INTERVIEW Cycle News Rider of the Year Wayne Rainey
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By Paul Carruthers
Photos 'by
David Goldman and
Kinney Jones
third 500cc World
Championship, a baby
boy, it new house on
the hill, and no off-season
injuries to rehabilitate.
Wayne Rainey has every
reason to sit back and smile
as he ponders the season
past and the year ahead.
The 1992 racing season
saw
the
31-year-old
Californian .win an historic
third successive 500cc
World
Championship.
Then, in late October,
Rainey's wife Shae gave
birth to the couple's first
child, Rex. Now they await
the completion of their new
home
in
Monterey,
California.
The season ahead will
see Rainey back on
Marlboro Yamahas with a
goal of winning a fourth
championship. We caught
up with the champ just
prior to the start of his hectic off-season testing schedule, and he provided some
insight into his '92 season.
Based on everything you
had to overcome in order to
claim it, do you agree that
your
third
World
Championship was your
toughest?
_
I really think so. The preseason started it. I was
rehabing from my injury at
the end of the season, and it
seemed like I was always
going to.the hospital - trying
to get the knee to bend.
Then I went out anq fell
down at the first race. And
Honda had built a bike for
(Michael) Doohan that was
smoking us. It was a tough
season, both mentally and
physically.
~ Did many of your problems stem from lack of testing time in the off-season
due to the leg injury?
Definitely. We'd switched
from Dunlop back to
Michelin, and I just couldn't
give 'em the input on the
new bike. I just physically
couldn't do it, and when I
did I'd end up on my ass.
(John) Kocinski was busy
testing tires and stuff and
the bike suffered. We just
weren't real fired up when
the season started, and the
bike never felt right for me
until the end. It didn't actually start feeling good until
the last two CPs.
You must have big plans
for this off-season.
For sure this off-season will
be a lot different. We've
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