Post by floog on Apr 18, 2006 17:07:03 GMT
Three times back-to-back world GP champion, Wayne Rainey had commenced the '93 season with a gritty determination and a dogged will to be crowned king for a fourth successive time.
A win at Brno gave him a points lead in the championship, and next up was one of his favorite tracks, Misano in Italy where he figured on extending the lead over his rivals.
Lining up on the starting grid, Rainey sat comfortably ahead of arch enemy Kevin Schwantz with whom he had shared a passionate and reciprocal dislike, and a penchant for swapping fairing paint during races. The pair's earlier feuding was well documented and provided great entertainment for fans and the press alike. At Misano, Luca Cadalora had stolen their thunder and taken pole and for the first nine laps of the race, Rainey was content to shadow the leader, waiting for the right moment to strike.
On lap ten, turn one, Rainey tried to correct an error but accelerated too hard, too soon with the bike squirming and the rear end stepping sideways at over 125mph. As it snapped back, Rainey was pitched out of the saddle, hit the deck, slid along the tarmac and into the gravel, his bike striking him along the way. His body somersaulted like a rag doll to a stop.
One of the greats of all time, a man who COULD have gone on to be champion several more times and, some think, eclipse the mighty Mick Doohan, saw his career end in that crash.
Rainey's spine broke mid way down, and, after a fight for life and slow recovery which saw Kevin Schwantz take his only ever world championship, Rainey bounced back to remain in the sport he loved, and become a GP team owner, with riders Norick Abe and Loris Capirossi, before retirement in 1998.
Born in Los Angeles on October 23rd 1960, Rainey hit the big time when Kawasaki signed him as team mate to Eddie Lawson in 1982 for their AMA Superbike team. Lawson left a year later for GP's, leaving Rainey to win the Superbike title (he did so again four years later, this time on a Honda).
The friendship with Lawson continues to this day with the pair racing karts as well as performing PR functions for the Yamaha Corporation ( a 2005 celebration of Yamaha champions brought the pair together alongside Randy Mamola, Valentino Rossi and Kenny Roberts).
1982 Joins Eddie Lawson at Kawasaki for the AMA SBK series
1983 AMA SUPERBIKE CHAMPION KAWASAKI
1987 AMA SUPERBIKE CHAMPION HONDA
1990 WORLD GP500 CHAMPION YAMAHA YZR500
1991 WORLD GP500 CHAMPION YAMAHA YZR500
1992 WORLD GP500 CHAMPION YAMAHA YZR500
1999 INDUCTED INTO THE MOTORCYCLING HALL OF FAME
83 GP STARTS
24 GP WINS
15 GP POLE POSITION
64 PODIUM FINISHES
In 1999 he was inducted into the Motorcycling Hall Of Fame and quite rightly remains a favourite of race fans, one of the greats of our time.
From a personal point of view, Rainey is one of my biking heroes, hailing from a period in my late teens and early twenties which I fondly regard as the 'golden era' of racing (that's just a very personal opinion of course). So many personalities, truly great riders on machines that were bitches to try and control....and the links between Rainey and Lawson (my all time personal favourite rider), and the short but important stint with Kawasaki, makes him special.
A win at Brno gave him a points lead in the championship, and next up was one of his favorite tracks, Misano in Italy where he figured on extending the lead over his rivals.
Lining up on the starting grid, Rainey sat comfortably ahead of arch enemy Kevin Schwantz with whom he had shared a passionate and reciprocal dislike, and a penchant for swapping fairing paint during races. The pair's earlier feuding was well documented and provided great entertainment for fans and the press alike. At Misano, Luca Cadalora had stolen their thunder and taken pole and for the first nine laps of the race, Rainey was content to shadow the leader, waiting for the right moment to strike.
On lap ten, turn one, Rainey tried to correct an error but accelerated too hard, too soon with the bike squirming and the rear end stepping sideways at over 125mph. As it snapped back, Rainey was pitched out of the saddle, hit the deck, slid along the tarmac and into the gravel, his bike striking him along the way. His body somersaulted like a rag doll to a stop.
One of the greats of all time, a man who COULD have gone on to be champion several more times and, some think, eclipse the mighty Mick Doohan, saw his career end in that crash.
Rainey's spine broke mid way down, and, after a fight for life and slow recovery which saw Kevin Schwantz take his only ever world championship, Rainey bounced back to remain in the sport he loved, and become a GP team owner, with riders Norick Abe and Loris Capirossi, before retirement in 1998.
Born in Los Angeles on October 23rd 1960, Rainey hit the big time when Kawasaki signed him as team mate to Eddie Lawson in 1982 for their AMA Superbike team. Lawson left a year later for GP's, leaving Rainey to win the Superbike title (he did so again four years later, this time on a Honda).
The friendship with Lawson continues to this day with the pair racing karts as well as performing PR functions for the Yamaha Corporation ( a 2005 celebration of Yamaha champions brought the pair together alongside Randy Mamola, Valentino Rossi and Kenny Roberts).
1982 Joins Eddie Lawson at Kawasaki for the AMA SBK series
1983 AMA SUPERBIKE CHAMPION KAWASAKI
1987 AMA SUPERBIKE CHAMPION HONDA
1990 WORLD GP500 CHAMPION YAMAHA YZR500
1991 WORLD GP500 CHAMPION YAMAHA YZR500
1992 WORLD GP500 CHAMPION YAMAHA YZR500
1999 INDUCTED INTO THE MOTORCYCLING HALL OF FAME
83 GP STARTS
24 GP WINS
15 GP POLE POSITION
64 PODIUM FINISHES
In 1999 he was inducted into the Motorcycling Hall Of Fame and quite rightly remains a favourite of race fans, one of the greats of our time.
From a personal point of view, Rainey is one of my biking heroes, hailing from a period in my late teens and early twenties which I fondly regard as the 'golden era' of racing (that's just a very personal opinion of course). So many personalities, truly great riders on machines that were bitches to try and control....and the links between Rainey and Lawson (my all time personal favourite rider), and the short but important stint with Kawasaki, makes him special.