I was a huge fan of Wayne Rainey's when he was racing. The day I heard he was injured in that horrible crash was absolutely tragic. He is one of the greats, to be sure. A very gracious person, too. What's interesting to note is that when Kevin and Wayne started GP racing in 1988, they hated each other's guts. But, something happened all those years that they fought so hard and furiously together...they became close. Much, I think, the way men do who fight together in combat. I only raced at the club level, but I can tell you the bonds and strength of friendships that I formed with the guys I raced against are amongst the strongest bonds of friendship I have ever known. When I raced my FZR400 in the AFM 4 hour endurance races the first three years they had them, I invited by buddies that were my competitors to race my bike with me. That's one of the wonderful things about (in my case, club) racing, the friendship and bonds you form with your competitors. I remember Kevin saying that when Wayne got hurt, it completely took wind out of his sails for his motivation to be racing.He just didn't want to do it anymore if he didn't have Wayne to race against. Kevin's crew chief at Suzuki, Garry Taylor, said the worst day in his career was the day Wayne Rainey got hurt. Now, Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz are the closest of friends.
Your MX Heros I was showing a coworker who the BOSS folks were (they do the stunt show at the Cycle World shows for many years running now) and ran across some shots on their website where they visited Travis P's house here in MD. Check out Travis' Jersey collection! http://www.ballofsteel.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=72&pos=23
Thanks for the update Puma Cat. When Rainy got hurt, I too lost interest in racing for a long time.For such a nice guy to get hurt like he and Bubba kind of had me questioning if it was all worth it. Glad to hear Wayne is doing well. I hope Bubba has recovered as well.