Three-time 500cc Grand Prix World Champion and current President of MotoAmerica Wayne Rainey rode his 1992 World Championship-winning Yamaha YZR500 today at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, in England.
The annual event celebrating all motorsports, past and present, takes place on a 1.1-mile (1.8 km) hillclimb course on the grounds of the Goodwood House. This year’s event will run from Thursday, June 23 through Sunday, June 26.
Rainey rode today to get re-acquainted with his Grand Prix racebike, which has been converted to be operated with only hand controls.
Rainey was paralyzed from the chest down when he suffered a spinal injury in a crash in 1993.
Not only will this be Rainey’s first time appearing at the Goodwood Festival of Speed it will also be his first time riding a racebike since his career-ending injury.
“I’m incredibly excited to not only be attending my first Goodwood Festival of Speed this summer, but to be riding my 1992 Yamaha YZR500 up the famous hillclimb,” Rainey was quoted as saying in a press release issued by Yamaha. “It’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and one that I just couldn’t pass up. I want to thank the Yamaha Motor Company for preparing my 1992 YZR500 and adapting it for me to ride, MotoAmerica for helping make the entire project fly, and The Duke of Richmond for really making this a reality. I can’t wait to meet the fans who come from all over the world for the Goodwood Festival of Speed.”
To learn more about the Goodwood Festival of Speed go to www.goodwood.com.
