Wayne Rainey returns to Misano

Yamaha legend and triple 500GP world champion Wayne Rainey returned to the Misano circuit last weekend for the first time since his career was ended in a horrific accident at the San Marino venue in 1993.

The Californian was paralysed in the crash and had never returned to the circuit since that fateful day 18 years ago.

But Rainey, who won the 1990, ’91 and ’92 world titles for Yamaha, was back in Misano as part of Yamaha’s 50th anniversary celebrations of racing in MotoGP.

Rainey said he had not made the trip to erase any ghosts from the past and that returning to the scene of his life-changing crash had not been an emotionally charged moment.

He said: “Yamaha asked me to go to a race in Europe for the 50th anniversary but my son Rex was going off to university and I had some other commitments, so it was going to be the Czech Republic. But that didn’t work for Yamaha and in the end it didn’t work for me. Misano became the only race that worked for both of us, so I never really thought about coming back here until that point. It has been real positive. There is probably a lot of stuff I don’t recall like driving up here when Shae (Rainey’s wife) told me where the hospital was. I knew it was a helicopter ride but I didn’t know where it was.”

Asked for his thoughts on returning to Misano, he added: “I thought about it a long time ago but I haven’t thought about it in a long time. If I thought it was going to be a problem I wouldn’t have come and as it happened it’s not been a problem at all.  You race motorcycles and these things happen, it is part of the sport.  I didn’t crash a lot in my career but I hit the ground hard when I did,  so I was surprised that I was able to walk away from some those others unlike this last one. But the last one did it.”

Following Jorge Lorenzo’s third victory of the season in the 28-lap race, Rainey collected the manufacturers trophy on behalf of Yamaha during the podium celebrations.

For exclusive news and views from the MotoGP and World Superbike paddock, see the September 7 issue of MCN.