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1991 Vitesse du Mans motorcycle Grand Prix
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Grand Prix | Vitesse du Mans |
| flag | France |
| Official_Name | Grand Prix Vitesse Du Mans |
| Location | Bugatti Circuit |
| Course_mi | 2.750 |
| Course_km | 4.425 |
| Race_No | 14 |
| Season_No | 15 |
| Date | 8 September |
| Year | 1991 |
| Image | Bugatti Circuit 1991-1996.png |
| Pole_Rider_500 | John Kocinski |
| Pole_Rider_500_Country | USA |
| Pole_Time_500 | 1:39.964 |
| Fast_Rider_500 | Mick Doohan |
| Fast_Rider_500_Country | Australia |
| Fast_Time_500 | 1:41.200 |
| First_Rider_500 | Kevin Schwantz |
| First_Rider_500_Country | USA |
| Second_Rider_500 | Mick Doohan |
| Second_Rider_500_Country | Australia |
| Third_Rider_500 | Wayne Rainey |
| Third_Rider_500_Country | USA |
| Pole_Rider_250 | Luca Cadalora |
| Pole_Rider_250_Country | Italy |
| Pole_Time_250 | 1:44.963 |
| Fast_Rider_250 | Helmut Bradl |
| Fast_Rider_250_Country | Germany |
| Fast_Time_250 | 1:45.375 |
| First_Rider_250 | Helmut Bradl |
| First_Rider_250_Country | Germany |
| Second_Rider_250 | Carlos Cardús |
| Second_Rider_250_Country | Spain |
| Third_Rider_250 | Luca Cadalora |
| Third_Rider_250_Country | Italy |
|}}
The 1991 Vitesse du Mans motorcycle Grand Prix was a one-off race and the penultimate round of the 1991 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 6–8 September 1991 at the Bugatti Circuit located in Le Mans. France.
Originally meant to be held in Brazil, that race was cancelled for safety reasons, so the FIM decided to add a second French round. It is the only time in FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing history two rounds were held in France during a season. The race's name was used for this race only, after the European Grand Prix moniker had been used for a race in Jarama that replaced the Yugoslavian race.
500 cc race report
John Kocinski on pole. Kevin Schwantz gets the start from Kocinski, Mick Doohan, Wayne Gardner and Wayne Rainey.
Schwantz and Doohan battle for 1st, but at ten laps to go, Rainey just needs to stay in 3rd place to win the championship.
Rainey speculates that Kocinski let him take 3rd so he could win the championship, though he told team manager Kenny Roberts he didn't want Kocinski's help.
Kenny Roberts: "There were a lot of races where we shouldn't have won, and we really wouldn't have won if it wasn't for Wayne. There's a lot of races where had we had anyone else, it wouldn't have happened. Wayne was very, very determined to win it this year. Some years you can say the bikes were definitely better or our engineering was better, but this year Wayne was definitely better."
500cc classification
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Manufacturer | Time/Retired | Points | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | DNS | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | Sources: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA Kevin Schwantz | Lucky Strike Suzuki | Suzuki | 47:37.764 | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AUS Mick Doohan | Rothmans Honda Team | Honda | +0.148 | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Wayne Rainey | Marlboro Team Roberts | Yamaha | +3.468 | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA John Kocinski | Marlboro Team Roberts | Yamaha | +3.700 | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AUS Wayne Gardner | Rothmans Honda Team | Honda | +3.966 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ESP Juan Garriga | Ducados Yamaha | Yamaha | +37.852 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Doug Chandler | Roberts B Team | Yamaha | +38.342 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BEL Didier de Radiguès | Lucky Strike Suzuki | Suzuki | +39.290 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ESP Sito Pons | Campsa Honda Team | Honda | +1:30.554 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FRA Adrien Morillas | Sonauto Yamaha Mobil 1 | Yamaha | +1:45.040 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| IRL Eddie Laycock | Millar Racing | Yamaha | +1 Lap | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GBR Niall Mackenzie | Roberts B Team | Yamaha | +1 Lap | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ITA Marco Papa | Team Marco Papa | Honda | +2 Laps | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LUX Andreas Leuthe | Librenti Corse | Suzuki | +2 Laps | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GBR Damon Buckmaster | Padgett's Racing Team | Suzuki | +5 Laps | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NLD Cees Doorakkers | HEK-Baumachines | Honda | Retirement | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FRA Jean Philippe Ruggia | Sonauto Yamaha Mobil 1 | Yamaha | Retirement | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DEU Michael Rudroff | Rallye Sport | Honda | Retirement | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DEU Hans Becker | Team Romero Racing | Yamaha | Retirement | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Eddie Lawson | Cagiva Corse | Cagiva | Did not start | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SUI Nicholas Schmassman | Schmassman Technotron | Honda | Did not qualify | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DEU Helmut Schutz | Rallye Sport | Honda | Did not qualify | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GER Martin Trösch | MT Racing | Honda | Did not qualify | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AUT Josef Doppler | Doppler Racing | Yamaha | Did not qualify |
References
| Previous_year's_race = 1990 French Grand Prix | Next_year's_race = 1994 French Grand Prix
References
- Duke Video: "Bike GP Review 1991". Videocassette.
- (13 June 2017). "1991 Le Mans MotoGP - Motor Sport Magazine Database".
- "motogp.com · VITESSE DU MANS GRAND PRIX · 500cc Race Classification 1991".
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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