1989 British motorcycle Grand Prix

  1989 British Grand Prix

Race details
Race 12 of 15 races in the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	6 August 1989
Official name	Shell British Motorcycle Grand Prix[1][2][3]
Location	Donington
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.023 km (2.500 mi)
500 cc
Pole position Rider Kevin Schwantz Time 1:34.050 Fastest lap Rider Eddie Lawson Time 1:34.510 Podium First Kevin Schwantz Second Eddie Lawson Third Wayne Rainey
250 cc
Pole position Rider Luca Cadalora Time 1:38.310 Fastest lap Rider Sito Pons Time 1:38.330 Podium First Sito Pons Second Reinhold Roth Third Masahiro Shimizu
125 cc
Pole position Rider Hans Spaan Time 1:43.750 Fastest lap Rider Hans Spaan Time 1:44.670 Podium First Hans Spaan Second Àlex Crivillé Third Ezio Gianola

The 1989 British motorcycle Grand Prix was the twelfth round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 4–6 August 1989 at Donington Park.^[4]

500 cc race report[]

Luca Cadalora is brought in to replace Freddie Spencer, who’s been released by team manager Giacomo Agostini.

In the first lap Wayne Rainey’s in front of a group of 4 riders, with Kevin Schwantz, Christian Sarron and Eddie Lawson. Rainey and Schwantz trade the lead, while Niall Mackenzie comes up from behind. Mackenzie is having a good day, as he passes Lawson and Rainey to move into second behind Schwantz. Mackenzie takes the lead for half a lap, but Schwantz gets it back at the chicane, and soon Lawson passes him as well. Wayne Gardner retires with a mechanical.

Rainey passes Mackenzie, but Schwantz and Lawson have gotten far ahead. Schwantz takes the win from Lawson by a few bike lengths, and Rainey comes in third. With 3 rounds to go, Lawson is less than 7 points away from Rainey with 60 points still to be decided.

Race winner Kevin Schwantz, celebrating after winning the 500cc race.

500 cc classification[]

Pos.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	Kevin Schwantz	Suzuki Pepsi Cola	Suzuki	30	47:45.670	1	20
2	Eddie Lawson	Rothmans Kanemoto Honda	Honda	30	+0.970	2	17
3	Wayne Rainey	Team Lucky Strike Roberts	Yamaha	30	+8.600	3	15
4	Niall Mackenzie	Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini	Yamaha	30	+10.940	6	13
5	Christian Sarron	Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1	Yamaha	30	+28.310	4	11
6	Kevin Magee	Team Lucky Strike Roberts	Yamaha	30	+38.490	8	10
7	Ron Haslam	Suzuki Pepsi Cola	Suzuki	30	+47.360	9	9
8	Luca Cadalora	Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini	Yamaha	30	+51.770	5	8
9	Pierfrancesco Chili	HB Honda Gallina Team	Honda	30	+1:27.710	7	7
10	Rob McElnea	Cabin Racing Team	Honda	29	+1 Lap	11	6
11	Fred Merkel	HB Honda Gallina Team	Honda	29	+1 Lap	14	5
12	Roger Burnett	Rothmans Honda Team	Honda	29	+1 Lap	13	4
13		Fior Marlboro	Fior	29	+1 Lap	15	3
14		Racing Team Katayama	Honda	29	+1 Lap	20	2
15	Simon Buckmaster	Racing Team Katayama	Honda	29	+1 Lap	17	1
16	Marco Papa	Team Greco	Paton	28	+2 Laps	23
17	Robert Holden		Honda	28	+2 Laps	26
18	Bruno Kneubühler	Romer Racing Suisse	Honda	28	+2 Laps	27
19			Suzuki	28	+2 Laps	22
20		Librenti Corse	Suzuki	28	+2 Laps	30
21			Honda	28	+2 Laps	29
22	Francisco Gonzales	Club Motocross Pozuelo	Honda	28	+2 Laps	31
23	Peter Graves		Honda	28	+2 Laps	36
Ret		Racing Team Katayama	Suzuki		Retirement	33
Ret	Wayne Gardner	Rothmans Honda Team	Honda		Retirement	10
Ret			Suzuki		Retirement	32
Ret	Dominique Sarron	Team ROC Elf Honda	Honda		Retirement	12
Ret		FMS	Honda		Retirement	25
Ret			Chevallier Yamaha		Retirement	16
Ret	Juan Lopez Mella	Club Motocross Pozuelo	Honda		Retirement	24
Ret	Cees Doorakkers	HRK Motors	Honda		Retirement	19
Ret			Suzuki		Retirement	34
Ret			Suzuki		Retirement	35
Ret		Team Iberia	Yamaha		Retirement	21
Ret	Alan Carter		Honda		Retirement	18
DNS			Honda		Did not start	28
DNQ			Honda		Did not qualify
DNQ	Eddie Laycock		Honda		Did not qualify
Sources: [5][6]

References[]