1989 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix

  1989 Japanese Grand Prix

Race details
Race 1 of 15 races in the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	26 March 1989
Location	Suzuka
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.821 km (3.618 mi)
500 cc
Pole position
Rider	Tadahiko Taira
Time	2:11.860
Fastest lap
Rider	Kevin Schwantz
Time	2:11.800
Podium
First	Kevin Schwantz
Second	Wayne Rainey
Third	Eddie Lawson
250 cc
Pole position
Rider	John Kocinski
Time	2:17.040
Fastest lap
Rider	John Kocinski
Time	2:16.720
Podium
First	John Kocinski
Second	Sito Pons
Third	Luca Cadalora
125 cc
Pole position
Rider	Ezio Gianola
Time	2:26.980
Fastest lap
Rider	Ezio Gianola
Time	2:26.490
Podium
First	Ezio Gianola
Second	Hisashi Unemoto
Third	Koji Takada

The 1989 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix was the first round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 24 to 26 March 1989 at the Suzuka Circuit.

500 cc race report

Wayne Rainey gets the lead and opens a small gap in the first lap, with Kevin Schwantz moving into second to chase him down. Wayne Gardner and Freddie Spencer go off-track, but get back in the race, while Doohan has a mechanical and Pierfrancesco Chili crashes out.

Schwantz soon catches and passes Rainey at the chicane in a typical late-braking move that leaves Rainey without much room. Rainey, not wanting to let Schwantz through, almost hits Schwantz’ back wheel and loses a lot of time. Schwantz will repeat the chicane pass two more times. From about half-race on, Rainey and Schwantz get in an epic fight, seemingly incapable of wanting to let the other take the lead. Rainey is so committed to staying in front of Schwantz that he does a downhill wheelie on the approach to the hairpin; on this lap alone they swap the lead at least 5 times.

Last lap sees Rainey ahead on the straight, but Schwantz passes into Turn One and manages to hold the lead to the finish line. Crossing the line, Rainey’s arm-flailing betrays his fury, but he manages to extend a hand of congratulations as he comes alongside Schwantz on the cool-down lap. Lawson battles his way through a handful of riders to take 3rd.

Rainey says of the last lap: “I couldn’t see my pit board so I was watching the circuit’s own lap counter over the start line. That clicks down as the leaders go underneath it, but I didn’t realize that. I read L2. I was following Kevin and thinking: why’s he riding so wild when there’s still another lap left? He was being real aggressive, and I was sitting right on him, planning how the next lap I’d draught him on the back straight, then not let him pass me at the chicane. Then we came across the start-finish line and there was the checker. It really pissed me off. Towards the end of 1988 we’d started saying hello to one another. It wasn’t just the two of us anymore. Now our rivalry started to heat up again.”^[1]

500 cc classification

Pos	Rider	Manufacturer	Time/Retired	Points
1	Kevin Schwantz	Suzuki	48:48.370	20
2	Wayne Rainey	Yamaha	+0.420	17
3	Eddie Lawson	Honda	+30.670	15
4	Wayne Gardner	Honda	+35.190	13
5	Kevin Magee	Yamaha	+36.420	11
6	Niall Mackenzie	Yamaha	+39.540	10
7	Christian Sarron	Yamaha	+48.470	9
8	Tadahiko Taira	Yamaha	+48.540	8
9	Norihiko Fujiwara	Yamaha	+1:09.280	7
10	Shinichi Itoh	Honda	+1:09.280	6
11	Bubba Shobert	Honda	+1:18.990	5
12	Ron Haslam	Suzuki	+1:23.880	4
13	Shunji Yatsushiro	Honda	+1:25.670	3
14	Freddie Spencer	Yamaha	+1:26.000	2
15	Kunio Machii	Yamaha	+1:29.480	1
16	Randy Mamola	Cagiva	+1:45.800
17	Takazumi Katayama	Yamaha	+1:46.240
18	Dominique Sarron	Honda	+2:12.130
19	Katunori Shinozaki	Suzuki	+1 Lap
20	Marco Gentile	Fior	+1 Lap
21	Keiji Kinoshita	Honda	+1 Lap
22	Yoshimasa Matsumoto	Honda	+2 Laps
23	Francisco Gonzales	Honda	+2 Laps
Ret	Doug Polen	Suzuki	Retirement
Ret	Alessandro Valesi	Yamaha	Retirement
Ret	Osamu Hiwatashi	Suzuki	Retirement
Ret	Hikaru Miyagi	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Norio Iobe	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Damon Buckmaster	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Mick Doohan	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Pierfrancesco Chili	Honda	Retirement

References

1. Scott, Michael: "Wayne Rainey", pages 135-136. Haynes Publishing, 1997.