The Suzuki RGV-Γ 500 was a racing motorcycle manufactured by Suzuki from 1986 to 2001 for competition in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing series. The motorcycle was powered by a 499.3 cc two stroke engine.
28-516: Suzuki factory racing team rider Kevin Schwantz rode the RGV500 to its first Grand Prix victory at the 1988 Japanese Grand Prix . It won its first 500 cc world championship in 1993 when Schwantz outscored Wayne Rainey and Mick Doohan to win the title. This was the most successful period in the motorcycle's history. The Suzuki suited Schwantz's riding style, as he often pushed beyond the limit of
56-633: A corner in his honor, Rainey Curve, which is a medium-speed, acute left-hander that follows the famous Corkscrew. Rainey was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. The FIM named him a Grand Prix "Legend" in 2000. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2003, he was one of the subjects of the motorcycle racing documentary film , Faster . After several seasons of poor decisions by Daytona Motorsports Group,
84-537: A series that encompassed four distinct dirt track disciplines plus road races. In 1981, he finished the Grand National season as the 15th ranked dirt track racer in the country. Following his success in the Novice 250cc roadrace class, Kawasaki hired him to compete in the 1982 AMA Superbike Championship as a teammate to the then defending National Champion Eddie Lawson . The following year, Lawson moved to
112-459: Is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer . During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he won the 500cc World Championship three times and the Daytona 200 once. He was characterized by his smooth, calculating riding style, and for his intense rivalry with compatriot Kevin Schwantz , between 1987 and 1993. Rainey began his career racing in the A.M.A. Grand National Championship ,
140-400: The 1993 FIM Road Racing World Championship . Schwantz, whose parents owned a motorcycle shop, learned to ride at the age of four. He began his competitive career as a trials rider, following his father and Uncle, Darryl Hurst (the original 34), in that sport. From trials, he progressed to motocross in his teens, becoming a top regional MX racer. After a serious crash in qualifying for
168-593: The British Grand Prix . Also in 1988, he and his Team Roberts Yamaha teammate Kevin Magee won the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race in Japan . In the 1989 campaign, Rainey finished second overall behind Eddie Lawson, winning three races and placing on the podium in every race that he finished. From 1990 to 1992 , Rainey hit his stride earning three consecutive 500cc crowns for Yamaha. Rainey
196-686: The Circuit of the Americas racetrack with Tavo Hellmund and German architect and circuit designer Hermann Tilke . Schwantz has operated a riding school since circa 2001 in Birmingham , Alabama . In 2003, he was featured in the motorcycle racing documentary film Faster . In 2011, he rode Marco Simoncelli 's bike in his honor in Valencia, Spain . In 2017, he made a guest appearance on Jay Leno's Garage (Season 3, Episode 10). He
224-544: The Grand Prix circuit and Rainey took over the role of leading rider, earning the 1983 National Championship for Kawasaki. In 1984 , he accepted an offer to ride for the newly formed Kenny Roberts Yamaha racing team in the 250cc class of the Grand Prix World Championship . A less than successful season (1 podium and difficulty push-starting the bike) saw him returning home in 1985 to join
252-607: The Houston Supercross in 1983 , he decided to quit motocross. At the end of the 1984 season, he was offered a test ride with the Yoshimura Suzuki Superbike team, who promptly signed the Texan to a contract. In his first race for Yoshimura, he won both legs of the 1985 Willow Springs AMA Superbike National. He finished seventh overall in the championship despite only competing in half
280-603: The Maclean Racing team in U.S. 250 and Formula 1 classes, and then on to the American Honda team from 1986 to 1987 where he raced Superbike and F1. It was during the 1987 Superbike National Championship that his intense rivalry began with Kevin Schwantz as the two battled it out for the title. Rainey won the Championship, but the fierce rivalry between the two competitors was just beginning. So intense
308-568: The Suzuki, talent such as Doug Chandler and Alex Barros . However many did manage the Suzuki well such as Daryl Beattie who finished second overall in 1995 and Niall Mackenzie . Outside the Grand Prix championship, Didier de Radiguès won the 1991 Macau Grand Prix using the RGV500. Kenny Roberts Jr was another who was successful on the RGV. After finishing second in 1999 , Roberts became Suzuki's last 500 cc World Champion in 2000 . The RGV500
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#1732793707556336-480: The chest down. Early in the 1995 season, after a conversation with Rainey, Schwantz decided to retire from motorcycle competition. Schwantz had accumulated 25 Grands Prix wins during his career, one more than his great rival, Wayne Rainey. This made him the second most successful American roadracer behind Eddie Lawson. In a display of respect, the FIM retired his racing number (34) as a testament to his popularity. In
364-544: The end of 2014. The MotoAmerica era of AMA-sanctioned road racing began in 2015. Rainey lives in Monterey, California, with his wife Shae. They have one son, Rex, who graduated from Pepperdine University and works at CBS Television Distribution with the Entertainment Tonight and The Insider accounts. Rainey rode his 1992 YZR500 at the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed . Yamaha specially modified
392-475: The entire season, often coming into contact on the track. Rainey eventually won the National Championship but Schwantz closed the season winning five out of six races. So intense was their rivalry that they continued their battle during the 1987 Transatlantic Trophy match races in which they were supposedly teammates competing against a team of British riders. Schwantz began 1988 by winning
420-583: The first version of the V4 RGV500. His archrival, Rainey joined the Grand Prix circuit, signing for the Team Roberts - Yamaha squad. For the next six years, the two continued their intense rivalry on race tracks all across Europe. The late 1980s and early 1990s are remembered as one of the most competitive eras of Grand Prix racing with a field rich in talent that included Rainey, Wayne Gardner , Mick Doohan , Eddie Lawson and Randy Mamola . He
448-646: The late 1990s, Schwantz ran a couple of seasons of the Australian NASCAR Championship before returning home to the United States where he competed in the NASCAR Busch Series , running 18 races with two top tens, an ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series event, and touring car races. Schwantz was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. The FIM named him a Grand Prix "Legend" in 2000. Schwantz co-designed
476-624: The machine, which often lead to Schwantz crashing as often as he won. The Suzuki was always slower than its opposition, as both the Yamaha and especially the Honda were much faster in a straight line; to compensate for this, Schwantz set the RGV up so it would compensate in the braking zones, and in the corners, allowing the Suzuki to slipstream the machines in front. This style of riding was famously quoted by Schwantz stating that he would "See God, then brake". Other riders failed to adapt their style to
504-591: The one great rival that had fired his competitive intensity made him view his own mortality much more clearly. Rainey refused to give up racing despite his disability and raced a hand-controlled Superkart in the World SuperKart series based in Northern California . He lived in Monterey, California in a house that is not far from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca . The nearby circuit named
532-605: The organization that operated AMA-sanctioned road racing beginning in 2009, a dispute with Dorna/Infront in 2013 regarding AMA Superbike coverage on shared FIM weekends led to a lack of media coverage for that year's Superbike round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, as well as the Harley-Davidson XR1200 round at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in both 2013 and 2014, the AMA transferred the commercial rights to AMA-sanctioned road racing to Rainey and his business partners at
560-477: The races. He finished second to Eddie Lawson in the 1986 Daytona 200 on the new Suzuki GSX-R750 . Then, in what would become an all too common occurrence throughout his career, he broke his collarbone in a qualifying crash and missed several races. Once again he finished seventh overall in the Championship. The 1987 Superbike National Championship marked the beginning of Schwantz' fiercely competitive rivalry with Wayne Rainey . The two battled throughout
588-426: The season-opening Daytona 200 in what would be his only win in that prestigious event. He then departed for Europe as Suzuki promoted him to its 500cc Grand Prix team where he made an immediate impact by winning the 1988 Japanese Grand Prix in the opening round at Suzuka , Japan; it was only his seventh Grand Prix ride in total, having experienced wild card rides in 1986 on the old square four RG500 and in 1987 on
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#1732793707556616-415: The title to his great rival Kevin Schwantz. Rainey's injuries rendered him permanently paralyzed from the chest down. After turning to Williams team owner and quadriplegic Frank Williams for advice, Rainey later became the team manager for Marlboro Yamaha for a few years. After the 1995 season, Schwantz retired from the Grand Prix circuit, partly due to nagging injuries and partly because losing
644-412: The verge of control, typified Schwantz' "do or die" riding style. He culminated his career in 1993 by winning his only 500cc World Championship . After suffering through a crash-infested 1994 season, the injuries he had incurred over the years began to take their toll on him, as did the career ending injuries suffered by his rival Rainey, at the 1993 Italian Grand Prix that left him paralyzed from
672-2700: Was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2019. Source: Points system from 1968 to 1987 Points system from 1988 to 1992 Points system from 1993 onwards. ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) ( Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ) 1949 L. Graham 1950 U. Masetti 1951 G. Duke 1952 U. Masetti 1953 G. Duke 1954 G. Duke 1955 G. Duke 1956 J. Surtees 1957 L. Liberati 1958 J. Surtees 1959 J. Surtees 1960 J. Surtees 1961 G. Hocking 1962 M. Hailwood 1963 M. Hailwood 1964 M. Hailwood 1965 M. Hailwood 1966 G. Agostini 1967 G. Agostini 1968 G. Agostini 1969 G. Agostini 1970 G. Agostini 1971 G. Agostini 1972 G. Agostini 1973 P. Read 1974 P. Read 1975 G. Agostini 1976 B. Sheene 1977 B. Sheene 1978 K. Roberts 1979 K. Roberts 1980 K. Roberts 1981 M. Lucchinelli 1982 F. Uncini 1983 F. Spencer 1984 E. Lawson 1985 F. Spencer 1986 E. Lawson 1987 W. Gardner 1988 E. Lawson 1989 E. Lawson 1990 W. Rainey 1991 W. Rainey 1992 W. Rainey 1993 K. Schwantz 1994 M. Doohan 1995 M. Doohan 1996 M. Doohan 1997 M. Doohan 1998 M. Doohan 1999 À. Crivillé 2000 K. Roberts Jr. 2001 V. Rossi 2002 V. Rossi 2003 V. Rossi 2004 V. Rossi 2005 V. Rossi 2006 N. Hayden 2007 C. Stoner 2008 V. Rossi 2009 V. Rossi 2010 J. Lorenzo 2011 C. Stoner 2012 J. Lorenzo 2013 M. Márquez 2014 M. Márquez 2015 J. Lorenzo 2016 M. Márquez 2017 M. Márquez 2018 M. Márquez 2019 M. Márquez 2020 J. Mir 2021 F. Quartararo 2022 F. Bagnaia 2023 F. Bagnaia 2024 J. Martín Wayne Rainey Wayne Wesley Rainey (born October 23, 1960)
700-606: Was involved in a hard-fought campaign with Kevin Schwantz while seeking his fourth-consecutive title in 1993 . He was leading the championship by a margin of 11 points over Schwantz, and leading the GP when he suffered his career-ending crash at the Italian Grand Prix in Misano . He slid into the gravel trap at high speed, breaking his spine against the raked surface designed as a safety feature for car racing. The injury handed
728-471: Was often at a disadvantage in that his Suzukis never seemed to be as fast as those of his Yamaha and Honda mounted rivals. His determination to win at all cost meant that he seemed to crash as often as he won. This trait made him a popular favorite among race fans the world over. His last lap pass of Rainey to win the 1991 German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring , with his rear tire fish-tailing on
756-565: Was replaced with the Suzuki GSV-R for 2002 . This motorcycle, scooter or moped-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Motorcycle racing-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kevin Schwantz Kevin James Schwantz (born June 19, 1964) is an American former professional motorcycle road racer . He was the world champion of
784-658: Was their rivalry that they continued their battle during the 1987 Transatlantic Trophy match races in which they were supposedly teammates competing against a team of British riders. In 1988 Rainey returned to Europe, again joining Team Roberts Yamaha, this time in the premier 500cc division riding the YZR500 . His arch-rival Schwantz followed him to Europe, signing to race the 500cc class for Team Suzuki . The two would continue their rivalry on race tracks all across Europe, driving each other to higher levels of competitiveness. In 1988, Rainey won his first world championship race at
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