1993 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix

  1993 Japanese Grand Prix

Race details
Race 3 of 14 races in the 1993 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	18 April 1993
Location	Suzuka
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.821 km (3.618 mi)
500 cc
Pole position
Rider	Kevin Schwantz
Time	2:09.239
Fastest lap
Rider	Kevin Schwantz
Time	2:09.891
Podium
First	Wayne Rainey
Second	Kevin Schwantz
Third	Daryl Beattie
250 cc
Pole position
Rider	Tetsuya Harada
Time	2:11.089
Fastest lap
Rider	Loris Capirossi
Time	2:12.281
Podium
First	Tetsuya Harada
Second	Tadayuki Okada
Third	Doriano Romboni
125 cc
Pole position
Rider	Dirk Raudies
Time	2:20.046
Fastest lap
Rider	Kazuto Sakata
Time	2:20.231
Podium
First	Dirk Raudies
Second	Kazuto Sakata
Third	Takeshi Tsujimura

The 1993 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix was the third round of the 1993 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on 18 April 1993, at the Suzuka Circuit.

500 cc race report

Freddie Spencer out with an injury during qualifying. Mick Doohan’s bike has an extra lever on the left side for the rear brake, but it’s not the thumb lever that will appear later; he qualifies in 5th.

Kevin Schwantz gets a 3rd pole and the start from Alex Barros, Wayne Rainey in 5th.

Shinichi Itoh into 1st from Schwantz, Barros, Àlex Crivillé and Rainey.

Rainey moves into 3rd after a little difficulty getting past Barros.

Itoh with a small gap, then Rainey passes Schwantz on the esses to take 2nd. Rainey takes the lead on Spoon, Itoh retakes it on 130R, and Rainey tries to get him back at the chicane but can’t do it from the outside. While Itoh and Rainey are trading the lead, Schwantz catches up.

Rainey tries the hairpin pass again, but runs wide and Itoh goes through, with Schwantz right on Rainey’s wheel. Schwantz moves into 2nd on 130R and carries the momentum into the chicane and passes Itoh on the inside. Daryl Beattie has now made this a 4-man leading group.

Itoh retakes the lead on the straight, and Schwantz gets him back at the hairpin; Itoh looking very aggressive and not giving it to Schwantz. Itoh takes the lead again on the back straight, and Beattie moves into 3rd on 130R. Schwantz takes the lead on the chicane.

Replay of last lap, but at Spoon, Beattie takes second from Itoh, Rainey in 4th.

Luca Cadalora out with a problem.

Schwantz still in the lead, and Rainey takes second place from Beattie. Rainey passes Schwantz on Spoon and makes it stick, Schwantz through again on 130R.

Later at 130R, Schwantz goes from 1st to 3rd as Beattie takes 1st and Rainey 2nd, but Rainey has a better line and gets to the chicane in 1st place, and into the last lap.

Itoh passes Schwantz for 3rd on the straight. Rainey is dramatically sliding the rear on the exit of the aptly named Dunlop Corner, eking out a crucial half a second to Beattie behind him. Itoh almost blocks Schwantz at the hairpin, but can’t keep him behind when he exit a little wide; Schwantz closing to Beattie at Spoon.

Though he’s closed the gap, Beattie isn’t close enough to draft-pass Rainey on 130R; his relative inexperience shows up at the chicane when he takes a wide line in anticipation of a good exit, but lets Schwantz through into 2nd as a result. Schwantz can’t manage to close Rainey down before the line. Rainey considered it his best win ever, being on a slower bike and winning by tactics and aggression.^[1]

500 cc classification

Pos	No	Rider	Manufacturer	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Wayne Rainey	Yamaha	46:12.307	3	25
2	34	Kevin Schwantz	Suzuki	+0.086	1	20
3	4	Daryl Beattie	Honda	+0.287	6	16
4	6	Shinichi Itoh	Honda	+1.782	2	13
5	8	Àlex Crivillé	Honda	+22.532	14	11
6	9	Alex Barros	Suzuki	+22.819	5	10
7	2	Mick Doohan	Honda	+23.004	4	9
8	39	Toshihiko Honma	Yamaha	+25.559	10	8
9	88	Kevin Magee	Yamaha	+25.711	7	7
10	50	Norihiko Fujiwara	Yamaha	+34.865	9	6
11	5	Doug Chandler	Cagiva	+1:04.726	8	5
12	13	Toshiyuki Arakaki	ROC Yamaha	+1:17.730	13	4
13	11	Niall Mackenzie	ROC Yamaha	+1:18.044	17	3
14	15	Tsutomu Udagawa	ROC Yamaha	+1:41.399	11	2
15	29	Sean Emmett	Harris Yamaha	+1:46.827	22	1
16	21	Laurent Naveau	ROC Yamaha	+1:47.383	19
17	25	Thierry Crine	ROC Yamaha	+2:01.808	23
18	22	Kevin Mitchell	Harris Yamaha	+2:09.359	25
19	32	José Kuhn	ROC Yamaha	+1 Lap	30
20	31	Bruno Bonhuil	ROC Yamaha	+1 Lap	32
21	44	Alan Scott	Harris Yamaha	+1 Lap	31
22	27	Renato Colleoni	ROC Yamaha	+1 Lap	28
23	24	Cees Doorakkers	Harris Yamaha	+1 Lap	33
24	33	Andreas Meklau	ROC Yamaha	+1 Lap	35
Ret	23	Serge David	ROC Yamaha	Retirement	29
Ret	7	Luca Cadalora	Yamaha	Retirement	12
Ret	28	John Reynolds	Harris Yamaha	Retirement	18
Ret	12	Matthew Mladin	Cagiva	Retirement	16
Ret	14	Marco Papa	Librenti	Retirement	36
Ret	36	Lucio Pedercini	ROC Yamaha	Retirement	27
Ret	30	Juan Lopez Mella	ROC Yamaha	Retirement	21
Ret	18	Bernard Garcia	Yamaha	Retirement	24
Ret	35	Jean Luc Romanens	ROC Yamaha	Retirement	34
Ret	20	Jeremy McWilliams	Yamaha	Retirement	20
Ret	16	Michael Rudroff	Harris Yamaha	Retirement	26

250 cc classification

Pos	No	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	31	Tetsuya Harada	Yamaha	19	42:24.209	1	25
2	18	Tadayuki Okada	Honda	19	+ 0.655	2	20
3	10	Doriano Romboni	Honda	19	+ 20.524	3	16
4	14	Nobuatsu Aoki	Honda	19	+ 20.571	9	13
5	17	Jean-Philippe Ruggia	Aprilia	19	+ 20.622	5	11
6	4	Helmut Bradl	Honda	19	+ 24.510	7	10
7	3	Pierfrancesco Chili	Yamaha	19	+ 33.836	11	9
8	50	Takuma Aoki	Honda	19	+ 37.391	13	8
9	19	John Kocinski	Suzuki	19	+ 43 s 017	6	7
10	65	Loris Capirossi	Honda	19	+ 56.169	4	6
11	16	Andreas Preining	Aprilia	19	+ 59.467	12	5
12	24	Patrick van den Goorbergh	Aprilia	19	+ 59.566	16	4
13	34	Luis d'Antin	Honda	19	+ 59.749	22	3
14	7	Jochen Schmid	Yamaha	19	+1:00.102	17	2
15	6	Alberto Puig	Honda	19	+1:00.533	14	1
16	11	Wilco Zeelenberg	Aprilia	19	+1:09.590	25
17	20	Eskil Suter	Aprilia	19	+1:10.019	23
18	39	Alessandro Gramigni	Gilera	19	+1:16.252	15
19	25	Jurgen van den Goorbergh	Aprilia	19	+1:30.209	26
20	27	Frédéric Protat	Aprilia	19	+1:33.313	30
21	44	Jean-Michel Bayle	Aprilia	19	+1:37.638	29
22	26	Bernd Kassner	Aprilia	19	+1:53.458	32
23	30	Juan Borja	Honda	19	+1:53:758	27
24	23	Bernard Haenggeli	Aprilia	19	+1:53.934	28
25	12	Gabriele Debbia	Honda	19	+2:08.931	31
26	32	Volker Bähr	Honda	18	+1 Lap	36
27	43	Massimo Pennacchioli	Honda	18	+1 Lap	35
28	15	Nobuyuki Wakai	Suzuki	15	+4 Laps	18
Ret	21	Paolo Casoli	Gilera	14	Retirement	20
Ret	22	Luis Maurel	Aprilia	14	Retirement	33
Ret	28	Adrian Bosshard	Honda	12	Retirement	21
Ret	13	Loris Reggiani	Aprilia	12	Retirement	8
Ret	52	Osamu Miyazaki	Aprilia	10	Retirement	24
Ret	5	Max Biaggi	Honda	4	Retirement	10
DNS	8	Carlos Cardús	Honda		Did not start	19
DNS	51	Jean-Pierre Jeandat	Aprilia		Did not Start	34

References