1989 British motorcycle Grand Prix

The 1989 British motorcycle Grand Prix was the twelfth round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 4–6 August 1989 at Donington Park.

500 cc race report

Luca Cadalora is brought in to replace Freddie Spencer, who’s been released by team manager Giacomo Agostini.

In the first lap Wayne Rainey’s in front of a group of 4 riders, with Kevin Schwantz, Christian Sarron and Eddie Lawson. Rainey and Schwantz trade the lead, while Niall Mackenzie comes up from behind. Mackenzie is having a good day, as he passes Lawson and Rainey to move into second behind Schwantz. Mackenzie takes the lead for half a lap, but Schwantz gets it back at the chicane, and soon Lawson passes him as well. Wayne Gardner retires with a mechanical.

Rainey passes Mackenzie, but Schwantz and Lawson have gotten far ahead. Schwantz takes the win from Lawson by a few bike lengths, and Rainey comes in third. With 3 rounds to go, Lawson is less than 7 points away from Rainey with 60 points still to be decided.

File:Kevin Schwantz 1989 Donington Park.jpg

Race winner Kevin Schwantz, celebrating after winning the 500cc race.

500 cc classification

Pos.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	Template:Flagicon Kevin Schwantz	Suzuki Pepsi Cola	Suzuki	30	47:45.670	1	20
2	Template:Flagicon Eddie Lawson	Rothmans Kanemoto Honda	Honda	30	+0.970	2	17
3	Template:Flagicon Wayne Rainey	Team Lucky Strike Roberts	Yamaha	30	+8.600	3	15
4	Template:Flagicon Niall Mackenzie	Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini	Yamaha	30	+10.940	6	13
5	Template:Flagicon Christian Sarron	Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1	Yamaha	30	+28.310	4	11
6	Template:Flagicon Kevin Magee	Team Lucky Strike Roberts	Yamaha	30	+38.490	8	10
7	Template:Flagicon Ron Haslam	Suzuki Pepsi Cola	Suzuki	30	+47.360	9	9
8	Template:Flagicon Luca Cadalora	Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini	Yamaha	30	+51.770	5	8
9	Template:Flagicon Pierfrancesco Chili	HB Honda Gallina Team	Honda	30	+1:27.710	7	7
10	Template:Flagicon Rob McElnea	Cabin Racing Team	Honda	29	+1 Lap	11	6
11	Template:Flagicon Fred Merkel	HB Honda Gallina Team	Honda	29	+1 Lap	14	5
12	Template:Flagicon Roger Burnett	Rothmans Honda Team	Honda	29	+1 Lap	13	4
13	Template:Flagicon Marco Gentile	Fior Marlboro	Fior	29	+1 Lap	15	3
14	Template:Flagicon Fabio Biliotti	Racing Team Katayama	Honda	29	+1 Lap	20	2
15	Template:Flagicon Simon Buckmaster	Racing Team Katayama	Honda	29	+1 Lap	17	1
16	Template:Flagicon Marco Papa	Team Greco	Paton	28	+2 Laps	23
17	Template:Flagicon Robert Holden		Honda	28	+2 Laps	26
18	Template:Flagicon Bruno Kneubühler	Romer Racing Suisse	Honda	28	+2 Laps	27
19	Template:Flagicon Claude Albert		Suzuki	28	+2 Laps	22
20	Template:Flagicon Andreas Leuthe	Librenti Corse	Suzuki	28	+2 Laps	30
21	Template:Flagicon Josef Doppler		Honda	28	+2 Laps	29
22	Template:Flagicon Francisco Gonzales	Club Motocross Pozuelo	Honda	28	+2 Laps	31
23	Template:Flagicon Peter Graves		Honda	28	+2 Laps	36
Ret	Template:Flagicon Ian Pratt	Racing Team Katayama	Suzuki		Retirement	33
Ret	Template:Flagicon Wayne Gardner	Rothmans Honda Team	Honda		Retirement	10
Ret	Template:Flagicon Mark Phillips		Suzuki		Retirement	32
Ret	Template:Flagicon Dominique Sarron	Team ROC Elf Honda	Honda		Retirement	12
Ret	Template:Flagicon Nicholas Schmassman	FMS	Honda		Retirement	25
Ret	Template:Flagicon Rachel Nicotte		Chevallier Yamaha		Retirement	16
Ret	Template:Flagicon Juan Lopez Mella	Club Motocross Pozuelo	Honda		Retirement	24
Ret	Template:Flagicon Cees Doorakkers	HRK Motors	Honda		Retirement	19
Ret	Template:Flagicon John Mossey		Suzuki		Retirement	34
Ret	Template:Flagicon David Crampton		Suzuki		Retirement	35
Ret	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Valesi	Team Iberia	Yamaha		Retirement	21
Ret	Template:Flagicon Alan Carter		Honda		Retirement	18
DNS	Template:Flagicon Andy McGladdery		Honda		Did not start	28
DNQ	Template:Flagicon Larry Moreno Vacondio		Honda		Did not qualify
DNQ	Template:Flagicon Eddie Laycock		Honda		Did not qualify
Sources: