Back in 90s i used to watch moto races on cathode ray television, yes and that had shutter to close, but it still remains enigma to me as to why shutters to TV’s anyways this television was also a new member at my home introduced to me by my father.
I was small then but used to understand certain moving objects on tv that was although new to me but could recognize certain riders and one among them was Wayne Rainey.
Introduction
Wayne Rainey the name so synonym to GP racing that none can forget so easily.Sharp and no-nonsense looking guy with serious attitude to perform on track and always wearing a smile on his face was born in Downey, California, United States on October 23rd, 1960.
At the age of just 17 he won the accolade of AMA Superbike Championship with Kawasaki in his dirt racing career.
Competitors
Kenny Roberts and Freddie Spencer were his notable fierce rivals. However during Kenny’s retirement Rainey was directed towards GP racing from 1984 with 250cc bikes by Kenny himself. Rainey started his career in World GP and arrived back at the AMA Superbike event with Honda and won the series that was in 1987.
Winning Attitude
That made him regular with Team Roberts in GP500. From 1987 to 1990 Rainey sharpen his skills and made his attitude ” Mr.Cool ” on and off track. This helped him to fight exceptional battles with his aggressive competitor Kevin Schwantz who was with Suzuki and well who was also his rival in AMA competitions.
Also who could forget the ” Rainey Pattern ” that meant Rainey dominated the track from the beginning till the end of the race.
Life Threatening Accident
During 1990 to 1992 Rainey worked hard to match and won three back to back championships with Roberts. However, during a race in 1993 in Italy at a turn Rainey tried too hard to lean and ended up landing on the gravel hard that made him paralyzed and ended his racing career.
Passion
During his career Rainey had three championships with Yamaha and Schwantz had one with Suzuki.However he was passionate to get back as an team manager after a year with Team Yamaha that had Tetsuya Harada, Kenny Roberts Jr. and Norifumi Abe.
Schwantz on Rainey
During his interview to MotoGP during 2013 Schwantz said ” He is kinda guy who is always a text book, every picture you saw of him was like he was exactly at the right position and everything it was just a way it was supposed to be done”.
Statistics
- Starts : 94
- Podiums : 65
- Wins : 24
- Poles : 16
- Fastest Laps : 23
- Overall Points : 1270.5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoJsj-_qUlY
Rainey’s Crash in 1993 in Italy
Pic Source : Yamaha Motor
Video Source : RacingAccidents
