Four-time Grand Prix World Champion, "Steady Eddie" Lawson is born in Upland, California.
Eddie Lawson's grandfather taught him how to powerslide a motorcycle on the dry lake beds in the California high desert. So, it was only natural that he began his motorcycle racing career in the Southern California dirt track circuit. When it became increasingly frustrating to get a win on dirt, he switched to road racing. It was on that rubber-scarred pavement that Eddie found his calling. In 1979, Lawson finished the season second behind "Fast Freddie" Spencer in the AMA 250cc road racing National Championship. Afterwards, he was offered a ride with the Kawasaki Superbike team and won the AMA Superbike Series in 1981 and 1982. He also won the AMA 250cc National Championship in 1980 and 1981 for Kawasaki.
Eddie took an offer from Yamaha to ride in the 500cc World Championship as Kenny Roberts' team-mate for the 1983 season. He would spend the entire '83 season learning the ropes of the Grand Prix circuit. Patience is a virtue. The next season Lawson began winning regularly and won the 1984 World Championship. After winning two more titles for Yamaha in 1986 and 1988, Eddie totally blindsided the racing world by announcing he would be leaving Yamaha to sign with their arch-rivals Rothmans Honda as team-mate to his own arch-rival, Australia's 1987 World Champion Wayne Gardner. By switching teams, he also fulfilled his desire to work with the legendary wrench Erv Kanemoto (Gary Nixon's 1973 Kawasaki H2R). 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.
Eddie took an offer from Yamaha to ride in the 500cc World Championship as Kenny Roberts' team-mate for the 1983 season. He would spend the entire '83 season learning the ropes of the Grand Prix circuit. Patience is a virtue. The next season Lawson began winning regularly and won the 1984 World Championship. After winning two more titles for Yamaha in 1986 and 1988, Eddie totally blindsided the racing world by announcing he would be leaving Yamaha to sign with their arch-rivals Rothmans Honda as team-mate to his own arch-rival, Australia's 1987 World Champion Wayne Gardner. By switching teams, he also fulfilled his desire to work with the legendary wrench Erv Kanemoto (Gary Nixon's 1973 Kawasaki H2R). 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.
Eddie Lawson was inducted in the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.
