1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

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1989 F.I.M. Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Previous: 1988 Next: 1990

The 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 41st F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.


Contents

[edit] Season summary

Defending champion Eddie Lawson stunned most observers by switching from the Yamaha to Honda in the offseason then proceeded to win the championship, becoming the first man to win two consecutive 500cc championships on two different brands. Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz continued to perform impressively while Freddie Spencer made a less than successful comeback attempt with the Marlboro Yamaha team. Australian Wayne Gardner was out for most of the season after breaking his leg at Laguna Seca but not before winning the inaugural Grand Prix in his home country. Another Australian made his Grand Prix debut for the Rothmans Honda team with Mick Doohan scoring a third place finish at the Hockenheimring. The FIM awarded half points for the rain-drenched Belgian Grand Prix after organisers restarted the race three times contrary to FIM race regulations. The Nations Grand Prix at Misano was boycotted by most of the top riders for safety reasons.

Sito Pons won a second consecutive 250 championship for Honda while Spanish teenager, Àlex Crivillé won the 125 crown on a JJ Cobas. Derbi rider Manuel Herreros had the honor of winning the final 80cc championship as the class would be discontinued after 1989.

[edit] Grands Prix

Round Race Location 80cc winner 125cc winner 250cc winner 500cc winner Report
1 Flag of Japan Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka Flag of Italy Ezio Gianola Flag of the United States John Kocinski Flag of the United States Kevin Schwantz Report
2 Flag of Australia Australian Grand Prix Phillip Island Flag of Spain Àlex Crivillé Flag of Spain Sito Pons Flag of Australia Wayne Gardner Report
3 Flag of the United States United States Grand Prix Laguna Seca Flag of the United States John Kocinski Flag of the United States Wayne Rainey Report
4 Flag of Spain Spanish Grand Prix Jerez Flag of Spain Herri Torrontegui Flag of Spain Àlex Crivillé Flag of Italy Luca Cadalora Flag of the United States Eddie Lawson Report
5 Flag of Italy Nations Grand Prix Misano Adriatico Flag of Spain Jorge Martínez Flag of Italy Ezio Gianola Flag of Spain Sito Pons Flag of Italy Pierfrancesco Chili Report
6 Flag of Germany West German Grand Prix Hockenheim Flag of West Germany Peter Öttl Flag of Spain Àlex Crivillé Flag of Spain Sito Pons Flag of the United States Wayne Rainey Report
7 Flag of Austria Austrian Grand Prix Salzburgring Flag of the Netherlands Hans Spaan Flag of Spain Sito Pons Flag of the United States Kevin Schwantz Report
8 Flag of Yugoslavia Yugoslavian Grand Prix Rijeka Flag of West Germany Peter Öttl Flag of Spain Sito Pons Flag of the United States Kevin Schwantz Report
9 Flag of the Netherlands Dutch TT Assen Flag of West Germany Peter Öttl Flag of the Netherlands Hans Spaan Flag of Germany Reinhold Roth Flag of the United States Wayne Rainey Report
10 Flag of Belgium Belgian Grand Prix Spa Flag of the Netherlands Hans Spaan Flag of Switzerland Jacques Cornu Flag of the United States Eddie Lawson Report
11 Flag of France French Grand Prix Le Mans Flag of Spain Jorge Martínez Flag of Spain Carlos Cardús Flag of the United States Eddie Lawson Report
12 Flag of the United Kingdom British Grand Prix Donington Flag of the Netherlands Hans Spaan Flag of Spain Sito Pons Flag of the United States Kevin Schwantz Report
13 Flag of Sweden Swedish Grand Prix Anderstorp Flag of Spain Àlex Crivillé Flag of Spain Sito Pons Flag of the United States Eddie Lawson Report
14 Flag of Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakian Grand Prix Brno Flag of Spain Herri Torrontegui Flag of Spain Àlex Crivillé Flag of Germany Reinhold Roth Flag of the United States Kevin Schwantz Report
15 Flag of Brazil Brazilian Grand Prix Goiania Flag of Italy Luca Cadalora Flag of the United States Kevin Schwantz Report

[edit] Final standings

[edit] 500cc standings

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points[1] Wins
1 Flag of the United States Eddie Lawson 1 United States Rothmans-Honda 228 4
2 Flag of the United States Wayne Rainey 3 United States Lucky Strike-Yamaha 210.5 3
3 Flag of France Christian Sarron 4 France Gauloises-Yamaha 165.5 0
4 Flag of the United States Kevin Schwantz 34 United States Pepsi-Suzuki 162.5 6
5 Flag of Australia Kevin Magee 5 Australia Lucky Strike-Yamaha 138.5 0
6 Flag of Italy Pier-Francesco Chili 9 Italy HB-Honda 122 1
7 Flag of the United Kingdom Niall Mackenzie 5 United Kingdom Marlboro-Yamaha 103 0
8 Flag of the United Kingdom Ron Haslam 8 United Kingdom Pepsi-Suzuki 86 0
9 Flag of Australia Michael Doohan 27 Australia Rothmans-Honda 81 0
10 Flag of Australia Wayne Gardner 2 Australia Rothmans-Honda 67 1

[edit] 250cc standings

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1 Flag of Spain Sito Pons 1 Spain Honda 262 7
2 Flag of Germany Reinhold Roth 5 West Germany Honda 190 2
3 Flag of Switzerland Jacques Cornu 3 Switzerland Honda 187 1
4 Flag of Spain Carlos Cardús 9 Spain Honda 162 1
5 Flag of Italy Luca Cadalora 6 Italy Yamaha 127 2
6 Flag of Japan Masahiro Shimizu 10 Japan Honda 116 0
7 Flag of France Jean-Philippe Ruggia 7 France Yamaha 110 0
8 Flag of Spain Juan Garriga 2 Spain Yamaha 98 0
9 Flag of Germany Helmut Bradl West Germany Honda 88 0
10 Flag of Germany Martin Wimmer West Germany Aprilia 62 0

[edit] 125cc standings

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1 Flag of Spain Àlex Crivillé Spain JJ Cobas 166 5
2 Flag of the Netherlands Hans Spaan 3 Netherlands Honda 152 4
3 Flag of Italy Ezio Gianola 2 Italy Honda 138 2
4 Flag of Japan Hisashi Unemoto Japan Honda 104 0
5 Flag of Italy Fausto Gresini Italy Aprilia 102 0
6 Flag of Japan Koji Takada Japan Honda 99 0
7 Flag of Germany Stefan Prein 8 West Germany Honda 92 0
8 Flag of Spain Julian Miralles 4 Spain Derbi 90 0
9 Flag of Spain Jorge Martínez 1 Spain Derbi 72 1
10 Flag of the United States Allan Scott United States Honda 54 0

[edit] 80cc standings

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1 Flag of Spain Manuel Herreros 4 Spain Derbi 92 0
2 Flag of Switzerland Stefan Dörflinger 3 Switzerland Krauser 80 0
3 Flag of Germany Peter Öttl 5 West Germany Krauser 75 3
4 Flag of Spain Herri Torrontegui Spain Krauser 75 2
5 Flag of Italy Gabriele Gnani 10 Italy Gnani 45 0
6 Flag of Italy Paolo Priori Italy Krauser 41 0
7 Bogdan Nikolov 6 Bulgaria Krauser 40 0
8 Flag of Spain Jorge Martínez Spain Derbi 35 1
9 Flag of Spain Jaime Mariano Spain Casal 33 0
10 Flag of Germany Jörg Seel West Germany Seel 32 0

[edit] References

  1. ^ The points for the Belgian round were halved because of too many re-starts.