1989 Nations motorcycle Grand Prix

Italy  1989 Nations Grand Prix
Race details
Race 5 of 15 races in the
1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date 14 May 1989
Official name G.P. Delle Nazioni[1]
Location Circuito Internazionale Santa Monica
Course
  • Permanent racing facility
  • 3.488 km (2.167 mi)
500 cc
Pole position
Rider United States Kevin Schwantz
Time 1:17.420
Fastest lap
Rider United States Eddie Lawson
Time 1:19.160
Podium
First Italy Pierfrancesco Chili
Second United Kingdom Simon Buckmaster
Third Germany Michael Rudroff
250 cc
Pole position
Rider Italy Luca Cadalora
Time 1:19.750
Fastest lap
Rider Spain Juan Garriga
Time 1:20.340
Podium
First Spain Sito Pons
Second France Jean-Philippe Ruggia
Third Switzerland Jacques Cornu
125 cc
Pole position
Rider Netherlands Hans Spaan
Time 1:25.530
Fastest lap
Rider Spain Àlex Crivillé
Time 1:25.760
Podium
First Italy Ezio Gianola
Second Netherlands Hans Spaan
Third Italy Fausto Gresini
80 cc
Pole position
Rider Switzerland Stefan Dörflinger
Time 1:29.616
Fastest lap
Rider Unknown
Podium
First Spain Jorge Martínez
Second Italy Gabriele Gnani
Third Spain Herri Torrontegui

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.

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 Time/Retired Points
1 Italy Pierfrancesco Chili HB Honda Gallina Team Honda 59:21.035 20
2 United Kingdom Simon Buckmaster Racing Team Katayama Honda +32.271 17
3 Germany Michael Rudroff HRK Motors Honda +32.599 15
4 Switzerland Marco Gentile Fior Marlboro Fior +1:32.451 13
5 Austria Josef Doppler Honda +1:51.120 11
6 Germany Alois Meyer Rallye Sport Honda +1 Lap 10
7 Italy Romolo Balbi Honda +1 Lap 9
8 Spain Francisco Gonzales Club Motocross Pozuelo Honda +1 Lap 8
9 Luxembourg Andreas Leuthe Librenti Corse Suzuki +2 Laps 7
10 Switzerland Nicholas Schmassman FMS Honda +2 Laps 6
Ret France Christian Sarron Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 Yamaha Retirement
Ret France Raymond Roche Cagiva Corse Cagiva Retirement
Ret Italy Alessandro Valesi Team Iberia Yamaha Retirement
Ret Japan Norihiko Fujiwara Yamaha Motor Company Yamaha Retirement
Ret United States Freddie Spencer Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha Retirement
Ret United Kingdom Ron Haslam Suzuki Pepsi Cola Suzuki Retirement
Ret United States Eddie Lawson Rothmans Kanemoto Honda Honda Retirement
Ret United States Wayne Rainey Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha Retirement
Ret Spain Juan Lopez Mella Club Motocross Pozuelo Honda Retirement
Ret Italy Massimo Broccoli Cagiva Corse Cagiva Retirement
Ret United States Kevin Schwantz Suzuki Pepsi Cola Suzuki Retirement
Ret United Kingdom Rob McElnea Cabin Racing Team Honda Retirement
Ret Germany Stefan Klabacher Honda Retirement
Ret France Dominique Sarron Team ROC Elf Honda Honda Retirement
Ret Italy Vittorio Scatola Suzuki Retirement
Ret Venezuela Larry Moreno Vacondio Suzuki Retirement
Ret Switzerland Bruno Kneubühler Romer Racing Suisse Honda Retirement
Ret United States Fred Merkel HB Honda Gallina Team Honda Retirement
Ret United Kingdom Niall Mackenzie Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha Retirement
Ret France Claude Albert Suzuki Retirement
Ret Italy Marco Papa Team Greco Paton Retirement
Ret United States Randy Mamola Cagiva Corse Cagiva Retirement
Ret Australia Mick Doohan Rothmans Honda Team Honda Retirement
DNS France Claude Albert Suzuki Did not start
Sources: [3][4]

References

  1. ↑ "Grand Prix uitslagen en bijzonderheden 1989" (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  2. ↑ Duke Video: "Bike GP 500 Review". Videocassette.
  3. ↑ "1989 Nations MotoGP - Motor Sport Magazine Database". 13 June 2017.
  4. ↑ "motogp.com · NATIONS GRAND PRIX · 500cc Race Classification 1989". www.motogp.com.
Previous race:
1989 Spanish Grand Prix		 FIM Grand Prix World Championship
1989 season		 Next race:
1989 German Grand Prix
Previous race:
1988 Nations Grand Prix		 Nations Grand Prix Next race:
1990 Nations Grand Prix
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