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/1498809
turn one, but that's as good as it would get for the heroic Aussie, as his NSR started spluttering to a halt on the 18th lap and his goose was cooked. Rainey ended lap one in sixth as Schwantz began his fight back, and Beattie used the Honda horsepower to storm past Chandler into the lead at turn one on lap two. By one-third distance, Doohan's lack of race fitness after so many massive crashes began to show as he dropped back, while Schwantz and Rainey both charged for- ward. Alex Criville was quickly disposed of for third by Rainey. Schwantz soon followed and they both closed on Chandler. Beattie, meanwhile, was making the run from the three Americans, but as the weather began to turn on lap eight, they all began to close down the Aus- tralian in his first full year in the 500cc class. Schwantz, now up to second, closed inexorably on Beattie, pull- ing time back in every sector of the circuit, bar the 0.8-mile-long front straight where the Honda horsepower made the difference. He made his move for the lead on lap 10, and by lap 12, the first few spots of rain appeared on visors. The rain signaled the end of Beattie's home-win challenge, and the young Queenslander slowly began to drop back. Sud- denly, it was an all-American top three, but with no guarantee of the finishing order. "Next thing I knew Wayne and Doug were back all over me," Schwantz said. "It was only the rain that slowed me. There was nobody in front to give me any warning of the wet patches." But as the rain fell, so did the temperatures, and thus gave Schwantz's soft compound Michelins the chance to cool off slightly and last the distance. Rainey and Chandler were getting busy behind Schwantz and on the 19th lap, the two made contact through the uphill left of turn five when Rainey leaned on the front wheel of his compatriot, catching his knee and leaving a huge black rubber mark down his Nankai leathers. With Beattie now in a safe fourth with five laps to go, "I just wasn't prepared to push as hard as the top three in the wet as they were," Beattie said, the race order began to settle down with Schwantz leading from Rainey and Chandler. Suzuki's Texan, Schwantz, crossed the line for his first and only Australian Grand Prix victory 3.1 seconds up on Californians Rainey, on the Yamaha, and Chandler, on the Cagiva, the latter 6.1 seconds off the winning pace, with Beattie fourth from the second Lucky Strike Suzuki of Alex Barros. As the Star-Spangled Banner rang out over a grey western Sydney that Sunday afternoon, little did we know this would be the last time we would see an all-American top three in the world's premier racing series. We'd get a few more quinel - las, Rainey/Schwantz, Hayden/ Edwards, and lots of time we'd occupied second and third places on the podium, but we're still waiting for another 1-2-3 like we got at Eastern Creek 30 years ago. And, sadly, we'll likely be waiting a very, very long time. CN CNIIARCHIVES P132 Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives Schwantz is among the three who made up the last all-American MotoGP podium 30 years ago.