1990 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

1990 F.I.M. Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Previous: 1989 Next: 1991

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

Contents

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. 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.”[1] Rainey switched from Dunlop to Michelin tires this year.

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

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

Newcomer John Kocinski took the 250 title for Kenny Roberts' Marlboro-Yamaha squad after a tight points battle with Carlos Cardús. Seventeen year old Loris Capirossi became the youngest-ever world champion when he claimed the 125 crown for Honda.

Grands Prix

Round Race Location 125cc winner 250cc winner 500cc winner Report
1 Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka Hans Spaan Luca Cadalora Wayne Rainey Report
2 United States Grand Prix Laguna Seca No race John Kocinski Wayne Rainey Report
3 Spanish Grand Prix Jerez Jorge Martínez John Kocinski Wayne Gardner Report
4 Nations Grand Prix Misano Jorge Martínez John Kocinski Wayne Rainey Report
5 German Grand Prix Nürburgring Doriano Romboni Wilco Zeelenberg Kevin Schwantz Report
6 Austrian Grand Prix Salzburgring Jorge Martínez Luca Cadalora Kevin Schwantz Report
7 Yugoslavian Grand Prix Rijeka Stefan Prein Carlos Cardús Wayne Rainey Report
8 Dutch TT Assen Doriano Romboni John Kocinski Kevin Schwantz Report
9 Belgian Grand Prix Spa Hans Spaan John Kocinski Wayne Rainey Report
10 French Grand Prix Le Mans Hans Spaan Carlos Cardús Kevin Schwantz Report
11 British Grand Prix Donington Loris Capirossi Luca Cadalora Kevin Schwantz Report
12 Swedish Grand Prix Anderstorp Hans Spaan Carlos Cardús Wayne Rainey Report
13 Czechoslovakian Grand Prix Brno Hans Spaan Carlos Cardús Wayne Rainey Report
14 Hungarian Grand Prix Hungaroring Loris Capirossi John Kocinski Mick Doohan Report
15 Australian Grand Prix Phillip Island Loris Capirossi John Kocinski Wayne Gardner Report

Final standings

500cc standings

Place Rider Number Country Team Machine Points Wins
1 Wayne Rainey 2 United States Marlboro-Yamaha YZR500 255 7
2 Kevin Schwantz 34 United States Lucky Strike-Suzuki RGV500 188 5
3 Michael Doohan 9 Australia Rothmans-Honda NSR500 179 1
4 Niall Mackenzie 5 United Kingdom Lucky Strike-Suzuki RGV500 140 0
5 Wayne Gardner 10 Australia Rothmans-Honda NSR500 138 2
6 Juan Garriga 11 Spain Ducados-Yamaha YZR500 121 0
7 Eddie Lawson 1 United States Marlboro-Yamaha YZR500 118 0
8 Jean-Philippe Ruggia 14 France Gauloises-Yamaha YZR500 110 0
9 Christian Sarron 3 France Gauloises-Yamaha YZR500 84 0
10 Sito Pons 6 Spain Campsa-Honda NSR500 76 0

250cc standings

Place Rider Number Country Team Machine Points Wins
1 John Kocinski 19 United States Marlboro-Yamaha Roberts YZR250 223 7
2 Carlos Cardús 4 Spain Repsol-Honda NSR250 208 4
3 Luca Cadalora 5 Italy Marlboro-Yamaha Agostini YZR250 184 3
4 Helmut Bradl 9 Germany HB-Honda NSR250 150 0
5 Wilco Zeelenberg 14 Netherlands Sharp-Samson Honda NSR250 127 1
6 Martin Wimmer 10 Germany Hein Gericke Aprilia RS250 118 0
7 Masahiro Shimizu 6 Japan Ajinomoto-Honda NSR250 100 0
8 Jochen Schmid 16 Germany HB-Honda NSR250 92 0
9 Jacques Cornu 3 Switzerland Lucky Strike-Elf Honda NSR250 86 0
10 Dominique Sarron 8 France Rothmans-Honda NSR250 78 0

125cc standings

Place Rider Number Country Machine Points Wins
1 Loris Capirossi 65 Italy Honda 182 3
2 Hans Spaan 2 Netherlands Honda 173 5
3 Stefan Prein 7 Germany Honda 169 1
4 Doriano Romboni Italy Honda 130 2
5 Dirk Raudies Germany Honda 113 0
6 Jorge Martínez Spain Derbi 105 3
7 Fausto Gresini 8 Italy Honda 102 0
8 Bruno Casanova 4 Italy Honda 97 0
9 Alessandro Gramigni Italy Aprilia 84 0
10 Heinz Lüthi Switzerland Honda 78 0

References

  1. ^ Scott, Michael: "Wayne Rainey", page 142. Haynes Publishing, 1997.