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 | ![]() | Suzuka Circuit |
2 | 8 April | ![]() | Laguna Seca Raceway |
3 | 6 May | ![]() | Circuito Permanente de Jerez |
4 | 20 May | ![]() | Circuito Internazionale Santa Monica |
5 | 27 May | ![]() | Nürburgring |
6 | 10 June | ![]() | Salzburgring |
7 | 17 June | ![]() | Automotodrom Rijeka |
8 | 30 June | ![]() | TT Circuit Assen |
9 | 7 July | ![]() | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps |
10 | 22 July | ![]() | Bugatti Circuit |
11 | 5 August | ![]() | Donington Park |
12 | 12 August | ![]() | Scandinavian Raceway |
13 | 26 August | ![]() | Brno Circuit |
14 | 2 September | ![]() | Hungaroring |
15 | 16 September | ![]() | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit |
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Round | Date | Race | Location | 125cc winner | 250cc winner | 500cc winner | Report |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 25 March | ![]() | Suzuka | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Report |
2 | 8 April | ![]() | Laguna Seca | ![]() | ![]() | Report | |
3 | 6 May | ![]() | Jerez | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Report |
4 | 20 May | ![]() | Misano | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Report |
5 | 27 May | ![]() | Nürburgring | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Report |
6 | 10 June | ![]() | Salzburgring | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Report |
7 | 17 June | ![]() | Rijeka | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Report |
8 | 30 June | ![]() | Assen | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Report |
9 | 7 July | ![]() | Spa | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Report |
10 | 22 July | ![]() | Le Mans | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Report |
11 | 5 August | ![]() | Donington | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Report |
12 | 12 August | ![]() | Anderstorp | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Report |
13 | 26 August | ![]() | Brno | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Report |
14 | 2 September | ![]() | Hungaroring | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Report |
15 | 16 September | ![]() | Phillip Island | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | 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 | ![]() | United States | Marlboro-Yamaha Roberts | YZR250 | 223 | 7 |
2 | ![]() | Spain | Repsol-Honda | NSR250 | 208 | 4 |
3 | ![]() | Italy | Marlboro-Yamaha Agostini | YZR250 | 184 | 3 |
4 | ![]() | Germany | HB-Honda | NSR250 | 150 | 0 |
5 | ![]() | Netherlands | Sharp-Samson Honda | NSR250 | 127 | 1 |
6 | ![]() | Germany | Hein Gericke Aprilia | RS250 | 118 | 0 |
7 | ![]() | Japan | Ajinomoto-Honda | NSR250 | 100 | 0 |
8 | ![]() | Germany | HB-Honda | NSR250 | 92 | 0 |
9 | ![]() | Switzerland | Lucky Strike-Elf Honda | NSR250 | 86 | 0 |
10 | ![]() | France | Rothmans-Honda | NSR250 | 78 | 0 |
11 | ![]() | Spain | Yamaha | YZR250 | 76 | 0 |
12 | ![]() | Belgium | Aprilia | RS250 | 66 | 0 |
13 | ![]() | Italy | Aprilia | RS250 | 63 | 0 |
14 | ![]() | Germany | Honda | NSR250 | 52 | 0 |
15 | ![]() | Venezuela | Aprilia | RS250 | 37 | 0 |
16 | ![]() | Spain | Yamaha | YZR250 | 32 | 0 |
17 | ![]() | Italy | Yamaha | YZR250 | 32 | 0 |
18 | ![]() | Austria | Aprilia | RS250 | 30 | 0 |
19 | ![]() | Italy | Aprilia | RS250 | 23 | 0 |
20 | ![]() | Spain | Aprilia | RS250 | 22 | 0 |
21 | ![]() | Italy | Aprilia | RS250 | 17 | 0 |
22 | ![]() | Australia | Honda | NSR250 | 13 | 0 |
23 | ![]() | Austria | Aprilia | RS250 | 13 | 0 |
24 | ![]() | Spain | JJ Cobas | JJ-Cobas 250GP | 13 | 0 |
25 | ![]() | Japan | Yamaha | YZR250 | 10 | 0 |
26 | ![]() | Italy | Aprilia | RS250 | 10 | 0 |
27 | ![]() | Japan | Yamaha | YZR250 | 9 | 0 |
28 | ![]() | Italy | Aprilia | RS250 | 9 | 0 |
29 | ![]() | Japan | Honda | NSR250 | 8 | 0 |
30 | ![]() | Italy | Aprilia | RS250 | 8 | 0 |
31 | ![]() | Japan | Honda | NSR250 | 7 | 0 |
32 | ![]() | Japan | Honda | NSR250 | 6 | 0 |
33 | ![]() | Great Britain | Yamaha | YZR250 | 5 | 0 |
34 | ![]() | France | Honda | NSR250 | 4 | 0 |
35 | ![]() | Japan | Honda | NSR250 | 4 | 0 |
36 | ![]() | Germany | Yamaha | YZR250 | 4 | 0 |
37 | ![]() | Venezuela | Yamaha | YZR250 | 4 | 0 |
38 | ![]() | Switzerland | Aprilia | RS250 | 4 | 0 |
39 | ![]() | United States | Yamaha | YZR250 | 3 | 0 |
40 | ![]() | Great Britain | Honda | NSR250 | 3 | 0 |
41 | ![]() | Great Britain | Yamaha | YZR250 | 3 | 0 |
42 | ![]() | Great Britain | Yamaha | YZR250 | 2 | 0 |
43 | ![]() | Great Britain | Yamaha | YZR250 | 2 | 0 |
44 | ![]() | Switzerland | Yamaha | YZR250 | 2 | 0 |
45 | ![]() | Japan | Yamaha | YZR250 | 1 | 0 |
46 | ![]() | Australia | Yamaha | YZR250 | 1 | 0 |
47 | ![]() | France | Yamaha | YZR250 | 1 | 0 |
Place | Rider | Country | Number | Machine | Points | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | Italy | 65 | Honda | 182 | 3 |
2 | ![]() | Netherlands | 2 | Honda | 173 | 5 |
3 | ![]() | Germany | 7 | Honda | 169 | 1 |
4 | ![]() | Italy | 20 | Honda | 130 | 2 |
5 | ![]() | Germany | 16 | Honda | 113 | 0 |
6 | ![]() | Spain | 55 | JJ Cobas | 105 | 3 |
7 | ![]() | Italy | 8 | Honda | 102 | 0 |
8 | ![]() | Italy | 23 | Honda | 97 | 0 |
9 | ![]() | Italy | 39 | Aprilia | 84 | 0 |
10 | ![]() | 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.
Giacomo Agostini is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Nicknamed Ago, he amassed 122 Grand Prix wins and 15 World Championship titles. Of these, 68 wins and 8 titles came in the 500 cc class, the rest in the 350 cc class. For these achievements obtained over the course of a career spanning 17 years, the AMA described him as "...perhaps the greatest Grand Prix rider of all time". In 2000, Agostini was inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame as a MotoGP Legend, while in 2010, he was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements.
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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