The 1990 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 42nd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
1990 marked the beginning of the Rainey era with the Marlboro-Yamaha rider taking 7 wins and scoring points in every race but Hungary after he had already clinched the championship. [1] Rainey's teammate was 1989 champion Eddie Lawson, but he was unable to defend his championship after breaking his left ankle in the first round and then severely shattering his right ankle the following round at Laguna Seca. Rainey on having Lawson as a teammate: “I just wanted to devastate Eddie. I don’t think he was ready for a team-mate like me. Maybe he thought he could control me, but at that stage I was past being controlled.” [2] Rainey switched from Dunlop to Michelin tires this year.
Kevin Schwantz continued to win on his Suzuki but just as often he would crash. [1] Australian Mick Doohan would win his first Grand Prix for Honda at the Hungaroring. [1]
The 1990 season continued the trend of crashes as riders tried to cope with the harsh power output of the V4 two-strokes. [1] Honda put forth a proposition limiting the top class to 375cc and 3 cylinders, but that never caught on. [1] Still, with 500cc lap times becoming stagnant, it was clear that something needed to be done. [1]
Newcomer John Kocinski took the 250 title for Kenny Roberts' Marlboro-Yamaha squad after a tight points battle with Carlos Cardús that was not decided until the final race of the season. [1] Despite five Grand Prix victories for Hans Spaan, seventeen-year-old Loris Capirossi became the youngest-ever world champion when he claimed the 125 crown for Honda. [1]
The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 1990: [3] [4]
Round | Date | Grand Prix | Circuit |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 25 March | Kibun Japanese Grand Prix | Suzuka Circuit |
2 | 8 April | U.S. Budweiser International Grand Prix | Laguna Seca Raceway |
3 | 6 May | Gran Premio de España | Circuito Permanente de Jerez |
4 | 20 May | G.P d'Italia | Circuito Internazionale Santa Monica |
5 | 27 May | Großer Preis von Deutschland | Nürburgring |
6 | 10 June | Großer Preis von Österreich | Salzburgring |
7 | 17 June | Yu Grand Prix | Automotodrom Rijeka |
8 | 30 June | Dutch TT | TT Circuit Assen |
9 | 7 July | Belgian Motorcycle Grand Prix | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps |
10 | 22 July | Grand Prix de France | Bugatti Circuit |
11 | 5 August | Shell British Motorcycle Grand Prix | Donington Park |
12 | 12 August | Nordic TT | Scandinavian Raceway |
13 | 26 August | Grand Prix Brno-CSFR | Brno Circuit |
14 | 2 September | Grand Prix Magyar Nagydíj | Hungaroring |
15 | 16 September | Drink/Drive Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit |
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Round | Date | Race | Location | 125cc winner | 250cc winner | 500cc winner | Report |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 25 March | Japanese Grand Prix | Suzuka | Hans Spaan | Luca Cadalora | Wayne Rainey | Report |
2 | 8 April | United States Grand Prix | Laguna Seca | John Kocinski | Wayne Rainey | Report | |
3 | 6 May | Spanish Grand Prix | Jerez | Jorge Martínez | John Kocinski | Wayne Gardner | Report |
4 | 20 May | Nations Grand Prix | Misano | Jorge Martínez | John Kocinski | Wayne Rainey | Report |
5 | 27 May | German Grand Prix | Nürburgring | Doriano Romboni | Wilco Zeelenberg | Kevin Schwantz | Report |
6 | 10 June | Austrian Grand Prix | Salzburgring | Jorge Martínez | Luca Cadalora | Kevin Schwantz | Report |
7 | 17 June | Yugoslavian Grand Prix | Rijeka | Stefan Prein | Carlos Cardús | Wayne Rainey | Report |
8 | 30 June | Dutch TT | Assen | Doriano Romboni | John Kocinski | Kevin Schwantz | Report |
9 | 7 July | Belgian Grand Prix | Spa | Hans Spaan | John Kocinski | Wayne Rainey | Report |
10 | 22 July | French Grand Prix | Le Mans | Hans Spaan | Carlos Cardús | Kevin Schwantz | Report |
11 | 5 August | British Grand Prix | Donington | Loris Capirossi | Luca Cadalora | Kevin Schwantz | Report |
12 | 12 August | Swedish Grand Prix | Anderstorp | Hans Spaan | Carlos Cardús | Wayne Rainey | Report |
13 | 26 August | Czechoslovakian Grand Prix | Brno | Hans Spaan | Carlos Cardús | Wayne Rainey | Report |
14 | 2 September | Hungarian Grand Prix | Hungaroring | Loris Capirossi | John Kocinski | Mick Doohan | Report |
15 | 16 September | Australian Grand Prix | Phillip Island | Loris Capirossi | John Kocinski | Wayne Gardner | Report |
Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points. [8]
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Points | 20 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
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Bold – Pole Position |
Place | Rider | Country | Team | Machine | Points | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | John Kocinski | United States | Marlboro-Yamaha Roberts | YZR250 | 223 | 7 |
2 | Carlos Cardús | Spain | Repsol-Honda | NSR250 | 208 | 4 |
3 | Luca Cadalora | Italy | Marlboro-Yamaha Agostini | YZR250 | 184 | 3 |
4 | Helmut Bradl | Germany | HB-Honda | NSR250 | 150 | 0 |
5 | Wilco Zeelenberg | Netherlands | Sharp-Samson Honda | NSR250 | 127 | 1 |
6 | Martin Wimmer | Germany | Hein Gericke Aprilia | RS250 | 118 | 0 |
7 | Masahiro Shimizu | Japan | Ajinomoto-Honda | NSR250 | 100 | 0 |
8 | Jochen Schmid | Germany | HB-Honda | NSR250 | 92 | 0 |
9 | Jacques Cornu | Switzerland | Lucky Strike-Elf Honda | NSR250 | 86 | 0 |
10 | Dominique Sarron | France | Rothmans-Honda | NSR250 | 78 | 0 |
11 | Àlex Crivillé | Spain | Yamaha | YZR250 | 76 | 0 |
12 | Didier de Radiguès | Belgium | Aprilia | RS250 | 66 | 0 |
13 | Loris Reggiani | Italy | Aprilia | RS250 | 63 | 0 |
14 | Reinhold Roth | Germany | Honda | NSR250 | 52 | 0 |
15 | Carlos Lavado | Venezuela | Aprilia | RS250 | 37 | 0 |
16 | Alberto Puig | Spain | Yamaha | YZR250 | 32 | 0 |
17 | Paolo Casoli | Italy | Yamaha | YZR250 | 32 | 0 |
18 | Andy Preining | Austria | Aprilia | RS250 | 30 | 0 |
19 | Marcellino Lucchi | Italy | Aprilia | RS250 | 23 | 0 |
20 | Adrien Morillas | Spain | Aprilia | RS250 | 22 | 0 |
21 | Renzo Colleoni | Italy | Aprilia | RS250 | 17 | 0 |
22 | Daryl Beattie | Australia | Honda | NSR250 | 13 | 0 |
23 | Harald Eckl | Austria | Aprilia | RS250 | 13 | 0 |
24 | Jorge Martínez | Spain | JJ Cobas | JJ-Cobas 250GP | 13 | 0 |
25 | Toshihiko Honma | Japan | Yamaha | YZR250 | 10 | 0 |
26 | Corrado Catalano | Italy | Aprilia | RS250 | 10 | 0 |
27 | Tetsuya Harada | Japan | Yamaha | YZR250 | 9 | 0 |
28 | Andrea Borgonovo | Italy | Aprilia | RS250 | 9 | 0 |
29 | Nobuatsu Aoki | Japan | Honda | NSR250 | 8 | 0 |
30 | Alberto Rota | Italy | Aprilia | RS250 | 8 | 0 |
31 | Masumitsu Taguchi | Japan | Honda | NSR250 | 7 | 0 |
32 | Tsutomu Udagawa | Japan | Honda | NSR250 | 6 | 0 |
33 | Niall Mackenzie | Great Britain | Yamaha | YZR250 | 5 | 0 |
34 | Jean Pierre Jeandat | France | Honda | NSR250 | 4 | 0 |
35 | Junzo Suzuki | Japan | Honda | NSR250 | 4 | 0 |
36 | Bernd Kassner | Germany | Yamaha | YZR250 | 4 | 0 |
37 | Josè Barresi | Venezuela | Yamaha | YZR250 | 4 | 0 |
38 | Bernard Haenggeli | Switzerland | Aprilia | RS250 | 4 | 0 |
39 | Rich Oliver | United States | Yamaha | YZR250 | 3 | 0 |
40 | Alan Carter | Great Britain | Honda | NSR250 | 3 | 0 |
41 | Clive Horton | Great Britain | Yamaha | YZR250 | 3 | 0 |
42 | Steve Manley | Great Britain | Yamaha | YZR250 | 2 | 0 |
43 | Kevin Mitchell | Great Britain | Yamaha | YZR250 | 2 | 0 |
44 | Urs Jücker | Switzerland | Yamaha | YZR250 | 2 | 0 |
45 | Yukio Nukumi | Japan | Yamaha | YZR250 | 1 | 0 |
46 | Ricky Rice | Australia | Yamaha | YZR250 | 1 | 0 |
47 | Jean Foray | France | Yamaha | YZR250 | 1 | 0 |
Place | Rider | Country | Number | Machine | Points | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Loris Capirossi | Italy | 65 | Honda | 182 | 3 |
2 | Hans Spaan | Netherlands | 2 | Honda | 173 | 5 |
3 | Stefan Prein | Germany | 7 | Honda | 169 | 1 |
4 | Doriano Romboni | Italy | 20 | Honda | 130 | 2 |
5 | Dirk Raudies | Germany | 16 | Honda | 113 | 0 |
6 | Jorge Martínez | Spain | 55 | JJ Cobas | 105 | 3 |
7 | Fausto Gresini | Italy | 8 | Honda | 102 | 0 |
8 | Bruno Casanova | Italy | 23 | Honda | 97 | 0 |
9 | Alessandro Gramigni | Italy | 39 | Aprilia | 84 | 0 |
10 | Heinz Lüthi | Switzerland | 66 | Honda | 78 | 0 |
11 | Adi Stadler | 11 | 77 | |||
12 | Gabriele Debbia | 37 | 55 | |||
13 | Julián Miralles | 46 | ||||
14 | Maurizio Vitali | 44 | ||||
15 | Manuel Hernandez | 40 | ||||
16 | Koji Takada | 39 | ||||
17 | Steve Patrickson | 32 | ||||
18 | Robin Appleyard | 32 | ||||
19 | Alfred Waibel | 31 | ||||
20 | Hisashi Unemoto | 30 | ||||
21 | Robin Milton | 28 | ||||
22 | Kinya Wada | 26 | ||||
23 | Ralf Waldmann | 19 | ||||
24 | Emilio Cuppini | 15 | ||||
25 | Herri Torrontegui | 14 | ||||
26 | Johnny Wickstroem | 13 | ||||
27 | Stefan Kurfiss | 11 | ||||
28 | Yoshifumi Ichimiya | 8 | ||||
29 | Hans Koopman | 7 | ||||
30 | Yukiho Hinokio | 6 | ||||
31 | Domenico Brigaglia | 6 | ||||
32 | Fuyuki Yamazaki | 5 | ||||
33 | Thierry Feuz | 5 | ||||
34 | Nobuyuki Wakai | 3 | ||||
35 | Flemming Kistrup | 3 | ||||
36 | Sinya Sato | 2 | ||||
37 | Alan Scott | 1 | ||||
38 | Jaime Mariano | 1 | ||||
39 | Antonio Sanchez | 1 | ||||
40 | Stuart Edwards | 1 | ||||
Wayne Wesley Rainey is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he won the 500cc World Championship three times and the Daytona 200 once. He was characterized by his smooth, calculating riding style, and for his intense rivalry with compatriot Kevin Schwantz, between 1987 and 1993.
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Eddie Ray Lawson is an American former professional motorcycle racer. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1983 to 1992.
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