1989 United States motorcycle Grand Prix

  1989 United States Grand Prix

Race details
Race 3 of 15 races in the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	April 16, 1989
Location	Laguna Seca
Course	Permanent racing facility 3.602 km (2.238 mi)
500 cc
Pole position Rider Wayne Rainey Time 1:27.120 Fastest lap Rider Wayne Gardner Time 1:28.000 Podium First Wayne Rainey Second Kevin Schwantz Third Eddie Lawson
250 cc
Pole position Rider John Kocinski Time 1:30.160 Fastest lap Rider John Kocinski Time 1:29.190 Podium First John Kocinski Second Jim Filice Third Luca Cadalora

The 1989 United States motorcycle Grand Prix was the second round of the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of April 14–16, 1989 at Laguna Seca.

500 cc race report

At the front of the grid, it’s Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Gardner, Kevin Magee and Christian Sarron. Eddie Lawson moves from 6th to 2nd in the first turn. Rainey begins to pull away, with Lawson and Schwantz getting into a scrap that leads Lawson into making a mistake on the entry to the Corkscrew, pushing him back into the group of Gardner, Magee and Sarron.

Gardner crashes out, breaking his leg. Lawson fights his way past Magee on the last lap, making it an all-American podium with Rainey and Schwantz in first and second place.

In the cool-down lap, Bubba Shobert and Kevin Magee collide; Shobert has serious head injuries that end his racing career, and Magee has a broken ankle. With Magee and Gardner both injured, Wayne Rainey’s lead in the standings can be threatened by Lawson getting the Honda set-up properly or Schwantz avoiding DNFs.

500 cc classification

Pos	Rider	Manufacturer	Time/Retired	Points
1	Wayne Rainey	Yamaha	58:56.179	20
2	Kevin Schwantz	Suzuki	+6.849	17
3	Eddie Lawson	Honda	+19.912	15
4	Kevin Magee	Yamaha	+23.732	13
5	Niall Mackenzie	Yamaha	+28.223	11
6	Christian Sarron	Yamaha	+30.595	10
7	Pierfrancesco Chili	Honda	+1:29.901	9
8	Mick Doohan	Honda	+1 Lap	8
9	Bubba Shobert	Honda	+1 Lap	7
10	Dominique Sarron	Honda	+1 Lap	6
11	Alessandro Valesi	Yamaha	+2 Laps	5
12	Marco Gentile	Fior	+2 Laps	4
13	Simon Buckmaster	Honda	+2 Laps	3
14	Bruno Kneubuhler	Honda	+2 Laps	2
15	Michael Rudroff	Honda	+3 Laps	1
16	Francisco Gonzales	Honda	+4 Laps
17	Vincenzo Cascino	Honda	+4 Laps
Ret	Ron Haslam	Suzuki	Retirement
Ret	Tadahiko Taira	Yamaha	Retirement
Ret	Nicholas Schmassman	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Freddie Spencer	Yamaha	Retirement
Ret	Randy Mamola	Cagiva	Retirement
Ret	David Busby	Honda	Retirement
Ret	Eugene Brown	Suzuki	Retirement
Ret	Michael Wild	Suzuki	Retirement
Ret	Wayne Gardner	Honda	Retirement