1989 Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix
# 1989 Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix

The 1989 Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix was the thirteenth round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 11–13 August 1989 at the Anderstorp circuit.

## 500 cc race report

Wayne Rainey takes pole, then it's Kevin Schwantz and Eddie Lawson. Rainey gets the start, and Lawson moves into second, followed by Schwantz.

A lead group forms, with Rainey, a small gap to Lawson, then another small gap to Schwantz, Kevin Magee and Christian Sarron.

Schwantz cruises into the pits with a mechanical, and Lawson closes the gap to Rainey and moves into the lead. Sarron is in third a couple of bike lengths behind, and Wayne Gardner passes Magee for fourth spot.

With two laps to go, Rainey is right behind Lawson and highsides on the exit of a right-hander. It's a long tumble, but he gets up and doesn't try to pick up the bike. Though it's Rainey's only real mistake all year, Lawson's consistency and improvement brings him the win and a lead in the standings by 13.5 points. Sarron takes second, Gardner third.

Says Lawson of the lap that saw Rainey go down: "That was my fastest lap of the race; I'd never got on the throttle that early all race. When I cracked it open, Wayne followed me, and there was no way the Dunlop was going to do that. It wasn’t Wayne, it was the tyres."

## 500 cc classification

| Pos. | Rider | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Time/Retired | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Eddie Lawson | Rothmans Kanemoto Honda | Honda | 30 | 46:31.950 | 20 |
| 2 | Christian Sarron | Sonauto Gauloises Blondes Yamaha Mobil 1 | Yamaha | 30 | +5.650 | 17 |
| 3 | Wayne Gardner | Rothmans Honda Team | Honda | 30 | +25.030 | 15 |
| 4 | Niall Mackenzie | Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini | Yamaha | 30 | +31.630 | 13 |
| 5 | Kevin Magee | Team Lucky Strike Roberts | Yamaha | 30 | +51.550 | 11 |
| 6 | Ron Haslam | Suzuki Pepsi Cola | Suzuki | 30 | +55.450 | 10 |
| 7 | Pierfrancesco Chili | HB Honda Gallina Team | Honda | 30 | +55.660 | 9 |
| 8 | Adrien Morillas | Team ROC Elf Honda | Honda | 30 | +55.840 | 8 |
| 9 | Rob McElnea | Cabin Racing Team | Honda | 30 | +1:33.500 | 7 |
| 10 | Tadahiko Taira | Yamaha Motor Company | Yamaha | 29 | +1 Lap | 6 |
| 11 | Alessandro Valesi | Team Iberia | Yamaha | 29 | +1 Lap | 5 |
| 12 | Simon Buckmaster | Racing Team Katayama | Honda | 29 | +1 Lap | 4 |
| 13 | Fabio Biliotti | Racing Team Katayama | Honda | 28 | +2 Laps | 3 |
| 14 | Bruno Kneubühler | Romer Racing Suisse | Honda | 28 | +2 Laps | 2 |
| 15 | Juan Lopez Mella | Club Motocross Pozuelo | Honda | 28 | +2 Laps | 1 |
| 16 | Nicholas Schmassman | FMS | Honda | 28 | +2 Laps | |
| 17 | Timo Paavilainen | | Suzuki | 28 | +2 Laps | |
| Ret | Torbjorn Bastiansen | | Suzuki | | Retirement | |
| Ret | Andreas Leuthe | Librenti Corse | Suzuki | | Retirement | |
| Ret | Wayne Rainey | Team Lucky Strike Roberts | Yamaha | | Retirement | |
| Ret | Alan Carter | | Honda | | Retirement | |
| Ret | Kevin Schwantz | Suzuki Pepsi Cola | Suzuki | | Retirement | |
| Ret | Rachel Nicotte | | Chevallier Yamaha | | Retirement | |
| Ret | Peter Linden | Team Heukeroff | Honda | | Retirement | |
| DNS | Marco Gentile | Fior Marlboro | Fior | | Did not start | |
| DNS | Josef Doppler | | Honda | | Did not start | |
| DNS | Luca Cadalora | Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini | Yamaha | | Did not start | |
| DNQ | Francisco Gonzales | Club Motocross Pozuelo | Honda | | Did not qualify | |
| DNQ | Ian Pratt | | Suzuki | | Did not qualify | |
| DNQ | Aki Dahli | | Honda | | Did not qualify | |
| Sources: |||||||
