Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Superbike sensation By Gary Van Voorhis Wayne Rainey is makin g the transition from Wi nston Pro Series dirt ' track competitor to road racer for T eam Kawasaki a smoot h one. H ow ever, had an yone told him a year or so ago tha t he wou ld be a factory sponsored road racer he might hav e been just a bit skeptical. " R oad racin g rath er than dirt tracking had never entered my m ind un til Kawasak i proposed it," said R ain ey dur in g a lull in th e activ ity dur ing th e R oad America road race progr am . In short, Kawasak i p roposed he tryout road racing early last year to see ho w he lik ed it. They gave him a couple of stock street bikes and told him to get some ex pe rience in local clu b races. R ain ey first we nt through Keith Cod e's California Superbike (road racing) Schoo l. He adapted quickly. H is professional debut transp ired in sto rybook fash ion. Ra in ey, dressed in his dirt track leathers and lin eman 's boots, took th e Nov ice class at last year's ' Loudon (N ew Hampsh ire) N ati on al lite rally by storm. H e w on h is q ualif ying heat in the rain to take the pole posit ion for the final. On a dry track for the fina l he rode to a con vin cing w in . Kawasaki's Gary Mathers was impressed and it was only a matter of time before he had Rainey's signature on th e dotted line of a tw o year contract. A lth oug h his consistent rid ing in the Superb ike ranks has been overshadowed by the publicity drawn to motocrosser-turned-road racer Steve W ise, Rain ey has beaten W ise on four of five occasions this year, in cluding an unexpected win at Loudon on June 20, and has n ever fin ished lower than fifth . Raine y currently holds a solid second in the AMA Superbike Champ ionsh ip point standings. I n teresting ly, th e series leader and defending champ is teammate and long-time friend Eddie Lawson. Ra iney, a rookie on the W inston Pro Series circuit in 1979, turned in h is best season as a dirt tracker last year. He fin ished 15th in the final standings, and scored 11 finishes in the top 10 with a sixth 'in the Ascot TT as his best ride . However, the record books don't show the late lap charges in the semis which end up getting the rider a ticket to the Nat ional. Rainey was a master of that particular item and well on the way to giving tuner Chris Armstrong and Wayne's father, Sandy, premature grey hair. The question comes to mind, after noting Rainey's blond-haired and blue- . eyed California background, that somewhere in the past he might have been a surfer. Correct. " I used to surf all the time during my Novice and Junior years. However, someone stole my surfboard during my rookie Expert year and I never bought another one. I still go body surfing whenever I 'g et the chance." Rainey, who will turn 22 on October 23, lives a relati vely quiet life at home w ith his parents and a younger sister in Norwalk. He isn 't in awe of his success to date , but rather takes it in stride w ith an eye to the future. Before the interview, wh ich was conducted at Road A m erica pr ior to his win at Loudon, Rainey took a few m inutes to sign autographs for some fan s. Th e incident provided the perfect question with which to begin . 20 How does it feel to have people ask you for your autograph? Truthfully, it 's kind of nice. When I was really young I remember going to the weekly dirt track races at Ascot with my dad. He was tuning for Denny Palmgren at the time, I believe. I used to be afraid to go up and ask anyone for an autograph - riders like David Aldana. However, when the night was through I would always go home with my program covered with signatures. It's a part of being a fan and a part of racing, In itia ll y, your plan for this season was to road race and dirt track. Now the emphasis is on road racing only. Why the change? I'm going to concen trate on road racing because I believe that's where my future is. My heart's still in dirt track racing, though, and I plan to ' ride a few of th e Nationals. How did your contract with Kawasaki come about? Two years a~o I got a phone call from Dennis Mahan, who was working for Kawasaki's accessory division. He said h e h ad a short tracker a nd that Kawasaki wanted to get in to di rt track. The Santa Fe Short Track Na tional in 1980 was the first event I rode fo r Dennis a n d I wo n the Trophy Race which made Ka was aki pretty h a p py. In 1981 we went to H o u sto n with sh ort track and TT equipment. I didn't qualify. I was then asked if I wanted to do a bit of road raci ng and I said yes. I· went to Keith Code's California Superbike School and he helped me adapt to the chan ge from dirt track very easily. I raced clu b events where they had 750cc Box Stock classes. I wo n the third event I was in and then won everyone after that. When I was toldI mi g ht have a factory ride I co uldn ' t sleep for a week th inkin g a bout it. L as t year they let Dennis and I use Edd ie L awson's spare KR250 for Loudo n . We had four days to put th e bike togethe r and we did. I was racing in th e Novice cla ss a nd wo n m y heat-in th e rain. Then I wo n the final and, basically, h ere I a m . The practice sessions during the Daytona Pro-Am in October of last year were the first times yo u rode a Super- ' bike. What was it like? I couldn' t believe any bi ke co u ld go th a t fast. Then I bega n to wonder, Su pe r bikes are fast, what's it like to ride a (Yamaha) T Z750? I los t my brea th qui te a few times in my first couple of rides. All I ca n sa y is that riding a factory Super bike is a wild experience. . Do yo u feel comfortable on the bike now? I feel good on th e bike. I lea rn someth in g every ti me I ride. Actually this even t (R oa d America ) will be only the fifth time I've ridden it in competi tio n - four Superbike rounds a nd o ne Formula One event. I wish I co u ld get to ride it more because I think yo u dull your edge when yo u don 't ge t to ride as often as yo u do whe n you race dirt track. One big difference between dirt track a nd road racing is that a di rt track rider depends on his rear brake. If yo u do that in road racing you 'll be o n yo ur head. It seems road racers don 't like to race as close as we do in . di rt tra ck where it isn 't uncommon to get bumped around a bit. I guess tha t's called aggressive raci ng. In road racing you have to concentrate all th e time. When I dirt track I can basically rest on the straights because all you have to worry about is four turns. If you relax on a road race track, even on the straights, you 'll find yourself missing a braking point or, worse, missing a turn . Does. it both er yo u to slide the back end-dir t track style-coming out of a corner? When that big 420 pound machine breaks loose coming off a corner and then catches traction it just wants to throw you off. I may understand the feeling a bit more, but it still scares the heck out of you. In the rain, you have to slide it a bit to get a good drive. What do you do in your spare time to relax? I like to go to the beach a nd body surf. I also spend a lot of time riding my practice bikes. I just got a new van , so I am fixing that up. In the winter I go snow sk iing. Have you bought an y special "toys" with money you've received from Kawasaki? Actuall y, I ne ver get to see any of m y money. I have a busin ess manager, Gary Howard, who also happens to manage Kenny (Ro berts) and Eddie (L a wso n ). He takes m y money and gives me a small weekly allowance which is enough to keep me going. I have some investments he has made for me . Racing .i ~ .a. business and, h<1pefnll , eirt }() ,.ean or so '-1ft,.. investments and my racing will pay off. You have to keep looking and moving forw ard in whatever yo u do . Gary is th e o ne who advised me to chan ge m y direction and co nce ntra te m y effo rt s on road raci n g. Still, it's hard to give up dirt track j ust like that. I th in k I' ll have to wi n a road race befo re I can get the dirt out of my blood. Do yo ur paren ts approve of your racing? Completely. My dad ha s been in ra cing in some form for 22· years. My mom was in racing a lso. Sh e was racing a go-kart while sh e was pregnant with me so I g uess I was destined to beco m e a racer. I guess n o w, though, that m y dad feels a bit left o u t because I'm not racing dirt. H e p u t a lot of effort into , the m ach inery I rode. In fact , he m isses it so much he's wo rking with Bubba Shobert who is using an engine of ours. Dad really gets pumped wh en he sees his H arl ey ou t there. Do you follow a training program? I do , although it 's not like something MX riders do. I believe it 's good for m y type of ra cing. I run a lot and that keeps yo u r end uran ce up. I ri de a lot a nd that keep s your ti min g sharp and also helps wi th upper stre n gth. I guess I co u ld lift weights too, but just th e thought of that turns m e off. Have you and Eddie Lawson been friends for a long time? Eddie a n d I have been teammates at one time or another for about five yea rs. We both rode dirt track for Shell Thuett, Actually, we came up through the minicycle ranks together. I remember years back when Eddie and I were raci ng minis. Eddie wa s the only rider I knew who had a ch rom e-p la ted skid shoe. We 've always been good friends. He's helped me out a lot lately in picking things like th e right lines, braking points and such. I ask him things and he tells me. Have you set yourself goals for this season? I would lik e to finish in th e top three in the Superbike Championsh ip point standings. At the beginning of the year I didn 't have th a t goal because I didn 't know how I was going to do a n d how strong the competition would be. I now th in k it 's a realistic goal. I wo u ld also like to win an event this year, but I can wait if I have to. My time's coming and there's no need to pressure it because I don 't want to fall off, bust up my bike and maybe my body also. Yo u'd be happy to beat Eddie also wouldn't you? (There was a long pause and then a smile broke across Rainey's Iace.) Yes, I would. I hate to say that. I don't know how I would feel if I beat h im . Eddie is so fast I find it hard to believe. He's had a lot more time road racing than I have and maybe someday I'll be as good as he is. . Would you like to ri de the KR 500 G P bike? . You bet, although Eddie told me he was a bit hesitant at first to ride it because it was so fast. That tells. me it's too fast for me -at least right now. I want to ride the Superbike some more and master that, then I'll be ready for a step up. I like to follow Wes (Cooley), Mike (Baldwin) and Roberto (Pietri) in practice and see what they 're doing. I figure if I keep following them, pretty soon they 'll be following me .. Do you have any long range goals? I would have to say racing in Europe because that's where all the factories are involved. If you want to really make money, I'm told, then you have to race there. Actually, with the little time I've been road racing I'm just beginning to realize all the opport.~":i!ie~ .t~a t are out there. •

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