1988 Superbike World Championship

1988 Superbike World Championship
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The 1988 Superbike World Championship was the inaugural FIM Superbike World Championship season. The season started on 3 April at Donington Park and finished on 3 October at Manfeild Autocourse after 9 rounds.

American Fred Merkel won the riders' championship and Honda won the manufacturers' championship.

Race calendar and results

The second Le Mans race was not held due to schedule issues.^[1]

Round		Country	Circuit	Date	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning rider	Winning team	Report
1	R1	Great Britain	Donington Park	3 April	Roger Burnett	Marco Lucchinelli	Davide Tardozzi	Bimota SpA	Report
1	R2	Great Britain	Donington Park	3 April	Roger Burnett	Bubba Shobert	Marco Lucchinelli	Ducati Team Lucky	Report
2	R1	Hungary	Hungaroring	30 April	Davide Tardozzi	Fred Merkel	Fred Merkel	RCM	Report
2	R2	Hungary	Hungaroring	30 April	Davide Tardozzi	Marco Lucchinelli	Adrien Morillas	Team Kawasaki France	Report
3	R1	West Germany	Hockenheimring	8 May	Alex Vieira	Christophe Bouheben	Davide Tardozzi	Bimota SpA	Report
3	R2	West Germany	Hockenheimring	8 May	Alex Vieira	Virginio Ferrari	Davide Tardozzi	Bimota SpA	Report
4	R1	Austria	Zeltweg	3 July	Malcolm Campbell	Davide Tardozzi	Marco Lucchinelli	Ducati Team Lucky	Report
4	R2	Austria	Zeltweg	3 July	Malcolm Campbell	Christophe Bouheben	Davide Tardozzi	Bimota SpA	Report
5	R1	Japan	Sugo	28 August	Marco Lucchinelli	Gary Goodfellow	Gary Goodfellow	Don Knit Sugano Racing Team	Report
5	R2	Japan	Sugo	28 August	Marco Lucchinelli	Kenichiro Iwahashi	Mick Doohan	Marlboro Yamaha Dealer Team	Report
6	R1	France	Le Mans	4 September	Marco Lucchinelli	Fabrizio Pirovano	Fabrizio Pirovano	Moto Club Carate Brianza	Report
6	R2	France	Le Mans	4 September	Marco Lucchinelli	Race cancelled			Report
7	R1	Portugal	Estoril	11 September	Stéphane Mertens	Davide Tardozzi	Davide Tardozzi	Bimota SpA	Report
7	R2	Portugal	Estoril	11 September	Stéphane Mertens	Raymond Roche	Stéphane Mertens	Bimota SpA	Report
8	R1	Australia	Oran Park	25 September	Mick Doohan	Fred Merkel	Mick Doohan	Marlboro Yamaha Dealer Team	Report
8	R2	Australia	Oran Park	25 September	Mick Doohan	Mick Doohan	Mick Doohan	Marlboro Yamaha Dealer Team	Report
9	R1	New Zealand	Manfeild	2 October	Davide Tardozzi	Fred Merkel	Fred Merkel	RCM	Report
9	R2	New Zealand	Manfeild	2 October	Davide Tardozzi	Stéphane Mertens	Stéphane Mertens	Bimota SpA	Report

Championship standings

^[2] ^[3]

Scoring system
Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th
Original	20	17	15	13	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Revised	10	8.5	7.5	6.5	5.5	5	4.5	4	3.5	3	2.5	2	1.5	1	0.5

For the first ever Superbike World Championship round at Donington Park, and for the only time in the championship's history, the race results were combined to determine an overall winner.^[4] For future weekends, it was decided to award half points for each race instead, although the original system was used again at Le Mans due to only one race being run.^[5]

Riders' standings

Pos.	Rider	Bike	GBR		HUN		FRG		AUT		JPN		FRA		POR		AUS		NZL		Pts
Pos.	Rider	Bike	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	Pts
1	Fred Merkel	Honda	4	2	1	5	17	Ret	Ret	8	2	11	6	C	4	5	4	3	1	5	99
2	Fabrizio Pirovano	Yamaha	8	4	5	6	11	8	2	7	Ret	10	1	C	6	6	6	7	2	13	93.5
3	Davide Tardozzi	Bimota	1	Ret	2	3	1	1	5	1	Ret	4	12	C	1	2	11	10	5	DNS	91.5
4	Stéphane Mertens	Bimota	Ret	Ret	3	2	13	2			4	16	3	C	2	1	7	6	6	1	90.5
5	Marco Lucchinelli	Ducati	2	1	9	Ret	6	11	1	Ret	12	Ret	10	C	3	4					63
6	Alex Vieira	Honda					3	3	4	3			4	C							42
7	Rob Phillis	Kawasaki							8	Ret	6	6					3	4	4	3	42
8	Gary Goodfellow	Suzuki	Ret	DNS							1	3									39.5
8	Gary Goodfellow	Honda															8	5	3	6	39.5
9	Malcolm Campbell	Honda							3	6	17	15					5	8	11	2	33.5
10	Terry Rymer	Honda											8	C	5	3	14	11	9	7	32.5
11	Roger Burnett	Honda	Ret	3	8	4	5	4	Ret	DNS			7	C							31.5
12	Mick Doohan	Yamaha									NC	1					1	1			30
13	Joey Dunlop	Honda	3	5	6	Ret	7	5													30
14	Eric Delcamp	Kawasaki			11	13	9	6					2	C							29.5
15	Christophe Bouheben	Honda					2	Ret	Ret	2			5	C							28
16	Adrien Morillas	Kawasaki			4	1	19	16	7	5			Ret	C							26.5
17	Edwin Weibel	Honda					4	Ret	6	4	Ret	5	16	C			Ret	DNS			23.5
18	Jari Suhonen	Yamaha	7	10	14	10	Ret	DNS	17	13	16	27	11	C	Ret	13					21
19	Andy McGladdery	Suzuki	9	7	15	Ret	DNQ	DNQ													18.5
19	Andy McGladdery	Honda											19	C	15	12	12	13	14	10	18.5
20	Anders Andersson	Suzuki	25	12	18	12	20	23	9	12	15	19	13	C	8	9					18.5
21	Robert Scolyer	Honda															9	9	8	4	17.5
22	Michael Dowson	Yamaha									Ret	Ret					2	2			17
23	Paul Iddon	Bimota	Ret	DNS	12	8	12	13	32	Ret					9	8					17
24	Virginio Ferrari	Honda	DNQ	DNQ	Ret	11	10	9	Ret	Ret	10	8	Ret	C							16
25	Kenny Irons	Honda	6	8			14	7													15.5
26	Ernst Gschwender	Suzuki			10	9	18	27	10	10			Ret	C	12	Ret					14.5
27	Roger Marshall	Suzuki	5	6							20	18									13
28	Marino Fabbri	Bimota					28	Ret	Ret	9			9	C	16	11					13
29	Robert Dunlop	Honda	Ret	DNS	26	17	29	21			21	23	18	C	10	7	13	14	15	12	12.5
30	Tommy Douglas	Yamaha	16	15													17	Ret	7	11	11
31	Yukiya Oshima	Suzuki									3	13									9
32	René Rasmussen	Suzuki			7	7	21	Ret	Ret	DNS			DNQ	C	21	Ret					9
33	Kenichiro Iwahashi	Honda									Ret	2									8.5
34	Tadaaki Hanamura	Honda									8	9									7.5
35	Steve Williams	Bimota	11	9	19	16	31	Ret													7
36	Peter Rubatto	Bimota	Ret	Ret	21	14	15	14	16	Ret			23	C	7	17					7
37	Andreas Hofmann	Honda					8	10													7
38	Glenn Williams	Ducati																	10	8	7
39	Mark Farmer	Suzuki	14	11																	6
40	Mauro Ricci	Ducati							15	Ret			21	C	11	10					6
41	Mitsuki Watanabe	Yamaha									5	24									5.5
42	Aaron Slight	Bimota									7	14									5.5
43	Koichi Kobayashi	Honda									9	12									5.5
44	Andrew Stroud	Bimota																	13	9	5
45	Sean Gallagher	Honda															10	12			5
46	Dave Leach	Yamaha	15	13	24	18	DNQ	DNQ					22	C							5
47	Brian Morrison	Honda									26	7									4.5
48	John Lofthouse	Suzuki	17	14																	3
49	Karl Heinz Riegl	Bimota			DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	11	18			25	C	18	19					2.5
50	Paul Ramon	Honda							Ret	11			DNS	C							2.5
51	Toshiharu Kaneko	Yamaha									11	25									2.5
52	Dietmar Kemter	Honda							12	15											2.5
53	Mike King	Ducati																	12	15	2.5
54	Udo Mark	Bimota					22	17	13	14			27	C	17	16					2.5
55	Anton Gruschka	Honda					24	24					Ret	C	13	14					2.5
56	Asa Moyce	Kawasaki	19	16	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ													2
57	Bodo Schmidt	Bimota					Ret	12	Ret	Ret											2
58	Jean-Yves Mounier	Yamaha											14	C							2
59	Michael Galinski	Bimota	Ret	DNS	13	Ret	Ret	15													2
60	Jean-Louis Guignabodet	Honda			20	15	25	Ret	18	17			17	C	14	15					2
61	Hisatomo Nakamura	Suzuki									13	17									1.5
62	Esko Kuparinen	Kawasaki	20	17	25	23	DNQ	DNQ													1
63	Dieter Heinen	Honda							14	16			DNS	C							1
64	Satoshi Endoh	Honda									14	22									1
65	Mark Linscott	Honda											15	C							1
66	Dale Warren	Honda																	NC	14	1
67	Iain Pero	Suzuki															15	Ret			0.5
68	Len Willing	Yamaha															Ret	15			0.5
Pos.	Rider	Bike	GBR		HUN		FRG		AUT		JPN		FRA		POR		AUS		NZL		Pts

Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	Second place
Bronze	Third place
Green	Points finish
Blue	Non-points finish
Blue	Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple	Retired (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Red	Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
	Withdrew (WD)
	Race cancelled (C)
Blank	Did not practice (DNP)
	Did not arrive (DNA)
	Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole position
Italics – Fastest lap
Source:^[3]

Manufacturers' standings

Pos.	Manufacturer	GBR		HUN		FRG		AUT		JPN		FRA		POR		AUS		NZL		Pts
Pos.	Manufacturer	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	Pts
1	Honda	3	2	1	4	2	3	3	2	2	2	4	C	4	3	4	3	1	2	142
2	Bimota	1	9	2	2	1	1	5	1	4	4	3	C	1	1	7	6	5	1	132.5
3	Yamaha	7	4	5	6	11	8	2	7	5	1	1	C	6	6	1	1	2	11	117.5
4	Kawasaki	19	16	4	1	9	6	7	5	6	6	2	C	25	24	3	4	4	3	92
5	Ducati	2	1	9	Ret	6	11	1	21	12	Ret	10	C	3	4	20	19	10	8	70
6	Suzuki	5	6	7	7	18	20	9	10	1	3	13	C	8	9	15	16	16	16	57
Pos.	Manufacturer	GBR		HUN		FRG		AUT		JPN		FRA		POR		AUS		NZL		Pts