Wayne Rainey at the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed with his YZR500

Wayne Rainey is ready to live out another dream. The former rider will take part in this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed and will do so with his Yamaha YZR500, the very bike with which he won the 1992 world championship, almost three decades after the terrible accident that left him paralysed from the chest down.

The return of a legend

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The Goodwood Festival of Speed has been the stage for many unforgettable moments and the news about Wayne Rainey’s attendance will go down as yet another historic moment. The three-time 500 world champion will make his Goodwood Festival debut aboard his Yamaha YZR500. A brief, but intense, experience that will see the American back on a race bike for the first time since the incident at the 1993 Italian GP, which put an end to his career.

This is not only a momentous event for the event organisers but also for Wayne himself, who comments: “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”, he said. “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.”

Jarvis: “Proud to support Wayne make his dream come true”

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Yamaha managing director Lin Jarvis also had positive things to say on the event’s official website: "The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an amazing event that is a showcase for two and four-wheel motorsports legends – both human and mechanical. Wayne Rainey is a true motorcycle racing legend who achieved three 500cc World Titles with Yamaha before his career-ending accident and injury. The thought of Wayne riding the legendary 1992 Factory YZR500 bike that he rode to his final championship victory is something truly amazing that I for one never imagined could be possible. I know it will mean so much to Wayne, and it will be something truly special for all the fans at Goodwood and all around the world. We are proud to be able to support Wayne make his dream come true.”

Translated by Heather Watson

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