The 1989 Nations motorcycle Grand Prix was the fifth race of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 12–14 May 1989 at the Misano circuit, located near the town of Misano Adriatico (Province of Rimini) in the frazione of Santa Monica-Cella.
500cc Race Report Before the race, riders were concerned about the track surface, considering it too slippery, and should it rain, even dangerous.
Dry track and dark clouds for the green light with Kevin Schwantz on pole. Pierfrancesco Chili got a good start and led briefly, then Schwantz, Wayne Rainey and Christian Sarron settled into the lead. Short afterwards, the rain started and Schwantz raised his hand to stop the race.
The top riders had a meeting and decided they wanted a practice session before restarting in the wet, but the request was refused by the race organizers and the riders decided to boycott the race. Eddie Lawson says, "This place is unique in that the track surface is very, very slippery, and when it has water on it you can’t ride on it. All the top riders felt it was too dangerous, and it is, and so we didn’t ride. It’s as simple as that. ... We go to plenty of racetracks where we test all week, in the sunshine, and then it starts to rain; well, we put rain tires on and we race. This place, you can’t do that. Regardless of not testing or anything else, you just can’t ride in the wet, it’s just too dangerous. It was unfortunate."Duke Video: "Bike GP 500 Review". Videocassette.
A notable dissenter is Chili, who wants to race, along with other riders. Chili manages to stay upright in the downpour and wins the race, with Lawson sarcastically cheering from the stands and Sarron blowing a kiss.
500cc Classification Pos. Rider Team ManufacturerLaps Time/RetiredGrid Points 1 Pierfrancesco Chili HB Honda Gallina Team Honda33 59:21.0353 20 2 Simon Buckmaster Racing Team Katayama Honda33 +32.27117 17 3 Michael Rudroff HRK Motors Honda33 +32.59924 15 4 Marco Gentile Fior Marlboro Fior33 +1:32.45119 13 5 Josef Doppler Honda33 +1:51.12025 11 6 Alois Meyer Rallye Sport Honda32 +1 Lap31 10 7 Romolo Balbi Honda32 +1 Lap23 9 8 Francisco Gonzales Club Motocross Pozuelo Honda32 +1 Lap32 8 9 Andreas Leuthe Librenti Corse Suzuki31 +2 Laps28 7 10 Nicholas Schmassman FMS Honda31 +2 Laps29 6 Ret Christian Sarron Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 Yamaha Retirement5 Ret Raymond Roche Cagiva Corse Cagiva Retirement18 Ret Alessandro Valesi Team Iberia Yamaha Retirement15 Ret Norihiko Fujiwara Yamaha Motor Company Yamaha Retirement14 Ret Freddie Spencer Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha Retirement7 Ret Ron Haslam Suzuki Pepsi Cola Suzuki Retirement8 Ret Eddie Lawson Rothmans Kanemoto Honda Honda Retirement2 Ret Wayne Rainey Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha Retirement4 Ret Juan Lopez Mella Club Motocross Pozuelo Honda Retirement21 Ret Massimo Broccoli Cagiva Corse Cagiva Retirement16 Ret Kevin Schwantz Suzuki Pepsi Cola Suzuki Retirement1 Ret Rob McElnea Cabin Racing Team Honda Retirement12 Ret Stefan Klabacher Honda Retirement30 Ret Dominique Sarron Team ROC Elf Honda Honda Retirement13 Ret Vittorio Scatola Suzuki Retirement22 Ret Larry Moreno Vacondio Suzuki Retirement33 Ret Bruno Kneubühler Romer Racing Suisse Honda Retirement20 Ret Fred Merkel HB Honda Gallina Team Honda Retirement10 Ret Niall Mackenzie Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha Retirement6 Ret Claude Albert Suzuki Retirement5 Ret Marco Papa Team Greco Paton Retirement27 Ret Randy Mamola Cagiva Corse Cagiva Retirement11 Ret Mick Doohan Rothmans Honda Team Honda Retirement9 DNS Claude Albert Suzuki Did not start26 Sources:
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