I
f not intrigued, three-time 500cc World
Road Racing Champion and former
AMA Superbike Champion Wayne Rainey
was certainly curious as to why we would
ever want to discuss his days as a factory
Honda Superbike rider.
"Why would you want to talk about
that?" was Rainey's first response. "No-
body ever asks me about that."
That's why. Well, that and the fact that
Rainey's 1987 AMA Superbike title and
sole Daytona 200 victory came while
piloting a Honda. But even more interest-
ing than that is how Rainey, who won
an incredible six of nine AMA Superbike
races in 1986, finished second to team-
mate Fred Merkel in the series standings
that season, or how he managed to fend
off a charging Kevin Schwantz to win the
1987 title. Or how, by God, did Honda
ever let Rainey, who was clearly set for big
things in Europe, get away
to Yamaha? Rainey's blanket
response to all of this is that
he doesn't really think about
his time spent with Honda
very often.
''But I guess I do have to
thank Honda and Gary Mathers for giving me the
opportunity to race for the team and to restart my
career," Rainey adds.
Restart his career? Actually, that is sort of cor-
rect. After spending the 1982 and 1983 seasons
racing a factory Kawasaki in the Superbike class,
Rainey earned the 1983 AMA Superbike Champi-
onship and was "rewarded" by being sacked after
Kawasaki pulled out of road racing. "They fired
everybody, so I went to Europe for a year ['84]
and then came back and raced for Bob Maclean
['85] for a year, and I used that time with Bob to
start a relationship with Honda. Gary Mathers and
Rob Muzzy had already gone to work for Honda,
and Gary approached me about racing for Honda
in 1986. Gary gave me that shot."
Rainey joined "Flyin'" Fred Merkel in the Honda
camp and was drafted for double duty, campaign-
CN
III ARCHIVES
P124
Rainey Days at Honda
BY SCOTT ROUSSEAU
Wayne Rainey's
one and only
Daytona 200
win came
aboard a
Honda in 1987.
