Suzuka 1991

1st Kevin Schwantz

2nd Mick Doohan +0.204 s

3rd Wayne Rainey +0.353 s

4th John Kocinski +0.556 s

Fast, serpentine and barrier-lined, Suzuka is not a racetrack for the faint-hearted. And there were no faint-hearts at the front of the opening GP of 1991. Four men spent the entire 22 laps riding as if it was the last lap and three of them were all-time greats of the sport. They were Wayne Rainey (Marlboro Yamaha YZR500), Kevin Schwantz (Lucky Strike Suzuki RGV500) and Mick Doohan (Rothmans

Honda NSR500) at their wild, tyre-smoking best, with dazzling rookie John Kocinski (Marlboro Yamaha YZR500) along for the ride.

At mid-distance Doohan looked as if he might escape but Rainey hunted him down, chased by Kocinski, hanging off so far he must’ve thought it was 2015, and Schwantz, struggling with chatter. At one point the Texan was three seconds back, apparently out of the game, until he adapted to circumstances, flicking his RGV on to its side and picking it up again as quickly as possible, to minimise his chatter problem.

Painting the track black, Schwantz caught and passed Kocinski, Rainey and Doohan on successive laps. Then he nearly crashed as his rear tyre lost grip and then found it again, launching him out of the seat. That put Doohan ahead as they headed into the final lap.

Schwantz came back at the Aussie youngster, pushing past at Spoon Curve; Doohan counter-attacked at the final left but ran wide on to the kerb, making him an easy victim at the chicane. Schwantz was past in a flash, Doohan almost alongside as they took the chequered flag.