Fabrizio Pirovano Yamaha 60 +1:11.510 11
6 8   Kenny Irons Honda 60 +1:25.370 10
7 15   Jari Suhonen Yamaha 60 +1:35.400 9
8 18   Andy McGladdery Suzuki 60 +1:46.460 8
9 24   Steve Williams Bimota 60 +2:02.850 7
10 41   Mark Farmer Suzuki 59 +1 lap 6
11 63   Dave Leach Yamaha 58 +2 laps 5
12 37   Tom Douglas Yamaha 58 +2 laps 4
13 65   John Lofthouse Suzuki 58 +2 laps 3
14 56   Asa Moyce Kawasaki 58 +2 laps 2
15 22   Esko Kuparinen Kawasaki 58 +2 laps 1
16 61   Steve Veasey Kawasaki 58 +2 laps
17 62   Dave Hill Suzuki 54 +6 laps
18 7   Anders Andersson Suzuki 54 +6 laps
19 19   Graeme McGregor Honda 53 +7 laps

References

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  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.
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