1989 German motorcycle Grand Prix

The 1989 German motorcycle Grand Prix was the sixth round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 26–28 May 1989 at the Hockenheimring circuit.[4]

  1989 German Grand Prix
Race details
Race 6 of 15 races in the
1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date28 May 1989
Official nameGroßer Preis von Deutschland für Motorräder[1][2][3]
LocationHockenheimring
Course
  • Permanent racing facility
  • 6.789 km (4.218 mi)
500 cc
Pole position
Rider Kevin Schwantz
Time 2:02.620
Fastest lap
Rider Kevin Schwantz
Time 2:02.680
Podium
First Wayne Rainey
Second Eddie Lawson
Third Mick Doohan
250 cc
Pole position
Rider Helmut Bradl
Time 2:11.040
Fastest lap
Rider Sito Pons
Time 2:10.990
Podium
First Sito Pons
Second Reinhold Roth
Third Masahiro Shimizu
125 cc
Pole position
Rider Ezio Gianola
Time 2:23.640
Fastest lap
Rider Julián Miralles
Time 2:24.160
Podium
First Àlex Crivillé
Second Ezio Gianola
Third Julián Miralles
80 cc
Pole position
Rider Stefan Dörflinger
Time 2:32.240
Fastest lap
Rider Unknown
Podium
First Peter Öttl
Second Manuel Herreros
Third Herri Torrontegui

The weekend was marred by the fatal accident of Italian-born Venezuelan rider Iván Palazzese in the 250cc race, who died after running into the back of Andreas Preining's seized motorcycle. Palazzese was then struck by Bruno Bonhuil and Fabio Barchitta while trying to pick himself up from the ground, causing him to suffer massive chest injuries that would result in his death.[5]

500 cc race report

The front of the grid is Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson, who stay in that order through the first few turns, though Mick Doohan soon takes third spot behind Lawson and Rainey, pushing Schwantz into third.

Lawson seems to miss a shift at a chicane, and lets Rainey and Schwantz through, who have become the leading group of three. The group is tight, and Schwantz still hasn’t broken himself of the habit of looking behind him for no good reason.

Lawson puts himself at the front again, while back down the field Niall Mackenzie crashes out.

Schwantz develops a mechanical problem and drops out, leaving Lawson and Rainey to fight it out for first and Doohan and Christian Sarron for third place.

Last lap: Lawson ahead for the first half, but Rainey gets past on the brakes to a chicane. Going into the stadium section, Rainey is doing everything to keep Lawson behind him, doing a tremendous slide on his Dunlops. Rainey takes a very close win from Lawson, with a big gap to Doohan, then Pierfrancesco Chili and Sarron.

Two DNFs in a row seem to have ended Schwantz' hope for the championship, who was already pessimistic since his crash at Jerez. Schwantz can still affect the outcome of the championship by getting between Lawson and Rainey and denying the latter some points. Rainey and Lawson needle each other after the race and then say nothing to each other for the rest of the season.

500 cc classification

Pos. Rider Team Manufacturer Time/Retired Points
1 Wayne Rainey Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha 39:14.750 20
2 Eddie Lawson Rothmans Kanemoto Honda Honda +0.270 17
3 Mick Doohan Rothmans Honda Team Honda +20.710 15
4 Pierfrancesco Chili HB Honda Gallina Team Honda +25.720 13
5 Christian Sarron Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 Yamaha +37.000 11
6 Norihiko Fujiwara Yamaha Motor Company Yamaha +42.980 10
7 Kevin Magee Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha +43.540 9
8 Dominique Sarron Team ROC Elf Honda Honda +44.980 8
9 Freddie Spencer Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha +53.020 7
10 Rob McElnea Cabin Racing Team Honda +1:08.530 6
11 Ernst Gschwender Suzuki Deutschland Suzuki +1 Lap 5
12 Randy Mamola Cagiva Corse Cagiva +1 Lap 4
13 Alessandro Valesi Team Iberia Yamaha +1 Lap 3
14 Simon Buckmaster Racing Team Katayama Honda +1 Lap 2
15 Bruno Kneubuhler Romer Racing Suisse Honda +1 Lap 1
16 Hansjoerg Butz Autobus Butz Racing Team Honda +1 Lap
17 Rachel Nicotte Chevallier Yamaha +1 Lap
18 Vittorio Scatola Honda +1 Lap
19 Juan Lopez Mella Club Motocross Pozuelo Honda +1 Lap
20 Petr Schleef Schuh Racing Team Honda +1 Lap
21 Michael Rudroff HRK Motors Honda +1 Lap
22 Josef Doppler Honda +1 Lap
23 Peter Linden Team Heukeroff Honda +1 Lap
24 Stefan Klabacher Honda +1 Lap
25 Helmut Schutz Rallye Sport Honda +1 Lap
26 Hans Klingebiel Suzuki +1 Lap
Ret Ron Haslam Suzuki Pepsi Cola Suzuki Retirement
Ret Georg Robert Jung Romer Telefix Honda Retirement
Ret Marco Gentile Fior Marlboro Fior Retirement
Ret Kevin Schwantz Suzuki Pepsi Cola Suzuki Retirement
Ret Roland Busch Schuh Racing Team Honda Retirement
Ret Karl Dauer PC Racing Honda Retirement
Ret Alois Meyer Rallye Sport Honda Retirement
Ret Martin Troesch Honda Retirement
Ret Nicholas Schmassman FMS Honda Retirement
Ret Niall Mackenzie Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha Retirement
DNQ Marco Papa Team Greco Paton Did not qualify
DNQ Andreas Leuthe Librenti Corse Suzuki Did not qualify
DNQ Francisco Gonzales Club Motocross Pozuelo Honda Did not qualify
DNQ Vincenzo Cascino Honda Did not qualify
DNQ Walther Maier Rallye Sport Honda Did not qualify
Sources:[6][7]

References

  1. "Grand Prix uitslagen en bijzonderheden 1989". Archive.li. Archived from the original on 2015-07-25. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  2. Mitchell, Malcolm. "1989 500cc Class (FIM Grand Prix World Championship) Programmes - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  3. "Info". Archived from the original on 2018-05-20. Retrieved 2018-05-21.
  4. "Moto GP statistics". Moto GP. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  5. "Iván Palazzese". motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  6. "1989 German MotoGP - Motor Sport Magazine Database". 13 June 2017.
  7. "motogp.com · WEST GERMANY GRAND PRIX · 500cc Race Classification 1989". www.motogp.com.
Previous race:
1989 Nations Grand Prix
FIM Grand Prix World Championship
1989 season
Next race:
1989 Austrian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1988 German Grand Prix
German Grand Prix Next race:
1990 German Grand Prix
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