1989 Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix

Belgian Belgium Belgium Motorcycle Grand Prixhttp://www.jumpingjack.nl/GP-races_1989_heden.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20090901054313/http://www.jumpingjack.nl/GP-races_1989_heden.htm dead 2009-09-01 Alle Grand-Prix uitslagen en bijzonderheden, van 1973 (het jaar dat Jack begon met racen) tot heden. Jumping Jack 13 September 2018http://www.progcovers.com/motor/500cc1989.html 1989 500cc Class (FIM Grand Prix World Championship) Programmes - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project Malcolm Mitchell Progcovers.com 13 September 2018http://progcovers.com/motor/spa.html Spa-Francorchamps | the Motor Racing Programme Covers Project 2018-05-21 https://web.archive.org/web/20180521020959/http://www.progcovers.com/motor/spa.html 2018-05-21 dead Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 4.352 7.004 10 15 2 July 1989 Circuit Spa.png Kevin Schwantz USA 2:24.650 Kevin Schwantz USA 2:26.110 Eddie Lawson USA Kevin Schwantz USA Wayne Rainey USA Didier de Radiguès Belgium 2:31.790 Sito Pons Spain 2:33.530 Jacques Cornu Switzerland Sito Pons Spain Carlos Cardús Spain Ezio Gianola Italy 2:43.470 Hans Spaan Netherlands 2:55.740 Hans Spaan Netherlands Ezio Gianola Italy Hisashi Unemoto Japan The 1989 Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix was the tenth round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 30 June-2 July 1989 at Spa-Francorchamps. 500 cc race report Kevin Schwantz makes it six poles in a row, and John Kocinski makes his 500 debut. The first turns go to Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey and Schwantz. Christian Sarron watches from fourth as the three ahead scrape fairings. The quartet get well clear, but wet patches begin to appear on the track. Rainey and Schwantz raise their hands to stop the race, but ahead of them Lawson and Sarron continue at race pace. Lawson soon becomes aware of the water and raises his hand too, but Sarron, perhaps under the mistaken impression that he’s dropping the other three, seems too enthusiastic to stop and loses the front-end on a fast left. The riders pit with 5 laps raced. It looks like the restart on aggregate time will be dry, and again Lawson, Rainey and Schwantz get away at the front, though the sky darkens. Again, the leaders raise their hands after the 9th lap, but before everyone can pit, Mick Doohan and Kocinski collide, sliding without serious injury. The podium of the second leg is Lawson, Schwantz and Rainey, but the race organizers decide to run a third leg in the wet. The third race sees Schwantz get away from Rainey, while Lawson gets into a tussle with Kocinski for third. On the last lap, with a comfortable lead, Schwantz crashes out on the brakes, and Rainey wheelies in for the lead, followed by Kocinski and Lawson. However, the results of the third race are later nullified, giving Lawson the win and closing the gap to Rainey. The points are later halved when a rule is discovered that only one restart is allowed. The FIM had decided by 1989 that there could be no more than two starts and that after the second race, started on slicks, was stopped due to rain, the race would be deemed complete. In an interesting footnote, the 1989 Belgium Grand Prix in Spa Francorchamps, scheduled for 18 laps and 73.3 miles, was entered in the books as a “complete” eight-lap, 34.5-mile sprint race victory for Eddie Lawson. But if you look at the old magazines you’ll see Kevin Schwantz celebrating the victory atop a wet podium and John Kocinski standing third in his 500 debut. In fact, the race director, fearing a riot if he sent the fans home after only seeing two aborted starts and eight recorded laps, decided to appease the crowd by sending the riders out again even though it was clearly against the rules. Word was that the “promoter” ordered the race director to do this. The “promoter” was Bernie Ecclestone. Eventually half points were awarded and the FIM realized that something had to be done. Thus the “wet race” and “dry race” rules were instituted. Under these rules if a race starts in the dry with riders on slicks and rain begins to the extent that the race director believes that there is insufficient traction for slick tires, he orders red flags. If three or more laps have been run, the original race distance, minus the number of laps run and minus one additional lap, is established for the second leg. However, regardless of the conditions at the start of the second part, the race is declared “wet,’ meaning that it would not be stopped simply because it begins to rain. Riders go out for part two with the understanding that, if they opted for the wrong tires, they either have to wobble around like Steve Manship at Silverstone or come in for a change. The final results are then to be based on aggregate times. This worked from the late eighties until 2003 when Dorna, protecting their TV coverage against long delays, overrode strong MSMA (Motorcycle Sport Manufacturers Association) objections and managed to introduce the first of three variants of “flag to flag” racing -- races which would not be stopped and restarted due to rain.Noyes, Dennis: Time to Fix 'Flag-to-Flag' Pit Stops Before Luck Runs Out SpeedTV.com 20 September 2006. 500 cc classification Pos. Rider Team ManufacturerLaps Time/RetiredGrid Points 1 USA Eddie Lawson Rothmans Kanemoto Honda Honda8 19:46.2605 10 2 USA Kevin Schwantz Suzuki Pepsi Cola Suzuki8 +0.9201 8.5 3 USA Wayne Rainey Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha8 +1.5202 7.5 4 FRA Christian Sarron Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 Yamaha8 +11.4304 6.5 5 USA John Kocinski Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha8 +15.2208 5.5 6 ITA Pierfrancesco Chili HB Honda Gallina Team Honda8 +18.8707 5 7 AUS Kevin Magee Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha8 +20.7206 4.5 8 AUS Mick Doohan Rothmans Honda Team Honda8 +27.2303 4 9 USA Freddie Spencer Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha8 +27.8509 3.5 10 GBR Niall Mackenzie Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha8 +32.84011 3 11 GBR Rob McElnea Cabin Racing Team Honda8 +32.97013 2.5 12 CHE Marco Gentile Fior Marlboro Fior8 +1:25.46016 2 13 NLD Cees Doorakkers HRK Motors Honda8 +1:34.46021 1.5 14 IRL Eddie Laycock Honda8 +1:37.06020 1 15 GBR Simon Buckmaster Racing Team Katayama Honda8 +1:37.59017 0.5 16 AUT Josef Doppler Honda7 +1 Lap22 17 CHE Bruno Kneubuhler Romer Racing Suisse Honda7 +1 Lap18 18 ITA Marco Papa Team Greco Paton7 +1 Lap19 19 CHE Nicholas Schmassman FMS Honda7 +1 Lap23 20 FRG Hans Klingebiel Suzuki7 +1 Lap26 21 ESP Fernando Gonzales Club Motocross Pozuelo Honda7 +1 Lap25 22 GBR Mark Phillips Suzuki7 +1 Lap24 23 USA Randy Mamola Cagiva Corse Cagiva7 +1 Lap14 24 ITA Alessandro Valesi Team Iberia Yamaha +6 Laps15 25 AUS Wayne Gardner Rothmans Honda Team Honda+6 Laps10 26 TCH Pavol Dekánek Honda+6 Laps27 DNS GBR Ron Haslam Suzuki Pepsi Cola Suzuki Did not start12 DNQ BEL Patrick Chavanne Honda Did not qualify Sources:https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/races/1989-belgian-motogp 1989 Belgian MotoGP - Motor Sport Magazine Database 13 June 2017 Motorsportmagazine.com 13 September 2018http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics/1989/BEL/500cc/RAC/ BELGIUM GRAND PRIX · 500cc Race Classification 1989 Motogp.com 13 September 2018 13 September 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180913150345/http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics/1989/BEL/500cc/RAC/ dead References Belgian Grand Prix 1989 1989 Dutch TT 1989 French Grand Prix 1988 Belgian Grand Prix 1990 Belgian Grand Prix Category:Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix Belgian Motorcycle Grand Prix