DISABLED EX-CHAMP RIDING HIGH AND FAST.Byline: Aaron Levine Staff Writer ROSAMOND - In 1993, Wayne Rainey Wayne Rainey, born September 23 1960 in Downey, California, United States, is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. , a three-time world motorcycle Grand Prix Grand Prix n. pl. Grand Prix Any of several competitive international road races for sports cars of specific engine size over an exacting, usually risky course. champion, was thrown from his bike in a race in Italy. As he flipped into a gravel trap, his bike hit his back, snapping his sixth thoracic vertebra vertebra /ver·te·bra/ (ver´te-brah) pl. ver´tebrae [L.] any of the 33 bones of the vertebral (spinal) column, comprising 7 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, 5 sacral, and 4 coccygeal vertebrae . and leaving him paralyzed par·a·lyze tr.v. par·a·lyzed, par·a·lyz·ing, par·a·lyz·es 1. To affect with paralysis; cause to be paralytic. 2. To make unable to move or act: paralyzed by fear. from the waist down. Last Sunday, Rainey raced side-by-side with his longtime rival and friend, Eddie Lawson Eddie Lawson born March 11 1958 in Upland, California is a former four-time Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion. , in a racing kart traveling 140 mph. ``It's a big challenge for me to get my helmet back on and to challenge myself in a competitive way again, being disabled,'' Rainey said. For the past four years, Rainey has driven a racing kart that is specially designed with hand controls to shift gears, brake and accelerate, similar to the controls on a motorcycle. Once the 41-year-old Rainey goes from his wheelchair into his kart, no one can tell he is handicapped. The only distinguishing aspect of Rainey's kart is that it has an extra roll bar for protection. Rainey and Lawson have been friends for more than 30 years. Lawson, 44, who has loved racing karts since he first tested one in 1990, beat Rainey last Sunday when Rainey's kart suffered steering-wheel failure two laps from the finish. That's OK with Lawson, a four-time world motorcycle road-racing champion. He's happy just to be out there with his friends. ``It's so competitive in Europe with a lot of weight on your shoulders,'' Lawson said. ``To come out here and do this is just fun. It doesn't matter what kind of day you have. You could break down and still have a good time.'' Rainey feels the same way. ``When you race for 30 years and then, all of a sudden, in a matter of seconds, your whole life changes, getting up and going to bed at night is completely different. Now that I have a chance to do this, I consider myself pretty lucky.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Wayne Rainey, a motorcycle racing motorcycle racing Sport of running motorcycles on tracks, closed circuits, or natural terrain. The main types are (1) road racing, conducted on a course made up wholly or partly of public roads; (2) trials, conducted both on and off the highway; (3) speedway racing, champion before a 1993 accident left him a paraplegic paraplegic /para·ple·gic/ (-ple´jik) 1. pertaining to or of the nature of paraplegia. 2. an individual with paraplegia. , sits in his car while his crew changes tires in the pits. John Lazar/Staff Photographer |
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