| Wayne Rainey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Rainey on the Yamaha YZR500 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1960-10-23)October 23, 1960 (age 64) Downey, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Wayne Wesley Rainey (born October 23, 1960) is anAmerican formerGrand Prix motorcycle road racer.[1] He competed in theFIMGrand Prix motorcycle racing world championships in 1984 and from 1988 to 1993. He won the500cc World Championship three times and theDaytona 200 once.[2][3] He was characterized by his smooth, calculating riding style, and for his intense rivalry with compatriotKevin Schwantz, between 1987 and 1993.[4]
Rainey began his career racing in theA.M.A. Grand National Championship, a series that encompassed four distinctdirt track disciplines plus road races.[3] In 1981, he finished the Grand National season as the 15th ranked dirt track racer in the country.[5] Following his success in the Novice 250cc roadrace class,Kawasaki hired him to compete in the 1982AMA Superbike Championship as a teammate to the then defending National ChampionEddie Lawson.[3] The following year, Lawson moved to the Grand Prix circuit and Rainey took over the role of leading rider, earning the 1983 National Championship for Kawasaki.[3]
In1984, he accepted an offer to ride for the newly formedKenny RobertsYamaha racing team in the 250cc class of theGrand Prix World Championship.[3] A less than successful season (1 podium and difficulty push-starting the bike) saw him returning home in 1985 to join the Maclean Racing team in U.S. 250 and Formula 1 classes, and then on to the AmericanHonda team from 1986 to 1987 where he raced Superbike and F1.[3] It was during the 1987Superbike National Championship that his intense rivalry began withKevin Schwantz as the two battled it out for the title.[3] Rainey won the Championship, but the fierce rivalry between the two competitors was just beginning. So intense was their rivalry that they continued their battle during the 1987Transatlantic Trophy match races in which they were supposedly teammates competing against a team of British riders.[3]
In1988 Rainey returned to Europe, again joining Team Roberts Yamaha, this time in the premier 500cc division riding theYZR500.[3] His arch-rival Schwantz followed him to Europe, signing to race the 500cc class for TeamSuzuki. The two would continue their rivalry on race tracks all across Europe, driving each other to higher levels of competitiveness. In 1988, Rainey won his first world championship race at theBritish Grand Prix.[2] Also in 1988, he and his Team Roberts Yamaha teammateKevin Magee won the prestigiousSuzuka 8 Hours endurance race inJapan.[6] In the1989 campaign, Rainey finished second overall behind Eddie Lawson, winning three races and placing on the podium in every race that he finished.[2]
From1990 to1992, Rainey hit his stride earningthree consecutive 500cc crowns for Yamaha.[2] Rainey was involved in a hard-fought campaign with Kevin Schwantz while seeking his fourth-consecutive title in1993. He was leading the championship by a margin of 11 points over Schwantz, and leading the GP when he suffered his career-ending crash at theItalian Grand Prix inMisano.[3] He slid into the gravel trap at high speed, breaking his spine against the raked surface designed as a safety feature for car racing. The injury handed the title to his great rival Kevin Schwantz.[2] Rainey's injuries rendered him permanentlyparalyzed from the chest down.
After turning toWilliams team owner andquadriplegicFrank Williams for advice, Rainey later became the team manager forMarlboroYamaha for a few years.[3] After the 1995 season, Schwantz retired from the Grand Prix circuit, partly due to nagging injuries and partly because losing the one great rival that had fired his competitive intensity made him view his own mortality much more clearly.[7]
Rainey refused to give up racing despite his disability and raced a hand-controlledSuperkart in the World SuperKart series based inNorthern California.
He lived inMonterey, California in a house that is not far fromWeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The nearby circuit named a corner in his honor, Rainey Curve, which is a medium-speed, acute left-hander that follows the famous Corkscrew.[8] Rainey was inducted into theAMAMotorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.[3] TheFIM named him a Grand Prix "Legend" in 2000.[9] He was inducted into theInternational Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2007.[10] In 2003, he was one of the subjects of the motorcycle racingdocumentary film,Faster.
After several seasons of poor decisions by Daytona Motorsports Group, the organization that operated AMA-sanctioned road racing beginning in 2009, a dispute with Dorna/Infront in 2013 regarding AMA Superbike coverage on shared FIM weekends led to a lack of media coverage for that year's Superbike round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, as well as theHarley-Davidson XR1200 round atIndianapolis Motor Speedway in both 2013 and 2014, the AMA transferred the commercial rights to AMA-sanctioned road racing to Rainey and his business partners at the end of 2014. TheMotoAmerica era of AMA-sanctioned road racing began in 2015.[11]
Rainey lives in Monterey, California, with his wife Shae. They have one son, Rex, who graduated fromPepperdine University and works atCBS Television Distribution with theEntertainment Tonight andThe Insider accounts.
Rainey rode his 1992 YZR500 at the 2022Goodwood Festival of Speed. Yamaha specially modified the bike by moving the rear brake and gear shift controls to the handlebars.[12][13]
He was inducted into theMotorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2008.[14]
Points system from 1969 to 1987:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Points system from 1988 to 1992:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| Points | 20 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Points system from 1993 onwards:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| Points | 25 | 20 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Class | Team | Machine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Points | Rank | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 250cc | RobertsYamaha | TZR250 | RSA NC | NAT 3 | ESP 10 | AUT NC | GER 6 | FRA 6 | YUG 4 | NED 12 | BEL NC | GBR 14 | SWE 13 | RSM NC | 29 | 8th | 0 | |||
| 1988 | 500cc | Lucky StrikeRobertsYamaha | YZR500 | JPN 6 | USA 4 | ESP 6 | EXP 2 | NAT 3 | GER 2 | AUT 3 | NED 7 | BEL 5 | YUG 3 | FRA 5 | GBR 1 | SWE 5 | CZE 3 | BRA Ret | 189 | 3rd | 1 |
| 1989 | 500cc | Lucky StrikeRobertsYamaha | YZR500 | JPN 2 | AUS 2 | USA 1 | ESP 2 | NAT DNS | GER 1 | AUT 3 | YUG 2 | NED 1 | BEL 3 | FRA 3 | GBR 3 | SWE DNF | CZE 3 | BRA 3 | 210.5 | 2nd | 3 |
| 1990 | 500cc | MarlboroRobertsYamaha | YZR500 | JPN 1 | USA 1 | ESP 2 | NAT 1 | GER 2 | AUT 2 | YUG 1 | NED 2 | BEL 1 | FRA 3 | GBR 2 | SWE 1 | CZE 1 | HUN DNF | AUS 3 | 255 | 1st | 7 |
| 1991 | 500cc | MarlboroRobertsYamaha | YZR500 | JPN 3 | AUS 1 | USA 1 | ESP 3 | ITA 9 | GER 2 | AUT 2 | EUR 1 | NED 2 | FRA 1 | GBR 2 | RSM 1 | CZE 1 | VDM 3 | MAL DNS | 233 | 1st | 6 |
| 1992 | 500cc | MarlboroRobertsYamaha | YZR500 | JPN DNF | AUS 2 | MAL 2 | ESP 2 | ITA DNF | EUR 1 | GER DNF | NED DNS | HUN 5 | FRA 1 | GBR 2 | BRA 1 | RSA 3 | 140 | 1st | 3 | ||
| 1993 | 500cc | MarlboroRobertsYamaha | YZR500 | AUS 2 | MAL 1 | JPN 1 | ESP 2 | AUT 3 | GER 5 | NED 5 | EUR 1 | RSM 3 | GBR 2 | CZE 1 | ITA DNF | USA - | FIM - | 214 | 2nd | 4 |
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