1989 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix

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The 1989 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix was held on April 9 at Phillip Island.

[edit] 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 on Turn Four; as he walks away from the Suzuki he looks like he wished he didn’t know the guy who just binned it so foolishly.

Rainey pulls out a lead of more than a second, followed by Kevin Magee, Taira, Gardner, Mick Doohan and Eddie Lawson. Eventually, Gardner gets past Magee at Turn Four, and Pierfrancesco Chili crashes out a second time in 2 races.

Gardner catches Rainey and begins to swap the lead, while Magee, Christian Sarron, Freddie Spencer and Lawson close in. Sarron catches and goes to the front of the leaders, while Magee hangs on in 4th spot. Spencer falls off and DNFs.

Last lap: Gardner, Rainey, Sarron and a small gap to Magee. Rainey’s early break may have cost him rubber, because he seems 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.”^[1]

1	Wayne Gardner	48:15.940
2	Wayne Rainey	+0.350
3	Christian Sarron	+0.470
4	Kevin Magee	+1.510
5	Eddie Lawson	+10.970
6	T. Taira	+12.570
7	Ron Haslam	+32.460
8	Mick Doohan	+47.660
9	M. Dowson	+1:27.820
10	D. Sarron	+1 lap
11	A. Valesi	+1 lap
12	D. Buckmaster	+1 lap
13	M. Gentile	+1 lap
14	N. Schmassman	+3 laps
15	M. Rudroff	+3 laps
	S. Drew	retired
	Freddie Spencer	retired
	Randy Mamola	retired
	M. Campbell	retired
	Kevin Schwantz	retired
	Bubba Shobert	retired
	F. Gonzáles	retired
	Niall Mackenzie	retired
	J. Judd	retired
	Pierfrancesco Chili	retired

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Scott, Michael: "Wayne Rainey", page 136. Haynes Publishing, 1997.

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1	1989 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix Report
2	1989 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix Report
3	1989 United States motorcycle Grand Prix Report
4	1989 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix Report
5	1989 Italian motorcycle Grand Prix Report
6	1989 German motorcycle Grand Prix Report
7	1989 Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix Report
8	1989 Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix Report
9	1989 Dutch TT Report
10	1989 Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix Report
11	1989 French motorcycle Grand Prix Report
12	1989 British motorcycle Grand Prix Report
13	1989 Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix Report
14	1989 Czechoslovakian motorcycle Grand Prix Report
15	1989 Brazilian motorcycle Grand Prix Report

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