1989 Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix

The 1989 Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix was the seventh round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 2–4 June 1989 at the Salzburgring.

  1989 Austrian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 7 of 15 races in the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	4 June 1989
Official name	Großer Preis von Österreich
Location	Salzburgring
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.326 km (2.688 mi)
500 cc
Pole position Rider Kevin Schwantz Time 1:19.230 Fastest lap Rider Kevin Schwantz Time 1:19.150 Podium First Kevin Schwantz Second Eddie Lawson Third Wayne Rainey
250 cc
Pole position Rider Sito Pons Time 1:24.690 Fastest lap Rider Sito Pons Time 1:24.690 Podium First Sito Pons Second Jacques Cornu Third Martin Wimmer
125 cc
Pole position Rider Jorge Martínez Time 1:32.580 Fastest lap Rider Àlex Crivillé Time 1:38.130 Podium First Hans Spaan Second Julián Miralles Third Àlex Crivillé

500 cc race report

Another pole for Kevin Schwantz, with Eddie Lawson and Wayne Rainey on his left as the light turns green. Lawson leads a large group through the first lap, with Rainey, Schwantz and about 4 other riders. Soon it’s a trio of the leading riders, until Schwantz begins to desperately open a gap, his bike squirming and bucking into the corners. A red mist seems to descend on Rainey, as he passes Lawson on the outside to briefly move into second, while Ron Haslam leads a fight for fourth that includes Christian Sarron, Pierfrancesco Chili, Kevin Magee and Mick Doohan, the last going off track trying to come to terms with the pace.

Schwantz enlarges his gap, while Lawson drops Rainey, which turns out to be the podium order. Rainey’s 13 point lead over Lawson is down to 11.

500cc classification

Pos.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	Kevin Schwantz	Suzuki Pepsi Cola	Suzuki	29	38:39.005	1	20
2	Eddie Lawson	Rothmans Kanemoto Honda	Honda	29	+2.130	2	17
3	Wayne Rainey	Team Lucky Strike Roberts	Yamaha	29	+19.900	3	15
4	Christian Sarron	Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1	Yamaha	29	+37.830	5	13
5	Kevin Magee	Team Lucky Strike Roberts	Yamaha	29	+38.140	7	11
6	Pierfrancesco Chili	HB Honda Gallina Team	Honda	29	+38.500	4	10
7	Ron Haslam	Suzuki Pepsi Cola	Suzuki	29	+38.910	6	9
8	Mick Doohan	Rothmans Honda Team	Honda	29	+56.770	10	8
9	Freddie Spencer	Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini	Yamaha	29	+58.040	9	7
10	Dominique Sarron	Team ROC Elf Honda	Honda	29	+1:03.590	8	6
11	Rob McElnea	Cabin Racing Team	Honda	29	+1:15.170	11	5
12	Alessandro Valesi	Team Iberia	Yamaha	28	+1 Lap	14	4
13	Simon Buckmaster	Racing Team Katayama	Honda	28	+1 Lap	15	3
14	Marco Gentile	Fior Marlboro	Fior	27	+2 Laps	16	2
15	Bruno Kneubühler	Romer Racing Suisse	Honda	27	+2 Laps	17	1
16	Josef Doppler		Honda	27	+2 Laps	19
17	Georg Robert Jung	Romer Telefix	Honda	27	+2 Laps	18
18	Stefan Klabacher		Honda	27	+2 Laps	21
19	Michael Rudroff	HRK Motors	Honda	27	+2 Laps	22
20	Karl Dauer	PC Racing	Honda	27	+2 Laps	24
21	Nicholas Schmassman	FMS	Honda	27	+2 Laps	23
22	Francisco Gonzales	Club Motocross Pozuelo	Honda	27	+2 Laps	26
23	Pavel Dekanek		Honda	26	+3 Laps	30
24	Rudolf Zeller		Manhattan	26	+3 Laps	27
25	Hans Klingebiel		Honda	26	+3 Laps	25
26	Thomas Berghammer		Suzuki	26	+3 Laps	29
Ret	Alois Meyer	Rallye Sport	Honda		Retirement	28
Ret	Randy Mamola	Cagiva Corse	Cagiva		Retirement	12
Ret	Juan Lopez Mella	Club Motocross Pozuelo	Honda		Retirement	20
DNS	Norihiko Fujiwara	Yamaha Motor Company	Yamaha		Did not start	13
DNQ	Larry Moreno Vacondio		Suzuki		Did not qualify
Sources: