The 1991 United States Motorcycle Grand Prix was the third round of the 1991 FIM Grand Prix motorcycle roadracing season, held on the weekend of April 19–21, 1991 at Laguna Seca Raceway. This event featured no fewer than four American riders on competitive equipment, plus two more on B-level machines, during the era of U.S. domination. 500 cc race report QUALIFYING -- Kevin Schwantz wasn't getting the drive he wanted out of the corners in practice on his Suzuki RGVr500. "Rear wheel grip is definitely our biggest shortcoming. We're trying different combinations of raising and lowering the front and rear ends of the bike," Schwantz commented. He ended third-fastest in qualifying, later joking: "'The easiest way to correct our problem is to steer the front wheel in the direction of the slide." Australian Mick Doohan, Honda's number one man, encountered front-end difficulties while trying to secure a decent grid positive for the race. "I'll lay it in and it wants to run wide. I can't get it on a tight enough line," Doohan complained. Mick's race-day plan was to gear the machine down, so as to better allow the power of his NSR500 to turn the bike by drifting the rear Michelin. Four-time World Champion Eddie Lawson told reporters he was spending a lot of time supporting his Cagiva on his knee because his front end was pushing fairly often. Lawson continued to adjust settings and qualified his Italian machine just behind Doohan. Keen attention was paid to reigning 250cc champion John Kocinski, who was race-favorite Wayne Rainey's new teammate on a 500 at Marlboro Roberts Yamaha. He hustled his bike around Laguna less than one-tenth of a second slower than Rainey in practice. "The knowledge of riding the 250 doesn't pertain to riding a 500 - it's a totally different animal," explained Kocinski. "You've got a lot more braking to worry about and the acceleration areas are a lot different. You've got a slower apex speed, a much faster exit and a faster entrance too, so everything's got to change." Kocinski's fourth and third place finishes in the opening races of the season indicated that he wouldn't have much trouble transitioning to the more powerful machine, though. And like Rainey, he considered Laguna his domain. As expected, Rainey qualified ahead of Kocinski on pole position. "You've got to attack this race track. Bike set-up is critical here and some