1989 French motorcycle Grand Prix

The 1989 French motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 14–16 July 1989 at the Bugatti Circuit located in Le Mans.[4]

France  1989 French Grand Prix
Race details
Race 11 of 15 races in the
1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date16 July 1989
Official nameGrand Prix de France[1][2][3]
LocationBugatti Circuit
Course
  • Permanent racing facility
  • 7.004 km (4.352 mi)
500cc
Pole position
Rider United States Eddie Lawson
Time 1:42.330
Fastest lap
Rider United States Kevin Schwantz
Time 1:42.970
Podium
First United States Eddie Lawson
Second United States Kevin Schwantz
Third United States Wayne Rainey
250cc
Pole position
Rider France Jean-Philippe Ruggia
Time 1:46.760
Fastest lap
Rider Spain Sito Pons
Time 1:47.300
Podium
First Spain Carlos Cardús
Second Switzerland Jacques Cornu
Third Spain Sito Pons
125cc
Pole position
Rider Spain Jorge Martínez
Time 1:55.420
Fastest lap
Rider Spain Jorge Martínez
Time 1:55.240
Podium
First Spain Jorge Martínez
Second Spain Àlex Crivillé
Third Italy Ezio Gianola

500 cc race report

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Eddie Lawson on pole. At the start, Wayne Rainey gets around Lawson, with Freddie Spencer in third, followed by Pierfrancesco Chili and Christian Sarron. Soon it’s the California duo with a small gap, and Kevin Schwantz has made up for his bad start by moving into third, with Kevin Magee in fourth.

Wayne Gardner crashes out, and Schwantz joins the fight for first, with back-marker traffic making life difficult for Lawson and Rainey.

Schwantz is braking very late and making it stick, and he and Lawson start to drop Rainey. Lawson manages to get past Schwantz on the start-finish straight, and though very few win a last lap battle with Schwantz, Lawson manages it, putting Schwantz in a crucial second place to extract maximum points from Rainey in third.

500 cc classification

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Pos. Rider Team Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1   Eddie Lawson Rothmans Kanemoto Honda Honda 29 50:16.940 1 20
2   Kevin Schwantz Suzuki Pepsi Cola Suzuki 29 +0.770 2 17
3   Wayne Rainey Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha 29 +15.530 3 15
4   Christian Sarron Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 Yamaha 29 +23.590 5 13
5   Kevin Magee Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha 29 +24.210 4 11
6   Pierfrancesco Chili HB Honda Gallina Team Honda 29 +37.000 7 10
7   Niall Mackenzie Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha 29 +53.540 6 9
8   Mick Doohan Rothmans Honda Team Honda 29 +59.120 8 8
9   Rob McElnea Cabin Racing Team Honda 29 +1:26.290 11 7
10   Adrien Morillas Team ROC Elf Honda Honda 29 +1:31.460 15 6
11   Randy Mamola Cagiva Corse Cagiva 28 +1 Lap 13 5
12   Thierry Crine Minolta Suzuki Racing Team Suzuki 28 +1 Lap 16 4
13   Alessandro Valesi Team Iberia Yamaha 28 +1 Lap 19 3
14   Simon Buckmaster Racing Team Katayama Honda 28 +1 Lap 21 2
15   Fabio Biliotti Racing Team Katayama Honda 27 +2 Laps 27 1
16   Eddie Laycock Honda 27 +2 Laps 20
17   Bruno Kneubühler Romer Racing Suisse Honda 27 +2 Laps 22
18   Juan Lopez Mella Club Motocross Pozuelo Honda 27 +2 Laps 26
19   Claude Albert Suzuki 27 +2 Laps 23
20   Jean Paul Lecointe Motodepot Suzuki 27 +2 Laps 28
21   Nicholas Schmassman FMS Honda 27 +2 Laps 31
22   Pascal Seguela Honda 27 +2 Laps 34
23   Bernard Gitton Byblos Fior 27 +2 Laps 35
24   Francisco Gonzales Club Motocross Pozuelo Honda 27 +2 Laps 36
25   Cees Doorakkers HRK Motors Honda 27 +2 Laps 24
Ret   Freddie Spencer Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha Retirement 9
Ret   Andreas Leuthe Librenti Corse Suzuki Retirement 33
Ret   Marco Gentile Fior Marlboro Fior Retirement 18
Ret   Wayne Gardner Rothmans Honda Team Honda Retirement 10
Ret   Marco Papa Team Greco Paton Retirement 25
Ret   Patrick Salles Fior Honda Retirement 30
Ret   Patrick Lerustre Fior Retirement 29
Ret   Bernard Andrault Honda Retirement 32
Ret   Fred Merkel HB Honda Gallina Team Honda Retirement 12
Ret   Raymond Roche Cagiva Corse Cagiva Retirement 17
DNS   Dominique Sarron Team ROC Elf Honda Honda Did not start 14
DNQ   Vittorio Scatola Honda Did not qualify
Sources:[5][6]

References

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  1. ^ "Alle Grand-Prix uitslagen en bijzonderheden, van 1973 (het jaar dat Jack begon met racen) tot heden". Archive.li. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  2. ^ Mitchell, Malcolm. "1989 500cc Class (FIM Grand Prix World Championship) Programmes - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Progcovers.com. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  3. ^ "Le Mans | the Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Archived from the original on 2018-05-21. Retrieved 2018-05-21.
  4. ^ "Moto GP statistics". Moto GP. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  5. ^ "1989 French MotoGP - Motor Sport Magazine Database". Motorsportmagazine.com. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  6. ^ "FRENCH GRAND PRIX · 500cc Race Classification 1989". Motogp.com. Retrieved 14 September 2018.


Previous race:
1989 Belgian Grand Prix
FIM Grand Prix World Championship
1989 season
Next race:
1989 British Grand Prix
Previous race:
1988 French Grand Prix
French motorcycle Grand Prix Next race:
1990 French Grand Prix