4th Place ... Kevin Magee
4TH Place ... Kevin MaGee
From bad to worse
KEVIN MAGEE STOOD OUTSIDE the Team Roberts Lucky Strike pit the Friday before the 1989 United States Grand Prix, kicked his toe at the pavement and frowned, clearly unhappy at the memory of the 1988 USGP. That was a race in which he traveled just one lap before a problem with his bike's fuel system ended his ride. “I’d like to make up for that,” he said when asked about his chances in this year’s race.
And make up for it he did—in the race itself, at least, turning in an impressive fourth-place finish aboard his Yamaha YZR500 after a racelong diee with Eddie Lawson. He had been ahead of Lawson, in third, until his bike started running out of gas on the very last lap. That caused his engine to sputter just enough to let Lawson slip past and capture third.
But any positive aspects of Magee's USGP performance were overshadowed by a frightful incident during the post-race cool-off lap. On the uphill grade between
Turns Five and Six, Magee came to a complete stop, then, for reasons still unknown, began doing a drag-racestyle burnout, apparently ignoring the fact that most of the 1 5 finishers were still on the track behind him and traveling at 60 or 70 mph. Before Magee’s bike could even move, the Honda of Bubba Shobert violently slammed into it from behind. Shobert and Eddie Lawson had been riding side-by-side exchanging postrace congratulations, so were looking at each other rather than straight ahead. Lawson managed to veer away at the last second, but Shobert apparently never saw Magee before the impact. Not only did Shobert sustain critical head injuries, but Magee’s left ankle was shattered, which will force him to miss at least three grands prix while his bones mend.
Before this incident, Magee’s second season on the GP circuit was shaping up fairly well. He had scored a fifth-place finish in the Japanese GP and a fourth in Australia, both on bikes that were not quite fully dialed-
in. But the USGP crash changed all that. And between his down-time for recuperation and any disciplinary action that might result from the disastrous crash, Kevin Magee’s future— both for this season and beyond— now has a few dark clouds hanging over it.
Jon F. Thompson
