1989 Nations motorcycle Grand Prix
The 1989 Nations motorcycle Grand Prix was the fifth race of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 12–14 May 1989 at the Misano circuit.
Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Race 5 of 15 races in the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date | 14 May 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Official name | G.P. Delle Nazioni[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | Circuito Internazionale Santa Monica | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Course |
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500 cc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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250 cc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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125 cc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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80 cc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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500 cc race report
Before the race, riders were concerned about the track surface, considering it too slippery, and should it rain, even dangerous.
Dry track and dark clouds for the green light with Kevin Schwantz on pole. Pierfrancesco Chili got a good start and led briefly, then Schwantz, Wayne Rainey and Christian Sarron settled into the lead. Short afterwards, the rain started and Schwantz raised his hand to stop the race.
The top riders had a meeting and decided they wanted a practice session before restarting in the wet, but the request was refused by the race organizers and the riders decided to boycott the race. Eddie Lawson says, "This place is unique in that the track surface is very, very slippery, and when it has water on it you can’t ride on it. All the top riders felt it was too dangerous, and it is, and so we didn’t ride. It’s as simple as that. … We go to plenty of racetracks where we test all week, in the sunshine, and then it starts to rain; well, we put rain tires on and we race. This place, you can’t do that. Regardless of not testing or anything else, you just can’t ride in the wet, it’s just too dangerous. It was unfortunate."[2]
A notable dissenter is Chili, who wants to race, along with other riders. Chili manages to stay upright in the downpour and wins the race, with Lawson sarcastically cheering from the stands and Sarron blowing a kiss.
500 cc classification
Pos. | Rider | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points | ||
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1 | ![]() |
HB Honda Gallina Team | Honda | 33 | 59:21.035 | 3 | 20 | ||
2 | ![]() |
Racing Team Katayama | Honda | 33 | +32.271 | 17 | 17 | ||
3 | ![]() |
HRK Motors | Honda | 33 | +32.599 | 24 | 15 | ||
4 | ![]() |
Fior Marlboro | Fior | 33 | +1:32.451 | 19 | 13 | ||
5 | ![]() |
Honda | 33 | +1:51.120 | 25 | 11 | |||
6 | ![]() |
Rallye Sport | Honda | 32 | +1 Lap | 31 | 10 | ||
7 | ![]() |
Honda | 32 | +1 Lap | 23 | 9 | |||
8 | ![]() |
Club Motocross Pozuelo | Honda | 32 | +1 Lap | 32 | 8 | ||
9 | ![]() |
Librenti Corse | Suzuki | 31 | +2 Laps | 28 | 7 | ||
10 | ![]() |
FMS | Honda | 31 | +2 Laps | 29 | 6 | ||
Ret | ![]() |
Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 | Yamaha | Retirement | 5 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
Cagiva Corse | Cagiva | Retirement | 18 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
Team Iberia | Yamaha | Retirement | 15 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
Yamaha Motor Company | Yamaha | Retirement | 14 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini | Yamaha | Retirement | 7 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
Suzuki Pepsi Cola | Suzuki | Retirement | 8 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
Rothmans Kanemoto Honda | Honda | Retirement | 2 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
Team Lucky Strike Roberts | Yamaha | Retirement | 4 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
Club Motocross Pozuelo | Honda | Retirement | 21 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
Cagiva Corse | Cagiva | Retirement | 16 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
Suzuki Pepsi Cola | Suzuki | Retirement | 1 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
Cabin Racing Team | Honda | Retirement | 12 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
Honda | Retirement | 30 | |||||
Ret | ![]() |
Team ROC Elf Honda | Honda | Retirement | 13 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
Suzuki | Retirement | 22 | |||||
Ret | ![]() |
Suzuki | Retirement | 33 | |||||
Ret | ![]() |
Romer Racing Suisse | Honda | Retirement | 20 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
HB Honda Gallina Team | Honda | Retirement | 10 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini | Yamaha | Retirement | 6 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
Suzuki | Retirement | 5 | |||||
Ret | ![]() |
Team Greco | Paton | Retirement | 27 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
Cagiva Corse | Cagiva | Retirement | 11 | ||||
Ret | ![]() |
Rothmans Honda Team | Honda | Retirement | 9 | ||||
DNS | ![]() |
Suzuki | Did not start | 26 | |||||
Sources: [3][4] |
References
- "Grand Prix uitslagen en bijzonderheden 1989" (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- Duke Video: "Bike GP 500 Review". Videocassette.
- "1989 Nations MotoGP - Motor Sport Magazine Database". 13 June 2017.
- "motogp.com · NATIONS GRAND PRIX · 500cc Race Classification 1989". www.motogp.com.