THREE-TIME 500cc ROAD RACE WORLD CHAMPION WAYNE RAINEY
P68
Interview
BEATING YOUR
TEAMMATES
"That was always the most important
point for me. When Eddie [Lawson]
came to my team, I knew we were
going to have the same equipment
so I could race him head-to-head. By
then, this was my third year. He was
coming onto my team, so I was ready
for Eddie Lawson. I ended up win-
ning the first race pretty easy. I was
quicker than Eddie in all the pre-sea-
son testing. I just put a big emphasis
on smoking my teammate. I really had
to make them think that they weren't
going to be able to challenge me.
"John [Kocinski)] was real cocky.
He had unbelievable talent, and he
was very sure of himself. In that 250
World Championship, he won the
championship that year. I think it was
1990, when he came to my team. I
remember our first press conference
they asked him, 'How do you think
you're going to do learning how to
ride these 500s?' He had no problem
saying, 'I think I'll be learning while
I'm winning.' So I took a long, long
look at him at that stage.
"I remember the race at Laguna
Seca, 1991. I out-qualified him by just
like a thousandth or two for pole. He
told the press, 'I guess we're going to
see who the king of Laguna Seca is
tomorrow.' He didn't get too good of a
start, but I got a really good start. I kept
thinking about what he said every lap.
So, when I stretched it out to about
seven seconds, by the time he got
second place, I had a pretty good lead.
He'd pick up a tenth here, I'd get it
back there. Finally, he chucked it away
trying to chase me down. He ended up
in a police car that day leaving the race-
track. He was pretty upset, I guess.
So, I was king of Laguna."
