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1991 United States motorcycle Grand Prix

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United States  1991 United States Grand Prix
Race details
Race 3 of 15 races in the
1991 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
DateApril 21, 1991
Official nameUnited States International Grand Prix[1][2][3]
LocationLaguna Seca Raceway
Course
  • Permanent racing facility
  • 3.520 km (2.187 mi)
500cc
Pole position
Rider United States Wayne Rainey Yamaha
Time 1:26.464
Fastest lap
Rider United States Wayne Rainey Yamaha
Time 1:27.040
Podium
First United States Wayne Rainey Yamaha
Second Australia Mick Doohan Honda
Third United States Kevin Schwantz Suzuki
250cc
Pole position
Rider Italy Luca Cadalora Honda
Time 1:29.030
Fastest lap
Rider Italy Luca Cadalora Honda
Time 1:28.912
Podium
First Italy Luca Cadalora Honda
Second Netherlands Wilco Zeelenberg Honda
Third Italy Loris Reggiani Honda
Sidecar (B2A)
Pole position
Rider France Alain Michel Krauser
Time 1:32.023
Fastest lap
Rider France Alain Michel Krauser
Time 1:32.212
Podium
First United Kingdom Steve Webster Krauser
Second France Alain Michel Krauser
Third United Kingdom Darren Dixon LCR-Krauser

The 1991 United States Motorcycle Grand Prix was the third round of the 1991 FIM Grand Prix motorcycle roadracing season, held on the weekend of April 19–21, 1991 at Laguna Seca Raceway. This event featured no fewer than four American riders on competitive equipment, plus two more on B-level machines, during the era of U.S. domination.

500 cc race report

[edit]

QUALIFYING[4] -- Kevin Schwantz wasn't getting the drive he wanted out of the corners in practice on his Suzuki RGVr500. "Rear wheel grip is definitely our biggest shortcoming. We're trying different combinations of raising and lowering the front and rear ends of the bike," Schwantz commented. He ended third-fastest in qualifying, later joking: "'The easiest way to correct our problem is to steer the front wheel in the direction of the slide."

Australian Mick Doohan, Honda's number one man, encountered front-end difficulties while trying to secure a decent grid positive for the race. "I'll lay it in and it wants to run wide. I can't get it on a tight enough line," Doohan complained. Mick's race-day plan was to gear the machine down, so as to better allow the power of his NSR500 to turn the bike by drifting the rear Michelin.

Four-time World Champion Eddie Lawson told reporters he was spending a lot of time supporting his Cagiva on his knee because his front end was pushing fairly often. Lawson continued to adjust settings and qualified his Italian machine just behind Doohan.

Keen attention was paid to reigning 250cc champion John Kocinski, who was race-favorite Wayne Rainey's new teammate on a 500 at Marlboro Roberts Yamaha. He hustled his bike around Laguna less than one-tenth of a second slower than Rainey in practice. "The knowledge of riding the 250 doesn't pertain to riding a 500 - it's a totally different animal," explained Kocinski. "You've got a lot more braking to worry about and the acceleration areas are a lot different. You've got a slower apex speed, a much faster exit and a faster entrance too, so everything's got to change." Kocinski's fourth and third place finishes in the opening races of the season indicated that he wouldn't have much trouble transitioning to the more powerful machine, though. And like Rainey, he considered Laguna his domain.

As expected, Rainey qualified ahead of Kocinski on pole position. "You've got to attack this race track. Bike set-up is critical here and some of the other guys had problems," Rainey observed. Less than one second covered 1st through 5th places on the starting grid.

RACE[4]—For the main event Schwantz donned an Arai helmet custom painted in army camouflage as his personal tribute to the U.S. troops who risked their lives for operation Desert Storm. The rear of the helmet featured a caricature nicknaming him "Stormin' Kevin Schwantzkopf" in a nod to American general Norman Schwarzkopf.

After the green light Schwantz and Rainey touched going over the turn one crest. Schwantz dove into the turn two hairpin first, followed closely by Rainey and Doohan. Rainey slipped inside Schwantz at the entrance to turn three. Schwantz changed his line to put the Suzuki side-by-side with Rainey heading toward turn four but Wayne had already begun to stretch a lead as they powered through the infield. Through the Corkscrew the order was Rainey, Schwantz, Doohan, Kocinski, Lawson and Wayne Gardner. Doohan had a problem coming down the hill and lost a few places. One lap later Rainey set the fastest time of the race, working his Dunlop tires to the limit, getting sideways out of the turn two, and pulling away steadily.

Kocinski soon settled down to low 1:27 times that rivaled his teammate's but didn't get by Schwantz into second place until the end of lap 5, squeezing him out on the brakes going into the turn eleven kink before the front straight. Two laps later, perhaps a bit too eager to close the gap to Rainey, Kocinski highsided out of the hairpin. Unhurt, he attempted to rejoin the race. "I got it started again but it didn't sound too good," Kocinski lamented. "I think it may have got some dirt in the motor so there was no use going on."

Schwantz inherited second place with Mick Doohan snapping at his heels after recovering from his miserable first lap. Doohan's Michelins began spinning on lap 4, so his lines were quite different from Schwantz's, who was great on the brakes but still had no drive.

"It was obvious that I was slowing him down," Schwantz said later. "Every time I looked back I just saw a big number three, I couldn't see any sky or anything. I ran as fast as I could but when the front started chattering I had to let him by." Doohan took over second on lap 21. By this time Rainey had an insurmountable lead so Mick held his Honda steady in second with Schwantz bringing the Suzuki in a comfortable third.

The scrap for fourth place was lively as Jean-Philippe Ruggia, Gardner, Lawson, and his Cagiva teammate Alexandre Barros interchanged positions several times in a four-man freight train. Ruggia finally pulled ahead of the group with Lawson finishing fifth. Barros chased Lawson home, with Gardner charging across the line in seventh place after a brief off-track excursion in turn six where he had crashed twice before in the previous two years. Juan Garriga, Adrien Morillas, and Didier de Radiguès rounded out the top ten.

Salinas-native Doug Chandler parked his Roberts B-Team Yamaha early in the race due to mechanical problems.

According to Michael Scott, Kocinski was so upset after his crash that he drove away from the track recklessly and refused to pull over when stopped by a policeman; he was arrested and sentenced to community service.[5]

500 cc classification

[edit]
Pos. Rider Team Manufacturer Laps Time Grid Points
1 United States Wayne Rainey Marlboro Team Roberts Yamaha 35 51:19.361 1 20
2 Australia Mick Doohan Rothmans Honda Team Honda 35 +6.974 4 17
3 United States Kevin Schwantz Lucky Strike Suzuki Suzuki 35 +16.603 3 15
4 France Jean-Philippe Ruggia Sonauto Yamaha Mobil 1 Yamaha 35 +19.931 10 13
5 United States Eddie Lawson Cagiva Corse Cagiva 35 +21.851 5 11
6 Brazil Alex Barros Cagiva Corse Cagiva 35 +25.091 7 10
7 Australia Wayne Gardner Rothmans Honda Team Honda 35 +35.069 6 9
8 Spain Juan Garriga Ducados Yamaha Yamaha 35 +43.188 9 8
9 France Adrien Morillas Sonauto Yamaha Mobil 1 Yamaha 35 +53.613 8 7
10 Belgium Didier de Radiguès Lucky Strike Suzuki Suzuki 35 +1:03.059 13 6
11 United States Rich Oliver Marlboro Team Roberts Yamaha 34 +1 lap 14 5
12 South Africa Robbie Petersen Marlboro Team Roberts Yamaha 34 +1 lap 15 4
13 Republic of Ireland Eddie Laycock Millar Racing Yamaha 34 +1 lap 3
14 Netherlands Cees Doorakkers HEK-Baumachines Honda 32 +3 laps 2
15 Switzerland Niggi Schmassman Schmassman Technotron Honda 31 +4 laps 1
Ret United States Doug Chandler Roberts B Team Yamaha 22 Retired 11
Ret Spain Sito Pons Campsa Honda Team Honda 10 Retired 12
Ret United States John Kocinski Marlboro Team Roberts Yamaha 6 Retired 2
Sources:[6][7][8]

250 cc classification

[edit]
Pos Rider Manufacturer Laps Time Grid Points
1 Italy Luca Cadalora Honda 30 45:07.590 1 20
2 Netherlands Wilco Zeelenberg Honda 30 +6.074 4 17
3 Italy Loris Reggiani Aprilia 30 +15.044 2 15
4 Spain Carlos Cardús Honda 30 +19.352 5 13
5 Japan Masahiro Shimizu Honda 30 +25.933 9 11
6 Austria Andreas Preining Aprilia 30 +38.725 8 10
7 Germany Martin Wimmer Suzuki 30 +50.153 3 9
8 Germany Helmut Bradl Honda 30 +53.263 6 8
9 Spain Àlex Crivillé Honda 30 +59.804 11 7
10 Germany Jochen Schmid Honda 30 +1:03.512 12 6
11 France Jean-Pierre Jeandat Honda 30 +1:18.138 5
12 Venezuela Carlos Lavado Yamaha 30 +1:25.047 10 4
13 Italy Doriano Romboni Honda 30 +1:29.149 3
14 Germany Harald Eckl Aprilia 30 +1:29.756 14 2
15 Germany Stefan Prein Honda 30 +1:37.767 1
16 United States Jim Filice Yamaha 30 +1:39.633 15
17 Switzerland Bernard Hänggeli Aprilia 30 +1:40.754
18 Switzerland Urs Jucker Yamaha 30 +1:46.428
19 Netherlands Leon van der Heyden Honda 30 +1:50.358
20 Spain Jaime Mariano Aprilia 30 +2:03.170
21 United States Nick Ienatsch Yamaha 30 +2:18.506
22 United States Chris D'Aluisio Yamaha 30 +2:22.648
23 United States Rick Kirk Yamaha 30 +2:32.444
24 Italy Corrado Catalano Honda 30 +2:38.468
25 Canada Jon Cornwell Yamaha 30 +2:50.132
26 United States Mike Sullivan Yamaha 29 +1 lap
27 United Kingdom Ian Newton Yamaha 28 +2 laps
Ret Italy Pierfrancesco Chili Aprilia 24 Retired 7
Ret Spain Alberto Puig Yamaha 17 Retired
Ret France Frédéric Protat Aprilia 16 Retired
Ret United Kingdom Kevin Mitchell Yamaha 15 Retired
Ret United States Allan Scott Yamaha 10 Retired
Ret Canada Rick Tripodi Yamaha 7 Retired
Ret Italy Paolo Casoli Yamaha 1 Retired 13
[8]

Sidecar classification

[edit]
Pos Rider Passenger Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 United Kingdom Steve Webster United Kingdom Gavin Simmons Krauser 30 47:03.220 2 20
2 France Alain Michel United Kingdom Simon Birchall Krauser 30 +9.465 1 17
3 United Kingdom Darren Dixon United Kingdom Sean Dixon LCR-Krauser 30 +29.100 5 15
4 Switzerland Rolf Biland Switzerland Kurt Waltisperg Krauser 30 +32.018 4 13
5 Switzerland Markus Egloff Switzerland Urs Egloff Yamaha 30 +40.265 8 11
6 United Kingdom Steve Abbott United Kingdom Shaun Smith LCR-Krauser 30 +43.759 6 10
7 Germany Ralph Bohnhorst Germany Bruno Hiller LCR 30 +53.794 10 9
8 Switzerland Paul Güdel Switzerland Charly Güdel LCR-Krauser 30 +1:17.234 11 8
9 Switzerland René Progin United Kingdom Gary Irlam LCR 30 +1:26.511 9 7
10 Japan Masato Kumano Germany Eckhart Rösinger Yamaha 30 +1:26.781 13 6
11 United Kingdom Barry Brindley United Kingdom Grahame Rose LCR-Yamaha 29 +1 lap 12 5
12 Germany Frank Voigt Germany Holger Voigt Schuh-Spezial 28 +2 laps 4
13 Switzerland Alfred Zurbrügg Switzerland Martin Zurbrügg Yamaha 27 +3 laps 15 3
Ret United Kingdom Barry Smith United Kingdom David Smith Windle-ADM 23 Retired
Ret Netherlands Theo van Kempen Netherlands Jan Kuyt LCR-Krauser 20 Retired
Ret United Kingdom Tony Baker United Kingdom Simon Prior LCR-Krauser 18 Retired
Ret United Kingdom Derek Brindley United Kingdom Nick Roche LCR-Krauser 15 Retired 14
Ret Netherlands Egbert Streuer United Kingdom Peter Essaff LCR-Yamaha 10 Retired 3
Ret Japan Yoshisada Kumagaya United Kingdom Bryan Houghton Krauser 9 Retired 7
Ret Germany Werner Kraus Germany Thomas Schröder ADM 9 Retired
Ret United Kingdom Gary Thomas United States Gary Twenstrup Krauser 3 Retired
[8]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Grand Prix uitslagen en bijzonderheden 1991". July 25, 2015. Archived from the original on July 25, 2015.
  2. ^ Mitchell, Malcolm. "1991 500cc Class (FIM Grand Prix World Championship) Programmes - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  3. ^ Mitchell, Malcolm. "Laguna Seca Raceway - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". www.progcovers.com.
  4. ^ a b Weaver, Glen (May 16, 1991). "Rainey Scores U.S. Grand Prix Hat Trick at Laguna Seca". The Redwood Review. UC Santa Cruz, CA.
  5. ^ Scott, Michael: "Wayne Rainey", page 152. Haynes Publishing, 1997.
  6. ^ "1991 United States MotoGP - Motor Sport Magazine Database". June 13, 2017.
  7. ^ "motogp.com · UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX · 500cc Race Classification 1991". www.motogp.com.
  8. ^ a b c Scott, Michael (ed.). Motocourse 1991-1992. Hazleton Publishing. pp. 80–81. ISBN 0-905138-88-0.


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1991 Australian Grand Prix
FIM Grand Prix World Championship
1991 season
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1991 Spanish Grand Prix
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1990 United States Grand Prix
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1993 United States Grand Prix