Wayne Rainey had a brief but brilliant career, which unfortunately ended in 1993 with an accident with his Yamaha which left him paralyzed in his legs. Three world titles were won from 1990 to 1992, in six seasons in the 500 category. The fourth crown was possible before fate was cruel to him. A total of 24 victories and 40 podiums, always and only with the Yamaha team, puts him next to champions like Kevin Schwantz, Eddie Lawson, Mick doohan and Wayne Gardner. Today, he is an informed observer of MotoGP.
As such, the Yamaha crisis does not leave him indifferent. For him, the weakness comes from the electronics: “ I think Yamaha has always had a good overall package in the past. But in 2018 it seemed a little insufficient and, at times, even the Tech 3 team was faster than the official team “, Rainey told Motorsport-Total.com. » Especially Johann Zarco was the headache for the official team, because in some cases he was faster with an older M1 ". The unified electronic control unit was introduced to narrow the gap between the official bikes and the satellite machines, but according to the three-time champion, the show suffered. The fact is that Yamaha has set up a special division based in Italy to reduce the gap between Honda and Ducati in this sector.
The 2018 season has to go down as one of the worst in Yamaha's MotoGP history, with just one victory for Casa Particular in Viñales. What about Valentino Rossi ? " He still has the desire to ride at the highest level and to be competitive on Sunday... He doesn't just want to be able to win races, he also wants to win the world title. He hasn't been close to it in recent years, but I think he still has the speed to get the most out of the bike ».
Asked if the Doctor can be considered the greatest in history, the American replies: “ it is very difficult to say if it is the best of all time because each driver was first the best of his era ". Certainly, but Vale has lived through several of these eras…
