# 1988 Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix

The 1988 Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix was the ninth round of the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 1–3 July 1988 at Spa-Francorchamps.

## 500 cc race report

Wet track (but it was not raining).
Christian Sarron on pole, and through the first turn it was Wayne Gardner, Kevin Schwantz, Eddie Lawson, et al.
Gardner got a gap from Lawson, Sarron, Schwantz, Wayne Rainey, Pierfrancesco Chili, Didier De Radiguès and Ron Haslam.
Sarron through to 2nd and was catching Gardner.
Randy Mamola moved past Rainey and De Radiguès to get to 4th behind Schwantz.
Sarron touched a white line and slid out of 2nd, putting Lawson behind Gardner. Schwantz crashed out of 4th as De Radiguès and Rainey went by; he tried to get up but looked like he injured his left leg.

## 500 cc classification

| Pos. | Rider | Team | Manufacturer | Time/Retired | Points |
| 1 | Wayne Gardner | Rothmans Honda Team | Honda | 46:55.210 | 20 |
| 2 | Eddie Lawson | Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini | Yamaha | +30.110 | 17 |
| 3 | Randy Mamola | Cagiva Corse | Cagiva | +40.780 | 15 |
| 4 | Didier de Radiguès | Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini | Yamaha | +41.610 | 13 |
| 5 | Wayne Rainey | Team Lucky Strike Roberts | Yamaha | +43.170 | 11 |
| 6 | Rob McElnea | Suzuki Pepsi Cola | Suzuki | +1:17.330 | 10 |
| 7 | Ron Haslam | Team ROC Elf Honda | Elf Honda | +1:19.100 | 9 |
| 8 | Pierfrancesco Chili | HB Honda Gallina Team | Honda | +1:44.230 | 8 |
| 9 | Shunji Yatsushiro | Rothmans Honda Team | Honda | +1:49.720 | 7 |
| 10 | Patrick Igoa | Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 | Yamaha | +1:56.070 | 6 |
| 11 | Niall Mackenzie | Team HRC | Honda | +2:00.010 | 5 |
| 12 | Alessandro Valesi | Team Iberia | Honda | +2:12.060 | 4 |
| 13 | Donnie McLeod | Racing Team Katayama | Honda | +1 Lap | 3 |
| 14 | Marco Papa | Team Greco | Honda | +1 Lap | 2 |
| 15 | Cees Doorakkers | Grundig-Daf Racing Team | Honda | +1 Lap | 1 |
| 16 | Fabio Biliotti | Team Amoranto | Honda | +1 Lap | |
| 17 | Eddie Laycock | Millar Racing | Honda | +1 Lap | |
| 18 | Kees van der Endt | Autobedrijf Koens | Honda | +1 Lap | |
| 19 | Rachel Nicotte | PVI Racing | Honda | +1 Lap | |
| 20 | Mike Baldwin | Racing Team Katayama | Honda | +1 Lap | |
| 21 | Josef Doppler | MRC Grieskirchen | Honda | +1 Lap | |
| 22 | Daniel Amatriain | Ducados Lotus Guarz | Honda | +1 Lap | |
| 23 | Johan Ten Napel | | Suzuki | +1 Lap | |
| 24 | Georg Robert Jung | Weigl Telefix Racing Team | Honda | +1 Lap | |
| 25 | Bruno Kneubühler | Romer Racing Suisse | Honda | +1 Lap | |
| 26 | Ari Ramo | | Honda | +1 Lap | |
| 27 | Andreas Leuthe | | Suzuki | +1 Lap | |
| 28 | Nicholas Schmassman | FMS | Honda | +1 Lap | |
| 29 | Fabio Barchitta | Racing Team Katayama | Honda | +2 Laps | |
| 30 | Marco Gentile | Fior Marlboro | Fior | +2 Laps | |
| 31 | Claus Wulff | | Honda | +2 Laps | |
| Ret | Maarten Duyzers | HDJ International | Honda | Retirement | |
| Ret | Christian Sarron | Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 | Yamaha | Retirement | |
| Ret | Manfred Fischer | Team Hein Gericke | Honda | Retirement | |
| Ret | Kevin Magee | Team Lucky Strike Roberts | Yamaha | Retirement | |
| Ret | Larry Moreno Vacondio | | Suzuki | Retirement | |
| Ret | Kevin Schwantz | Suzuki Pepsi Cola | Suzuki | Retirement | |
| DNQ | Josef Krnac | | Suzuki | Did not qualify | |
| DNQ | Tony Carey | | Suzuki | Did not qualify | |
| DNQ | Ian Pratt | | Suzuki | Did not qualify | |
| Sources: ||||||