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| Race 3 of 15 races in the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | April 16, 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Official name | Dunlop USGP [1] [2] [3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Laguna Seca Raceway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Course |
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| 500 cc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 250 cc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1989 United States Motorcycle Grand Prix was the third round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It occurred from April 14 to April 16, 1989, at Laguna Seca. [4]
 | This section's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia.(March 2023) |
Leading the pack are Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Gardner, Kevin Magee, and Christian Sarron. Eddie Lawson swiftly moves from 6th to 2nd position in the first turn. Rainey begins to widen the gap, while Lawson and Schwantz engage in a close battle. However, Lawson makes a mistake while entering the Corkscrew, causing him to fall back into the group of Gardner, Magee, and Sarron.
Gardner crashes, fracturing his leg. Lawson capitalizes on fuel-delivery issues with Magee's Yamaha YZR 500 on the final lap, securing an all-American podium with Rainey taking first place and Schwantz in second.
During the cooldown lap, Magee, frustrated, initiates a burnout just after turn five. Bubba Shobert, conversing with Eddie Lawson at a low cruising speed, fails to notice Magee and accidentally collides with his right side, resulting in a forceful impact with the pavement. Shobert sustains severe head injuries that mark the end of his racing career, while Magee suffers a broken ankle. With both Magee and Gardner injured, Wayne Rainey's lead in the standings becomes vulnerable, depending on Lawson's ability to optimize the Honda setup or Schwantz's consistency in finishing races.
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Wayne Rainey | Team Lucky Strike Roberts | Yamaha | 40 | 58:56.179 | 1 | 20 | ||
| 2 | Kevin Schwantz | Suzuki Pepsi Cola | Suzuki | 40 | +6.849 | 2 | 17 | ||
| 3 | Eddie Lawson | Rothmans Kanemoto Honda | Honda | 40 | +19.912 | 6 | 15 | ||
| 4 |  Kevin Magee | Team Lucky Strike Roberts | Yamaha | 40 | +23.732 | 4 | 13 | ||
| 5 |  Niall Mackenzie | Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini | Yamaha | 40 | +28.223 | 7 | 11 | ||
| 6 |  Christian Sarron | Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 | Yamaha | 40 | +30.595 | 5 | 10 | ||
| 7 |  Pierfrancesco Chili | HB Honda Gallina Team | Honda | 40 | +1:29.901 | 11 | 9 | ||
| 8 | Mick Doohan | Rothmans Honda Team | Honda | 39 | +1 Lap | 12 | 8 | ||
| 9 | Bubba Shobert | Cabin Racing Team | Honda | 39 | +1 Lap | 13 | 7 | ||
| 10 | Dominique Sarron | Team ROC Elf Honda | Honda | 39 | +1 Lap | 15 | 6 | ||
| 11 | Alessandro Valesi | Team Iberia | Yamaha | 38 | +2 Laps | 16 | 5 | ||
| 12 |  Marco Gentile | Fior Marlboro | Fior | 38 | +2 Laps | 17 | 4 | ||
| 13 | Simon Buckmaster | Racing Team Katayama | Honda | 38 | +2 Laps | 18 | 3 | ||
| 14 | Bruno Kneubuhler | Romer Racing Suisse | Honda | 38 | +2 Laps | 19 | 2 | ||
| 15 |  Michael Rudroff | HRK Motors | Honda | 38 | +3 Laps | 21 | 1 | ||
| 16 |  Francisco Gonzales | Club Motocross Pozuelo | Honda | 37 | +4 Laps | 23 | |||
| 17 | Vincenzo Cascino | Honda | 37 | +4 Laps | 22 | ||||
| Ret | Ron Haslam | Suzuki Pepsi Cola | Suzuki | Retirement | 10 | ||||
| Ret |  Tadahiko Taira | Yamaha Motor Company | Yamaha | Retirement | 8 | ||||
| Ret | Nicholas Schmassman | FMS | Honda | Retirement | 20 | ||||
| Ret | Randy Mamola | Cagiva Corse | Cagiva | Retirement | 14 | ||||
| Ret | Eugene Brown | Suzuki | Retirement | 24 | |||||
| Ret | Wayne Gardner | Rothmans Honda Team | Honda | Retirement | 3 | ||||
| DNS | Freddie Spencer | Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini | Yamaha | Did not Start | 9 | ||||
| DNQ | David Busby | Honda | Did not Qualify | ||||||
| DNQ | Michael Wild | Suzuki | Did not Qualify | ||||||
| Sources: [5] [6] | |||||||||
The 1988 United States motorcycle Grand Prix was the second round of the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of April 8–10, 1988, at the Laguna Seca Raceway.
The 1988 German motorcycle Grand Prix was the sixth round of the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 27–29 May 1988 at the Nürburgring circuit.
The 1988 Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix was the seventh round of the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 10–12 June 1988 at the Salzburgring.
The 1988 Dutch TT was the eighth round of the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 23–25 June 1988 at the TT Circuit Assen located in Assen, Netherlands.
The 1988 Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix was the ninth round of the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 1–3 July 1988 at Spa-Francorchamps.
The 1988 Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix was the tenth round of the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 15–17 July 1988 at the Rijeka circuit.
The 1988 French motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 22–24 July 1988 at the 5.81 km (3.61 mi) Paul Ricard Circuit.
The 1988 British motorcycle Grand Prix was the twelfth round of the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 5–7 August 1988 at Donington Park.
The 1988 Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix was the thirteenth round of the 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 12–14 August 1988 at the Anderstorp circuit.
The 1989 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix was the second round of 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.
The 1989 German motorcycle Grand Prix was the sixth round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 26–28 May 1989 at the Hockenheimring circuit.
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.
The 1989 Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix was the eighth round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 9–11 June 1989 at the Automotodrom Grobnik circuit, near Rijeka.
The 1989 Dutch TT was the ninth round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 22–24 June 1989 at the TT Circuit Assen located in Assen, Netherlands.
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.
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.
The 1989 Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix was the thirteenth round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 11–13 August 1989 at the Anderstorp circuit.
The 1989 Czechoslovak motorcycle Grand Prix was the penultimate round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 25–27 August 1989 at the Masaryk Circuit located in Brno, Czechoslovakia.
The 1990 United States motorcycle Grand Prix was the second round of the 1990 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of April 6–8, 1990 at Laguna Seca.
The 1990 Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix was the sixth round of the 1990 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 8–10 June 1990 at the Salzburgring.