Wayne Rainey: Full Biography
Wayne Rainey is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle racer who won the 500cc World Championship three times in succession, in 1990, 1991 and 1992, riding a Yamaha for Kenny Roberts. He has been president of MotoAmerica since the series began in 2015.
Roberts He came out of American dirt track and AMA Superbike, taking the Superbike title for Kawasaki in 1983 and again for Honda in 1987, the year he also won the Daytona 200. A first attempt at Grand Prix racing, in the 250cc class in 1984, went badly enough that he went home. He returned to Europe in 1988 in the 500cc class and won at Donington Park in his first season.
Champion Second to Eddie Lawson in 1989, on the podium in every race he finished, he then won three championships in a row. Seven wins took the first in 1990, six the second in 1991, and three the third in 1992, a year interrupted by wrist and ankle injuries that kept him out of the Dutch TT.
Misano He led the 1993 championship by eleven points from Kevin Schwantz when he crashed at Misano on 5 September, breaking his spine against the gravel trap and losing the use of his legs. He managed the Marlboro Yamaha team, raced hand-controlled superkarts, and in 2014 led the group that bought the commercial rights to American road racing. In 2022 he rode his 1992 YZR500 up the hill at Goodwood, twenty-nine years after his last lap.
