1989 French motorcycle Grand Prix
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The 1989 French motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 14th-16th July, 1989 at the Bugatti Circuit located in Le Mans..
[edit] 500 cc race report
Eddie Lawson on pole. At the start, Wayne Rainey gets around Lawson, with Freddie Spencer in third, followed by Pierfrancesco Chili and Christian Sarron. Soon it’s the California duo with a small gap, and Kevin Schwantz has made up for his bad start by moving into third, with Kevin Magee in fourth.
Wayne Gardner crashes out, and Schwantz joins the fight for first, with back-marker traffic making life difficult for Lawson and Rainey.
Schwantz is braking very late and making it stick, and he and Lawson start to drop Rainey. Lawson manages to get past Schwantz on the start-finish straight, and though very few win a last lap battle with Schwantz, Lawson manages it, putting Schwantz in a crucial second place to extract maximum points from Rainey in third.
[edit] 500cc classification
| Pos | Rider | Manufacturer | Time/Retired | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Eddie Lawson |
Honda | 50:16.940 | 20 |
| 2 | Kevin Schwantz |
Suzuki | +0.770 | 17 |
| 3 | Wayne Rainey |
Yamaha | +15.530 | 15 |
| 4 |  Christian Sarron |
Yamaha | +23.590 | 13 |
| 5 |  Kevin Magee |
Yamaha | +24.210 | 11 |
| 6 |  Pierfrancesco Chili |
Honda | +37.000 | 10 |
| 7 |  Niall Mackenzie |
Yamaha | +53.540 | 9 |
| 8 | Mick Doohan |
Honda | +59.120 | 8 |
| 9 | Rob McElnea |
Honda | +1:26.290 | 7 |
| 10 | Adrien Morillas |
Honda | +1:31.460 | 6 |
| 11 | Randy Mamola |
Cagiva | +1 Lap | 5 |
| 12 | Thierry Crine |
Suzuki | +1 Lap | 4 |
| 13 | Alessandro Valesi |
Yamaha | +1 Lap | 3 |
| 14 | Damon Buckmaster |
Honda | +1 Lap | 2 |
| 15 | Fabio Biliotti |
Honda | +2 Laps | 1 |
| 16 |  Eddie Laycock |
Honda | +2 Laps | |
| 17 |  Bruno Kneubuhler |
Honda | +2 Laps | |
| 18 |  Juan Lopez Mella |
Honda | +2 Laps | |
| 19 | Claude Albert |
Suzuki | +2 Laps | |
| 20 | Jean Paul Lecointe |
Suzuki | +2 Laps | |
| 21 | Nicholas Schmassman |
Honda | +2 Laps | |
| 22 | Pascal Seguela |
Honda | +2 Laps | |
| 23 | Bernard Gitton |
Fior | +2 Laps | |
| 24 |  Francisco Gonzales |
Honda | +2 Laps | |
| 25 |  Cees Doorakkers |
Honda | +2 Laps | |
| Ret | Freddie Spencer |
Yamaha | Retirement | |
| Ret |  Andreas Leuthe |
Suzuki | Retirement | |
| Ret | Marco Gentile |
Fior | Retirement | |
| Ret | Dominique Sarron |
Honda | Retirement | |
| Ret | Wayne Gardner |
Honda | Retirement | |
| Ret | Marco Papa |
Paton | Retirement | |
| Ret | Patrick Salles |
Fior Honda | Retirement | |
| Ret | Patrick Lerustre |
Fior | Retirement | |
| Ret | Bernard Andrault |
Honda | Retirement | |
| Ret | Fred Merkel |
Honda | Retirement | |
| Ret | Raymond Roche |
Cagiva | Retirement |
| Previous race: 1989 Belgian Grand Prix |
FIM MotoGP World Championship 1989 season |
Next race: 1989 British Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1988 French Grand Prix |
French motorcycle Grand Prix | Next race: 1990 French Grand Prix |
