Eddie Lawson

 ( American Motorcycle Racers ) 

In 1985, Lawson won the prestigious Imola 200 pre-season race. Lawson began the 1986 season by winning the Daytona 200 in a dominating manner to give Yamaha their first AMA Superbike victory. He took an easy victory in his qualifying heat race and then won the pole position with a track record. After he disposed of early challengers Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz, Lawson won with a race time of one hour, 54 minutes, 49.656 seconds at an average of 106.030 mph, shattering the record for the Daytona 200 set the year before by Freddie Spencer by over three minutes.

After winning two more 500cc world championships for Yamaha in 1986 and 1988, Lawson shocked the racing world by announcing he would be leaving Yamaha to sign with their arch-rivals Rothmans Honda as teammate to his own archrival, Australia's 1987 World Champion Wayne Gardner. By switching teams, Lawson also fulfilled his desire to work with Erv Kanemoto. After Gardner crashed and broke his leg during the third round at Laguna Seca, Lawson went on to win the 1989 title for Honda, becoming the first rider to win back-to-back championships on machines from different manufacturers before Valentino Rossi did so in 2004 (moved from Honda to Yamaha). Furthermore, he was the fourth satellite rider to win the premier class world title before Valentino Rossi did so in 2001, 12 years later.

Lawson then switched to Cagiva in 1991 and the following year he achieved his last victory (that was also the first win for Cagiva after 10 years of racing). In so doing, he joined a very restricted number of great riders who managed to win races in top class with three different manufacturers, the others being Mike Hailwood (British Norton, MV Agusta, Honda), Randy Mamola (Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha), Loris Capirossi (Yamaha, Honda, Ducati) and Maverick Viñales (Suzuki, Yamaha, Aprilia) and definitively silenced the critics who believed he would not be as successful away from the factory Marlboro Yamaha team.

Lawson also won the ABC Superbikers event at Carlsbad Calif. in 1983 and 1985 which pitted the best riders from several disciplines against each other on a combined dirt and paved course. He was riding a specially equipped factory YZ 490 Yamaha.Moto Cross Mag. Feb. 1986

In 1990, Lawson won the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race on a Yamaha FZR750R paired with teammate Tadahiko Taira. When he retired from Grand Prix racing in the early 1990s, he ranked third on the all-time MotoGP class (then known as 500GP) Grand Prix wins list with 31. Lawson came out of retirement to win his second Daytona 200 in 1993. Daytona 200 winners at www.motorsportsetc.com

After finishing his motorcycle career, Lawson pursued a career in Open-wheel car racing in the United States competing in the Indy Lights series and eventually moving to Champ Car. L.A. Times, March 10, 1994 Lawson enjoyed the driving experience, saying after his first test in an Indy Lights car that "Oh man, this is the greatest thing I've ever done. This is so much fun." In the 1996 IndyCar season, he competed in 11 races with his best results being two sixth-place finishes at U.S. 500 and the Detroit Indy Grand Prix. His passion for speed remains undiminished and the former World Champion now enjoys driving 250cc often accompanied by his great friend and rival Wayne Rainey, who races in a specially modified Superkart to cope with his Spinal cord, and historic Formula One cars, with a Walter Wolf Racing WR4 at vintage events.

• Lawson was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.
• He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America Eddie Lawson at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2002.
• Lawson was inducted into the FIM MotoGP Hall of Fame in 2005.