American motorcycling great Wayne Rainey will be reunited with a racing bike at the Goodwood Festival of Speed for the first time since a crash at the 1993 Italian Grand Prix that left him paralysed from the chest down, organisers said on Wednesday.
The three-time 500cc World Motorcycle Champion will ride the Yamaha YZR500 on which he won the 1992 World Championship.
The bike has been reconfigured to be ridden using handlebar controls alone.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and one I couldn’t pass up,” Rainey said. “This year marks 30 years since I won my last World Championship and when Goodwood suggested that I ride one of my GP bikes, the wheels started spinning.
“I thought, ‘Wow, that would be amazing if we could make this happen’.
“I had a wonderful experience riding a Yamaha R1 sportbike at Suzuka, Japan in 2019, but I didn’t think I would get another opportunity to ride one of my GP bikes.”
Rainey won 24 500cc GP races and took 64 podiums in 82 starts, winning three straight titles in 1990, 1991 and 1992. At the time of his accident in 1993, he was on course to add another title to his tally, leading standings with three races left.
Following his crash, the American became Yamaha’s team manager for a few years, before retiring in 1998. He is currently the president of MotoAmerica.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed – which attracts a 200,000-strong crowd – is scheduled to take place from June 23-26.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
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