# 1989 German motorcycle Grand Prix

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' 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 | Manufacturer | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | Wayne Rainey | Team Lucky Strike Roberts | Yamaha | 19 | 39:14.750 | 2 | 20 |
| 2 | Eddie Lawson | Rothmans Kanemoto Honda | Honda | 19 | +0.270 | 3 | 17 |
| 3 | Mick Doohan | Rothmans Honda Team | Honda | 19 | +20.710 | 6 | 15 |
| 4 | Pierfrancesco Chili | HB Honda Gallina Team | Honda | 19 | +25.720 | 5 | 13 |
| 5 | Christian Sarron | Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 | Yamaha | 19 | +37.000 | 4 | 11 |
| 6 | Norihiko Fujiwara | Yamaha Motor Company | Yamaha | 19 | +42.980 | 11 | 10 |
| 7 | Kevin Magee | Team Lucky Strike Roberts | Yamaha | 19 | +43.540 | 10 | 9 |
| 8 | Dominique Sarron | Team ROC Elf Honda | Honda | 19 | +44.980 | 13 | 8 |
| 9 | Freddie Spencer | Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini | Yamaha | 19 | +53.020 | 9 | 7 |
| 10 | Rob McElnea | Cabin Racing Team | Honda | 19 | +1:08.530 | 12 | 6 |
| 11 | Ernst Gschwender | Suzuki Deutschland | Suzuki | 18 | +1 Lap | 15 | 5 |
| 12 | Randy Mamola | Cagiva Corse | Cagiva | 18 | +1 Lap | 14 | 4 |
| 13 | Alessandro Valesi | Team Iberia | Yamaha | 18 | +1 Lap | 16 | 3 |
| 14 | Simon Buckmaster | Racing Team Katayama | Honda | 18 | +1 Lap | 18 | 2 |
| 15 | Bruno Kneubuhler | Romer Racing Suisse | Honda | 18 | +1 Lap | 19 | 1 |
| 16 | Hansjoerg Butz | Autobus Butz Racing Team | Honda | 18 | +1 Lap | 22 | |
| 17 | Rachel Nicotte | | Chevallier Yamaha | 18 | +1 Lap | 20 | |
| 18 | Vittorio Scatola | | Honda | 18 | +1 Lap | 23 | |
| 19 | Juan Lopez Mella | Club Motocross Pozuelo | Honda | 18 | +1 Lap | 32 | |
| 20 | Petr Schleef | Schuh Racing Team | Honda | 18 | +1 Lap | 24 | |
| 21 | Michael Rudroff | HRK Motors | Honda | 18 | +1 Lap | 17 | |
| 22 | Josef Doppler | | Honda | 18 | +1 Lap | 25 | |
| 23 | Peter Linden | Team Heukeroff | Honda | 18 | +1 Lap | 28 | |
| 24 | Stefan Klabacher | | Honda | 18 | +1 Lap | 30 | |
| 25 | Helmut Schutz | Rallye Sport | Honda | 18 | +1 Lap | 31 | |
| 26 | Hans Klingebiel | | Suzuki | 18 | +1 Lap | 33 | |
| Ret | Ron Haslam | Suzuki Pepsi Cola | Suzuki | | Retirement | 8 | |
| Ret | Georg Robert Jung | Romer Telefix | Honda | | Retirement | 21 | |
| Ret | Marco Gentile | Fior Marlboro | Fior | | Retirement | 27 | |
| Ret | Kevin Schwantz | Suzuki Pepsi Cola | Suzuki | | Retirement | 1 | |
| Ret | Roland Busch | Schuh Racing Team | Honda | | Retirement | 35 | |
| Ret | Karl Dauer | PC Racing | Honda | | Retirement | 34 | |
| Ret | Alois Meyer | Rallye Sport | Honda | | Retirement | 29 | |
| Ret | Martin Troesch | | Honda | | Retirement | 36 | |
| Ret | Nicholas Schmassman | FMS | Honda | | Retirement | 26 | |
| Ret | Niall Mackenzie | Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini | Yamaha | | Retirement | 7 | |
| 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: ||||||||