Eisspeedway

1990 Yugoslav motorcycle Grand Prix

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia  1990 Yugoslav Grand Prix
Race details
Race 7 of 15 races in the
1990 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date17 June 1990
Official nameYu Grand Prix[1][2]
LocationAutomotodrom Rijeka
Course
  • Permanent racing facility
  • 4.168 km (2.590 mi)
500cc
Pole position
Rider United States Wayne Rainey
Time 1:28.433
Fastest lap
Rider United States Wayne Rainey
Time 1:29.220
Podium
First United States Wayne Rainey
Second United States Kevin Schwantz
Third United Kingdom Niall Mackenzie
250cc
Pole position
Rider United States John Kocinski
Time 1:31.313
Fastest lap
Rider Germany Reinhold Roth
Time 1:31.952
Podium
First Spain Carlos Cardús
Second United States John Kocinski
Third Germany Martin Wimmer
125cc
Pole position
Rider Spain Jorge Martínez
Time 1:37.191
Fastest lap
Rider Italy Doriano Romboni
Time 1:38.076
Podium
First Germany Stefan Prein
Second Italy Loris Capirossi
Third Italy Bruno Casanova

The 1990 Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix was the seventh round of the 1990 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 15–17 June 1990 at the Rijeka circuit.[3]

500 cc race report

In qualifying Christian Sarron went down hard and was heaved roughly off the tarmac by track marshals, which brought complaints from riders that the race organization was unprofessional.

At the start, Wayne Rainey led, followed by Mick Doohan and Niall Mackenzie, while behind them two Cagiva riders collided and crashed: Ron Haslam and Randy Mamola. Haslam touched the back of a bike, and fell off into Mamola.

Kevin Schwantz was in 9th place after either a very bad start or a mechanical problem. The field was getting strung out, Rainey ahead, then Doohan, Mackenzie, Pierfrancesco Chili, and Jean-Philippe Ruggia, with Schwantz in eighth.

Alex Barros crashed and put Cagiva’s Yugoslavian GP to bed.

Schwantz found his rhythm and caught the group of three chasing Rainey: Doohan, Mackenzie and Chili; a small gap to the fight for sixth between Ruggia and Sito Pons.

The gap to Rainey looked too big to close, and the fight for second narrowed down to Mackenzie and Schwantz. Behind him, Doohan led Pons and Chili, but Pons lost the front end on the exit of a right turn, and Chili hit the fallen rider or bike and was thrown into the air. The marshals put Pons on the stretcher like there were snipers in the bleachers, and the question of race organization came to mind again.

250 cc

During the practice Wilco Zeelenberg was hurt.

The rain disturbed the race, which was stopped 2 laps before the end. But the drivers continued due to a bad coordination between marshals, with red flags that did not appear. Darren Milner, who was allowed to fill the empty place left on the grid by Zeelenberg, apparently saw the red flag. He was one lap behind the leaders. Milner slowed to a point he was a moving danger. And in fact Reinhold Roth, going still at full speed, smashed into Milner; also Alex Criville fell to avoid them. As the red flags finally come out the situation worsened, with people and rescuers crossing the track on the site of the shunt with the riders still going at good speed to pit. While Milner and Criville were lifted by rescuers again with unprofessional methods, Reinhold Roth was airlifted in critical state with cerebral injuries and thoracic trauma. Scenes of desperation from the Mobile Clinic were broadcast live on TV, making clear to everyone the heavy consequences of the crash. Reinhold Roth survived the crash but he remained hemiplegic. Carlos Cardus won the race.

500 cc classification

Pos. Rider Team Manufacturer Time/Retired Points
1 United States Wayne Rainey Marlboro Team Roberts Yamaha 48:10.806 20
2 United States Kevin Schwantz Lucky Strike Suzuki Suzuki +10.074 17
3 United Kingdom Niall Mackenzie Lucky Strike Suzuki Suzuki +33.685 15
4 Australia Mick Doohan Rothmans Honda Team Honda +43.530 13
5 France Jean Philippe Ruggia Sonauto Gauloises Yamaha +1:11.447 11
6 Italy Marco Papa Team ROC Elf La Cinq Honda +1 Lap 10
7 Netherlands Cees Doorakkers HRK Motors Honda +1 Lap 9
8 Austria Karl Truchsess Honda +1 Lap 8
9 Switzerland Nicholas Schmassman Team Schmassman Honda +1 Lap 7
Ret Italy Vittorio Scatola Team Elit Paton Retirement
Ret Spain Sito Pons Campsa Banesto Honda Retirement
Ret United Kingdom Ron Haslam Cagiva Corse Cagiva Retirement
Ret United States Randy Mamola Cagiva Corse Cagiva Retirement
Ret Spain Juan Garriga Ducados Yamaha Yamaha Retirement
Ret Italy Pierfrancesco Chili Team ROC Elf La Cinq Honda Retirement
Ret Brazil Alex Barros Cagiva Corse Cagiva Retirement
Sources: [4][5]

References


Previous race:
1990 Austrian Grand Prix
FIM Grand Prix World Championship
1990 season
Next race:
1990 Dutch TT
Previous race:
1989 Yugoslavian Grand Prix
Yugoslavian Grand Prix Next race:
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