1990 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

1990 World Champions

Wayne Rainey (pictured at Laguna Seca) became the 500cc world champion

John Kocinski (pictured at Suzuka) became the 250cc world champion

The 1990 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 42nd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.

Season summary[]

1990 marked the beginning of the Rainey era with the Marlboro-Yamaha rider taking 7 wins and scoring points in every race but Hungary after he had already clinched the championship.^[1] Rainey's teammate was 1989 champion Eddie Lawson, but he was unable to defend his championship after breaking his left ankle in the first round and then severely shattering his right ankle the following round at Laguna Seca. Rainey on having Lawson as a teammate: “I just wanted to devastate Eddie. I don’t think he was ready for a team-mate like me. Maybe he thought he could control me, but at that stage I was past being controlled.”^[2] Rainey switched from Dunlop to Michelin tires this year.

Kevin Schwantz continued to win on his Suzuki but just as often he would crash.^[1] Australian Mick Doohan would win his first Grand Prix for Honda at the Hungaroring.^[1]

The 1990 season continued the trend of crashes as riders tried to cope with the harsh power output of the V4 two-strokes.^[1] Honda put forth a proposition limiting the top class to 375cc and 3 cylinders, but that never caught on.^[1] Still, with 500cc lap times becoming stagnant, it was clear that something needed to be done.^[1]

Newcomer John Kocinski took the 250 title for Kenny Roberts' Marlboro-Yamaha squad after a tight points battle with Carlos Cardús that was not decided until the final race of the season.^[1] Despite five Grand Prix victories for Hans Spaan, seventeen-year-old Loris Capirossi became the youngest-ever world champion when he claimed the 125 crown for Honda.^[1]

1990 Grand Prix season calendar[]

The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 1990:^[3][4]

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit
1	25 March	Kibun Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka Circuit
2	8 April	U.S. Budweiser International Grand Prix	Laguna Seca Raceway
3	6 May	Gran Premio de España	Circuito Permanente de Jerez
4	20 May	G.P d'Italia	Circuito Internazionale Santa Monica
5	27 May	Großer Preis von Deutschland	Nürburgring
6	10 June	Großer Preis von Österreich	Salzburgring
7	17 June	Yu Grand Prix	Automotodrom Rijeka
8	30 June	Dutch TT	TT Circuit Assen
9	7 July	Belgian Motorcycle Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
10	22 July	Grand Prix de France	Bugatti Circuit
11	5 August	Shell British Motorcycle Grand Prix	Donington Park
12	12 August	Nordic TT	Scandinavian Raceway
13	26 August	Grand Prix Brno-CSFR	Brno Circuit
14	2 September	Grand Prix Magyar Nagydíj	Hungaroring
15	16 September	Drink/Drive Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix	Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit

Calendar changes[]

• The Australian Grand Prix was moved back from 9 April to 16 September.
• The German Grand Prix moved from the Hockenheimring to the Nürburgring.
• The Hungarian Grand Prix was added to the calendar.
• The Brazilian Grand Prix was taken off the calendar due to organisational problems.

Participants[]

500cc participants[]

Team Constructor Motorcycle No. Rider Rounds Marlboro Team Roberts Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 1 Eddie Lawson 1, 8-15 2 Wayne Rainey All 21 Peter Goddard 15 Gauloises Blondes Yamaha/Mobil 1 Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 3 Christian Sarron 1-3, 5-6, 8-11, 13-15 14 Jean-Philippe Ruggia All Team Lucky Strike Suzuki Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 4 Kevin Magee 1-2 7 Niall Mackenzie 3-15 34 Kevin Schwantz All Team Suzuki Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 40 1 La Cinq/ROC Honda Honda NSR500 5 Pierfrancesco Chili 1-8, 15 55 Marco Papa 4-15 55 Carl Fogarty 11-14 Campsa Banesto Honda Honda NSR500 6 Sito Pons 1-7, 13-15 Cagiva Corse Cagiva Cagiva C590 8 Ron Haslam 1-2, 6-14 18 Randy Mamola 1-2, 4-14 28 Alex Barros 1-14 Rothmans Honda Honda Honda NSR500 9 Mick Doohan All 10 Wayne Gardner 1-4, 8-15 Ducados Yamaha Team Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 11 Joan Garriga All Yamaha Motor Company Motorsports Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 15 1, 8-9 Tech 21/Yamaha Motor Company Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 21 Tadahiko Taira 1, 15 ?? Honda 17 4-5, 12 ?? Honda 19 3, 5 RS Rallye Sport Team GmbH Honda 20 Michael Rudroff ?? RS Rallye Sport Honda 32 42 0 (5-6) ?? Honda 23 8, 12 Millar Racing Honda 24 Eddie Laycock 3, 8-11, 13-15 Librenti Corse Honda 25 3-5, 11-14 FMS/N Schmassmann Honda 26 2-5, 7-8 ?? Honda 30 10, 13-14 Motoclub Perugia Honda 31 37 38 Marco Papa 4-15 Shell Honda 33 35 36 43 6-10, 14 Ys Racing Honda Honda NSR500 35 Shunji Yatsushiro 0 (1) Team Elit Paton Paton 35 42 37 Vittorio Scatola 3-5, 7-10 Nescafé Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 36 1 Teera Honda Honda NSR500 37 1 Schick Advantage Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 38 1 HRC/Pentax Honda Honda NSR500 39 Shinichi Ito 1 ?? Honda 40 4 UCC Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 41 Shinji Katayama 1 HRK Motors Honda 41 36 Cees Doorakkers 3-15 Camel Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 43 1 ?? Chevallier-Honda 43 10, 13-14 Meikoh Honda 44 0 (1) ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? 0 (15) ?? Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 ?? 0 (15) ?? Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 ?? 0 (15) Source: [5]

Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider

250cc participants[]

Team Constructor Motorcycle No. Rider Rounds HB Honda Team Honda Honda NSR250 2 Reinhold Roth 1-2, 4-7 9 Helmut Bradl 1-7, 11-15 16 Jochen Schmid All 41 14 Team Lucky Strike Elf Honda Honda NSR250 3 Jacques Cornu 1, 6-15 16 Jochen Schmid All Repsol Honda Honda Honda NSR250 4 Carlos Cardús All Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha 5 Luca Cadalora All 28 Àlex Crivillé 2-15 Ajinomoto Honda/HRC Honda Honda NSR250 6 Masahiro Shimizu All Castrol Mortimer Racing Yamaha 7 Niall Mackenzie 1-2 Rothmans Honda Honda Honda NSR250 8 Dominique Sarron 1-4, 6, 10-15 34 39 35 1-4, 6-15 Hein Gericke Racing Team Aprilia 10 Martin Wimmer 2-15 HB Gallina Aprilia Team Aprilia 11 Loris Reggiani All Honda Britain Honda Honda RS250R 12 Alan Carter 1-2, 10-11 Sharp-Samson Racing Team Honda Honda NSR250 14 Alan Carter 1-6, 8-15 UCC Yamaha 15 1 Team AGV HB Honda Honda RS250R 16 Jochen Schmid All Team Greco Aprilia 17 Carlos Lavado 1-10 29 2-15 Marlboro Team Roberts Yamaha 19 John Kocinski All 97 2 AMS Racing Team Aprilia 20 1-12 Aprilia Aprilia-Rotax 21 Marcellino Lucchi 3-11, 13-15 GP Trade & Promotion Yamaha 22 1-8, 10-14 Gauloises Blondes Aprilia 23 Adrien Morillas 3-14 ?? Honda Honda NSR250 26 Tadayuki Okada 1 Iberna/Team Motoracing Aprilia 27 Didier de Radiguès 1, 3-15 Venemotos Racing Team Yamaha 30 1, 3-14 Ducados Yamaha Puig Yamaha 31 Alberto Puig 6-13 JF Aprilia - Kuhnert Aprilia 32 1-2, 4-14 ÖKM/SK Vöst Aprilia-Rotax 34 39 35 1-4, 6-15 Moto Club Bergamo Aprilia 34 45 3-7, 10-12 Plaisir Vitesse International Various Various 35 47 10, 13-14 Team St Yrian Motos Yamaha 36 41 3-11, 13-14 Team Italia Aprilia 37 3-4, 7-10, 13 Marlboro Aprilia Team Elf Aprilia 38 39 2-15 HRC Honda Honda NSR250 38 Daryl Beattie 15 D Gallacher/B & M Motorcycles Yamaha 39 40 36 Kevin Mitchell 1, 3, 5-13 Swiss Yamaha Team Yamaha 39 33 2-15 HB Team Racing Yamaha 40 4-11 ?? Yamaha 44 Tetsuya Harada 1 Romero Racing Team Yamaha 45 34 2, 5-11, 13 Cup Noodle Racing Team Honda Honda NSR250 47 Nobuatsu Aoki 1 Moto Club Crostolo Yamaha 48 42 Paolo Casoli 3-14 Fior Racing Aprilia-Fior 49 44 3-4, 7-10 Ducados JJ Cobas JJ Cobas-Rotax ?? 55 Jorge Martínez 1-6, 8-15 Source: [6]

Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider

125cc participants[]

Team Constructor Motorcycle No. Rider Rounds Sharp-Samson Racing Team Honda Honda RS125R 2 Hans Spaan 1, 3-14 Nacional Moto SA - Derbi Derbi 3 Ezio Gianola 1 38 ?? Team Unemoto Honda Honda RS125R 4 1, 3-6, 8-15 AGV Pileri Corse Honda Honda RS125R 5 Fausto Gresini 1, 3-4, 6-15 65 48 67 75 47 59 Loris Capirossi 1, 3-15 Team Takeshima Honda Honda RS125R 6 1, 3-4, 15 68 67 1, 10-15 Lanson Honda Racing Honda Honda RS125R 7 Stefan Prein 1, 3-15 Coronas Racing Team JJ Cobas ?? 8 Julián Miralles 1, 3-15 Allan Scott Racing Honda Honda RS125R 10 9 1, 3, 6-7, 11-12, 14-15 Garelli Garelli 10 9 1, 3, 6-7, 11-12, 14-15 14 10-13 RS Rallye Sport Racing Team Cobas-Rotax 11 1, 3-13 24 Peter Öttl 6, 8-9, 13 Robin Milton Honda Honda RS125R 12 1, 3-4, 6-13, 15 AMC Biberach/Riss e.V im ADAC Honda Honda RS125R 16 Dirk Raudies 1, 3-15 Gerstmann Racing Honda Honda RS125R 17 3-15 Team Rumi Honda Honda RS125R 18 Taru Rinne 1, 8, 13-15 Moto Club Crostolo Honda Honda RS125R 20 Doriano Romboni 3-15 Marlboro Aprilia Team Dörflinger Aprilia-Cobas 21 Stefan Dörflinger 1, 3, 5-6, 9, 13-14 Cepsa JJ Cobas TB ?? 22 Manuel Herreros 1, 4-14 Semprucci/Club del Motore-Forli Honda Honda RS125R 23 Bruno Casanova 3-11, 13-15 Repsol Honda Honda Honda RS125R 25 3, 5-6, 10-14 Antonio Sánchez Ballesteros JJ Cobas TB ?? 29 3, 6, 8-12, 14 Viplex Plastics Holland Honda Honda RS125R 30 3-14 Schuh Racing Team Cobas-Rotax 31 Ralf Waldmann 3-15 José Saez Calabuig Honda Honda RS125R 32 José Saez 3-4 Timspeed Casal Various Various 33 5, 8-12 Ringelberg Team Honda Honda RS125R 34 3-5, 7, 9, 14 Stefan Kurfiss Honda Honda RS125R 36 3-11, 14-15 Team Italia Aprilia 37 Gabriele Debbia 4-15 39 Alessandro Gramigni 3-15 Team Driza Bone Honda Honda RS125R 40 1, 5, 7-9, 12, 14-15 Thomas Moller Pedersen Honda Honda RS125R 42 3-6, 8-14 Colin Appleyard Ltd Honda Honda RS125R 43 47 Robin Appleyard 1, 3-15 BP Racing Team Switzerland Honda Honda RS125R 45 1, 3-7, 9, 13 Silja Line Honda/Cobas Honda RS125R 46 1, 3-15 Hervé Duffard Honda Honda RS125R 49 62 3-5, 10-11, 13 Derek Clarke Racing Team Honda Honda RS125R 50 54 63 1, 3-5, 7-8, 11-15 Stuart Edwards Honda Honda RS125R 51 52 64 Stuart Edwards 1, 5, 8-10 Gazzaniga Corse 52 51 59 Maurizio Vitali 1, 3-15 Mori Sport Laverda Various Various 53 57 12-15 Team Lucky Strike Elf Honda Honda RS125R 54 64 66 3-15 Ducados JJ Cobas JJ Cobas-Rotax 55 Jorge Martínez 1, 3-15 Digitec Honda Honda RS125R 56 65 49 1, 5-7, 9-10, 14 Team Honda Liqor 43 Honda Honda RS125R 57 63 43 55 Manuel Hernández 1, 3-12, 14-15 EMCO Sports Team Honda Honda RS125R 60 48 3-8, 10-13 Hubert Abold Honda Honda RS125R 61 53 Hubert Abold 3-10, 12, 14-15 T. C. Winchester Racing Team Honda Honda RS125R 61 4-6 Moto Club Biccirelli Honda Honda RS125R 66 8-14 Source: [7]

Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider

Results and standings[]

Grands Prix[]

Round	Date	Race	Location	125cc winner	250cc winner	500cc winner	Report
1	25 March	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka	Hans Spaan	Luca Cadalora	Wayne Rainey	Report
2	8 April	United States Grand Prix	Laguna Seca		John Kocinski	Wayne Rainey	Report
3	6 May	Spanish Grand Prix	Jerez	Jorge Martínez	John Kocinski	Wayne Gardner	Report
4	20 May	Nations Grand Prix	Misano	Jorge Martínez	John Kocinski	Wayne Rainey	Report
5	27 May	German Grand Prix	Nürburgring	Doriano Romboni	Wilco Zeelenberg	Kevin Schwantz	Report
6	10 June	Austrian Grand Prix	Salzburgring	Jorge Martínez	Luca Cadalora	Kevin Schwantz	Report
7	17 June	Yugoslavian Grand Prix	Rijeka	Stefan Prein	Carlos Cardús	Wayne Rainey	Report
8	30 June	Dutch TT	Assen	Doriano Romboni	John Kocinski	Kevin Schwantz	Report
9	7 July	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa	Hans Spaan	John Kocinski	Wayne Rainey	Report
10	22 July	French Grand Prix	Le Mans	Hans Spaan	Carlos Cardús	Kevin Schwantz	Report
11	5 August	British Grand Prix	Donington	Loris Capirossi	Luca Cadalora	Kevin Schwantz	Report
12	12 August	Swedish Grand Prix	Anderstorp	Hans Spaan	Carlos Cardús	Wayne Rainey	Report
13	26 August	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Brno	Hans Spaan	Carlos Cardús	Wayne Rainey	Report
14	2 September	Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring	Loris Capirossi	John Kocinski	Mick Doohan	Report
15	16 September	Australian Grand Prix	Phillip Island	Loris Capirossi	John Kocinski	Wayne Gardner	Report

500cc riders' standings[]

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.^[8]

^[9]

Pos Rider Bike JPN USA ESP NAT GER AUT YUG NED BEL FRA GBR SWE CZE HUN AUS Pts 1 Wayne Rainey Yamaha 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 2 1 3 2 1 1 Ret 3 255 2 Kevin Schwantz Suzuki 3 Ret 3 2 1 1 2 1 7 1 1 Ret Ret 3 Ret 188 3 Mick Doohan Honda Ret 2 4 3 Ret 3 4 4 6 4 4 4 9 1 2 179 4 Niall Mackenzie Suzuki 8 5 3 5 3 5 12 6 5 5 4 7 5 140 5 Wayne Gardner Honda 2 Ret 1 4 Ret 10 2 Ret 3 2 4 1 138 6 Juan Garriga Yamaha 10 6 9 8 7 9 Ret 6 9 8 7 8 5 5 6 121 7 Eddie Lawson Yamaha Ret 3 3 5 3 2 3 2 4 118 8 Jean-Philippe Ruggia Yamaha 8 5 10 Ret 6 8 5 11 2 Ret 9 7 8 6 Ret 110 9 Christian Sarron Yamaha Ret 4 7 4 7 7 4 Ret 8 6 Ret Ret 84 10 Sito Pons Honda 5 Ret 6 6 5 6 Ret 7 10 7 76 11 Pierfrancesco Chili Honda 7 3 5 Ret Ret 4 Ret 8 9 63 12 Alex Barros Cagiva Ret 8 Ret Ret 8 11 Ret 10 5 Ret 11 9 Ret 9 57 13 Marco Papa Honda 9 11 13 6 14 Ret 9 13 11 13 12 10 55 14 Randy Mamola Cagiva Ret 7 7 9 10 Ret 18 Ret 7 6 Ret 11 Ret 55 15 Ron Haslam Cagiva Ret Ret DNQ DNQ DNQ 12 DNS 9 8 10 10 10 12 11 46 16 Cees Doorakkers Honda 13 14 10 14 7 13 15 12 Ret 12 16 16 12 39 17 Eddie Laycock Honda 11 12 13 11 12 14 14 11 30 18 Carl Fogarty Honda Ret 6 10 8 24 19 Honda 10 12 13 13 9 16 23 20 Honda 9 12 15 13 15 21 Kevin Magee Suzuki 4 Ret 13 22 Honda 15 8 15 14 Ret Ret 12 23 Tadahiko Taira Yamaha 6 Ret 10 24 Peter Goddard Yamaha 8 8 25 Honda 14 Ret 12 14 Ret Ret Ret 8 26 Shinichi Ito Honda 9 7 27 Honda 10 6 28 Honda 11 5 29 Honda 11 5 30 Honda Ret Ret 11 5 31 Yamaha 12 4 32 Honda Ret 15 13 4 33 Suzuki 13 3 34 Honda 15 14 3 35 Honda Ret 17 15 1 36 Vittorio Scatola Paton Ret 15 16 Ret Ret DNS Ret 1 Pos Rider Bike JPN USA ESP NAT GER AUT YUG NED BEL FRA GBR SWE CZE HUN AUS Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Position

250cc standings[]

^[10]

Place	Rider	Country	Team	Machine	Points	Wins
1	John Kocinski	United States	Marlboro-Yamaha Roberts	YZR250	223	7
2	Carlos Cardús	Spain	Repsol-Honda	NSR250	208	4
3	Luca Cadalora	Italy	Marlboro-Yamaha Agostini	YZR250	184	3
4	Helmut Bradl	Germany	HB-Honda	NSR250	150	0
5	Wilco Zeelenberg	Netherlands	Sharp-Samson Honda	NSR250	127	1
6	Martin Wimmer	Germany	Hein Gericke Aprilia	RS250	118	0
7	Masahiro Shimizu	Japan	Ajinomoto-Honda	NSR250	100	0
8	Jochen Schmid	Germany	HB-Honda	NSR250	92	0
9	Jacques Cornu	Switzerland	Lucky Strike-Elf Honda	NSR250	86	0
10	Dominique Sarron	France	Rothmans-Honda	NSR250	78	0
11	Àlex Crivillé	Spain	Yamaha	YZR250	76	0
12	Didier de Radiguès	Belgium	Aprilia	RS250	66	0
13	Loris Reggiani	Italy	Aprilia	RS250	63	0
14	Reinhold Roth	Germany	Honda	NSR250	52	0
15	Carlos Lavado	Venezuela	Aprilia	RS250	37	0
16	Alberto Puig	Spain	Yamaha	YZR250	32	0
17	Paolo Casoli	Italy	Yamaha	YZR250	32	0
18		Austria	Aprilia	RS250	30	0
19	Marcellino Lucchi	Italy	Aprilia	RS250	23	0
20	Adrien Morillas	Spain	Aprilia	RS250	22	0
21		Italy	Aprilia	RS250	17	0
22	Daryl Beattie	Australia	Honda	NSR250	13	0
23		Austria	Aprilia	RS250	13	0
24	Jorge Martínez	Spain	JJ Cobas	JJ-Cobas 250GP	13	0
25		Japan	Yamaha	YZR250	10	0
26		Italy	Aprilia	RS250	10	0
27	Tetsuya Harada	Japan	Yamaha	YZR250	9	0
28		Italy	Aprilia	RS250	9	0
29	Nobuatsu Aoki	Japan	Honda	NSR250	8	0
30		Italy	Aprilia	RS250	8	0
31		Japan	Honda	NSR250	7	0
32		Japan	Honda	NSR250	6	0
33	Niall Mackenzie	Great Britain	Yamaha	YZR250	5	0
34		France	Honda	NSR250	4	0
35		Japan	Honda	NSR250	4	0
36		Germany	Yamaha	YZR250	4	0
37		Venezuela	Yamaha	YZR250	4	0
38		Switzerland	Aprilia	RS250	4	0
39		United States	Yamaha	YZR250	3	0
40	Alan Carter	Great Britain	Honda	NSR250	3	0
41		Great Britain	Yamaha	YZR250	3	0
42		Great Britain	Yamaha	YZR250	2	0
43	Kevin Mitchell	Great Britain	Yamaha	YZR250	2	0
44		Switzerland	Yamaha	YZR250	2	0
45		Japan	Yamaha	YZR250	1	0
46		Australia	Yamaha	YZR250	1	0
47		France	Yamaha	YZR250	1	0

125cc standings[]

^[11]

Place	Rider	Country	Number	Machine	Points	Wins
1	Loris Capirossi	Italy	65	Honda	182	3
2	Hans Spaan	Netherlands	2	Honda	173	5
3	Stefan Prein	Germany	7	Honda	169	1
4	Doriano Romboni	Italy	20	Honda	130	2
5	Dirk Raudies	Germany	16	Honda	113	0
6	Jorge Martínez	Spain	55	JJ Cobas	105	3
7	Fausto Gresini	Italy	8	Honda	102	0
8	Bruno Casanova	Italy	23	Honda	97	0
9	Alessandro Gramigni	Italy	39	Aprilia	84	0
10		Switzerland	66	Honda	78	0
11			11		77
12	Gabriele Debbia		37		55
13	Julián Miralles				46
14	Maurizio Vitali				44
15	Manuel Hernandez				40
16					39
17					32
18	Robin Appleyard				32
19					31
20					30
21					28
22					26
23	Ralf Waldmann				19
24					15
25	Herri Torrontegui				14
26					13
27					11
28					8
29					7
30					6
31	Domenico Brigaglia				6
32					5
33					5
34					3
35					3
36					2
37					1
38					1
39					1
40					1

References[]

• Büla, Maurice & Schertenleib, Jean-Claude (2001). Continental Circus 1949-2000. Chronosports S.A. ISBN 2-940125-32-5
• "The Official MotoGP website". Retrieved 2010-07-06.