Rainy, Schwantz, Gardner, Lawson, Mamola etc. Need I say more. The glory days. So many legends in one race. Magic.

Back in the days, when motoGP was still exciting. Loved all the classes, 80cc, 125cc, 250cc, 500cc and the sidecars. When everything went 4-stroke I left and never looked again.

For people of a certain age those names are unforgettable , and that sound of the two strokes , sure I can smell them sitting here right now

I have a Northern California veteran two stroke tuner friend (Rolan Cushway) who.was close friends with Gardner's crew chief (Erv Kanemoto) who was hired as a mechanic for the Rothman's team in '89- he informed me of what actually caused the sudden lack of power and momentary seizure on Wayne's NSR - A piece of one of the power valve assemblies in one of the cylinders broke off, damaging the ring, then lodged into the exhaust head pipe leaving it running on only 3 cylinders-

Oh how I miss Barry's commentary. I grew up with that. So perfect. So much better than the excitable robots we have now. Oh how sad he went so young.

Tears in my eyes being honest! Those certainty where the days! Life never been the same with the loss of v4 2t! Just mega to see this again ,n old Barry sheen comentaion too! God bless his soul!

Fantastic video, the golden era of Moto GP. Beautiful liveries on all these bikes from evil cigarette sponsors 😆 Those were the days, two stroke heaven & Barry Sheene commentating “don’t like that corner, I lost my finger there” 😱 priceless 👌🏼

As a former club racer of this period, these guys were absolute gods. They possessed such precision, feel and skill with their bikes, it was pure ballet on the ragged edge of traction. I wanna party with these guys!!

Thanks for posting this great race. Wonderful to hear Barry Sheene commentating. He is still missed by all his fans.

The best race ever helped by the great Barry Sheene's commentary, "if the guy had a duck it'd drown." Such bad luck for Gardner.

*Great to see the Old Pepsi Suzuki racing, well done Kevin.*

The Unrideables era, will always be the greatest, in MotoGP history imo. The 2 stroke bikes had so much more personality, and it was all about the rider’s ability, to control them. you could put one of these legends, on a bad bike, at the back of the grid, and they could ride their way to the front . Modern bikes ( just my opinion ) are incredible feats of engineering, with unbelievable performance, but just feel sterile ( relative to this era ). It’s like the entire field, can be within one second of each other in qualifying. I’ll take the raw, analog era, any day over the modern age computer bikes.

42:14 Barry Sheene puts a needle in the voodoo doll. " Its the last lap, so if nothing goes wrong with Wayne's bike he's got it in the bag" All that work for nothing. " If he had a duck it would drown". Barry will be in our memories forever. Beast bikes with some massive names in GP. Lawson got an early christmas present but rode a great race, Schwantz was brilliant to hold with them.

Great to hear the great man xx

Fantastic with commentators who knew how to commentate, unlike so many of todays gobshiters. Sheene shining as always. Many thanks Darren!

Those were the days, incomparable!..two stroke violent power and no electronics, by God those boy's had some balls !!!.

Growing up in New Zealand I grew up with the Eastlake/Sheene commentary combo. Great memories, Sheene was one of a kind. Interviewed the Spanish riders in Spanish, Italian riders in Italian, and could call what the riders were going to do corners before they actually did it.

Thanks for the Souvenir: this was the golden era of motorcycle Grand Prix.

Fantastic racing , Loved every second of it. Many thanks for posting. Cheers from NZ

What a race ! ! BEAUTIFUL ! All legends at a glance and another one behind the microphone. What to say else than: ENJOY WATCHING !

Thank you for uploading from Japan. Shunji Yatsushiro #9 is my hero. In this era, I could only see by picture in magazine, so this video is very fantastic. Comment by Barry Sheene is very fantastic too.

That was a Bummer for Gardner. All that hard work and finally built a decent gap and the bike shits itself. I'd forgotten that happened, but remembered after the others went past before Baz picked it up......The 2 Stroke Era, the days of the Violent High Side....Thanks for the video.

What a beautiful time, when 4 or 5 runners fought for the first place.

Used to love this era. Brilliant riders on mega hard bikes to ride.

The Honda had the speed advantage in 1988, but was a nightmare in terms of handling. Eddie Lawson was still recovering from a shoulder injury in this race, but Kel Carruthers had done a masterful job of porting the Yamaha to maximize top end power for this venue, as the Mistral Straight is so long. Lawson's Yamaha recorded the fastest speeds and was capable of running down drafting bikes all on its own. The fact that Kevin Schwantz was anywhere near the front here was absolutely amazing and a testament to his talent. Also, after this race, Eddie Lawson thanked Christian Sarron for holding back and allowing him maximum points, pointing out that Sarron could have won but was willing to help a fellow Yamaha rider who was fighting for the championship.

Гонки на мотоциклах с 2-х тактными моторами, это были лучшие времена для мотоспорта. У 4-х тактного мотора нет того задора и души, как у 2-х тактного двигателя.

thank you so much for posting this. So many greats, so little time!

What an absolute classic race, though not the final result many would have like to see. Great commentary as well. Everything was so much better in those (now long ago) days!

just look at how many bikes were on the grid back then!!! I miss those days...

I was there on that day, what a memorable race it was, and Christian Sarron has his secret lines especially going into the Beausset double right curves. It took Wayne Gardner a while to understand how he was going through !!! It was good to meet and talk to KS#34 last year at "Le Castellet" for the sunday ride classic, almost 31 years to that day !!! Man, I am getting old...

Christian Sarron was one of my favorites.

Mr Sarron,Respect! Votre matériel n’était pas à la hauteur de votre talent.Je pense que Mr Schwants à compris ce jour là, comment on pouvait utiliser les freins’’’’

MERCI A SARRON POUR CE GRAND-PRIX HISTORIQUE !

those days before electronics make the rider.just unforgettable who was lucky to see.my dream to see those races again in a 1080p quality and no search the pixels :)

Great race. Thanks for posting

Today it is 50 years of money and development that wins races back then it was determination and the belief that dying in the pursuit of happiness was the essence of existence

Great days of 500cc racing, I remember this race back in the day I was a huge Christian Sarron fan at the time

TFsharing Darren. Them's were the days..... RIP Barry, Miss seeing ya at the Island Classics. Take Care n RSOT All >:)

too much legend in 1 video!

Wonderful era. I even still have Eddie Lawson's poster.

Awesome, top six all champions!

After seeing this in 88 i bought a NSR 250 and raced it . Super fun it was

It’s a real “ding dong battle” says the commentators. 😂

Love it!

Era of gods .

What a race.

Thanks Christian for the lesson to le Beausset curve. It's a best time

Hoah, big Daryl with some HUGE commentary.

Heroes asfalto...pozdrav s Grobnika Croatia..Gp 1978-1990..

Even at idle those 500cc 2 strokes sound violent.

Seen them all ride great riders

Those awere The Days,Incomparable!... Two Stroke Violent Power And No Electronics,By God Those Boy's Had Some Balls!!! Even At Idle Those 500CC Two Strokes Sound Violent

nothing sound nicer than a 2 stroke Rz500 especially when the powerband kicks in , reminds me of my buddies rz 350 Ypvs that he had that machine scared the hell outta me ne Kieth good ol days miss those days

love two strokes

サロンが劇的に乗れている。 素晴らしいライディング。 名勝負でした😊🐶💕🇫🇷🇯🇵🌸

One of the best GPs ever

Waooo si perfect

It’s really funny listening to Barry remark on Kevin Schwantz and his riding style before he became familiar with him!🤣 I remember well these days of the “Honda Lane”. Honda had top speed over all the other bikes by quite a margin.

1988 . NO Barry Sheene in that race!

Way to go Eddie! Wayne rode the wheels off that Honda.

sad for gardner!

Brilliant

"I lost my finger in that turn so I know about that one"

Great race

🏍️80s were boom

good old time!

Aaahhhh.. Sheene commentator!!! 👍👍👍😁😁😁

I'd really like one of those bikes and the road bike as well

当時今世紀最大のバトルと言われたレースだな。でも翌年からの4強、6強時代の序章に過ぎなかった。

Omg ,I was thrashing my suzuki gp125 back then ,Expansion pipe, no head gasket ,would do 87mph layed out flat with no breakfast in ya 🤟💯🤣🤠 wish I'd had a 125gp bike with 40hp ,or a gamma which had 28hp but I was always skint and didn't want credit 💯👍🇬🇧 i should have gone down the credit route thinking back ,must be amazing getting a new out the shop bike 💯🙏😎

Belle course de Sarron !

Sad to see Gardner putting in all that hard work only to have his bike expire on the last lap

Schwantz had a big "mono" across the finish line.

If he had a Duck, it would drown - Barry Sheene 1988

Have you got any idea where I can find the 1989 French motorcycle Grand Prix please? This is great stuff.

42:13 the commentator curse from Sheene!

Dorna should bring back the 500cc class.

Ridiculous start but the same can be said for thousands of Speedway races

...man, Keving was working hard on that Suzuki... paid off... Awesome, all of them...

Diese Maschinen sollten die heutigen Fahrer mal fahren,nach 2 runden wäre das rennen zu ende,weil keiner mehr im sattel sitzt.

Before Dorna sold out to Repsol -Honda Corner Store of the Marquez Spanish Race Series ..

I think the announcer is hungry. He keeps mentioning ding dongs and hot dogs! Lol

最高のメンバー

Before there was Freddie Spencer and after Mick Dohan, Honda smashed that period. 500 2 stroke was the ultimate era.

Moto ELF 🎆🎆🙌

Wow!!! What a race|| when men were men

missing kevin schwanz and cagiva . when did cagiva give up 500 racing

Very suspicious ! Oh and Kevin's wheelies ?

Sounds like Darrell Eastlake commentating with Sheene

👏👏👏👏👏😀👍

💘💔💘

What drunk ran the grader on that long straight - there's more buckles on that straight than on George Strait..

Hated two stokes when learning on 125 Suzuki's,but loved the 500's when i got older,imagine a 500 2 stroke now against any 4 stroke 1000cc these days............OOH don't think about it,that's why they were taken away,too powerful

Wllhartog. 🎉❤ 🎉❤.

Tkg wajit geuning teu sehate sama iam

when the racers were men and not boys

Sucks the Suzuki doesn't have the top end speed like Honda and Yamaha or Kevin would smoke them

Wayne aussie

Schwantz bike is so slow, even with a slipstream tow the others are still passing him, must be 20hp down on the Honda.

Didn't realize Barry have such an affinity for Gardner.