1989 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix

  1989 Australian Grand Prix

Race details
Race 2 of 15 races in the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	9 April 1989
Official name	Swan Premium Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix
Location	Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.445 km (2.762 mi)
500cc
Pole position Rider Kevin Schwantz Time 1:34.990 Fastest lap Rider Pierfrancesco Chili Time 1:35.280 Podium First Wayne Gardner Second Wayne Rainey Third Christian Sarron
250cc
Pole position Rider Jean-Philippe Ruggia Time 1:38.830 Fastest lap Rider Luca Cadalora Time 1:38.490 Podium First Sito Pons Second Jean-Philippe Ruggia Third Luca Cadalora
125cc
Pole position Rider Jorge Martínez Time 1:45.530 Fastest lap Rider Jorge Martínez Time 1:46.530 Podium First Àlex Crivillé Second Robin Milton Third Alan Scott

The 1989 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix was the second of 15 races in the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of April 7–9, 1989, at Phillip Island, and was the first-ever World Championship Motorcycle Grand Prix to be held in Australia.

500 cc race report

Into the first corner of the race, Wayne Rainey, Tadahiko Taira, and Kevin Schwantz were at the front of the field, with Wayne Gardner in 4th. On the second lap whilst running in second place, Schwantz crashed out at Turn Ten; as he walked away from his Suzuki, he appeared visibly annoyed.

Rainey pulled out a lead of more than a second, followed by Kevin Magee, Taira, Gardner, Mick Doohan, and Eddie Lawson. Gardner eventually overtook Magee at Turn Four, and Pierfrancesco Chili crashed out for the second successive race. Gardner caught Rainey and began to swap the lead, while Magee, Christian Sarron, Freddie Spencer, and Lawson closed in on the leaders. Sarron caught up and went to the front with the leaders, while Magee held 4th spot. Spencer fell off and did not finish the race.

On the last lap, Gardner led, with Rainey and Sarron behind, and a further small gap to Magee. Rainey's depleted tyres meant he was unable to pass Gardner, and Gardner won the race, followed by Rainey and Sarron.

During the race, Wayne Rainey and Wayne Gardner had some close encounters on the track.

500 cc classification

Pos.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	Wayne Gardner	Rothmans Honda Team	Honda	30	48:15.940	3	20
2	Wayne Rainey	Team Lucky Strike Roberts	Yamaha	30	+0.350	2	17
3	Christian Sarron	Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1	Yamaha	30	+0.470	5	15
4	Kevin Magee	Team Lucky Strike Roberts	Yamaha	30	+1.510	6	13
5	Eddie Lawson	Rothmans Kanemoto Honda	Honda	30	+10.970	7	11
6	Tadahiko Taira	Yamaha Motor Company	Yamaha	30	+12.570	4	10
7	Ron Haslam	Suzuki Pepsi Cola	Suzuki	30	+32.460	11	9
8	Mick Doohan	Rothmans Honda Team	Honda	30	+47.660	12	8
9	Michael Dowson		Yamaha	30	+1:27.820	16	7
10	Dominique Sarron	Team ROC Elf Honda	Honda	29	+1 Lap	17	6
11	Alessandro Valesi	Team Iberia	Yamaha	29	+1 Lap	19	5
12	Simon Buckmaster	Racing Team Katayama	Honda	29	+1 Lap	20	4
13	Marco Gentile	Fior Marlboro	Fior	29	+1 Lap	18	3
14	Nicholas Schmassman	FMS	Honda	27	+3 Laps	22	2
15	Michael Rudroff	HRK Motors	Honda	27	+3 Laps	21	1
Ret	Greg Drew		PRP		Retirement	23
Ret	Freddie Spencer	Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini	Yamaha		Retirement	8
Ret	Randy Mamola	Cagiva Corse	Cagiva		Retirement	14
Ret	Malcolm Campbell		Honda		Retirement	15
Ret	Kevin Schwantz	Suzuki Pepsi Cola	Suzuki		Retirement	1
Ret	Bubba Shobert	Cabin Racing Team	Honda		Retirement	13
Ret	Francisco Gonzales	Club Motocross Pozuelo	Honda		Retirement	24
Ret	Niall Mackenzie	Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini	Yamaha		Retirement	9
Ret	James Judd		Yamaha		Retirement	25
Ret	Pierfrancesco Chili	HB Honda Gallina Team	Honda		Retirement	10
DNS	Craig Harwood		Yamaha		Did not start
Sources: