1989 United States motorcycle Grand Prix

The 1989 United States Motorcycle Grand Prix was the third round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It occurred from April 14 to April 16, 1989, at Laguna Seca.

  1989 United States Grand Prix

Race details
Race 3 of 15 races in the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	April 16, 1989
Official name	Dunlop USGP
Location	Laguna Seca Raceway
Course	Permanent racing facility 3.602 km (2.238 mi)
500cc
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
250cc
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

500 cc race report

Leading the pack are Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Gardner, Kevin Magee, and Christian Sarron. Eddie Lawson swiftly moves from 6th to 2nd position in the first turn. Rainey begins to widen the gap, while Lawson and Schwantz engage in a close battle. However, Lawson makes a mistake while entering the Corkscrew, causing him to fall back into the group of Gardner, Magee, and Sarron.

Gardner crashes, fracturing his leg. Lawson capitalizes on fuel-delivery issues with Magee's Yamaha YZR 500 on the final lap, securing an all-American podium with Rainey taking first place and Schwantz in second.

During the cooldown lap, Magee, frustrated, initiates a burnout just after turn five. Bubba Shobert, conversing with Eddie Lawson at a low cruising speed, fails to notice Magee and accidentally collides with his right side, resulting in a forceful impact with the pavement. Shobert sustains severe head injuries that mark the end of his racing career, while Magee suffers a broken ankle. With both Magee and Gardner injured, Wayne Rainey's lead in the standings becomes vulnerable, depending on Lawson's ability to optimize the Honda setup or Schwantz's consistency in finishing races.

500 cc classification

Pos.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	Wayne Rainey	Team Lucky Strike Roberts	Yamaha	40	58:56.179	1	20
2	Kevin Schwantz	Suzuki Pepsi Cola	Suzuki	40	+6.849	2	17
3	Eddie Lawson	Rothmans Kanemoto Honda	Honda	40	+19.912	6	15
4	Kevin Magee	Team Lucky Strike Roberts	Yamaha	40	+23.732	4	13
5	Niall Mackenzie	Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini	Yamaha	40	+28.223	7	11
6	Christian Sarron	Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1	Yamaha	40	+30.595	5	10
7	Pierfrancesco Chili	HB Honda Gallina Team	Honda	40	+1:29.901	11	9
8	Mick Doohan	Rothmans Honda Team	Honda	39	+1 Lap	12	8
9	Bubba Shobert	Cabin Racing Team	Honda	39	+1 Lap	13	7
10	Dominique Sarron	Team ROC Elf Honda	Honda	39	+1 Lap	15	6
11	Alessandro Valesi	Team Iberia	Yamaha	38	+2 Laps	16	5
12	Marco Gentile	Fior Marlboro	Fior	38	+2 Laps	17	4
13	Simon Buckmaster	Racing Team Katayama	Honda	38	+2 Laps	18	3
14	Bruno Kneubuhler	Romer Racing Suisse	Honda	38	+2 Laps	19	2
15	Michael Rudroff	HRK Motors	Honda	38	+3 Laps	21	1
16	Francisco Gonzales	Club Motocross Pozuelo	Honda	37	+4 Laps	23
17	Vincenzo Cascino		Honda	37	+4 Laps	22
Ret	Ron Haslam	Suzuki Pepsi Cola	Suzuki		Retirement	10
Ret	Tadahiko Taira	Yamaha Motor Company	Yamaha		Retirement	8
Ret	Nicholas Schmassman	FMS	Honda		Retirement	20
Ret	Randy Mamola	Cagiva Corse	Cagiva		Retirement	14
Ret	Eugene Brown		Suzuki		Retirement	24
Ret	Wayne Gardner	Rothmans Honda Team	Honda		Retirement	3
DNS	Freddie Spencer	Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini	Yamaha		Did not Start	9
DNQ	David Busby		Honda		Did not Qualify
DNQ	Michael Wild		Suzuki		Did not Qualify
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