Mike Baldwin, playing movie villain Team Samurai’s Klaus Kroeter, lines up for the start of the 1988 Belgian Grand Prix riding the Team Katayama Honda. This race was one of the events that season being filmed for the movie Race for Glory. GP organizers apparently thought Race for Glory was going to be the big breakthrough to put motorcycle racing into the mainstream. Reports of the day say they bent over backwards at the Grands Prix when the film crew was at an event, sometimes compromising safety as a result. The movie was the story of a young racer who takes his mechanic buddy and his homemade bike to the big-time Grand Prix races. The underdog of underdogs, this team was up against the odds as they took on big-name race teams from all over the world in his effort to grab the cup of glory. The movie flopped and quickly faded. Today you’ll pay a pretty penny to find a VHS copy of the film.

Mike Baldwin, playing movie villain Team Samurai’s Klaus Kroeter, lines up for the start of the 1988 Belgian Grand Prix riding the Team Katayama Honda. This race was one of the events that season being filmed for the movie Race for Glory. (Henny Ray Abrams photo)