Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

_ _ _ ______ _ _ _500_a_ ~_C_h_ ~~ ~~ INTERijEW W_ d m~ The road to fame and fortune By Paul Carruthers Photos by Ken Faught t was th e su m mer o f '69, a nd Ital ian racing legend G iacomo Agostini wa s in Europe do mi na tin g th e 500cc World Championship o n hi s fir eengi ne red MV Agusta. Thousands o f m il es a wa y, nin e- year- old Wa yn e Rainey sa t nervously in th e practi ce line a t Saddlebac k Park in so u the rn Ca liforn ia . In hi s mind, championsh ips were things won by th e New York J ets, th e New York Mets, or Mert Lawwill , and Europe was some th ing you were for ced to study abo u t in scho o l. Clad in blue jean s, a sweatshirt and desert boots, with a op en -faced helmet rigged with a foo tball helmet faceguard a n d painted metal-flake red, Rainey a n d hi s Honda Z50 waited for th ei r tu rn to p rac tice. And th en . .. " I wet m y p ants," R ainey says sheep ish ly. " In the race, I jum ped th e start and ended up fourth. I was reall y excited , bu t I was reall y nervous. I di d n 't kn o w did lee-do a bou t a ny thi n g." Twenty o ne yea rs lat er , th e kid wh o o nc e d idn' t kn ow d id lee -do a bo ut ra c i ng m o to rcycl e s was to u r i ng Europe a nd ea rn ing the crown tha t Agosti ni o nce owned. And winn ing it in Agostin i-like fashion, by a m ile. Rainey's 1990 season is well docu - I mented else whe re in th is yearbook, but it 's worth mentioning again. Seven wins, five seco nds, two thirds and o n ly a si ng le DN F - a mechanical failure in Hungary . H e only crash ed o nce , a practi ce getoff in Germany. Throw in three pol e posi tions a nd five track records a n d you ca n begin to see th e type o f seaso n Rainey pu t together. But in th e beginning there was d irt track. Li ke most young Am eri can racers growing up in th e '70s, World Champi onship road racing wasn't in Rai ney' s pl ans. It wasn 't until Kenn y Roberts ca me home with th e 500cc title in 1978 that stat eside ro ad ra cers began to giv e th e Grands Prix some th ought. " All I wanted to be wa s Grand National Champion ," Rainey sa id . " And th en wh en I sta rted road racing I wanted to be Am erican Ch a m p io n. I never tho ugh t abo u t being World Cha mp io n until I went to Eu rope." The dreams o f a Grand National C ham p io ns h ip sta rted ea rly . As a teenager, R ainey a n d hi s pa re n ts, Sa ndy a nd Ila, would do th e local dirt tra ck circu it in California - racing against th e likes of Edd ie Lawson. The fa m ily van ro lled up pl enty of m iles - th er e we re Frida y n ight ra ces, Satur day ni ght races a nd Sunda y races. Rainey was fortun at e enou g h to h ave a supportive fa~i1 y that bled racmg, " T hey su p ported me all th e way through and th ey still support me," Rainey said. " U ntil I got my ride with Kawasaki , my dad was right a l w ay s th ere. Th ey 'v e had a lo t o f fun doing it ." At o ne point , both Sandy and Ila Rainey raced go-ka rts. In fact , Ila o nce cras he d s pec tac u la r ly whil e pregnant wi th Wa yn e. Ironicall y, th e accident occ ur ed a t th e sa me tra ck Wa yne now frequents to test h is new Yama ha -powered go-ka rt . Pre-born Wayn e su rvived to become yo u r ba si c sc hoolboy in Downey, Ca li forn ia . H e ea rn ed average grades wh ile da ydr eam in g abo u t o ther th ings , n amely mo torcycl es. " I used to sit in class an d draw p ictu res o f motor cycles." he said. " All I t ho ug h t a bo u t was rac i ng mo torcycles." And he p laye d base ba ll, a t least until it con flicted wi th racing: " I was a p retty good seco nd basem an , but it got in th e way with my racin g a nd m y dad ONLY ONE MOTORCYCLE IN THE WORLD COMES WITH BUILT-IN'INSURANCE.

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