Editor’s Note: I’ve attended the Trailblazer banquet for a few years now. This year was the 72 annual banquet. Some 750 folks, mostly motorcycle racing industry veterans, crowded the Carson, California, community center.
I find it to be an inspiring gathering each year, and again I will try to share some of the stories from the new inductees into the 200 strong Trailblazers Hall of Fame. Here’s the list from this year: Mike Bast, Dan Haaby, Bruce Ogilvie and Wayne Rainey, are all former racers with amazing records. Also inducted were Steve Storz and Gil Vaillancourt (Works Performance) who made their marks on the race side of the industry.
INDUCTED: 1999
1990-’92 500cc World Road Racing Champion 1983, ’87 AMA Superbike Champion
Wayne Rainey was the top World Championship 500cc Grand Prix rider of the early 1990s, winning three consecutive World Championships riding for Yamaha. In addition to his accomplishments on the world championship level, Rainey was also a star of AMA Superbike racing during the 1980s, winning that title in 1983 with Kawasaki and again for Honda in 1987.
Rainey’s career as a motorcycle racer came to an abrupt end when he suffered a crippling crash while leading the Italian Grand Prix in September of 1993. Rainey did not let his disability keep him down. He returned to the world championship circuit as a team owner and manager.
– Read more here.
