The 1988 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix was the first round of the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 25–27 March 1988 at the Suzuka Circuit.
| Race details | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 15 races in the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | 27 March 1988 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Official name | Grand Prix of Japan[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Suzuka Circuit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Course |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 500 cc | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 250 cc | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
500 cc race report
Tadahiko Taira was on pole of the 5-column grid (it became 4-columns in 1990). Wayne Rainey got the start and lead through the first turns, with Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Gardner and Christian Sarron behind. Schwantz took the inside of the hairpin, but Rainey dove back under and got him back on the exit; Schwantz succeeded in taking the lead on Spoon.
At the end of the 1st lap, it was Schwantz and Gardner, then a gap to Toshihiko Honma (riding #46) and Sarron. Gardner and Schwantz swapped the lead many times.
Eddie Lawson and Niall Mackenzie moved through the field to 3rd and 4th. Norihiko Fujiwara lowsided at the hairpin.
On the last lap Gardner ran off the track and stayed on, but lost any chance of winning the race.
500 cc classification
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Manufacturer | Time/Retired | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Kevin Schwantz | Suzuki Pepsi Cola | Suzuki | 50:03.750 | 20 | ||
| 2 |  Wayne Gardner | Rothmans Honda Team | Honda | +8.384 | 17 | ||
| 3 | Eddie Lawson | Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini | Yamaha | +12.724 | 15 | ||
| 4 |  Niall Mackenzie | Team HRC | Honda | +15.785 | 13 | ||
| 5 |  Tadahiko Taira | Tech 21 | Yamaha | +36.383 | 11 | ||
| 6 | Wayne Rainey | Team Lucky Strike Roberts | Yamaha | +42.070 | 10 | ||
| 7 | Kevin Magee | Team Lucky Strike Roberts | Yamaha | +42.179 | 9 | ||
| 8 |  Christian Sarron | Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 | Yamaha | +45.186 | 8 | ||
| 9 |  Didier de Radiguès | Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini | Yamaha | +1:01.213 | 7 | ||
| 10 | Shunji Yatsushiro | Rothmans Honda Team | Honda | +1:10.228 | 6 | ||
| 11 | Hikaru Miyagi | Team HRC | Honda | +1:16.201 | 5 | ||
| 12 | Ron Haslam | Team ROC Elf Honda | Elf Honda | +1:20.045 | 4 | ||
| 13 | Patrick Igoa | Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 | Yamaha | +1:29.535 | 3 | ||
| 14 |  Pierfrancesco Chili | HB Honda Gallina Team | Honda | +1:38.989 | 2 | ||
| 15 | Osamu Hiwatashi | Suzuki Japan | Suzuki | +1:42.545 | 1 | ||
| 16 | Shinji Katayama | Yamaha | +1:43.611 | ||||
| 17 | Masaru Mizutani | Suzuki | +2:04.446 | ||||
| 18 | Keiji Kinoshita | Honda | +1 Lap | ||||
| 19 | Alessandro Valesi | Team Iberia | Honda | +1 Lap | |||
| Ret | Raymond Roche | Cagiva Corse | Cagiva | Retirement | |||
| Ret | Rob McElnea | Suzuki Pepsi Cola | Suzuki | Retirement | |||
| Ret | Katunori Shinozaki | Suzuki | Retirement | ||||
| Ret | Norihiko Fujiwara | Lucky Strike Yamaha | Yamaha | Retirement | |||
| Ret | Randy Mamola | Cagiva Corse | Cagiva | Retirement | |||
| Ret | Hisashi Yamana | Suzuki | Retirement | ||||
| Ret |  Marco Gentile | Fior Marlboro | Fior | Retirement | |||
| Ret |  Manfred Fischer | Team Hein Gericke | Honda | Retirement | |||
| DNS | Fabio Barchitta | Racing Team Katayama | Honda | Did not start | |||
| DNQ | Kunio Machii | Honda | Yamaha | ||||
| Sources: [2][3] | |||||||