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 weekend was marred by the fatal accident of Italian-born Venezuelan rider Iván Palazzese in the 250cc race, who died after running into the back of Andreas Preining's seized motorcycle. Palazzese was then struck by Bruno Bonhuil and Fabio Barchitta while trying to pick himself up from the ground, causing him to suffer massive chest injuries that would result in his death.
500 cc race report The front of the grid is Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson, who stay in that order through the first few turns, though Mick Doohan soon takes third spot behind Lawson and Rainey, pushing Schwantz into third.
Lawson seems to miss a shift at a chicane, and lets Rainey and Schwantz through, who have become the leading group of three. The group is tight, and Schwantz still hasn't broken himself of the habit of looking behind him for no good reason.
Lawson puts himself at the front again, while back down the field Niall Mackenzie crashes out.
Schwantz develops a mechanical problem and drops out, leaving Lawson and Rainey to fight it out for first and Doohan and Christian Sarron for third place.
Last lap: Lawson ahead for the first half, but Rainey gets past on the brakes to a chicane. Going into the stadium section, Rainey is doing everything to keep Lawson behind him, doing a tremendous slide on his Dunlops. Rainey takes a very close win from Lawson, with a big gap to Doohan, then Pierfrancesco Chili and Sarron.
Two DNFs in a row seem to have ended Schwantz's hope for the championship, who was already pessimistic since his crash at Jerez. Schwantz can still affect the outcome of the championship by getting between Lawson and Rainey and denying the latter some points. Rainey and Lawson needle each other after the race and then say nothing to each other for the rest of the season.
A 23-year old Mick Doohan achieved his first 500cc podium on this day.
500 cc classification Pos. Rider Team ManufacturerLaps Time/RetiredGrid Points 1 Wayne Rainey Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha19 39:14.7502 20 2 Eddie Lawson Rothmans Kanemoto Honda Honda19 +0.2703 17 3 Mick Doohan Rothmans Honda Team Honda19 +20.7106 15 4 Pierfrancesco Chili HB Honda Gallina Team Honda19 +25.7205 13 5 Christian Sarron Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 Yamaha19 +37.0004 11 6 Norihiko Fujiwara Yamaha Motor Company Yamaha19 +42.98011 10 7 Kevin Magee Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha19 +43.54010 9 8 Dominique Sarron Team ROC Elf Honda Honda19 +44.98013 8 9 Freddie Spencer Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha19 +53.0209 7 10 Rob McElnea Cabin Racing Team Honda19 +1:08.53012 6 11 Ernst Gschwender Suzuki Deutschland Suzuki18 +1 Lap15 5 12 Randy Mamola Cagiva Corse Cagiva18 +1 Lap14 4 13 Alessandro Valesi Team Iberia Yamaha18 +1 Lap16 3 14 Simon Buckmaster Racing Team Katayama Honda18 +1 Lap18 2 15 Bruno Kneubuhler Romer Racing Suisse Honda18 +1 Lap19 1 16 Hansjoerg Butz Autobus Butz Racing Team Honda18 +1 Lap22 17 Rachel Nicotte Chevallier Yamaha18 +1 Lap20 18 Vittorio Scatola Honda18 +1 Lap23 19 Juan Lopez Mella Club Motocross Pozuelo Honda18 +1 Lap32 20 Petr Schleef Schuh Racing Team Honda18 +1 Lap24 21 Michael Rudroff HRK Motors Honda18 +1 Lap17 22 Josef Doppler Honda18 +1 Lap25 23 Peter Linden Team Heukeroff Honda18 +1 Lap28 24 Stefan Klabacher Honda18 +1 Lap30 25 Helmut Schutz Rallye Sport Honda18 +1 Lap31 26 Hans Klingebiel Suzuki18 +1 Lap33 Ret Ron Haslam Suzuki Pepsi Cola Suzuki Retirement8 Ret Georg Robert Jung Romer Telefix Honda Retirement21 Ret Marco Gentile Fior Marlboro Fior Retirement27 Ret Kevin Schwantz Suzuki Pepsi Cola Suzuki Retirement1 Ret Roland Busch Schuh Racing Team Honda Retirement35 Ret Karl Dauer PC Racing Honda Retirement34 Ret Alois Meyer Rallye Sport Honda Retirement29 Ret Martin Troesch Honda Retirement36 Ret Nicholas Schmassman FMS Honda Retirement26 Ret Niall Mackenzie Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini Yamaha Retirement7 DNQ Marco Papa Team Greco Paton Did not qualify DNQ Andreas Leuthe Librenti Corse Suzuki Did not qualify DNQ Francisco Gonzales Club Motocross Pozuelo Honda Did not qualify DNQ Vincenzo Cascino Honda Did not qualify DNQ Walther Maier Rallye Sport Honda Did not qualify Sources:
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