1989 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix

The 1989 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix was the second round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 7–9 April 1989 at Phillip Island and was the first ever World Championship Motorcycle Grand Prix to take place in Australia.

  1989 Australian Grand Prix
Race details
Race 2 of 15 races in the
1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date9 April 1989
Official nameSwan Premium Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix[1][2][3]
LocationPhillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
Course
  • Permanent racing facility
  • 4.445 km (2.762 mi)
500 cc
Pole position
Rider Kevin Schwantz
Time 1:34.990
Fastest lap
Rider Pierfrancesco Chili
Time 1:35.280
Podium
First Wayne Gardner
Second Wayne Rainey
Third Christian Sarron
250 cc
Pole position
Rider Jean-Philippe Ruggia
Time 1:38.830
Fastest lap
Rider Luca Cadalora
Time 1:38.490
Podium
First Sito Pons
Second Jean-Philippe Ruggia
Third Luca Cadalora
125 cc
Pole position
Rider Jorge Martínez
Time 1:45.530
Fastest lap
Rider Jorge Martínez
Time 1:46.530
Podium
First Àlex Crivillé
Second Robin Milton
Third Alan Scott

500 cc race report

Green light on the 5-row grid sees Wayne Rainey, Tadahiko Taira and Kevin Schwantz head into the first turn in front of the field, with Wayne Gardner in 4th. Second lap in 2nd place, Schwantz gets on the throttle while looking behind him and highsides out of Turn Ten; as he walked away from his Suzuki, he looked like he wished he did not know the guy who just binned it so foolishly.

Rainey pulled out a lead of more than a second, followed by Kevin Magee, Taira, Gardner, Mick Doohan and Eddie Lawson. Eventually, Gardner got past Magee at Turn Four, and Pierfrancesco Chili crashed out for the second successive race. Gardner caught Rainey and began to swap the lead, while Magee, Christian Sarron, Freddie Spencer and Lawson closed in. Sarron caught and goes to the front, with the leaders, while Magee hung on in 4th spot. Spencer fell off and did not finish.

Last lap: Gardner, Rainey, Sarron and a small gap to Magee. Rainey's early break may have cost him rubber, because he seemed desperate to find a different line that will get him to slide his way past Gardner, but nothing works, with Gardner winning the race, followed by Rainey and Sarron.

Rainey: "Gardner ran into the back of me twice, and didn’t even notice. He was one of the sloppiest guys I ever raced – he reminded me of a bulldog on a bike. When he was on a good day, he could ride that thing right out of the saddle. He was a bit like Kevin, but more out of control. Not a thinking racer: he rode by the excitement of the crowd. If nobody was there I think he wouldn’t do much".[4]

500 cc classification
Pos. Rider Team Manufacturer Time/Retired Points
1 Wayne Gardner Rothmans Honda Team Honda 48:15.940 20
2 Wayne Rainey Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha +0.350 17
3 Christian Sarron Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 Yamaha +0.470 15
4 Kevin Magee Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha +1.510 13
5 Eddie Lawson Rothmans Kanemoto Honda Honda +10.970 11
6 Tadahiko Taira Yamaha Motor Company Yamaha +12.570 10
7 Ron Haslam Suzuki Pepsi Cola Suzuki +32.460 9
8 Mick Doohan Rothmans Honda Team Honda +47.660 8
9 Michael Dowson Yamaha +1:27.820 7
10 Dominique Sarron Team ROC Elf Honda Honda +1 Lap 6
11 Alessandro Valesi Team Iberia Yamaha +1 Lap 5
12 Simon Buckmaster Racing Team Katayama Honda +1 Lap 4
13 Marco Gentile Fior Marlboro Fior +1 Lap 3
14 Nicholas Schmassman FMS Honda +3 Laps 2
15 Michael Rudroff HRK Motors Honda +3 Laps 1
Ret Greg Drew PRP Retirement
Ret Freddie Spencer Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha Retirement
Ret Randy Mamola Cagiva Corse Cagiva Retirement
Ret Malcolm Campbell Honda Retirement
Ret Kevin Schwantz Suzuki Pepsi Cola Suzuki Retirement
Ret Bubba Shobert Cabin Racing Team Honda Retirement
Ret Francisco Gonzales Club Motocross Pozuelo Honda Retirement
Ret Niall Mackenzie Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha Retirement
Ret James Judd Yamaha Retirement
Ret Pierfrancesco Chili HB Honda Gallina Team Honda Retirement
DNS Craig Harwood Yamaha Did not start
Sources:[5][6]

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Mitchell, Malcolm. "1989 500cc Class (FIM Grand Prix World Championship) Programmes – The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 May 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Scott, Michael: "Wayne Rainey", page 136. Haynes Publishing, 1997.
  5. "1989 Australian MotoGP – Motor Sport Magazine Database". 13 June 2017.
  6. "motogp.com · AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX · 500cc Race Classification 1989". www.motogp.com.
Previous race:
1989 Japanese Grand Prix		 FIM Grand Prix World Championship
1989 season		 Next race:
1989 United States Grand Prix
Previous race:
None		 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix Next race:
1990 Australian Grand Prix
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