Kevin Schwantz, the 1988 Japan Grand Prix...

Kevin Schwantz, the 1988 Japan Grand Prix champion, beat fellow American Wayne Rainey by 43-hundredths of a second in a 500cc race at Tokyo in the first leg of the 15-race Grand Prix world motorcycling championships.

In a see-saw race before 84,000 spectators, Schwantz, riding a Suzuki, overtook Rainey, on a Yamaha, on the last lap.

Schwantz, 24, covered 22 laps around the 3.51-mile Suzuka international racing course in 48 minutes, 48.374 seconds at an average speed of 95.08 m.p.h. Rainey finished in 48:48.801.

Eddie Lawson of the United States, the 1988 500cc world champion, was third on a Honda in 49:19.050.