The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) thought that Wayne Rainey already being a MotoGP Legend and therefore having his merits to the sport recognized at a planetary scale needed national fame, as well. Rainey will thus be inducted in the AMA Hall of Fame, as a Legend.
Three times a GP500 World Champion and two-time AMA Superbike Champion, Wayne Rainey was inducted in the Hall of Fame back in 1999. Recognition as an AMA Legend crows his meritorious career.
Rainey is the president of MotoAmerica, the newest road racing series in the US, the AMA and FIM North America championship road racing series, so we could say that pretty much all road racing is being guided by him.
A crash put an early end to his career
A fateful crash ended Rainey's career, by leaving him permanently paralyzed from the chest down. In 1993, at Misano, Rainey lost the front of his bike and subsequently slid into the raked gravel trap that was designed as a safety measure for cars. His crash would also hand the title over to Rainey's arch-rival Kevin Schwantz
He was involved with the Marlboro Yamaha team several years after the crash, and became a MotoGP legend in 2000. A turn of the Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway was named after him, too, and is the one that follows the (in)famous Corkscrew.
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