Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127211
--. ~ m ~ 00 ~ ,......., '" ~ $-; iU ..0 0 ..... U 0 Eddie Lawson (1) leads the drag race from the green light with Wayne Rainey (3) and Kevin Schwantz (34) running neck and neck. Lawson (1 ) led Ra iney (3 ) before winner Schwantz (34) passed them both . Law son was second. Rainey t hi rd. World Championship Road Race Series: Final Round Schwantz wins, Lawson crowned in Brazil By Henny Ray Abrams GOlAN lA, BRAZIL, SEPT. 17 Team Rothmans Kanemoto Honda 's Eddie Lawson re ta in ed his 500cc World Champion ship ti tle by finishing second to T eam P epsi Suzuki.'s Kevin Schwantz i n ' the 12 season-e~ d ing . B~azili'.ln Grand P rix ~t GOl.ama while hI S cham p io n sh i p th reat, T eam Lucky Strike Rob erts Way ne Rai ney, fin ished th ird. Asked what the ha rdest part of th e race was , th e 3 1-year-old Lawson replied, "The who le thing was hard. Wayne was push in g hard a nd so was Kevin. It was a long, hard race. In the back o f m y mind was 'Don't fall orr: " In winning th e 1989 titl e, Lawson beco mes th e first rid er to repea t as 500cc World Ch ampion since Kenny Rob erts won hi s third consec u tive ti tle in 1980. La wso n a lso esta blished a n u mb er o f o ther firsts. In wi n ning the 1988 ti tle o n a Yama ha a nd th e '89 titl e o n a H onda he becomes th e first rider to ever wi n consec utive titl es o n differen t brands. He's a lso the firs t four-ti me America n Wo rld Champ io n, b reak in g a ti e w i th Robert s a nd Freddie Spe ncer, wh o won two 500cc titles and o ne 250cc ti tle, an d he joins th e esteeme d co m pany o f J ohn Su rtees, Mike H ailw o od , a n d G eoff Duke for seco n d pla ce behind e ig h t- ti me cha mpio n Gi acomo Agostini. What makes the titl e more sign ificant is th a t it was ac h ieved by th e first-year colla bo rat io n of Lawso n a nd tea m ow ne r/crew ch ief Erv Kanernoto, kn own for most of his career as the for ce beh ind Spencer 's th ree titles. " He's not just an engine genius," Lawson said, " He kn ow s th e bike in sid e a nd ou t, He saved me, ri ght fro m th e start of th e season ." Lost somewhat in the excitement of the cham p io ns hip was Sch wa n tz's sixth victory of the year. La wso n led from the start,' di ctating th e pace, with Rainey seco nd a nd Schw a n tz trailing. BU! on th e 19th of 32 laps, Schwantz passed Rainey a nd th ree laps la ter took over th e lead. Ra in ey, who starte d from th e pol e posi tion battled a det eriorating rear- tire and began to fade once the T exan moved b y, even tua lly finishin g behind Sc h wa ntz a nd Law son in third. La wson hung tough, finishing j us t I. 706 seco nds beh ind the winner. Schwantz averaged 97.892 mph for th e 76. 16-m ile race arou nd the ro ug h a nd d irty 2.38-mi le circ ui t, T he crowd was estimated by th e pro mo ter to be 15,0 00, d es p i te sha rply h igher. ticket p rices. Despite wi n ni ng six rac es this year, Sch wantz fail ed to finish five, an d boycotted th e Italian ro u nd, lea ving hi m wi th a fo urth-plac e fin ish in the point sta ndi ngs. The fin a l CO U lll read: La wso n 228, Ra iney 210 .5 , Christian Sarro n, e ig ht h today, 165.5, Schwan tz 162.5. A lonel y fou rt h today went to Rothmans H onda 's Mick Doohan , co mfo rta bly a hea d o f Ron H aslam on wha t ma y be hi s last ri de on the Pepsi Suzuki. Ra iney's tea mma te Kevin M a~ee was sixth, a spot worse th a n he finished in th e cha m pio nshi p, wi t h R o thm an s H onda ' s Wa yn e Gard ner ri ght on his tai l. T he n ca rne Marlboro Yam aha Tea m Agostini 's Ni a ll Mack enzi e, wh o failed a ll weekend to get the bik e sorted o u t, Adri en Mor illas o n th e Elf H onda , a n d T ea m Cagiva's . Rand y Ma mol a. As has been the case a ll year, th e 250cc race was a multi-rid er affair w i th Marl bo ro Yama ha 's Lu ca Cadalora taki ng over the lead on the 12t h of 27 la ps a nd holdi ng o n for his seco nd wi n of the year. Cada lo ra had used a better drive out o f the fin al corner before the long front strai gh t 10 hold o rr th e faster Hondas a nd it served h im best in the sp rint to the finish line wh ere he held o rr Ajinomoto H onda' s Masahiro Shi mi zu by .23 1 seco nd with H B-CR I Racing T eam 's L ori s R eg gi a n i th ird, a no the r .565 seco nd back . Fourth went to World Champion Sito Po ns, wh o a m onth ago success fu lly reta in ed his title a nd will now likel y move to the 500cc class with backing from Ca rnpsa, the Spa nish o il con-