Eddie Lawson

S1 E5: A small group of racers dominated the motorcycle Grand Prix World Championship during the ultra-competitive era of the late 1980s and early 1990s; they are the Bike Heroes. Chief among them was Eddie Lawson, who started his career in the era of Sheene and Roberts and ended it racing alongside Rainey, Schwantz and Gardner. Along the way the American legend contested 127 GPs, finishing on the podium a staggering 78 times, claiming 31 wins and being crowned World Champion four times. His remarkable consistency and rare mistakes brought him success and the nickname ‘Steady Eddie’, as well as legions of fans. Notoriously private, Lawson did his talking on the track, and that’s what this celebration of a true great is all about. In action-packed testing, practice and race footage we follow Lawson’s career from his 1983 debut to his 1992 swansong. From the drama of his first Grand Prix win and World Championship in 1984, through the glory years with the Giacomo Agostini-run Yamaha team and his brief stint with Honda and onto the final years with Cagiva, scintillating race action and period interviews chart a stunning career. The film recalls how his 1986 battle with Gardner delivered 7 wins and 10 podium places from 11 races, as well as a second world crown, how he recovered from a serious shoulder injury to claim his third title and how he ignored controversy on and off the track to take an unlikely fourth championship in his first, and only, year with Honda. Then, of course, there was the disastrous year with Kenny Roberts at Yamaha before the surprising final chapter on board the wayward Cagiva. Lawson may not have been a fan of his ‘Steady’ nickname, but as the breathtaking action in this programme shows, he was one of the most consistent Grand Prix riders in history and fully deserves his place as a Bike Hero.