9 April - First Australian Grand Prix

For anyone who’s a fan of motorcycle racing, whether it’s MotoGP or World Superbikes, Phillip Island is a popular circuit, famous for hosting exciting races.

Australia is a long way from, well, most places, so it wasn’t until 1989 that the Aussies got their first 500cc Grand Prix.

Kevin Schwantz, 1993 500cc World Champion, took pole position on his Pepsi Cola Suzuki but crashed on lap two, leaving Wayne Rainey and Australia’s Wayne Gardner to duel for the win.

After a close battle, Gardner took the inaugural honours on his Rothmans Honda, beating Rainey across the line by three tenths of a second. Rainey grumbled afterwards that Gardner had ridden poorly, running in to him several times, and wouldn’t have won if it wasn’t for the home advantage.

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To me the best era of GP racing full of stars. Rainey, Schwantz, Lawson, Gardner, Mamola etc. I was never convinced that Doohan would have beaten those riders on a regular basis.

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He was in that race, and didn’t.

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Kevin was my favourite…

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KS really made me want to get outside and ride… fortunately, I never had the equipment, skills or balls to bring that copycat desire to the road :joy: RM was also inspirational in a way that WR, WG and MD never quite caught me… hooliganism tamed over precise workmanship (at least that’s my memory’s of that GP era)

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Philip Island is probably the nicest track.

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